Book Image

Blender 3D Printing by Example

By : Vicky Somma
5 (1)
Book Image

Blender 3D Printing by Example

5 (1)
By: Vicky Somma

Overview of this book

Blender is an open-source modeling and animation program popular in the 3D printing community. 3D printing brings along different considerations than animation and virtual reality. This book walks you through four projects to learn using Blender for 3D Printing, giving you information that you need to know to create high-quality 3D printed objects. The book starts with two jewelry projects-- a pendant of a silhouette and a bracelet with custom text. We then explore architectural modeling as you learn to makes a figurine from photos of a home. The final project, a human hand, illustrates how Blender can be used for organic models and how colors can be added to the design. You will learn modeling for 3D printing with the help of these projects. Whether you plan to print at-home or use a service bureau, you’ll start by understanding design requirements. The book begins with simple projects to get you started with 3D modeling basics and the tools available in Blender. As the book progresses, you’ll get exposed to more robust mesh modeling techniques, modifiers, and Blender shortcuts. By the time you reach your final project, you’ll be ready for organic modeling and learning how to add colors. In the final section, you’ll learn how to check for and correct common modeling issues to ensure the 3D printer can make your idea a reality!
Table of Contents (16 chapters)

Flipping face normals

In Chapter 3, Converting a Bezier Curve to a Properly Sized 3D Mesh, you were introduced to face normals, which is how Blender and the slicer determine what is the inside and the outside of your object. A common issue is some of those normals are flipped so Blender would see the outside of your object as an inside. As illustrated in Chapter 3, Converting a Bezier Curve to a Properly Sized 3D Mesh, you can turn on a light blue line in the Properties Shelf to mark outside of your faces. For a normal cube, such as the cube on the left in the following image, each blue line is facing the outside. However, sometimes during your modeling process, particularly when you are making your own faces, one or more faces gets flipped. In the cube on the right, one face is missing a blue line. It is facing the wrong way and pointing to the inside of the cube instead:

The...