You are not logged in. Please login or register.
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → 3D Modelling/Scanning/Design → Blender adds 3D printer support
My brother sent me a link, knowing I'm interested in all things 3D related, especially if I can use it with my printer.
It looks like Blender 2.67 has a "3D Printer Toolbox". I haven't tried it yet, but thought there might be others here interested in it.
Can't post links yet, so go to blendernation and look at yesterday's news.
Interesting stuff. I was dinking around in TinkerCad, but now it is closing. I hear Blender has a bit of a learning curve, but it is the jam after you get into it. Anyone use Blender as their modeling app of choice? Would it be worth pursing for someone to learn to model in as their main app for 3D Printing? I like that they are creating a new training dvd for this, but would love to get started learning it now if worth it.
Even though I posted this, I've never really played much with blender because it's so intense. But my brother does a lot of programming and design, so he uses it a lot for 3D character development. He says it's great once you get it down.
ETA: And thanks for providing the link. Maybe eventually I'll have enough to contribute to the forums that I'll have the ability to post links. 
The best part of blender is that it is open source and completely FREE!!
there is really no reason not to give it a shot. Blender is my modeling program of choice. Mainly because it is free. But now after using it for a year or so, I really like it. Yes, there is quite a steep learning curve but there is so much help online, you will always find what you need. Youtube has a training video for almost anything you would want to do. If you are even remotely curious, give it a shot. Make sure the first thing you do is the official blender tuts. The yellow submarine tut teaches you a lot of the basic modeling tools you will need. Good luck!
I use Blender (not tried the 3D printing features in the latest version), but it's got a heck of a learning curve. It took ages of tinkering to start getting the hang of it. It's very powerful, but horrendously user-unfriendly. You also need a mouse and numpad to really be able to use it.
Example of the hideousness - I was trying to copy some selected vertices. Surely that would be Ctrl+C Ctrl+V? Nope, it's Shift+D. Thanks Blender.
There is a really nice feature though, which I just found, which is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M, which highlights any non-manifold edges, letting you know if you have stray vertices, or extra faces, which is perfect for checking a model before you export it to STL. That shortcut is a godsend for 3D printer modelling.
I use Blender (not tried the 3D printing features in the latest version), but it's got a heck of a learning curve. It took ages of tinkering to start getting the hang of it. It's very powerful, but horrendously user-unfriendly. You also need a mouse and numpad to really be able to use it.
Example of the hideousness - I was trying to copy some selected vertices. Surely that would be Ctrl+C Ctrl+V? Nope, it's Shift+D. Thanks Blender.
There is a really nice feature though, which I just found, which is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M, which highlights any non-manifold edges, letting you know if you have stray vertices, or extra faces, which is perfect for checking a model before you export it to STL. That shortcut is a godsend for 3D printer modelling.
Wow... now i want to try it... sorry google... i am moving up
the version 2.67 final with 3D print function is out : http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/
Downloading the new Blender to tinker with now!
Another nice feature of Blender is the 'beautify fill' option. If you have a set of vertices in one plane and you want to create a face, Alt+F fills it with triangles, but arranges them so as to minimise the longer thin triangles, making a better shape for printing. Blender has loads of these little things that work really well, but you may never know they're there.
Also, something that caught me out at first... the export STL option does not assume you want to export everything if nothing is selected. It assumes you want to export nothing, and generates a blank stl file.
*edit
Tried the new Blender now. Some very nice features. For example, it can turn your model into a live heat map with the new mesh analysis tool. Worse overhangs will be highlighted more intensely. You can also set it to highlight thin edges, or sharp edges, or more. The new tools are just present without changing the normal use of Blender if you have them switched off.
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → 3D Modelling/Scanning/Design → Blender adds 3D printer support
Powered by PunBB, supported by Informer Technologies, Inc.
