Hi, All, I just got a Da Vinci 1 3D printer, and I need it primarily for one  project. 

I've looked around here at Renderosity and I don't find any 3D printing specific forum, so I'm going to ask here. 

I need the printer to create raised transfer patterns.  I want to 3D print a flat plane with raised ridges that correspond to my drawings so I can transfer them (in reverse) to other media.  I have access to several 3D modeling programs (all legal) that I purchased some time ago, but haven't had any real time to become familiar with.  

My main question is "Which of the programs I have would lend itself best to converting my drawings to a 3D mesh of a raised (very low relief) transfer plate?" 

I spent some time with Lightwave (my copy is 7.5) long ago, and I found it really easy to convert various fonts to 3D form, but that was quite some time ago. 

I have legal copies of Silo 2, Shade 8, Hex 2.5, Carrara 8, Pegasus, Curvy 3D, and possibly more.  any resulting files need to be converted to STL files to print.  

I was going to work on the project at my leisure over the next 8 weeks of "vacation" (I'm self employed, and this is my slow season), but I got a call to help a friend with a work crunch  that will cut my free time down to a few hours a week until I need to get busy with my own work again.

Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated. 

Thanks  ~Jerry / leather-guy

I feel 3D printer envy coming on :)

Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated. 

Thanks  ~Jerry / leather-guy

Well, for line-art, you could load up your art into Photoshop and export it as an Adobe Illustrator file. Then, load that into any 3D app that accepts .ai file formats. I use Adobe CS 2... which is ancient. The newer suite has 3D applications, so it could probably pump out a bas relief of your art. If not, then you'll have to export it as greyscale and use a 3D program that will apply that greyscale image and use it to create actual geometry.

Now, this suggestion may sound crazy, but it might also work. Plus, it's free... :)

Go grab Terragen. Grab the MicroExporter, too. Then, see here: http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=12189.0

Basically, you can create a greyscale map of your art, import it into Terragen, manipulate it if yous wish, setting limits and the like, then export it as a .obj file, using the micro-exporter, which you can then load up into just about any 3D package that will, in turn, export it as a .stl file for your 3D printer.

Workflow in 3D environments is crazy... get used to it. :)

Note: If you've used LW, you may be able to get Lightwave to do all of this. Experiment around with getting LW to generate 3D geometry from greyscale maps, if it can do that.

Renderosity does not currently have a 3D printing forum. There are several 3D printing forums out there, but they are usually specific to a particular brand of 3D printers. You could try google for a forum specific to your printer brand and model. Printers usually come with software designed to convert files for them. I think stl is supported by most. 

Otherwise you could ask in the specific software forums for people using that software for printing. 

I know that Z-Brush will do what you're requiring and it exports to STL, VRML and OBJ. But you didn't list Z-Brush in your software so this info is likely irrelevant to you. 

Meshlab is free and will output stl from obj. Lightwave can make the obj as you were previously doing but it will not export to stl. Export to obj from Lightwave and run it through Meshlab.

AFAIK, DAZ still does not permit 3D printing of their products.  There are several threads over in their Commons forum regarding this.

AFAIK, DAZ still does not permit 3D printing of their products.  There are several threads over in their Commons forum regarding this.

I have no desire or intent to print any DAZ product.  As I said in my original post I'm looking for  a quick effective way to take my own original drawings and make raised templates from them as meshes that I can 3D print.  I want to use it to do paper rubbings with my designs embossed into the paper.  I need to do it on a regular basis with a min imum of processing time to create the meshes. Morkonan - I stopped upgrading my Photoshop at version 7,  I don't think that version, or Elements 13 has the 3d capabilities you mention, but if I can't find any other easy way to do it, I may just have to update my Photoshop to the modern age.

PhilC - I read all the reviews I could, and compared the top rated 3D printers with the $$ I had available - The Da Vinci has a large build platform for a home unit (just under 8 inch square), and it's rated as one of the most beginner friendly printers in the sub-$1000 range - PLUS it comes fully assembled, no in kit form, like most of the more inexpensive units.  Biggest drawback is that the print refills are in proprietary cassettes and cost more than the raw spools that other printers use, but the low relief embossing plates I want to use won't actually use much so I locked on the Da Vinci as my best bet.  I followed the price (MSR $499) on Amazon, and found it dropped to $399 as a pre-Christmas mfr special.  I was disappointed when the price jumped back to $499 before I could buy on Boxing day (Dec 26), but it dipped down again a couple days later.  In fact I found it on Newegg.com (I think that's the online company that's all that's left of Egghead stores, my favorite hangout in the late 80s)  as a "Bundle" with the printer, ver 1, sold with 7 refill cassettes (normally $28 each) for $469.  Can't really afford it, but I also couldn't afford to pass it up.  If I can get it to print out the embossing plates I need it will be well worth it.   

AmbientShade, parkdalegardener , I appreciate your input - I'm still trying to get all the info I can before I proceed.  I haven't had time to spend with ANY 3D software since I bought my (fixer-upper) house in 2010, but this project is coming up very fast and I need to figure out how to do it with a bare minimum workflow per template, so I can still make my regular living.  Time consuming trying to upgrade and replace walls, roof, etc on a house when I have to travel up to 5 days a week for 30+ weeks a year and STILL spend time playing in Poser, etc.

Another 3d-printer here, great. I have two Reprap-based printers here and they work great for me.

For your problem, you may want to give blender a try. Take a box, use a suitable subdivision modifier without smoothing with an displacement modifier on top of it. You will neeed a box which is mapped in a way that the image you load will be applied to one side only, (the top, probably), and depending on the desired resolution, you may need to apply the subdivision surface modifier twice or even more often. Don't forget to turn off the smoothing! (not "Catmull Clark" but "Simple")

When printing stuff like this you should use a fine layer height, like 0.1 mm on the Z-Axis. 

As for a forum, I use the forums of the open source 3d printer community at reprap.org, but that may not really work for you since the DaVinci isn't open source and unmodified cannot even use unbranded plastic or alter the temperature while printing. I don't even know if you can use a normal slicing program.

I would look for a vendor forum, at least for printer specific problems. 

You may want to have a look here:

http://3dp.rocks/lithophane/

If it's just raised ridges, I was doing that 15 years ago with photo etch plates. The metal plates last a lot longer than the polymer from a printer, can do impressions into paper or leather with a press, can be used for rubbings as you wish to do, can be used for pseudo-litho prints with ink or paint... using 3D equipment for an essentially 2D output seems to be making things more complex and technical than they need to be, but then I probably have a different range of experiences, and correspondingly different comfort zones...

 piersyf - I've actually been using etched/milled magnesium plates since 1993, and still do with large format and long-term designs, but I'm hoping to use the 3D printed plates for smaller projects and quick-and-dirty deadlines.

Bantha - I've been looking over youtube tutorials on softwares, including lithophane. 

I've had a Makergear M2 3D printer for 2 months now. These things are a trip to watch, it's almost mesmerizing.

I was thinking of doing some sort of 'image to geometry' work, but I was just going to use Bryce or Terragen to do it. This was only an idea to put maybe someone's picture on something, etc, never even thought about rubbings.

Morkonan - I stopped upgrading my Photoshop at version 7,  I don't think that version, or Elements 13 has the 3d capabilities you mention, but if I can't find any other easy way to do it, I may just have to update my Photoshop to the modern age.

Of course it does. I use this effect with CS2. :) All you need is an app that writes the Adobe Illustrator (.ai) format files. These can be imported directly into Hexagon or any other 3D app that accepts them. They are not literally "3D" files requiring 3D capabilities in the program that generates them, they're vector format illustration files. But, they can be interpreted as a 3D line object in 3D apps that accept them. (You might, just might, be able to do something similar with a .eps file, not sure though.