I wish to print out my Poser creations as real life models. They would need to be in reasonably high definition.

Since I anticipate selling the models I would only use mesh that I had created.

Which 3D printer should I purchase?

Attached Link: http://formlabs.com/products/our-printer

http://formlabs.com/products/our-printer

Do some research before you buy, there are some patents expiring on 3D printing technology early in 2014 and once that happens prices will drop and more companies will offer printers. For high quality you want Stereolithography, not the plastic extruders.

-Sergio

To add to the above.

There are a lot of varibles that you will have to consider.

Warranty, some have no warranty at all, I know that sounds strange but thats the way it is.

Maximum size of print or volume, which varies a lot.

Print speed, doesn't really matter unless it is used all the time.

Number of print heads or spools it can switch from.

Print media type, there are a lot of them. The prices vary drastically from one material to the next.

Is the print head part of the cartridge, spool fed, metal or plastic etc. Basically longevity and ease of service.

Cost per print (which varies drasticaly between some models) Spool fed are the cheapest per print depending on what type of material your using.

This is supposedly one of the best ones for personal use. It is not the fastest, and is one of the highest costs per print.

http://cubify.com/cubex/store.aspx

The other end of the spectrum would be a simple spool fed one like this.

http://airwolf3d.com/

Spool fed ones can print far more types of materials than cartridge ones. They are far more versitle, easier to service, and a better buy in my opinion.

This one can print from .1-3mm layer thicknesses. And uses opensource software that lets you get to all the settings you would ever need to change.

http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=79

There are quite a few coming out for the holiday season. I'd wait for a few months.

I saw a 3d scanner printer coming out for $1500 that had a one touch scan n print button. Yep, it has two built in cameras, and can not only print 3d objects, BUT it can scan a real life object and print a replica.

How large a print is also going to change your decision.. some 3d printers can only print 4"x4".

There are print services popping up all over as well.. that might be a more practical option right now. You can even lease the machines instead of buying them outright. Lets face it, the technology is advancing VERY fast, and what we see in 6 months could make whats out now obsolete.

Pay close attention to resolution. Since they print in layers, if the resolution is low there will be stepped edges everywhere.(not enough vertices so to speak)

What I might suggest is find a brand, model within your budget and have them print a sample for you. Or go to the various service companies that do 3D printing and have them print some parts for you and ask about their equipment and various materials.

We have a low res printer here at work. It does OK for early stages of product development. When it comes to a trade show prototype or a prototype built for a customer presentation, we have the work done outside on high end equipment.

is a couple here , not sure if its uk only or worldwide

http://www.maplin.co.uk/3d-printer?_$ja=cgid:6972676949|tsid:45627|cid:117412469|lid:89744899|nw:g|crid:27419767229|rnd:1152901409986349686|dvc:c|adp:1t1&gclid=CKP7rM2I0rkCFbLMtAodJmcAGQ

(dont like the link but search maplin you'll find em )

Got this in an email.

http://www.turbocad.com/3DPrinters/CubeX/tabid/2488/Default.aspx?

Nope, too rich for me. Plain black with no sugar, please.

Doric

I have no idea about 3D Printers.

Poser mesh Roxie looks smooth in Poser cause of shaders
but in zBrush Poser mesh Roxie does not look smooth
untill you rase her polycount to 1.663 million.

What polycount does a 3D Printer need ?
I know zBrush can rase polycounts real high.
Would you need zBrush for a 3D Printer ?

RK, Roxie was created for Poser.  zb isn't going to work the same.  Irrelevant.

From the little I''ve paid attention, 3d printers have their own software, the zb probably would be worse than nothing. 

Graphic display on a monitor vs physical object, two different worlds.  Unrelated in any way. 

As I've been kinda sorta looking at a small 3 axis CNC milling center, what would zb do for the .dxf from TurboCad I'd be using?  Bearing in mind that the software for the machine will take the .dxf amd convert it into something the machine can understand.

zb is for computer monitors, and probably would only mess up any mesh that's going to be physically printed or machined.  Get off it, it ain't necessary.

Doric.

PrecisionXXX : never read in your post what the poloycount of a character should be for a 3D Printer ?

Polycount doesn't really matter in 3D printing.
You're object is rendered to a file called an STL which kind of makes a series of math based slices.

Kind of like a series of illutrator or photoshop paths for each slice.

So you can have as many slices as you want.

The more relevent problem is, how water tight is you model.

I spend a good amount of time fixing some freebies where the creator decided to go with unwelded points rather than a modeled bevel for a hard edge. That won't fly in 3D print.

Subdividing is easy, but welding hundreds of points is a nightmare.

I haven't even introduced the concept of infill and skinning to save material costs.

Joe@HFG : So I could 3D Print Game meshes that was never modeled to be subdivided
and they would comeout of the 3D Printer looking smooth like a high polycount
subdivided mesh that was never subdivided ?

Probably not. Like I said... WELD CITY.

Game models are notoriously created to "LOOK" right, but often have geometry that just can't work IRL. I don't think I've ever seen a water tight Game model.

If there are separate eyes, for instance, it's ok for the game rigging to float them in the head.

For 3D Print you would have to somehow boolean them into a fixed position, and you would want to remove any part that was inside the model. You're probably better off deleting the eyeball and creating geometry between the eye lids. Then, depending on how big you are printing the mesh, you would want to model how thick the skin was, and create fill inside the print so it doesn’t collapse as it prints, but also doesn't waist your plastic. Just like you need a special bueaty model for cinema renders vs game models, you would also need a custom model for 3D printing.

Lots of misinformation floatin around here about 3D printing and prototyping.

Zbrush is perfectly capable of being used for prototyping and 3D print.  Here's a tutorial series on how it's done.

http://pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/lesson/prototyping/

I've used 3dsmax for 3D printing objects on Shapeways.  3dsmax has a built-in .stl checker utililty, and it checks for things like holes in the mesh, overlapping edges, double faces, and other mesh errors which can screw up a 3D print,

That's all you really need to worry about.  Poly count means nothing.  You can 3D print a 4 sided square if you wanted, just as long as it's a solid, closed manifold object.

Shapeways will support a variety of applications and formats.  Check out their vast list of applications that you could use to create "printable" objects:

http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/supported-applications

You can create 3D printable geometry in just about any application, as long as you follow some simple rules for modeling the object without errors.

Cool thread I'm learning a lot about 3D Printers.

In the zBrush tutorails with Jeff Feligno Part 6.

Jeff said he decimated the mesh to what he thought would be a good polycount from 14,000,000 to 670,000.

So the mesh he sent to the 3D Printer ,polycount was 670,000.

So I guess ya 3D Printer whatnot polycount should be 670,000 to look smooth.

Quote - Cool thread I'm learning a lot about 3D Printers.

In the zBrush tutorails with Jeff Feligno Part 6.

Jeff said he decimated the mesh to what he thought would be a good polycount from 14,000,000 to 670,000.

So the mesh he sent to the 3D Printer ,polycount was 670,000.

So I guess ya 3D Printer whatnot polycount should be 670,000 to look smooth.

Uhm, ya, if you were going to 3D print HIS model, you could do it at 670,000 polys.  But that's what HIS model required.  Your model might not, depending on how detailed it is, and if it's hard surface, or organic in shape,etc.  Take a look at what the models on shapeways look like.  Download the stl files from some 3d print resources.  They are all different polycounts, depending on the model.

I printed a model with 67,000 faces in the .stl, and it came out quite nicely.   Granted, it wasn't a human with lots of small detail.  Just read up on 3D printing online.  There's tons of info out there on it.  You'll learn a lot more than what will be said in this thread.