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# Cutter

VTKEx/Cxx/VisualizationAlgorithms/Cutter

Other languages

See (Python), (Java)

Question

If you have a simple question about this example contact us at VTKExProject If your question is more complex and may require extended discussion, please use the VTK Discourse Forum

### Code

Cutter.cxx

    #include <vtkActor.h>
    #include <vtkCubeSource.h>
    #include <vtkCutter.h>
    #include <vtkNamedColors.h>
    #include <vtkNew.h>
    #include <vtkPlane.h>
    #include <vtkPolyDataMapper.h>
    #include <vtkProperty.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindow.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindowInteractor.h>
    #include <vtkRenderer.h>
    #include <vtkSmartPointer.h>

    int main(int, char *[]) {

      vtkNew<vtkNamedColors> colors;

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkCubeSource> cube =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkCubeSource>::New();
      cube->SetXLength(40);
      cube->SetYLength(30);
      cube->SetZLength(20);
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper> cubeMapper =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper>::New();
      cubeMapper->SetInputConnection(cube->GetOutputPort());

      // Create a plane to cut,here it cuts in the XZ direction (xz
      // normal=(1,0,0);XY =(0,0,1),YZ =(0,1,0)
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkPlane> plane =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkPlane>::New();
      plane->SetOrigin(10, 0, 0);
      plane->SetNormal(1, 0, 0);

      // Create cutter
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkCutter> cutter =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkCutter>::New();
      cutter->SetCutFunction(plane);
      cutter->SetInputConnection(cube->GetOutputPort());
      cutter->Update();

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper> cutterMapper =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper>::New();
      cutterMapper->SetInputConnection(cutter->GetOutputPort());
      cutterMapper->SetResolveCoincidentTopologyToPolygonOffset();

      // Create plane actor
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor> planeActor =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor>::New();
      planeActor->GetProperty()->SetColor(colors->GetColor3d("Yellow").GetData());
      planeActor->GetProperty()->SetLineWidth(2);
      planeActor->GetProperty()->SetAmbient(1.0);
      planeActor->GetProperty()->SetDiffuse(0.0);
      planeActor->SetMapper(cutterMapper);

      // Create cube actor
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor> cubeActor =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor>::New();
      cubeActor->GetProperty()->SetColor(
          colors->GetColor3d("Aquamarine").GetData());
      cubeActor->GetProperty()->SetOpacity(0.5);
      cubeActor->SetMapper(cubeMapper);

      // Create renderers and add actors of plane and cube
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer> renderer =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer>::New();
      renderer->AddActor(planeActor); // display the rectangle resulting from the
                                      // cut
      renderer->AddActor(cubeActor); // display the cube

      // Add renderer to renderwindow and render
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow> renderWindow =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow>::New();
      renderWindow->AddRenderer(renderer);
      renderWindow->SetSize(600, 600);

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor> interactor =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor>::New();
      interactor->SetRenderWindow(renderWindow);
      renderer->SetBackground(colors->GetColor3d("Silver").GetData());
      renderWindow->Render();

      interactor->Start();

      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }

### CMakeLists.txt

    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3 FATAL_ERROR)

    project(Cutter)

    find_package(VTK COMPONENTS
      vtkCommonColor
      vtkCommonCore
      vtkCommonDataModel
      vtkFiltersCore
      vtkFiltersSources
      vtkInteractionStyle
      vtkRenderingContextOpenGL2
      vtkRenderingCore
      vtkRenderingFreeType
      vtkRenderingGL2PSOpenGL2
      vtkRenderingOpenGL2 QUIET)
    if (NOT VTK_FOUND)
      message("Skipping Cutter: ${VTK_NOT_FOUND_MESSAGE}")
      return ()
    endif()
    message (STATUS "VTK_VERSION: ${VTK_VERSION}")
    if (VTK_VERSION VERSION_LESS "8.90.0")
      # old system
      include(${VTK_USE_FILE})
      add_executable(Cutter MACOSX_BUNDLE Cutter.cxx )
      target_link_libraries(Cutter PRIVATE ${VTK_LIBRARIES})
    else ()
      # include all components
      add_executable(Cutter MACOSX_BUNDLE Cutter.cxx )
      target_link_libraries(Cutter PRIVATE ${VTK_LIBRARIES})
      # vtk_module_autoinit is needed
      vtk_module_autoinit(
        TARGETS Cutter
        MODULES ${VTK_LIBRARIES}
        )
    endif ()

### Download and Build Cutter

Click here to download Cutter and its CMakeLists.txt file. Once the tarball Cutter.tar has been downloaded and extracted,

    cd Cutter/build

If VTK is installed:

    cmake ..

If VTK is not installed but compiled on your system, you will need to specify the path to your VTK build:

    cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=/home/me/vtk_build ..

Build the project:

    make

and run it:

    ./Cutter

WINDOWS USERS

Be sure to add the VTK bin directory to your path. This will resolve the VTK dll's at run time.