My Print Pile

EtotheRic

Hello,
I'll be doing a lot of experimenting with printing models so I thought it might be interesting to show some of that process.

I just got my Form 1 a couple weeks ago so to start testing it out I made a quick bust sculpt. I found the software starts to choke at around 2.4M polies so I decimate to get under that. It also does not support overhangs and whatnot so it seems printing hollow models isn't always possible. The software does a pretty good job of orienting a print so that it will print successfully but you can tweak it however you want. It really depends on how complex it is but the software at the moment can not make internal supports. I also tried printing multi-shell meshes and at small sizes it's possible but seems to fall apart on large prints. I have a 4" version of this with the face "melted" off. So for now I'll dynamesh everything together that is one print piece.

Zbrush render:


Form 1 test print (about 1 inch):


The print was done at medium resolution (.05mm) setting so the final I want to do at 5" and double the resolution. The banding here is about the size of fingerprint, maybe finer.

MissModeler

Ah this is really cool. I've been wanting to model something and get it printed so bad. Having my own personal 3D printer would make me feel like a kid all over again! I would have to put that idea on the back burner for a little bit though considering the price of buying your own. I've looked into doing it through an online company though, like Shapeways. Seeing you experiment with this has sparked my interest in it again. Should design something and actually suck it up and get it printed lol! Very nice work though, it seems to keep detail pretty nicely considering the size it was printed in. May I ask how long it typically takes to actually print?

ysalex

Thanks for sharing, love the head you're experimenting with. Looking forward to more updates and info!