I know that mostly i must strictly keep my topology made of quads. What about 3D Printing? It seems that topology doesn’t really matter. So, may i use both triangles and quads? Or i must not and will be punished by 3D printer for my ignorance?
as long as it looks good in the 3d view it does not matter what you use. you will print what comes out.
however keeping a clean topology will make it easier for you to work with it in general.
Many thanks! I also prefer clean topology, and always try to keep it, but since model for 3D printing needs to be non-manifold “water proof” mesh, sometimes it is difficult to combine different parts of model without triangles.
Is there any information how 3D printing software represent model for printing devices? As voxel volumes, like ZBrush, or use other technology? Knowing it might help a lot.
If you export as a .stl file which is common for 3d printing, the file format only supports triangles so any quads/ngons in your model will get triangulated when exporting your file from blender
First, sorry for reviving this old post. Couldn’t seem to find any other answer. But, if everyone is still around, my question is…is it a good idea, then, to triangulate your model before exporting to STL?
This depends. If your mesh is clean you can let the exporter handle the triangulation. If your mesh has lots of ngons where the final geometry depends on which way the geometry is triangulated you should do it beforehand.
Fair enough. Thanks!