Guidance on printing 3D miniatures and Freelance rate!

ichidan

Hey Guys

I've been offered some work to create some 3D miniatures for a game, although I'm not at all experienced in it. I was hoping that you guys could offer me some advice on how to go about making 3D miniatures. I'm competent enough in zbrush (I think) to make a nice sculpt but I know there is more to it than that.

They also want them to be printed in full colour, is that just a poly paint?
Do I need to worry about the actual size of the model or will that be sorted when printing?

What about connectible parts? I guess I would have to sculpt them in as separate pieces and make sure they match up correctly, or does that depend on what the client wants to do with the model (.e.g having moving parts)

On the freelance side, I'm still pretty inexperienced in the industry, with less than a year under my belt, should that effect my freelance rate? Also I live at home with my parents still so I'm finding it hard to gauge my rate as I don't have an awful lot of money going out at the moment.
I also work full time at a games studio so should I charge by the hour due to time? or by the model?

I know there isn't a set rule on this stuff I guess I'm just looking for advice from experienced people who know about it.

Just so many many things man, I feel like a total noob but I'm okay with that as ill learn alot from it. This is something I want to do but I just need to figure out how.

Truly thank you in advance for any advice you can offer. Honestly will appreciate it and sorry for the long message >.<

Steve Schulze

The requirements for printing will vary depending on the type of printer and the software used to generate the paths. You'll want a very clean mesh no matter what and will need to either keep mesh interpenetration to a minimum or avoid it entirely. Components will most likely need to be water tight.

Depending on how large you're getting your print done, you may need to slice it into pieces to fit on the print bed. Try to keep any cuts you make as flat and simple as possible. You can sand down prints, but the cleaner the joins, the better. You may also with to hollow out the model to reduce material usage and weight.

Coloured prints are pretty brittle from what I've seen, so you'll probably want to keep your structure pretty solid and avoid very fine details that aren't well connected to a more sturdy component.

You probably won't have to do the layout yourself if you're getting someone else to do the printing, but if you are, it'll print more quickly if it's longer rather than taller (So lay down a figure for example). Try to arrange your parts to minimise the amount of support material you'll require. Depending on the type of print you might get stronger parts if the print grain runs along them rather than across (For example, if the threads of a print run along an arm, it's less likely to break than if they run across it).

Hm. I think that's most of it. Probably a few more points I've missed.

Rai

I started freelance sculpting for print a few months ago, it's pretty exciting but can get a little dull depending on the client.

Typically, I charge $20/hour because I'm just starting out and will take a little longer than most, but I'll need to raise my rates a bit when I have more experience.
I personally see $20/hour as minimum wage due to the lost time looking for more work.

Charge by hour, I cannot stress this enough.. I've been through so many revisions with clients, it's silly. A lot of it has to do with them having a vague concept or guideline.
I also use Toggl.com to track my time and compile invoices.

I'm not sure there's a printer that can properly print colored miniatures in small scale.. What size are you trying to go for? The only material I know of at the moment goes minimum 1mm wall thickness.
For color purposes, you can use Polypaint. I haven't worked with printers using Polypaint yet, but I know that some of them won't read it properly and will only take the basic .OBJ and applied texture file, so worst case is you bake it on.

Parts that connect to each other, measure them properly and create the piece as they're supposed to connect physically and then separate for print, sometimes it'll take a few prints to get it correctly.
You can correct the measurement of the model on export, though I typically create a scale object in my ZBrush environment to get a decent idea of the size for individual pieces of the model.

It can be a little stressful jumping into something new, but it's so worth it in the end.

ichidan

Thank you so much Jackablade and Rai, really appreciate you taking the time to give me some advice!

Jackablade, you mentioned about hollowing out the model...im not even sure how i would do that to a zbrush model! Maybe do an extract of the whole model, but negative in?

Rai, i followed your advice and a few others on the charging by hour, i completely agree with that your saying, and from the sounds of it with this client it seems like it will be very similar as the concepts aren't solid. Also ill have to do some more research on the size of the model he is looking for, all i know so far is he wants miniatures so an inch or 2 max id assume.

Also do either of you know whether or not its illegal to create something and have it printed for money if it isn't based off my own artwork. I had another person ask me to make a model of a character from a video game, and obviously i dont own the rights to that character, is that classed as breach of copyright? sounds like it is to me but i dont know.

either way thanks alot guys, really appreciate it

Rai

It seems like your client didn't bother to read up on if what he wants done is even possible. If it's a miniature, then it's a little larger than an inch and will not be possible to make with a 3D color printer without losing an incredibly large amount of detail.

Again, the best color printer I know of has a minimum wall size of 1mm. This wouldn't be a problem if you wanted to print without color, but it's a different process with different materials for the color.

I'm not the best with legal issues, but I'd advise not to create and sell artwork identical to something that is licensed. If they find out that you're making money off of their IP, you'll have a lot of problems.
However, if it's something like conversion bits for say, Warhammer.. Then it's not a real problem, just don't blatantly copy pieces they've already created, even if it's just a concept.
Games Workshop can get a bit testy when it comes to their licenses. If it's even remotely close to their work, they'll take your ass down.

You don't need to hollow miniatures and I'd really advise against it, I don't exactly have a rule for this kind of thing though. I try to eyeball it and go with what works and if I can get rid of solid material without causing problems to the structure on print. If it's a large hollow area, make sure you have some form of structure support so that it doesn't cave in on itself.

guellem

I have recently purchased a Formlabs 3d printer and I am posting an open invite on the forum to anyone interested in having their models printed. I would be willing to print them at the cost of the resin, shipping charges plus 10% for my time. No additional parts or models would be printed without owners consent, just one and done.

I'm not running a business and I'm not looking spam the forum, I just wanted to get the word out and maybe give a bit back to the community.


The quality of the prints and surface finish is very good. Layer thickness is .025mm and there are no visible steps on the models. Please contact me with any questions.

Steve Schulze

What kind of price are you looking at for materials for the Form1? I haven't dealt with that tech before. I'm guessing closer to the extortionate Objet than the so cheap it's completely negligable Makerbot.