3D Print Video Game Models (2021 Updated Tutorial)

It's the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, so I thought it'd be fun to update my 7yo tutorial on ripping game assets and repairing them for 3D Printing!

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:07 Software
4:49 Ripping game meshes using Nifskope
7:48 Repairing meshes in 3D Builder
9:48 Repairing meshes in Blender
12:14 Adding smoothness using subdivision
16:25 ADVANCED - Adding texture with displaced UV maps and more
17:13 Extracting textures with Bethesda Archive Extractor
19:26 Displacing using UV map
21:35 My 3D Printed Results!

[joshwalker]

The grammar in the title threw me for a loop. This is perfect timing, just as I'm getting back into Skyrim. Happy Skyrim Anniversary

[davidmcglynn]

Extra trick in blender is to use the bump map texture to add surface details. After you subsurface the model, instead of loading the colourspace texture, load in the displacement map (I can't remember the exact name Bethesda give to theirs, but it will be the RGB image). You can apply another modifier using that texture instead. It offsets the vertices on the model to match how the game would interpret it. (The game doesn't use vertices for this, just fakes it with light rendering)

[ice_aspect]

I really appreciate the fact you explained what each modifier does in blender instead of just saying to do it. I’ve used blender for a while now so now I know what the stuff does, but when I was new and learning how to use it, a lot of the tutorials were very vague about everything so it was pretty hard.

[TheLoveDoctor]

Talking about Bethesda prints, the first video I ever saw of yours was the one where you printed the Fallout Deathclaw in a huge size in multiple parts - and got my first Up Mini not long after! How time flies!

Great to see you update this 'origin story' for modern times, the most frequently requested prints I get are game file rips from Destiny 2, using 'Destiny STL Generator' - I'll definitely be using this same method for fixing up those models, as they're frequently VERY borked!

[Panda_Gibs]

Combining Edge Split with Subdivision Surface and playing with the Edge Split angle is how I preserve sharp details. It isn't perfect, but it is much more powerful for not much more effort.

[AndrewSink]

Such a clever idea. It’s wild to see how far the software had come; awesome video!

[silverrain]

Oh. My. God.... Thank you SO much on the displace modifier!!!
I have spent weeks manually trying to bulk everything up feeling like there was a better way of doing things. You have literally saved me hundreds of hours! Realized I wasn't subscribed but I sure as hell am now!

[deingolfcabrio]

Fun fact: since the first video Angus has not aged a single day :D

[BaekHo-One]

Yes....it's here! Been waiting for this upload. Thank you sooo much Angus!

[sofa]

I am so shocked that the exact, perfect video that I was looking for actually exists. Thank you so much for making this tutorial, gets me even more excited for when I can finally invest in this hobby :D

[ping]

This new haircut suit you great, and I'll deal with it :)
Nice video as I missed the original one 7 years back !

[kodwhat]

Great video! I'll just add that there's a method to retain those sharp edges when subdividing.
There's a setting called "Mean Crease" that applies per edge. It controls how th smoothing is applied:
A value of 0 (default) and the edge is fully smoothed

A value of 1 and the edge is sharp
It allows for a much finer control of the smoothing, and it could change everything on that alduin model.
It can take a bit more time to get all the edges you need to sharpen, but it's not really that more complex, just time consuming and would give a much better result

[whiskeybravo]

That original video was one of the reasons I decided to pull the trigger and purchase my own printer like 4 years ago, thanks Angus!

[squishy]

Great video! Here's some Blender tips and tricks to help if you want to understand it more.

If you're wanting to add detail with the displace method, it's better to add more polygons manually rather than using subdivision surfaces. Subdivision Surfaces smooths the model. To manually do it, go into edit mode with tab, and select all, press the W, and the S or click Subdivide. The manual method, doesn't change any of the geometry, it just splits the polygons in half. You can do it multiple times, but each time, it is exponentially more.

For example if you do SS on a pyramid, you'll end up with a blob. If you do it manually, you'll just have a pyramid with a lot more polygons.

In order to work with displacement, it would be best to separate the models first if possible by selecting all in edit mode, and pressing P, all loose objects. Then you can displace them separately, and then use a Boolean to rejoin them.

Another way to do the wall, would be to use the Solidify modifier so that you still have just the wall shape, as well as not having to print the thing as a fully solid object.

The reason the Alduin model was not viewable, was because the camera distance was not far enough to view the whole model, to fix this, on the item properties in the top right of the main window, select the view tab, and change the clip distance. This way you don't have to rescale the object.

Blender's scaling is very accurate, I make non-organic size critical components with it all the time. You just have to set it up how you want it. I'm an American that loves the metric system for measurements with modeling. It's so much easier than freedom units. (for this anyway).

There is a built in 3D modeling addon in blender that you can fix manifold objects with. It doesn't work all the time, but most of the time, you can fix object pretty easily. It becomes a tab in the item properties top right window.

If you ever need any help with blender, feel free to ask. -Kevin ( inventimark, youtube channel).

[JimmyBlimps]

Quick tip: If a detail gets rounded over by the subdivision surface modifier and you want to bring it back, you can select the edges in edit mode that you want to restore and press Shift + E then drag the geometry to form back against the edges.

[startedtech]

Now it's time to print out an entire diorama of a Skyrim town 😅

[WaterBoiGaming.]

Crazy how the universe just kinda brings me back to Skyrim

[gugman]

As soon as I started to watch the video I noticed the new hair cut and all I thought about was you must be going to Cosplay as Zorg.
Gary Oldman's character in The 5th Element

[supercuttlefish]

Blender has an included "3d printing" plugin that allows you to repair meshes with a single button press. You can also voxel remesh a model in sculpt mode to make it solid and manifold if that doesn't work

[rix]

Note for the legal aspect of ripping content out of the game files. It's actually written in the terms of use. And it varies between games. In most case, it's authorized for personal use (since it can't be monitored anyway).

For blender, if you want a great entry point to 3D modeling in this software, Blender Guru is your guy. Tons of content with updtated version of it's main course suiting the lastests versions of blender. Then you can go deeper with other big names in youtube that you'll probably discover during your journey.