An encoding device, a decoding device, and a method for mesh decoding are disclosed. The method for mesh decoding includes receiving a bitstream. The method also includes decoding a frame that includes pixels from the bitstream. A portion of the pixels of the frame represent geometric locations of vertices of a 3D mesh that are organized into overlapped patches. The method further includes decoding connectivity information from the bitstream. Additionally, the method includes identifying triangles associated with the overlapped patches. The triangles represented in an overlapped patch of the overlapped patches are allocated to a projection direction based on a normal vector associated with each of the triangles of the overlapped patch. The method also includes reconstructing the 3D mesh based on the connectivity information and the overlapped patches.