A different 3D printed diesel

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Paul_in_Ricky
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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by Paul_in_Ricky » Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:56 pm

philipy wrote: Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:08 pmMakehuman is so simple and intuitive that it doesn't really need to be learned.
Blender on the other hand is a total nightmare!
Makehuman at a first play seems fairly straightforward, but I'm getting the impression that as soon as you need something not immediately available the learning curve will steepen dramatically.

Blender ? yup, tried several times to get into it, but, yes, it's a nightmare.

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by philipy » Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:56 pm

Paul_in_Ricky wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:56 pm Makehuman at a first play seems fairly straightforward, but I'm getting the impression that as soon as you need something not immediately available the learning curve will steepen dramatically.

Blender ? yup, tried several times to get into it, but, yes, it's a nightmare.
I admit that I've never tried making clothes etc for MH figures, but so far I haven't need to, I just look on the assets list and find something suitable.

I struggled with Blender on and off for several years without getting anywhere at all, but then Metalmuncher on here did me a short video and instructions on how to pose a figure ( move arms and legs etc). It's one of those things thats not too difficult when you know how, but obvious and intuitive it is NOT!
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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by Trevor Thompson » Fri Nov 20, 2020 6:01 pm

Well you have all contributed to setting me off on a new quest!

It looks like we can make printed people to populate our railways, and I can see a way I might be able to do this.

So I have downloaded "makehuman" and "blender". Here is my first attempt at printing a basic figure from make human - just a printing test:
IMG_1076.jpg
IMG_1076.jpg (348.64 KiB) Viewed 4495 times
and in detail:
IMG_1077.jpg
IMG_1077.jpg (323.9 KiB) Viewed 4495 times
I printed it flat on its back. My slicing software seemed to want to add "wings" filling in the space between the arms and body. There must be holes in the mesh there. So firstly it is 84mm high or 5ft 3inch tall, and it does look anatomically superior to anything else I have. Makes my own figures built up from layers of modelling clay look positively chunky. (the other figure in the first photo was bought by the way - not my own creation)

Secondly while the printing isn't perfect at least the fingers and toes are all there. And the face looks pretty good as well. Certainly assuming I can add the correct clothing and adjust poses then I would accept the print quality for now.

The big challenge is going to be getting the clothing and hats appropriate to the 1880's. Modern clothing isn't really what I want! I am looking for bowler hats, top hats, long dresses and that sort of thing.

So lots of learning to do. And perhaps one of those printers which uses uv light to set a liquid. They don't seem very expensive.

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by ge_rik » Fri Nov 20, 2020 6:28 pm

The resolution looks quite good for a 3d print. Like you, I'd need a hat and other accoutrements, in my case appropriate for the 1930s

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by philipy » Fri Nov 20, 2020 6:46 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Fri Nov 20, 2020 6:01 pm There must be holes in the mesh there.

The big challenge is going to be getting the clothing and hats appropriate to the 1880's. Modern clothing isn't really what I want! I am looking for bowler hats, top hats, long dresses and that sort of thing.

So lots of learning to do. And perhaps one of those printers which uses uv light to set a liquid. They don't seem very expensive.
MH doesn't aim to produce printable figures, it and Blender are primarily aimed at Video games and etc so there are holes in the mesh all the time. They recommend Meshmixer, I think, to fix them, but I can't get on with that either!

There are lots of Youtube videos on making clothing but I haven't had the need so haven't spent the time learning, don't think it's that easy though, judging by some of the comments.

I mentioned that Steve has used his resin printer for figures and done a comparison with one of my FDM prints of the same thing on the prvious page of this thread.
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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by Trevor Thompson » Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:05 pm

philipy wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:56 pm
Paul_in_Ricky wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:56 pm Makehuman at a first play seems fairly straightforward, but I'm getting the impression that as soon as you need something not immediately available the learning curve will steepen dramatically.

Blender ? yup, tried several times to get into it, but, yes, it's a nightmare.
I admit that I've never tried making clothes etc for MH figures, but so far I haven't need to, I just look on the assets list and find something suitable.

I struggled with Blender on and off for several years without getting anywhere at all, but then Metalmuncher on here did me a short video and instructions on how to pose a figure ( move arms and legs etc). It's one of those things thats not too difficult when you know how, but obvious and intuitive it is NOT!
I have just been playing with make human and blender. I can import a figure into blender successfully. I can also export the stl file from blender. In fact it seems to print better that way.

What I cant work out is how to move the figure in blender. Not something I can find a video on either.

Any chance of a copy of that video on how to do it please - with metal munchers permission of course?

Trevor

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by philipy » Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:55 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:05 pm

What I cant work out is how to move the figure in blender. Not something I can find a video on either.

Any chance of a copy of that video on how to do it please - with metal munchers permission of course?

Trevor
Certainly I'm happy to let you have it. I've just asked Richard if it's Ok with him, so i'll let you know in due course.
Philip

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by philipy » Sat Nov 21, 2020 6:05 am

Trevor, PM sent
Philip

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by FWLR » Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:01 am

I do think that Steve's figures are superb and far better than we can buy elsewhere on the internet. Hope Steve can get to sell them to us hopefully.... :thumbright: :thumbright:

But like I have mentioned before, how close do most look at the loco's and rolling stock when we run them....Trevor is doing a great job with his attempts.


By the way I am working on Anne to look at a printer. It may take sometime, but hopefully I can get one before the end of next year.... :lol: :lol: :lol:
It's the one that Rik has sent a link on eBay for... :thumbright:

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:31 pm

philipy wrote: Sat Nov 21, 2020 6:05 am Trevor, PM sent
Many thanks

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by Trevor Thompson » Mon Nov 23, 2020 8:32 pm

Philip

Have viewed the video and I have got so far. I have imported a figure into blender with its skeleton, and made it sit down I have exported it, repaired the mesh and sliced it.

I then went on to add something for the person to sit on so I could adjust the position to fit the seat. What I end up with is a huge seat and a small person. I cant figure out how to change the size of the figure or the seat - I have to change one of them!

Trevor

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by philipy » Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:41 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 8:32 pm What I end up with is a huge seat and a small person. I cant figure out how to change the size of the figure or the seat - I have to change one of them!
Errrrr...Ummmm... I was hoping you wouldn't say that... I had exactly the same problem although I seem to remember that my figure was huge and the cab small, but I can't for the life of me remember exactly how I solved it. :oops:

I THINK it was along the lines of resizing one or the other ( probably the cab) before importing it.
If Richard reads this he may be able to help because I seem to remember him mentioning something similar.
Philip

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Re: A different 3D printed diesel

Post by metalmuncher » Tue Nov 24, 2020 6:21 pm

Different programs assume different units, so you often have to do some scaling to get things matched up. I often just try variations of 10/100/1000/25.4 until things look about right. Also need to consider if you are working in real-world scale or model scale, Makehuman will do things in real world scale, so if you are measuring cab dimensions off your scale model you need to scale one of them by 16mm/ft to suit.

On the face of it scaling in Blender is simple, select the object and hit 'S' and type the scaling factor you want, then enter.

There is more to it however, scaling in object mode scales the "container" of the object, which affects it visually, but the locations of the points within the object stay the same. Some tools e.g. file exporters might not recognise the container scale and will export the underlying points unscaled. After doing a scale in object mode, if you hit Ctrl+A and choose scale it will reset the scale of the container to 1 and actually affect the coordinates of the points within the object. Its a good idea to apply the scale this way after scaling in object mode to make sure things work as you would expect.

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