VW & 3D Printing Wishes

[Kevin McAllister]

After almost a year of using VW for 3D printing, here are some items for the VW wish list -

Basic STL Export Improvements

- rename this export "Export STL" instead of "Export Stereo Lithography" to bring it in line with standard terminology used in other software packages.

- add the ability to choose mm or inches in the export dialog (see image).

- add the ability to scale the model that is exported including options for none, current layer scale (STL only exports the current layer), standard architectural scales or a custom scale (see image).

Advanced STL Export Improvements

- in an idea world this dialog would also give you a polygon count or a visual representation of the number of polygons.

- this dialog would give the option to "wrap" the geometry, removing all internal structures (see netfabb Wrap Part Surface or Autodesk Project Miller Surface).

- some error checking including flipped triangles (see my solids wish which details some of the errors VW creates), mesh holes etc.

Other wishes

- The ability to make the "page" in the design layers into a 3D plane as reference for a 3d printer's build platform. Ideally I could choose 3D printer in Page Setup to turn this on/off. (Right now I'm using a custom page size that matches the build platform but it only works as a reference in Top/Plan).

The industry is shifting quickly and in a short time it will be clear if STL is replaced by 3MF (Microsoft's 3D Manufacturing Format).

Kevin

[PVA - Admin]

I like it.

I would even go so far as to suggest something similar to the Publish or Export DWG profiles, that let you save a specific set of settings for easier export to multiple collaborators/printers/methods of manufacturing.

Submitting in a few separate requests.

[Kevin McAllister]

Jim,

I like that idea too. I considered asking for it but then decided to wait until after the dust settles with 3MF. Its hard to get info about it right now unless you're a developer. I'm not entirely sure what parameters it encompasses.

The biggest 3d printing toolchain challenge I found is getting the scale right. Its easy if you what each processing package is looking for (mm vs inches) and if you have a lookup table for the scale factor of various architectural scales. But I've yet to find a CAD package that deals with it intuitively when exporting an STL. The 3D printer end of the toolchain (slicer/controller) assumes full size because its not customized for architectural applications.

Thanks for submitting this.

Kevin

[bcd]

It might be useful to also have an extents feedback in the dialogue.

So as the scale slider is moved the bounding box size is displayed as feedback.

Also - there could be pre-set fields for the printer's max build dimensions which the export function would use to offer the user this maximum scale at the outset.

[PVA - Admin]

Also - there could be pre-set fields for the printer's max build dimensions which the export function would use to offer the user this maximum scale at the outset.

Maybe to make it a feature that could work for multiple industries as well as 3D printing, a "3D Boundary" as an interface item could be set. Sort of a 3D page area that you could set as a document preference. Then it may be helpful in keeping within zoning limits for architectural/landscaping projects as well. However the ability to set this build area during the STL export process may be more useful...

Kevin-

For the time being, I'm creating an article for the kbase on good STL export procedures, would you mind if I used a few items from your posts on the topic?

[Kevin McAllister]

Jim,

Feel free to use anything that is helpful.

Some feedback like in bcd's post are useful but I'm not sure how this fits into VW. There are two main workflow's I've encountered -

1) taking an existing project (ie. architectural) and 3d printing pieces in scale. This almost always requires breaking things apart, hence the desire to have a 3D build plate "page" for layout in the design layers and for linking export scale to layer scale.

2) designing something specifically to be 3D printed (ie. digital manufacturing). Likely you're working in full scale here so the existing export STL is designed for you.

There is a third workflow that's necessary in some instances, but I try to avoid it if possible. That workflow is designing something full size (ie. architectural) and then physically scaling it in VW to make it printable. The reason to avoid it is that once the object is scaled, modifications become far less intuitive.

Most 3d printing toolchain apps include easy, visual ways to scale things on the build platform (ie. fit to build plate, half size, double size or sizing by dragging handles). They also include easy ways to lay out multiple objects on the build plate. They just don't include intuitive ways to match a specific standard scale. (How the 3d printing toolchain will work is still in flux. These external apps will eventually be incorporated somehow, just not yet.)

An amazing tool for 3D printing prep would be a tape measure tool that could be toggled to measure in real world dimensions (ie. a 3' wide door) or paper scale dimensions (ie. the same door is 1.5" on a 1/2" scale layer). Right now I switch between a design layer and a sheet layer with a scaled viewport. This is necessary to make sure small geometry is printable.

Sorry for so many thoughts in one post.

Cheers,

Kevin

[bcd]

bcd's post are useful but I'm not sure how this fits into VW.

Kevin

The idea is simply akin to presetting the page size and clicking scale to fit.

For component printing you would use this for the largest component to identify the upper limit.

[PVA - Admin]

bcd's post are useful but I'm not sure how this fits into VW.

Kevin

The idea is simply akin to presetting the page size and clicking scale to fit.

For component printing you would use this for the largest component to identify the upper limit.

I see what you mean and it does make sense, I think with a little tweaking that concept could be integrated into a UI element that would be useful for other industries as well.

Edited October 15, 2013 by JimW

[Jeffrey W Ouellette]

I'll bet on AMF before 3MF...

http://blog.stratasys.com/2012/09/19/new-amf-file-format-to-unleash-the-potential-of-3d-printing/

[Kevin McAllister]

Jeffrey,

Its hard to tell though you may know more as a developer. AMF is definitely supposed to be a replacement for STL. Its unclear, at least to me, whether 3MF is designed to do the same or perhaps be a replacement for GCODE instead. There seem to be varying opinions online as well. The reality is that the 3MF format becomes live in a day or so whereas adoption of AMF doesn't seem to have the same momentum.

As an end user there is a desperate need for a standard format that's better than STL. File management is a real problem if you're using various tools to prep files for printing. Among my 3D printing files I can find .stl, .fabbproject, .gcode, .s3g, .thing, .x3g, and .form. These are in addition to my original .vwx and .c4d files. Its a bit out of control.

Kevin

[PVA - Admin]

Yup, its basically an HD-DVD/BlueRay race with these. AMF seems more reasonable, but every once in awhile the Microsoft horse wins simply because it belongs to Microsoft.

Currently .STL is the most predominant only because the large majority of applications already supported it and it was the main file format of choice in the hobbyist movement (Thingiverse/Makerbot etc).