My Workflow for 3D Printing Design

This was requested by a few people and I thought it was a fun idea to talk through my workflow for my 3D print designs.

Jetpack (and other designs) available on the following links:

[aam]

I really like the pace and level of detail in your videos - you are getting it spot on. Enough content to make it really informative but not so much that a relative newbie like me is overwhelmed. Thanks!

[azrael]

You can save your blend file without all modifiers applied (or at least last one), after saving they all be applied in order. In case test failure, just open blend file and change settings. Thanks for your videos!

[noliverk]

Would absolutely like to see a longer workflow video where you go through start to finish.

[christiandelao]

I actually do something similar with not using sketchs, I can't visualize things like at all, so blocking things out can be really difficult and not very helpful, so I start with the peices that feel like they'll be the main section, and start adding in details that'll help me with the rest, like a mechs shoulder and hip joints

[studiozealot]

I don't usually comment on your videos, so I'll take a second to say thank you for all the tutorials! They've really helped me incrementally level up my Blender skills and I so appreciate it!

Mostly I wanted to throw you some affirmation about your workflow— it bugs me when people say "you're doing it wrong" just because someone has a different process. I'm somebody who's developed a lot of sketching and drawing skills over the years, but even I approach 3D without a sketch sometimes and I've learned a lot by trying new things and shaking up my workflow, so definitely keep it up!

[BrailleScale]

Awesome! That made a lot of sense to me. I feel like I have a pretty good conceptual idea of things I want to model in my head, and so then I too will use blender as like a working sketch without actually drawing anything down. I take all my real world measurements of scale objects with a basic digital caliper or I find the 1:1 scale measurements and use a scale calculator to get a rough idea of the millimeters I'm working with. Very helpful to see how you use the non-negotiables to build off of and then apply last as cutouts. Especially if they need adjusting after a few test prints. Looking forward to some longer working-versions of your process if you get a chance

[BB-tiic]

I would love to see the printed result on your mini! Great vid as always.

[MartinJamesLittle]

For the thruster part that you accidentally applied the rotation on; you can Align the view port as you did with Shift Num7, then Shift Right click on the face to align the cursor with that face. You can then note the rotation of the cursor down, move the cursor to the origin of the part, re apply the rotation of the cursor that you noted down and move the origin of the part to the cursor.

This will only get you the Z axis alignment in your case, but with a cylindrical part the X and Y might not be as important, or you can rotate the part so that the Local and World Z axis align and then do the same procedure on the other axi as needed (and if you have a face to use as a reference).

It's a very long-winded explanation, but only takes a minute, and can get you out of a hole if you can't undo to that point.

[mordenthex]

This is awesome! yes please do a real time video of you working on something. Maybe even have a live real time video. I would love to watch your real time workflow and learn some tips a the same time. :)

[Impossible_Emporium]

One of the key points you make is about version control. So you can go back to an older version. An easy way to make that happen can be as follows;

To save a new version, use Save As (Control Shift S), then release those keys quickly or it may glitch out and not accept the next bit...
NOTE: If there is no number in the filename it will add one to the end, otherwise it will increase the number as shown below, starting from zero.
By pressing <Plus on the number pad>, it will increase the number by 1.
<SHIFT> & <Plus on the number pad> will increase the number by 10.
<CTRL> & <Plus on the number pad> will increase the number by 100.


NOTE: So to avoid this stuffing up filenames for the JP-17 Jump-pack. I'd suggest add a number ot the end of the filename. Eg JP-17 Jump-pack-0

[Kurt]

Thank you for all your vids! Super helpful for 3D printing

[davecolwell]

I'd like to know about how you handle cleaning up mesh for printing, non manifold edge and stuff. As my models get more and more complicated it seems to take me more time to prep the model for printing than it does to build it in the first place. I'm constantly trying to think about the mesh and normals and how things will stick together but it can be a real pain. I'm sure I'm not doing something right.

[MCHammer]

This is an incredibly informative video! This has helped me figure out a good workflow when transitioning from digital game asset creation to creating models for printing. One question: At the end when you finally union pieces together, how to do you manage and resolve mesh issues as a result of the boolean? I've generally used HardOps to cSharpen and weighted normals to resolve these, but wondering what you do?

Keep it up!

[lithium]

Great explanation on your process.
I would love a video on tolerances for 3D printing. Specially like parts that need to move in one another like joints or just like that connection piece.

[richardduska]

Great videos. But it dose highlight how litle tools I'm using during my modeling process. Like I mainly only use loop cuts and extrude to get the shapes I want.

[kevinm]

Thanks a ton for making these tutorials! I wonder if you would and have time can you make a video that shows what Blender features and functionality that does not translate to a 3D print? For example there are some things that work great for the digital world that will not translate and print like using the smoothing tools. I have done a few prints where things I created did not carry through to the printer and I wasted a ton of time and material. I get confused on this issue and I am sure there are others that dont know what they can and cant do in Blender that are a waste of time and wont translate to the printer. Hope that made sense?

[adrianalcomendras]

do you have a video of you making a jetpack from scratch from start to finish? I'm working on making one myself but im in a bit of a block and I think following along might help me

[HrafnNordhri]

Greetings, I've not modeled anything for 3D printing as of yet. I've had requests for 3D printed versions of my lightsabers. Do you have any information on how to get started.

[Yoshis_Studio]

Hey man....I love your vids. Question, do you do personal training? DM me pls.