![]() ![]() The model would have to be scaled at a later point (02). This is an appropriate height for an alien character, but too tall for a small statue meant to fit on a shelf. The scene file came complete with a character object, TIF texture maps, and a rig that could be used to pose the mesh (01). We started with the Alien Emissary from the LightWave 10 Content Directory.We wanted to test LightWave’s capabilities for 3D printing by sending our Alien Emissary model straight out of LightWave to Shapeways ( ) 3D printing service for a full-color 3D print. Subdivide needed three iterations to get to an acceptable level of smoothness across this mesh, going from 7,380 polygons to 472,320.Įxample: Preparing the Alien Emissary for 3D Printing A better way to reduce faceting can be achieved by using the Subdivide tool set to Smooth. However, this will reduce the size of finer details as they respond to the subpatching algorithm. If this isn’t the look you are going for, you can subpatch your object and then freeze it. When you print a model with too few polygons, it can look faceted in print. The two polygons share nothing and have no thickness. It has at least 2mm thickness and the fold in the center is contiguous. The green fold on the left will print well. The next important factor is that there can be no intersecting polygons - that’s to say polygons that pierce others without being connected. Because LightWave’s polygons are single-sided, the inside of the ring counts as a big hole, even if it has been surfaced as double sided. Our third ring is not acceptable as an object for 3D printing. The ring is hollow but the polygons are thickened. The first ring is manifold, there are no holes. You can’t use any of LightWave’s tricks, like subpatching or double-sided polygons, everything needs to be present in the model but equally you do not need to worry about polygon topology. This means that they are a solid continuous surface with no holes. Models need to be watertight, otherwise known as manifold. Modeling for 3D printing is a new discipline for many with LightWave and requires a certain rigor.
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