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Trotsky's guide to 3D modelling OCs for 3D printing


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#1 Trotsky

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Posted 19 November 2015 - 02:28 AM

So I'm fairly new here and I thought in order to contribute I would add a quick guide on how to 3D model OCs for 3D printing. To do this we will need two programs, one web based and the other will need to be downloaded and installed:

 

PonyLumen's 3D pony creator:

 

This will let you create a rough start out of your OC by taking parts of common ponies and mixing them together. Though it may not get you to a finished product, it's far easier to edit a base into what you want than to start from scratch. (At least in my experience)

 

http://ponylumen.net...d-pony-creator/

 

 

MeshMixer:

 

This program will convert the .obj model from pony creator into the standard format of .stl for 3D printing slicing software. It will also allow for further editing and customization of the pony model, so don't sweat if the pony creator doesn't have exactly what you want.

 

http://www.meshmixer.com/download.html

 

 

To begin open up PonyLumen's editor, should look something like this:

BNIKKVP.jpg

 

 

It's a pretty intuitive interface. The color codes are a bit unusual but they're not important here. 3D models don't care about the coloration, so just make sure your pony is the right shape. Don't worry about the hair jiggle animation, the final model will come out solid. Once you've gotten as close as you can with the pony creator, go to load/save and save the ponyfile to back up your pony so you can make adjustments later, then download the .obj file.

 

You will end up with a file called pony.zip that looks like this inside. Extract all contents to a folder called pony:

 

qahtu4M.jpg

Open pony.obj with MeshMixer and you will see something like this:

 

3SIM28N.jpg

 

Go to import in the upper left and import all of the rest of the .obj files in the pony folder. It hasn't happened to me, but it may give you some warning messages about size and position of imported objects. Once you've imported everything you should see the full model. with a objects browser with all of the files.

 

W5EdCxP.jpg

 

Now it is time to edit things. You can select individual items and move them around to customize the mane and tail a little, but for more complicated edits you'll need to get a bit familiar with MeshMixer The basics you'll need are sculpt, edit, and select. Select is good for deleting things. You can do a bunch of stuff with edit, and sculpt let's you actually start pushing the mesh around to reshape it. If you have any questions on this post them below.

 

Once your done select all of the objects in the object browser at once. A box will appear that has an option to combine. Make sure you are finished with all of your editing first before combining the objects. Then you can export the model as a .stl. There are two types of .stl files, binary and ASCII I use binary but both work. Then you can give the finished .stl to a 3D printing service or to a friend with a 3D printer to have printed.

 

If you have any questions, would like me to do more guides or are looking for help with a project. Please just post below.

 

Thanks everypony, see you on the server,

 

Trotsky the Hell Steed


Edited by Trotsky, 19 November 2015 - 02:30 AM.


#2 ModernSilver

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Posted 19 November 2015 - 04:50 AM

This looks really cool! Question though, could similar steps be taken to import an OC to SFM or Gmod? I'd love to use a 3d printer for this, but sadly I don't have one and lack the money to buy one or hire a 3d printing company; with the latter I bet would come with shipping and handling fees.



#3 Trotsky

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Posted 19 November 2015 - 03:29 PM

Perhaps, I'm not familiar with either program, easy way to tell is to open up the program you want to import into and see if you can import .obj or .stl files.

 

I have a 3D printer I might be able to work out a deal with you to print something with that would be cheaper than a 3D printing company, however you'd have to check with the local sales pony CalistoVolan first, as I do not intend to encroach on her business here if she does not approve of it.

 

There also a lot of different factors that determine how much a 3D print will cost, primarily the time it takes to print. So for a given model, choosing different settings may get you the same model for half the price. Here is what I use as a reference guide at the moment, however I may change this if I actually go into the pony market:

 

$8.50 per hour of print time

 

$0.09 per gram of filament used.

 

So for my OC who happens to take 2.5 hours to print and uses 8 meters of filament cost comes to:

 

$17.00 labor

$1.80 for plastic

 

Now the rest of the cost comes from two things, shipping and painting. 3D printers generally print in one color, so for any sort of pony that means painting, not very difficult to do but takes a long time. As a 3D printer I generally am happy if my customer wants just the model to paint themselves, but I will also paint them for you at my leisure if you give me a photo of your OC. Painting adds a variable amount to the price depending on how much I want to charge you at the time. Then shipping depends on your location relative to me, and usually is just a few dollars, so grand total I'd expect in the range of $25 and around 3 months for a 3D printed painted OC from me. That's for a pony who stands 3 inches tall from hoof to top of mane, bigger ponies cost more.



#4 Trotsky

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Posted 22 November 2015 - 07:29 AM

CalistoVolan got back with my saying it was okay to do prints for ponies, however at the present time I am not taking any orders because I have to do some more set up. If you are looking to get a model printed through me you should either talk to me when I'm on the server or leave me a personal message. I will at least be able to talk with you about options.



#5 Trotsky

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Posted 01 December 2015 - 06:54 AM

Here is a picture of my toy OC made with this method you can compare to my profile picture to see how close I got:

 

eX6aMjI.jpg



#6 Guardian Selene

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Posted 05 December 2015 - 08:48 PM

Here is a picture of my toy OC made with this method you can compare to my profile picture to see how close I got:

 

eX6aMjI.jpg

Nice print. You should look into bondo putty to hide the print lines and give it a nice smooth surface. Out of curiosity, what printer do you have? 



#7 Trotsky

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Posted 10 December 2015 - 11:41 PM

This model is a little outdated, this one is really small. My newer models are scaled 1.5 from this one. At that size they're much easier to play with and are a lot stronger and more detailed. I'm also switching to enamel paint so that should fill in lots of cracks and give it a nice hard, smooth finish. My printer is a Da Vinci 2.0 dual extruder. It prints ABS plastic, so the parts are stronger than the more common PLA prints.



#8 Trotsky

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 11:04 PM

I have done a lot more work with these models recently and gotten much better at making them. The new size is about 4.25 inches square when viewed from the side. The smaller ones I was doing before are simply too tiny, the new enamel paint is much nicer and gives them a nice shine.

 

Larger size 4.25 inch ponies are much more expensive to manufacture than the little 3 inch ponies, but I don't think I want to ever go back to the little 3 inch ponies they are just too small. I will be working on developing a new pricing scheme to account for the pony market, as my current one would make these ponies way outside most of our budgets. The one pictured here would have cost $80 under the current pricing scheme. Also more work needs to be done to finish up making arrangements, including working with PonyLumen about using their models. When I do get the store up and running I will post it in this forum section for all to see.

 

pgHObAE.jpg




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