Hollow Model Plug-In? PLEASE!!!!

[Theodoric]

Can one of you really smart people out there make a plug-in that hollow’s out models for 3D printing?
It would be ideal if you could…
1- type in the desired shell thickness. If areas would be too thin for it to work (like fingrs, teeth, etc) it would ignore that area.
2- you could control the density of the inner mesh as to not increase poly count for services that have poly count limits.
3- If a model needs a hole in it to remove support material you could mask out the desired area and thickness/size.
4- you could check your models wall thickness before exporting them for printing. You could just type in the size you are think of exporting the model at and it would tell you thicknesses or any other print related errors.
5- you could use this with both decimated models or non-decimated models.
6- The inner shell would have reversed normals.

I think thats it, This would save us all A LOT OF MONEY in printing and A LOT OF WORK in other programs.

Who ever makes this first will be the win the smartest person trophy- which
will hopefully be hollow.

[Dragon]

Can one of you really smart people out there make a plug-in that hollow’s out models for 3D printing?
It would be ideal if you could…
1- type in the desired shell thickness. If areas would be too thin for it to work (like fingrs, teeth, etc) it would ignore that area.
2- you could control the density of the inner mesh as to not increase poly count for services that have poly count limits.
3- If a model needs a hole in it to remove support material you could mask out the desired area and thickness/size.
4- you could check your models wall thickness before exporting them for printing. You could just type in the size you are think of exporting the model at and it would tell you thicknesses or any other print related errors.
5- you could use this with both decimated models or non-decimated models.
6- The inner shell would have reversed normals.

I think thats it, This would save us all A LOT OF MONEY in printing and A LOT OF WORK in other programs.

Who ever makes this first will be the win the smartest person trophy- which
will hopefully be hollow.

Wouldn’t that be AWSOME!

[Totyo]

Well, let’s win a trophy

This is pure theory, I have to test on my side! But it can be some good experimentation… and may not work with everything:

1. Do a Remesh all of your model with a good resolution: the purpose is to have enough resolution to grab thin details like fingers.
2. Do another Remesh in a low resolution. This one will be to create the internal part of the thickness. At this step, I would try to add some subdivision levels and trying to project the original mesh details on it, as a validation.
3. Do a negative inflate of your internal part remesh, to define the thickness value.
4. Add a SubTool as a cylinder, to create the opening of your model, to being able to remove the support material.
5. Do a Remesh all with the good order of SubTool and good operators. This remesh should be in good resolution too.
6. you should have no a shape with an internal thickness which should globally look like your original mesh. add few Subdivision levels and project the details on it. As usual, take care of the Dist slider setting which should be low (between 0.001 to 0.1).
7. Then decimate your model with Decimation Master to keep your sculpting details and reducing the polygon count.

Let me know if it helps of works for the other options, like the validation of the minimal thickness, I can’t help on this one, including defining a real world value for the thickness itself…

[gabo1991]

The only other trick you could try is this:

1. Duplicate your model
2. Drop it to the lowest level
3. This will become your inner wall. Adjust it to your liking.
4. Flip the normals of this inner wall.

Now when you print out the printer should see this as a wall thickness. Sorry you can not set exact measurements. Don’t also forget about Morph Difference. This may come in handy as well.

[system]

Can one of you really smart people out there make a plug-in that hollow’s out models for 3D printing?
It would be ideal if you could…
1- type in the desired shell thickness. If areas would be too thin for it to work (like fingrs, teeth, etc) it would ignore that area.
2- you could control the density of the inner mesh as to not increase poly count for services that have poly count limits.
3- If a model needs a hole in it to remove support material you could mask out the desired area and thickness/size.
4- you could check your models wall thickness before exporting them for printing. You could just type in the size you are think of exporting the model at and it would tell you thicknesses or any other print related errors.
5- you could use this with both decimated models or non-decimated models.
6- The inner shell would have reversed normals.

I think thats it, This would save us all A LOT OF MONEY in printing and A LOT OF WORK in other programs.

Who ever makes this first will be the win the smartest person trophy- which
will hopefully be hollow.

I second that motion. I am tearing my hair out trying to make my finished zbrush model hollow so I can 3d print it (less expensively)

:mad: