With tribrid modeling, there is no need to convert the triangles into surfaces or solids. Furthermore, having all three modeling techniques in a single package reduces the need to transfer data between multiple programs and so streamlines the whole product development process. It means that moldmakers can move data captured with reverse engineering into the tooling design environment more quickly.

For example, tribrid modeling allows Boolean operations to be carried out between triangle models and either surfaces or solids. Currently, only a few CAD systems are able to perform Boolean operations between solids and surfaces. The ability to perform similar addition, subtraction and merge operations with triangles as well makes tribrid modeling even more flexible.

Benefits
 Perhaps the best way to illustrate the benefits of triangle modeling is to consider the production of a mold starting from an initial hand-modeled prototype produced in solid material. Reverse engineering from such models will only produce the external surfaces of the component. Depending on the quality of the scan data, these areas will often need modification using the sculpting and model repair tools within the triangle modeling element of the software. These tools allow high-quality models to be produced from poor quality reverse engineering data, or from damaged or defective physical components. For example, uneven surfaces can be smoothed out, gaps in the data can be filled and extra points can be added in areas where only sparse data has been collected.

As well as using these triangle editing tools, it can also be necessary to use surface modeling to create perfect geometry in areas where a conventional reverse engineering system would give only approximate results. For example, the design might need to include a perfectly-flat surface, which would be difficult to capture in traditional reverse engineering software. By using surface modeling, it is easy to replace the triangles with a single, smooth surface in the required area. Similarly, a reverse engineered fillet area can be replaced with a consistent, smooth fillet rather than existing as a set of complex, patches that may well have varying radii.
Once they have been edited to the required quality, these surfaces can be offset by the required material thickness to generate the internal surfaces.

The combined model can be expanded or contracted to bring it to any precise dimension that might have been specified or to produce a family of parts of different sizes. Extra geometric features—such as reinforcing ribs and bosses for fixing—can then be added to complete the design, normally using solid modeling functions as these internal features typically have prismatic geometry. The finished model can then be subtracted from a solid block to give the core and cavity shapes needed to mold the product. As mentioned above, surface modeling may be needed for final adjustments to the resulting designs.

Once the core and cavity have been finalized, work can begin on the remainder of the mold assembly. Since most mold components are made up of fairly simple, prismatic geometry, solid modeling is the most appropriate method for their design and assembly into the overall mold. Catalogs of standard mold components can be used to complete the mold design efficiently, since they remove the need to spend time creating these items over and over again. A history of operations can be created as the components are added, to maintain relationships between linked objects. This ensures that if the ejector pin is moved, for example, all the associated holes move with it.

Faster Complex Mold Designs
The overall benefit of tribrid modeling is that it allows users to build up CAD models quickly and easily with data of different types from a variety of sources. All the different forms can be handled in a single system without any need for data translation. The ability to mix and match triangles, surfaces or solids provides a more comprehensive mold design system that can produce faster results, especially with the most complex designs