ZBrushCentral

Splitting a Model for Casting/Moldmaking?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

So I’ve spent a lot of time trying to solve this myself, and haven’t come across any great solutions, so I wanted to get some other people’s take on it.

I’m looing to take my 3d Sculpts and split them into multiple pieces that have no overlap, so that they can be 3d printed in pieces, cast, and cleanly assembled without much tooling. There seem to be some techniques for accomplishing this reliably, as seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltDjw3q3rcA

My previous solutions (and their problems) have included:


  • Dynamesh/splitting the model by polygroup. (loses topology/details, and little control over the split planes)
  • Booleans in Blender/3ds/etc. (Very slow and glitchy)
  • Building in subtools and trying to use Zproject/manual editing to line up parts (Slow, imprecise, and prone to artifacts/errors)

Does anyone know how this is typically done in the industry? I’m willing to learn/buy new software to tackle it.

#2

Hello,
I found a few ways of doing this.
Zcorp have software that is capable of cutting and even introducing tongue an groove locators.
I couldn’t afford this so I used Maya 2012 line projection tool to cut and then applied locators using the line as an extrude path.
Alternatively engineering tools like geomagic can do it. and are easy to learn.
Cheers

#3

In case anyone was following this and wondering, I did eventually find a workable (if not speedy) solution!

3ds Max (mine is 2012) offers a tool called “ProCutter”. With the proper settings (trim inside/outside cutter, auto seperate elements) you get a well sectioned model with clean keys and precisely controlled cuts. You just build some cutters shaped like the ones in Poboyross’ excellent tutorial thread (link). In fact, you can basically use the same exact techniques, only substitute Max for Magics.

I recommend testing it on a simplified version of your model (a 20k decimation, for example) and setting up your cutters on that version because…

… It takes about 5 hours to chew through all the data and produce a result if you’re using a typical figure with 3-5 million polys and 5 or 6 cuts, and a decent art machine. (Max only seems to utilize 1 core for this process. Mine is a quad core 2.3 Ghz with 8 gigs of RAM, to help you compare your own machine.)

I actually thought it had locked up the first couple times I tried it, but on a whim I let it run overnight. Imagine my suprise when I awoke to a perfect result! It was like Christmas morning, only it just meant I could do more work. :wink: My new process involves setting up the scene during the day, then starting the actual cut before I call it a night.

Hope this helps someone!