Hey there,
So I currently have a zBrush model and was wondering what is the optimal printer and software for printing such a file? A friend and I tried printing out the file via makerbot and it didn’t give out the best results. The model itself is 50k polygons after decimation.
Thanks for any insight.
I have good experiences with Simplify3D with ZBrush-generated STLs.
My models don’t go as high as 50k but it slices 10-20k models very fast on my Retina MacBook pro.
Because it’s paid software and they don’t offer a trial version, I would be glad to test if it can handle your file and report how fast it sliced.
Let me know!
Hey there,
Thanks for the reply and yes I’d really appreicate you testing it out. One issue I’ve been finding with makerware as well is that it’s not retaining the dimensions, though I’m not sure if this is a common thing across 3d print software. I did lower the polycount to accomodate but the bulk of the details are still intact.
DImensions are as following:
x 1.0668in / 27.09mm
y 1.7999in / 45.70mm
z 1.1526in / 29.27
Thanks, let me know how it goes.
dugong.stl 3 (1.19 MB)
I’ll check you later today and will post some screenshots of the print preview!
Thanks very much mate
-Nic
Just did the test!
On import Simplify3D asked me if I wanted to convert the STL’s units to mm. I clicked yes and the size matches your digits (see screenshot 1)
Import took 1 second and slicing was done within 2 seconds on 100 micron with 30% infill on a Macbook Pro with 2.6 Ghz Intel Core i7 processor.
For comparisson: I ran it through MakerBot Desktop and that took 25 seconds to slice on 100 micron.
Cheers,
Nick
By the way: the 25,4% scaling you see was the automatic scaling S3D did on import to get the size correct.
Hey there, thanks alot for checking it out.
I did some further tweaking on the makerbot at the lab I was at and was finally able to get the desired dimensions, though what I noticed and in the screenshot you showed is that the model orientation changes from what it is from when I export it from zBrush.
How much does a Simplify3D Printer cost?
Sorry for the late reply!
Simplify3D supports a growing list of many printers. 6 The software costs $140/€99 per license, but sometimes it’s included with a printer. That was the case with the Leapfrog Creatr HS 14 I ordered.
It’s true that the orientation can be different from ZBrush, but as you can see in the screenshot you can easily rotate it in Simplify3D. By hitting the Center and Arrange button in S3D after rotating it will always center it and place it on the build plate.
I do miss a “lay flat” feature in S3D that I used a lot in MakerWare/MakerBot Desktop that can detect a model’s biggest flat surface and rotate that face down automatically. But that’s only handy for models others send me, because I always design my own models with 3D printing in mind.
One nice feature of S3D is that it can detect non-manifold edges and reversed normals and fix these.
Hi Pandanus,
I saw this Talk and think I might have something to add as well. I’m a regular ZBrush user and have begun printing my sculpts on both on a FDM and SLA machine. I brought my model back from about 16 million poly’s to around 70 K using the decimation master, which is still an incredible tool. Using the the 3D printing exporter within ZBrush I was able to create an STL file that was about 23 mb’s.
For the FDM printer (which was an Ultimaker 2) I used Meshmixer to slice up my model and add supports. (I had quite a few overhanging pieces) There are two main things to keep in mind here:
- What is the most efficient angle to print your model at that will require the least amount of supports
- Support usually leaves traces so think about where you don’t mind seeing these (I used the back of my character)
For the SLA printer (which was an Formlabs 1+) I use the standard program, PreForm with all the standard settings and again made sure the supports were on the back of the character.
Feel free to check out the results of my prints below (the left is the Formlabs 1+ and the right the Ultimaker 2)
I do have to admit that both could be better, but this is my first try on both printers. (The model itself is about 7 cm in height)
