ZBrushCentral

Printing Export Plugin Scale issue

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi

The issue I am struggling with is the scale function on the 3D printing export plugin.

I have set my scene in maya to mm and have modeled to the exact scale I want to print. (Its a piece of jewelry, a ring).

I export to zbrush to add high rez details then save as ztl.

Then I decimate the tool in prepiration to export as STL binary.

Here is the issue the printing export plugin gives you the option of “update size ratios” either inch or mm.
I have tried setting it to mm and updating and also (with a fresh zbrush open) not touching this option but the problem still arises of the STL file being way too big or small (depending on the settings in maya)

But I cannot get it to export at the correct scale that I imported it in as.

The sliders for width, height and depth are confusing as they seem to be constrained proportions.

Any suggestions on a work around or worflow would be appreciated.

Cheers

#2

Hey there MorphDivision,

i am doing a lot of jewelry myself … or actually nothing but jewelry for the last 6 months. You are right, these sliders are confusing, as you can change only one value and the rest changes proportionally.

What i do is writing done the exact measures before exporting out from another app … actually in the case of a ring i just use the width.

When i’m ready to export the stl i first make sure which axis in ZB is the actual width axis by checking the floor x/Y/Z grid, then i’m typing the exact measure into the width box. Next step is to hit TAB and not return to confirm that. I found that with using enter i need to repeat this 3 to 4 times until ZB finally gets the changes. Once that is done you can still hit the Update size button to double check that the size changes actually really happen. Watch the value in the Width box to double check again. Once that is done you just export out as an STL Binary. I found that the size ZB exports out is actually VERY accurate.

So i hope this helps a bit and in case you need more info, just PM me. I have been milling and growing a lot of STL’s and they all came out perfect.

#3

Hey dsoellbuster

Thank you, I suspected as much with regard to workflow. Didn’t know about the “tab” trick nice one.

Essentially your saying the sliders are constrained to a proportional dimension which is a bounding box to the whole object, hence only needing to tweak one dimension.

Your right export is V accurate, so long as its the right accurate :wink:

Very helpful

btw I do have a couple O questions I’ll PM to you.

Cheers