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)

Making brickwork with the Array Modifier

My grandfather's house is mostly composed of bricks. A single brick is easy to model. It is simply a rectangle, a resized cube in Blender. The toughest part of modeling a brick is determining its size. For the X and the Z dimension, I'll pick sizes relative to the house itself and keep the general proportions you'd see in a real brick. For the Y dimension, my detail height, I'm going to make it slightly less pronounced than the detailing we made in Chapter 9, Mesh Modeling and Positioning the Details. The final sizes I decided on are:

Dimension Size
X 1.5 mm
Y 0.4 mm
Z 0.6 mm

We'll start our brickwork with a single brick. The steps are:

  1. If necessary, switch to Object Mode and left-click to move the 3D Cursor to where you want to create the brick. This does not need to be near or on the house yet.
  2. ...