Printing Objects from Blender to a 3D printer

Support Modeling
1

Hello,

I want to print my 3D Models to a 3D printer but I have several questions on how to do that.

a) I have a street object with bump mapping. The Bump map will not be printed in 3D I guess. Is there a way to do that somehow in blender?

b) same question with displacement maps. Is my object printable with a displacement map applied? I modelled this space ship from here and applied the displ. texture. Now I want to print it in our school :smiley:

(would be a nice idea for a python addon -> create_3D_printable_object :slight_smile: but I cannot code :confused:

Thanks for help!

2

Bump maps are just a display effect, you will need to print real geometry

b) same question with displacement maps. Is my object printable with a displacement map applied?
An applied displacement modifier creates real geometry so it can be printed

(would be a nice idea for a python addon -> create_3D_printable_object :slight_smile: but I cannot code :confused:
Enable the .stl export addon, then File / Export .stl file

3

Thanks for your reply. But still one question: How do I get real geometry from a bump map? What do I have to do?

4

The 3d printing toobox is pretty good already. Enable it in your user preferences.

Now, as an owner of an FDM 3d printer (Solidoodle 3), I believe I am in a unique position to give you more details on the steps it takes to prepair a model for 3d printing. Either on a home unit, or through services such as Shapeways.

First, you want look at your model as if it were a vase, and you need it to hold water. There should be no holes in the surface that would let the water out. This is called manifold, and its important for how the slicing program processes the .STL file. you want to try to avoid mesh intersections as much as possible as well, but depending on the slicer, they might not be as large an issue.

Next, you need to know what sort of machine you will be printing on. fused deposition method, or one of the powder/resin machines at a service such as Shapeways. for FDM, the design of your model makes all the difference in the world, since overhangs lead to the need for support material, which leads to lots of cleanup if your not using an expensive unit with fancy water soluable support material. powder machines don’t have this limitation for the most part, and can print very intricate designs without any extra support.

Depending on your choice of machine, you may need to “cut” your model up into printable sections with pins built in to allow you to glue it back together after printing. i have successfully printed very ornately detailed character figures on my printer using this method.

as for modifiers on your model, you will want to apply them all, perhaps turn up sub Ds to get a smooth surface etc (printer doesn’t care how many polygons, although it will take the slicer longer to generate the path file for the machine.) i would suggest saving your model blend to a different name before doing this, as an applied high level of subdivision, will make future editing impossible.

Let me know what sort of machine you are printing on, and post a picture of the object your trying to print, and i can give a few more pointers.

5

You would have to convert to a displacement map and subdivide your object

as for modifiers on your model, you will want to apply them all, perhaps turn up sub Ds to get a smooth surface etc
The stl exporter include an ‘Apply Modifiers’ option. Enable this and all your modifiers will be applied during the export process. Therefore you don’t have to lose all your modifiers in your blend file.

6

@@Dave_K

The printer is in school. I will check and tell you the model.

@Dave_K

Ahhh - now I see. I was wondering why there were always cut parts of things printed in the printer. Lately I saw an egg head, middle part and bottom part printed in three parts at the same time. I thought it might be faster that way. But as there is only one printing head …

I will try what I can do with the 3 D Addon. Thanks for the tip!

@Richard_Marklew

If I get you right -> create a displacement map of the object with applied bump map. Put this again on the object to create real geometry via displacemnt? Uhhh - sounds like a lot of work. I think I will print only things that have real geometry already. Thanks for your help too!

7

@@Dave_K

The printer is in school. I will check and tell you the model.

@Dave_K

Ahhh - now I see. I was wondering why there were always cut parts of things printed in the printer. Lately I saw an egg head, middle part and bottom part printed in three parts at the same time. I thought it might be faster that way. But as there is only one printing head …

I will try what I can do with the 3 D Addon. Thanks for the tip!

@Richard_Marklew

If I get you right -> create a displacement map of the object with applied bump map. Put this again on the object to create real geometry via displacemnt? Uhhh - sounds like a lot of work. I think I will print only things that have real geometry already. Thanks for your help too!

8

Sorry but I did not find the “Solved” button here.

But it was easier than I thought :smiley:
I just hadt to apply the Modifiers in the Modifier stack and voila I had the model made of real geometry.

But now I have to optimise my model - but I noticed already that I have to start with small things. My spaceship is too big for my pc and working with it is just a hazzle.

Thanks for all your help!

9

I dont see an option to apply modifiers. Perhaps your using a different STL export plugin than the one included with the 3d printing toolbox? It would be cool if it did work they way you say, but I still have the habit of saving a version of the file before doing any drastic things like applying modifiers. Lessons learned.