what I think I’ll do is mask cavity and push the detail fo the milling models.
I usually have to push out the details for milling, especially when I do small pieces.
but i’m have problems crashing out when masking… i’m a little anoyed.
Thats a bit of bother then…please post your solution when you get it sorted.
almost glad that other peeps have these annoying little bugs to iron out, I though it was just poor little me…lol
Hey please clear your pm,s as i sent you a longish pm only to find your all full:lol:
I will email it to you now.
take care Tomas
lol i guess my email is right there…
i’m an idiot.
t
…
wondering if you can do a crest ring?
very nice work
with out a question…
I do alot of custom work, there is a pic of a crest ring I made for mr. bayless on the first page of this post.
feel free to contact me any time.
[email protected]
Hi Tomas
Great work!
Ive been a handmade Jeweller for years, and have only recently begun to realise the potential of CAD in this field.
I first started exploring Rhinooceros while I was completing a degree in fine arts majoring in Gold and Silversmithing, for me it was a great help as much of my design work has always been geometric in some aspect, I instantly saved money on graph paper and compass lead! Although I also found to use a computer in design risked a certain prejudice by the old guard lecturers, jewellers and some fellow students, a subject for which I will progress no further into here.
Ive been blindly stumbling around in Rhino and Zbrush…doing tutorials here and there, wondering if I was just wasting my time with no help or advice from anyone in my immediate vicinity and the aforementioned fine-art technophobes (probably would have been better off doing an engineering degree)…Until I came across this forum, and this thread!
After reading the whole thread in one sitting, im pretty sure ive come to the right place. and while i haven’t even begun to look around (the amount of stuff here is like learning CAD itself for me…pretty overwhelming!) It seems like even if there are a few as helpful and informative as you (which there seem to be), I just might be able to progress to where i want to be.
Ill probably lurk for the most part, and try and absorb as much as I can, (this thread was enough for one night!).
Just a few little qs…
1: When making models using some hard edged features and geometries eg: ring shanks, findings ect would I be right in assuming most of this has to be done in a 3d moddeling program such as Rhino?
If so should I stick with Rhino or is there a better program to use recommended like Modo?
As Im only beggining im just trying to make sure im on the right path, im willing to put the time into learning whatever program it takes, yet dont want to waste time learning software that wont help me or make it difficult to work between the two.
2: Typically, for filligree type work what is the the smallest diameter wire that could be safely cast?
3: On your highly textured rings…If been trying to figure out…Where the hell do you sprue???
4: What would be the minimum requirements for a laptop to run zbrush comfortably in the 1 to 2 mil polycount range?
any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks regardless for the inspiration and renewed hope!
Hi Tomas,
Is this exporter really this great? Do you have any sample work done using it…
Regards Ziggy
Hi Again…
My mind is running away with me…
Would one be able to bring in a base ring and add sculpted SubTools to it, then use the process to reduce size and export a one piece for 3D Printing… if so, this jewelery market is going to boom…
Ziggy
After today now it all begins.
I love your work and am just getting started in ZBrush. I have used Lightwave for my modelling for a few years. Bookmarked your site too, cant wait to see more!
Funny, i just happened upon your post on the day i see the release for the new Plugins for exporting for printers on the main Pixologic site. I would love to hear your take on these if or when you give them a whirl. I would like to export directly from ZBrush and grow a model without taking it into any other program. What problems do u think i would run into? Sizing? I’m not thinking for rings exactly but maybe pendats or trinkets that size might not matter if it were exact.
edit…I guess you DO have a quote on there about the 3D Print plug-in but if you have time i would like to hear a quick note on how it has helped you out. How your workflow has changed.
Thanks!
WURZEL-
1: I started using rhino but it exports like crapo. So I do all my block up in modo, I use it because it seems very natural for the way I think. I love it’s block up tools.
2: Typically, for filligree type work what is the the smallest diameter wire that could be safely cast?
well I keep trying and trying to get it smaller and smaller. OOOHH and the casting house Loves me for it.
it all depends on the model. but I have been having no troubles with .5 to 1mm.
3: On your highly textured rings…If been trying to figure out…Where the hell do you sprue???
LOL so does the Casting House…
on the rings to the inside of the shanks
4: What would be the minimum requirements for a laptop to run zbrush comfortably in the 1 to 2 mil polycount range?
I used a alienware laptop for a while but honestly even a cheeper desktop with a great video card is what you need. because I started in the 1 to 2 mil poly range and now i have the decimator I’m in the 10 mill poly range.
more is better, get all you can afford.
feel free to ask me anything, i’ll help where i can.
and thankyou.
Sigmund Hentze - I used to have to use 3 programs to get the model down to where i could build tooling paths. and the stls that rhino would export were sloppy. it couldnt tell the difference between sharp details and inverted norms or noise shells so it would screw the details.
I dont know what they did in there but the stls are very very clean. I run one or two passes in magics and the shells are beautiful.
yes it is, they made it too easy… lmao 
wolfie - yes it is.
AngellDude- I go through rhino so I do all my scaling there before I build my milling paths. now what ever program you are building your tooling paths in, you should be able to solv the scaling issues there.
as far as work flow it took 3 other programs I used down to a two button process, my god it made my life sooooooooooooooooooooo much easier.
here are a few projects in process steps.
I’ll dig up a few others tonight or tomorow.
wasp-
the base model was 13,000,000 +
the reduction was 700,000 +
squid-
the base model was 9,000,000 +
the reduction was 500,000 +
and then the shell in magics.
some other parts…
now you may think there is some redundancy but remember I’m designing a line of jewelry so I answer requests. so be kind lol the suger skull sells lmao.
I’ll post the pics of the pieces in silver as soon as i take pics of them.
Attachments
Great sense of detail, not crazy about the anatomy of your models though, but perhaps that wasn’t your goal. Still marvelous work, compliments 
small_orange_diamondsmall_orange_diamondsmall_orange_diamondsmall_orange_diamond
Cherub
P.S. I came back to ask how do you print the the moulds? And what materials are the final models made of? Who does it for you? What’s the price of the process? And also what kind of a mold would one use for a iron model? Thanks
WoW this is one of the coolest ways I can think of to use Zbrush!
Very impressive! Great work!
And thanks for sharing so many infos.
Can feel these pieces allot man! Nice work on them, what would you say is your favorite brush to use? Very inspiring, and so glad you posted!!
firstly sorry, those are some big screen caps.
Cherub - I have a c&c milling machine so for the most part I mill my pieces, that also helps me know what will mold and what wont.
if I grow a piece i use my friend travis’ company http://www.rjmrp.com
- I mill the wax
- we make a mold for high def casting
- casting in silver for the most part but I have made pieces in most metals you can think of.
I use a place in Chicago called the casting house.
http://www.castinghouse.com/ (312-782-7160)
they are the best I’ve found.
pricing all depends on what process you decide to use. they can work up a quote for you very quickly.
as far as anatomy goes i think very little about it in these pieces. very often proportions have to do with metal flow in the part, or some superficial emotion attempting to be conveyed. Happy, Angry etc… none of this is very deep.
hopefully just well designed.
all my work here is about jewelry so everything is stylised to read in a very small physical piece, so often things are very exaggerated so it will read if it is only a few mm in size. my build envelope is usualy at max a 40mm cube.
it’s taken a while to learn what detail will show in the physical world and what wont. i cant tell you how many pieces I"ve redone because I couldn’t see the detail in the waxs.
ohh and that pisses you off after an eight hour milling pass trust me.
if you need more info on your casting feel free to contact me any time I’ll help where I can.
Moni-Poroni
thank you very much for the kind words.
Hi T.S.Wittelsbach,
thanks endlessly for your time! I’m currently working on my short animated film, but you’ve inspired me to create a ring for my wife, so don’t be surprised if I contact you in near future for more info and guidance
Best wishes
Cherub
cherub - no problem at all. drop me a line any time.