I MAKE Workshop is a collaborative workshop series tailor-made for The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Design (SD) 'Creative use of 3D Printing technologies' event. Participants (local secondary school students) will learn the basic Blender Modeling for 3D printing.
Workshop 7:
1. Setup measurement unit in Blender 2. Measure geometry in Blender 3. Blender's 3D Print Toolbox utilities 4. Fix Non-manifold model in Blender 5. Export to .stl from Blender 6. Import .stl into Blender |
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Setup Scene Unit
Open your .blend file and select "Scene" tab inside Property Window. Choose "Metric" and input "0.01" to display "cm" unit for measurement. |
Blender Ruler
Click the "Grease Pencil" tab inside Tool Panel and then select "Ruler/Protractor" to activate the ruler tool.
LMB to drag directly inside 3D viewport to measure your geometry.
Click the "Grease Pencil" tab inside Tool Panel and then select "Ruler/Protractor" to activate the ruler tool.
LMB to drag directly inside 3D viewport to measure your geometry.
Activate 3DP Toolbox
Goto Blender's "User Preferences" and check "Mesh: 3D Print Toolbox" to insert this add-on to Blender. The "3D Printing" tab be added in the Tool Panel. |
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Detect and fix problematic edges & faces
In "Edit Mode", highlight all vertices first, then use "Remove Doubles" feature to eliminate all duplicated vertices. |
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Check watertight geometry
Remain in "Edit Mode", un-selet all vertices. Press "Shift+Ctrl+Alt M" keys together to call the feature and Blender would highlight all the non-watertight edges if the scene has any "non-manifold" parts (alike the circled part on the image). Fix all the problematic parts by either:-
Check the non-manifold again till the geometry is watertight and fulfill the thickness criteria. |
You can use Blender's "3D Printing Toolbox" features to double check your geometry. Make sure your model is a "printable" one.
You can also check on it's volume and other information.
You can also check on it's volume and other information.
Export to .STL (for I-MAKE workshop output)
Once the geometry is fine. Use the export feature to convert your .blend geometry to a printable .STL file format.
Double check by importing your .stl to Blender
Before submitting your .STL to my colleague, pls double check it's ready for print or it might delay your output process. *Pls. follow my colleague's instruction to submit your .stl file before deadline!!
Once the geometry is fine. Use the export feature to convert your .blend geometry to a printable .STL file format.
Double check by importing your .stl to Blender
Before submitting your .STL to my colleague, pls double check it's ready for print or it might delay your output process. *Pls. follow my colleague's instruction to submit your .stl file before deadline!!
Microsoft offers netFabb's model repair service for everyone (need to sign in) https://modelrepair.azurewebsites.net/
You can preview your .stl at http://www.viewstl.com/
Studio & Tutorial:
Get your final Design ready. Export to .stl and submit before deadline. You can download my "imake07_chair.stl" to study it's topology. We will do a 'turntable sequence' in next workshop to prepare for your presentation.
To learn the 3D Printing Toolbox from Blender's official manual:-
https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Modeling/PrintToolbox
A tutorial from Shapeways at http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/prepping_blender_files_for_3d_printing
How to fix non-manifold model from Shapeways (with video) at http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/fixing-non-manifold-models
YouTube movies from "The 3D Printing Ninja" to fix all types of non-manifold model at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz9OXdtkwa5Ve10xf_-dSgLpIhv3VDWJ-
Get your final Design ready. Export to .stl and submit before deadline. You can download my "imake07_chair.stl" to study it's topology. We will do a 'turntable sequence' in next workshop to prepare for your presentation.
To learn the 3D Printing Toolbox from Blender's official manual:-
https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Modeling/PrintToolbox
A tutorial from Shapeways at http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/prepping_blender_files_for_3d_printing
How to fix non-manifold model from Shapeways (with video) at http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/fixing-non-manifold-models
YouTube movies from "The 3D Printing Ninja" to fix all types of non-manifold model at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz9OXdtkwa5Ve10xf_-dSgLpIhv3VDWJ-
Prepared by Ann/y Leung (Open Education Evangelist and Founder of OSMM.HK)
Useful websites to learn Blender:
Official tutorials - http://www.blender.org/support/tutorials/
Official Manual - http://www.blender.org/manual
BornCG Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/cgboorman
Blender Cookie - https://cgcookie.com/blender/
Official tutorials - http://www.blender.org/support/tutorials/
Official Manual - http://www.blender.org/manual
BornCG Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/cgboorman
Blender Cookie - https://cgcookie.com/blender/
