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Thread: Interesting 3D Printing Service

  1. #1
    Community Leader Facebook Connected torstan's Avatar
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    Default Interesting 3D Printing Service

    There's a commercial 3D printing service online now - this could be interesting for 3D terrain?

    http://www.shapeways.com/

  2. #2
    Professional Artist Djekspek's Avatar
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    wow this is so cool! Gonne dust off my copy of Sculptris now i think...

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    Community Leader Facebook Connected tilt's Avatar
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    wow - super cool.. now I wanna learn 3D (again)
    regs tilt
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    Community Leader Jaxilon's Avatar
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    That is so stinking cool!
    I believe I could create 3d with my hands but so far I think I suck at digital 3d. I should have been a potter I think.
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

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    Administrator Redrobes's Avatar
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    If anyone has a desperate need to make a real 3D block from a height map then PM me and I can sort that out. Its not a cheap thing but easily doable.

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    Community Leader Facebook Connected tilt's Avatar
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    i'm wondering what program to use for this. I learned som 3D studio Max about 10 years ago - but that program cost about as much as a trip to the moon. Are there any freeware programs (or cheap) that are easy to use and yet can produce good quality 3D ??
    regs tilt
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    Administrator Redrobes's Avatar
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    Wilbur ?

    And you can create height maps from contours which I have done and semi-tutted a few times. Its hard to create really good terrain from hand drawn contours but you can use Wilbur to spruce them up a bit.

    You can download height map DEM data which I do all the time like for my failed NY challenge entry or the Japan challenge etc. You can create it from existing reference material like what we do in the ME-DEM project for middle earth but thats hard. I write my free instant islands app to generate random noise terrain or you can synth up some Perlin or similar of which Su-Liam does here by using lib noise or something else.

    Free good 3D app is Blender - but I would say good as in powerful but not necessarily easy to use... people have mixed feelings about that app - or should I say there are mixed opinions from people about it - yes probably the latter. There is sketchup as well though thats not really for doing the terrain part of 3D worlds.

    If your dead set on using a 3D printer as opposed to some other method then you will almost certainly need a file format of STL - the stereo lithography format. Blender has that and I think there are sketchup converters for it. I expect that 3D studio and all the big guns have it too, plus POVray, but it might be less popular on light weight 3D apps as its more of a CAM format than a graphics format.

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    Community Leader Facebook Connected tilt's Avatar
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    cool, thanks for that Redrobes, I wasn't thinking of terrain though, more generating 3D objects for all sorts of fun. My first thought were a nice present for my wife for her birthday, and even though she's a roleplayer, I'm guessing she don't want a mountain range *lol*
    regs tilt
    :: My DnD page Encounter Depot free stuff for your game :: My work page Catapult ::
    :: Finished Maps :: Competion maps - The Island of Dr. Rorshach ::
    :: FREE Tiles - Compasses :: Other Taking a commision - Copyright & Creative Commons ::
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  9. #9

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    I'm not sure POVray can export STL (or anything much!) - it's generally a very "selfish" tool ! At this moment in time the povray site appears to be down so I can't check but...
    Blender can export STL, so that's your best bet I think, but I can't speak from any experience.
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  10. #10
    Community Leader Facebook Connected tilt's Avatar
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    Djespek talked about Blender too, and now you guys... I guess I better download it and have a look
    regs tilt
    :: My DnD page Encounter Depot free stuff for your game :: My work page Catapult ::
    :: Finished Maps :: Competion maps - The Island of Dr. Rorshach ::
    :: FREE Tiles - Compasses :: Other Taking a commision - Copyright & Creative Commons ::
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