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Topic: Help Converting File

Hey everyone, I am new to the whole 3D printing community. I am looking to make a few parts for a model ship I am building from scratch. I found a 3D model of the ship in Poser format. Is there anyway that this can be converted into a .STL file or some way I can get this in a 3D printing format?

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Re: Help Converting File

Poser can export as an OBJ file which can be used by most slicers.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

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Re: Help Converting File

or opened by many other programs that can then convert to stl..
Blender is a great free tool for doing that. it is also very useful for fixing/altering 3d files

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

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Re: Help Converting File

Say for instance I need the scale parts to 1:144, is there a way in the system to set it up for that specific scale?

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Re: Help Converting File

New3Ddesigns wrote:

Say for instance I need the scale parts to 1:144, is there a way in the system to set it up for that specific scale?

Most slicers allow you to scale by percentage or size.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

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Re: Help Converting File

not in that manner specifically, no, there is not.

slicing programs typically work on a percentage.. i have yet to see one that allows a specific "size" input. (disclaimer: i do not use resin printers, so not sure about their systems)

if you know a given size - say overall length - you can use a program that does allow actual dimensional inputs to create a dummy piece of the correct scaled size.. there are many free programs out there that will allow you to do that.
Be aware that 3d printers default to metric measurements - that is their native format. So any measurements in inches/feet should be converted to metric for best results.

Blender does not have specific units of measurement.. 1 can mean 1in, 1cm, 1ft - it is all relative.
As an example.. I have been working on modeling an old pickup i used to own in Blender.. when i started, i did not really care too much about the actual scale... I was more interested in getting the proportions correct, using various photo angles as reference in the background...

I got to a point with the modeling that it was time to check the scale. I want it to be a 1/10th scale model for building an RC out of it.
To do this, I used 123D Design - that does allow specific measurements to be used when modeling something - to create a basic wheel/tire combo in the correct scale size, and imported that into Blender.

This is what it looked like initially....

http://soliforum.com/i/?ggB9SAE.png

as you can see.. the wheel/tire looks HUGE compared to the truck body... yet it IS the correct scale - the truck body is not.

Using that wheel/tire as a reference I scaled the body up so that it looks correct. Scaling in Blender is pretty easy when you have a good reference in place. and this is where it is now. (wheel/tire model was not changed in any way and is on a separate layer, as is each part of the truck model - bed, cab, door, etc)

http://soliforum.com/i/?c03ENZd.png

all of that said.. 1:144 scale is gonna be pretty tiny, and does not lend itself well to FDM printing. for something that small, I would suggest having the parts printed in resin to get any kind of detail out of them.

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

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Re: Help Converting File

Is this what you us... Creality3D Ender-3 pro High Precision 3D Printer? cost $230. What other printers out there are good and can input measurements?  I don't know the exact measurement of the parts I want to print. I just know its 1:144 scale. I want to print this superstructure in pieces/ sections.http://soliforum.com/i/?QtHDpoT.jpg

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Re: Help Converting File

the printer used has very little bearing on slicing input. a single slicing program can be used on a wide variety of printers - they just need to be configured for the printer being used.

I do not personally know of any slicing program that takes actual dimensions for scaling a model. the ones that I know use percentages for scaling.

you might be able to print the hull of that ship ok (in sections), but the details - things like the guns, railings, and even the life boats - will not print well on an FDM type printer at that scale - they are just too tiny.

just because there is a 3d computer model of something does not mean it can be easily 3d printed - this is what you need to understand.

There ARE limitations to what you can do with an FDM type 3d printer such as the Crealty you mentioned. There is NO FDM type printer that would be capable of printing those tiny little details successfully.

An SLA/DLP type printer might be able to, depending on the quality of the modeled parts, but they would most likely be prone to breaking easily due to the tiny size.

I dont know what ship that is supposed to be, but if you know the name of it, you can google it and find out more details, like gun size, then convert that to 1:144 scale and you will maybe understand just how tiny it is.

as a very quick example.. say something in real life is 8 inches long.. converted to 1:144th scale that would be 0.05556 inches.. just over 5/100ths of an inch - or taking it to metric, it would be 1.4mms long - that is TINY in 3d printing terms.

8 feet would be just over 1/2" in that scale, or 16.9mms...

are you beginning to understand yet?



(and for what it is worth, i would not consider the above mentioned printer "high precision" - those are marketing hype words)

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

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Re: Help Converting File

Just to add, I would not really consider any FDM high precision. The best you can get out of one . +/- .01 to .02. An SLA will be much more precise but like Heartless said the parts will be very fragile and will probably break during the post processing. Simplify3D will allow you to scale by the objects dimensions or a percentage of that dimension. BUT! It is not free and will set you back $150USD.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

10

Re: Help Converting File

if you know the scale of the STL file then use scale conversion charts to find multiplier to rescale to desired scal. punch that into scale in Slic3r its what I do. may take trial and err if original had wrong size or if file types changed (like when paper printing a photo it readjusts for margins requiring to zoom .0963 for example) but take notes so you dont have same mistakes later.

Solidoodle 2 with Deluxe kit cover & glass bed with heater. and 2nd board SD2 used not 3rd and alum platform not installed yet still wood. also need cooling fan installed to board. use Repetier Host couple vers. Slic3r also have all free ware STL programs