3D printing makes virtual things real, and sometimes, those things need to match back up to an object in the real world. So, it is often very important that accurate measurements be made when planning and then be applied to the modeling of a 3D object. While most people don't consider Blender up to the task, it is actually capable of modeling objects with CAD-like precision. This book will get you up to speed on using Blender, then give you a project to follow along with in order to teach you the techniques to make objects that satisfy a measured precision.
Chapter 1, 3D Printing Basics, will help you understand 3D printing basics, types of 3D printing, and how FFF printers work.
Chapter 2, Beginning Blender, will introduce Blender, how to set it up, and some basic and mid-level functionality. Knowing the content of this chapter will get you over Blender's famous learning curve and provide the basic knowledge and reference necessary for following along with future projects.
Chapter 3, Measuring Basics, mentions how it is very important that accurate measurements must be made when planning and applied to the modeling of a 3D object. In this chapter, we deal with different techniques of taking measurements: measuring with a ruler or calipers, the grid paper trace method, and 3D scanning.
Chapter 4, An SD Card Holder Ring, walks you through the process of making a cool 3D printed project—an SD card holder.
A computer with at least a 2-GHz CPU, 2 GB of RAM, and, of course, Blender.
This book is for anyone with an interest in home 3D printing and a desire to learn the basics of design and the tools to make their ideas a reality.
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: Now, find Ch10 Scanned Image.jpg, and right-click to save the image.
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: Start Blender and, as usual.
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We also provide you with a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand the changes in the output. You can download this file from http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/3DPrintingDesignsDesignanSDCardHolder_ColorImages.pdf.
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