Book Image

3D Printing Blueprints

By : Joe Larson
Book Image

3D Printing Blueprints

By: Joe Larson

Overview of this book

A new industrial age is here. Machines designed to build useful and interesting objects have moved from the factory to the home. Whether you have a 3D printer or not, learning how to design your first 3D models is the best way to become part of the 3D printing movement. 3D Printing Blueprints will teach you, step by step, the tools and techniques of using Blender, a free 3D modelling program, to build 3D models for printing with simple and fun hands-on projects.3D Printing Blueprints uses engaging and fun projects that teach Blender modeling for 3D printing through hands-on lessons. First you'll learn basic modeling and make a small simple object. Then each new project brings with it new tools and techniques as well as teaching the rules of 3D printing design. Eventually you'll be building objects designed to repair or replace everyday objects. Finally you'll be able to even tackle other people's models and fix them to be 3D printable. Through the course of doing the blueprints you will custom build one-of-a-kind objects that you can call your own. Starting from a custom vase formed from a picture, lessons will progress to a multi-part modular robot toy. Then simple machines will be designed with custom gears and functions. Eventually you'll learn how to download models from the Internet and make custom objects. Finally you'll be able to build models with near real life specifications and make a print that can be used for small object repair. 3D Printing Blueprints will teach you everything you need to know about building custom 3D models to print successfully on modern home 3D printers.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
3D Printing Blueprints
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Simplifying the model


One of the problems with Dynamic Topology is that meshes can quickly gain a lot of polygons making a more complex shape. With high polygon models even powerful computers can slow down. Fortunately, it is easy to reduce the number of polygons in a model often without making any visible difference in the model, while reducing how hard the computer has to work.

  • In the modifier tab on the Properties panel on the right press the Add Modifier button and select the Decimate modifier.

Decimate works by entering a ratio between 0 and 1 and reducing the polygons in the model until they match the ratio. So to reduce the polygons to 1/10 of their original count a ratio of 0.1 would be entered. Decimate attempts to remove polygons that won't be noticed, but if the count is reduced too much it becomes very apparent. The following illustration is the teddy bear model at about 100 polygons, 200 polygons, 500 polygons, 900, and 9000, and 90,000 polygons:

There comes a point of diminishing...