3D printing: specific question

[system]

I’m new to the subject of 3D printing…

To what extent are polygonal intersections allowed/not allowed when preparing a model for 3D printing? I noticed some 3d printing companies request no polygonal intersections. Needless to say, my model below has a lot of intersecting polygons and a lot of subtools, 60+. Is this model just “too complicated” to try to retopologize into a solid mesh?

I also noticed Jeff Feligno’s pixologic tutorial used a few intersections in his demonstration model.

Any light on the subject? Thanks.

[aurick]

You should probably check with the specific printing company that you wish to use. The answer will depend upon the equipment they use, and also on how much effort they’re willing to put into cleaning up problems in the model for you.