Book Image

Blender 3D Printing Essentials

Book Image

Blender 3D Printing Essentials

Overview of this book

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.
Table of Contents (12 chapters)

About the Reviewers

Sandra Gilbert started using Blender in the fall of 2000. Back then, there were not as many tutorials or educational resources available for Blender artists, so she, like many others, figured it out as she went along. Over the years, Sandra has seen not only Blender, but the community itself grow and mature. Now, there is a wealth of tutorials and educational materials available.

She is the Managing Editor of Blenderart Magazine. In 2005, she and her friend, Gaurav Nawani, decided to start Blenderart Magazine. Blenderart Magazine is a theme-based community magazine offering Blender tutorials, interviews, and making of articles.

Having been part of such a large open source community and watching how the community comes together to create and accomplish large projects, she knows that Blenderart's success is due in large part to the Blender community itself. The community supports their endeavor in many ways, the biggest being by contributing articles, tutorials, and images to be published in each issue.

Taylor Petrick is currently a student at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He took an interest in 3D graphics and modeling in middle school and has continued to develop his skills ever since. He has a strong programming background, with over six years of practical experience using C++ and technologies such as OpenGL, DirectX, and CUDA. Currently, he is working with ray tracing and investigating its potential for use in real-time applications.

He uses Blender3D both as a tool for his projects and to create artwork as a hobby. He first started using Blender to make models and animations for a video game project and has actively used it ever since. He is excited about 3D printing and how quickly it is entering widespread use. He is particularly interested in the Peachy Printer, a new low-cost option that interfaces directly with Blender.