Reply To: Placing supports in Chitubox (aka why auto support sucks)

[blinky465 17028xp 0]

@limburger : Yeah, there seems to be a world of difference between creating nice models with lots of details and creating 3d models specifically for resin printing, and quite a variability between creators on Patreon.

Some creators build single meshes that create entirely solid objects (with 3d printing in mind) while some – a few who have admitted have never actually printed their models and are more focussed on sculpting and adding nice ornate details – create multi-part meshes (even if the model is to be printed as a single part, the mesh is broken into multiple distinct parts which are then simply overlapped rather than actually joined to make a single mesh). The second types of creators often make really exciting, dynamic looking models, but they’re a nightmare to actually print (easily)!

I’m finding out the long way that adding supports manually is the “best” way to perpare your .stl files -my first printed mini looked awesome fresh out of the IPA bath but looked a little worse for wear once I’d cut away all the supports my slicer software auto-added, because many were in really awkward places.

Also, as many “traditional” sculptors will tell us, creating tabletop miniatures isn’t just a case of making a small character: the proportions tend be very different for 28mm scale (heads and hands tend to be larger, equiment and belts etc. also over-sized). Many creators are creating beautiful renders for the models they’ve created but not really given much thought to *how* the model would be printed, at what scale, nor which parts should “catch the eye” and be exaggerated.

If creators were to supply ready-to-print .photon files (or whatever the equivalent is for other manufacturers) or possibly even sculpt the supports into the .stl model file, we’d have a truly “idiot-proof” print-n-play digital format.

I reckon either collaborations (between techy printer owners and arty model sculptors) or sculptors with an understanding of 3d printing (able to rotate models and add supports as part of the .stl) would really accelerate the take up of tabletop printing.

I’m still only 24-hours into this whole adventure. I can’t wait ’til every one can catch up and we can all easily print and share files across the intertubes!