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Blender 3D Printing Essentials
Blender 3D Printing Essentials

Blender 3D Printing Essentials: Learn 3D printing using the free open-source Blender software. This book gives you both an overview and practical instructions, enabling you to learn how to scale, build, color, and detail a model for a 3D printer.

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Blender 3D Printing Essentials

Chapter 2. Measuring and Texturing Techniques for 3D Printing

You have been given a general introduction to 3D printing. Now it's time to dive into preparing a file to be used in 3D printing. We will cover using the Ruler/Protractor to measure objects and texturing the model.

We'll be covering the following topics in this chapter:

  • Precision modeling in Blender

  • Using the Ruler/Protractor tool

  • UV unwrapping

  • Texture painting

  • External textures

Precision modeling in Blender


With 3D printing, every object comes out of Blender into the real world. It must fit on the printing bed of a real 3D printer. It has real walls that must support the weight of the object; it's got real limits on how small or large the detail can be.

Nothing in the real world is perfect.

Note

One note on the instructions in this book. Sometimes several keys need to be pressed at the same time. These will be represented with a plus between them such as Shift + D. Press both keys at the same time.

Pressing several keys in sequence will be represented by the word "press" followed by the keys separated by spaces, such as press S Y 0 Enter. You would press the S key, then the Y key, then the 0 key, and finally the Enter key.

Some commands may use both, such as press Shift + D Enter. Here, you would press the Shift and the D key at the same time. Then you would press the Enter key.

  1. Open Blender or open a new file by navigating to File | New File in the upper-left corner...

Preparing the model for coloring


The first difference to realize between making colors in Blender for 3D printing and the usual way of making colors in Blender is that you have less control. All you can control is the diffuse color. You cannot make the object shinier by adjusting the specularity, you cannot add transparency, or any of the other controls. In this respect, a 3D printer is like a regular printer. All it understands is a colored pixel. If you use transparency, at best it will show you the bare physical material underneath. Shininess, specularity, and so on are all properties of the material that you are printing with.

There are three ways to color your model:

  • Leave the model uncolored and select a colored material when printing

  • Assign colors to the polygons

  • Assign a texture map to the polygons

Leaving the object uncolored

Many 3D printers do not handle color. This includes printers that print metal, extruded plastic, or liquid resins. The final color of the object comes from the material...

Summary


Now you have a good idea of how to use the Ruler/Protractor tool and how to unwrap a UV map, paint a texture map, and apply it to the object. You also learned how to use the F Clone brush to create a texture that is more detailed than you would want to do with the Blender painting system.

In the next chapter you will be introduced to what it takes to properly make a Blender model for 3D printing. You will learn how to measure it precisely and how to make the object so it will come out correctly into the real world.

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Key benefits

  • Design beautiful, colourful, and practical objects in Blender to print or export
  • Master Blender's special 3D printing tools to maximize print quality and minimize cost
  • Consider requirements unique to 3D printing such as structural integrity and stability

Description

Like computing, 3D printing has been around for decades but it was expensive and was only used for making complex prototypes. Now, prices have dropped and third-party printing services such as Shapeways have become available, making the technology available to everyone.Blender is an open source modeling and animation program popular in the 3D printing community. 3D printing demands more of a modeler than animation or virtual reality. The model maker must engineer their model to work in the real world. They must keep in mind the particular needs of the materials and printers that they are planning to use to print their model. This practical guide gives Blender users all the information they need to design high-quality 3D printed objects. With a solid exploration of the 3D modeling process, design considerations for 3D printing, plus step-by-step exercises, you will soon be comfortable making 3D objects for real-world enjoyment. Starting with an overview of 3D printing, this guide moves onto to precision measurement, fixing problems in a 3D model, and how to make it light and strong enough for real-world use.You will learn how to scale, build, and detail a model for a 3D printer. You will learn to color and decorate it, as well as making parts precisely in the size you want them, so that multi-part objects fit together smoothly. You will also learn tips on saving money when you have printed your model.With the help of this guide, you will be able to complete your project and learn how to export the file so it is ready for a variety of 3D printers.

Who is this book for?

If you are a Blender user or someone who wants to use Blender to make 3D objects suitable for 3D printing, this book is ideal for you. You should already be comfortable with basic modeling in Blender - including using modifiers - although advanced skills are not required. All of the models that you will need are explored in-depth. This book does not assume that you will use any specific printer and teaches the general principles common to building models for most printers. It also gives you tips on discovering the requirements of the specific printer you will be using.

What you will learn

  • Understand how a 3D printer makes a 3D object
  • Get an introduction to different types of 3D printers
  • Explore the materials that can be used in a 3D printer
  • Get to grips with precision modeling techniques in Blender
  • Use Blender s Ruler/Protractor tool
  • Unwrap a texture to fit a model
  • Make a model watertight and manifold
  • Design an object hollow using the Solidify modifier
  • Export to STL and X3D files for printing
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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Nov 21, 2013
Length: 114 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783284597
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Length: 114 pages
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ISBN-13 : 9781783284597
Vendor :
Blender Foundation
Languages :
Concepts :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

4 Chapters
Designing Objects for 3D Printing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Measuring and Texturing Techniques for 3D Printing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Making a Blender Model that's Ready to Print Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Making Strong, Light Objects with the Solidify Modifier Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.5
(13 Ratings)
5 star 46.2%
4 star 15.4%
3 star 7.7%
2 star 7.7%
1 star 23.1%
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BurtB Aug 07, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Helpful for fine tuning models for 3d printing.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
couilleaux g. Jul 25, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
produit de qualité et conforme
Amazon Verified review Amazon
andrzej gracki Dec 14, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book leads step by step through the process of preparing models for 3D printing.Apart from the first chapters which introduce the 3d printing in general, rest of the book concentrate of specific aspectsof preparing models to be correctly 3d printed.Following the simple samples, focusing on tasks will teach you how to use Blender to export models ready to 3d PrintingThe books takes the simple models and show how to check it in terms of preparation for 3D printing.After this should not be a problem to prepare the more complex models.I have find it useful since most of my modelling job concentrating on product visualisation, rendering. I don't even thinkabout terms like watertight or manifolds.Chapter 3 explains these topics and highlights the other possible problems in the modelling.You will also learn how to use other handy tools (Ruler/Protractor)I consider myself an advanced Blender user but I learned some new things from this book.I think that this book might be helpful not only for amateurs who want to have fun with 3D printing but also Blenderprofessionals.Especially now, when I often meet with clients who want to have a prototype models ready for 3D printing
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Othman Dec 29, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The best choice for home 3d printing. It starts with a long introduction about 3d printing and types of 3d printers then it starts teaching you how to print without facing common problems.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ann Dec 22, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The book begins by explaining the many different types of 3D printers. Chapter Two discusses using Blender's Ruler/Protractor tool to keep the model within range of the printer's bed. Chapter 3 prepares the dragon for 3D printing. The author invites the reader to inspect the model using the Mesh Analysis tool to find distorted faces and intersecting polygons which can make holes in sculptures. The author discusses how to reduce printing costs as he guides the reader into making the dragon both light and strong and uses the solidify modifier to make sure the inner wall doesn't penetrate the outer wall. He uses the 3D tool box to inspect for manifold edges to produce a better quality sculpture and discusses the differences between different export files STL and X3D. The author guides the reader using the Boolean modifier to make a pencil cup as seen on the book's cover.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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