LIGHTWAVE 3D MODELER NETWORK THING PATCH

We used the Thicken tool to create an inner surface and a reasonably thick wall. A hollow torso would not only make for a lighter statue, but also a cheaper print. In 3D printing, the less material used, the less costly the print. However, a solid torso would have used a lot more material and cost a small fortune.

LIGHTWAVE 3D MODELER NETWORK THING PATCH

One solution might have been to patch over this lower torso hole, sealing it off and fulfilling the “watertight” mesh requirements for 3D printing. The results spackled over the arm holes nicely (08).Īlthough the arm holes were now sealed, the alien was still a shell with no thickness. Then used Bevel to give these n-gons a bit of an inset, then the Spikey Tool with a 0% Spike Factor to convert the n-gons into triangles. We patched the arm holes using Make Poly. A shell with no thickness cannot print (07).We also created an endomorph that could close the mouth and reduced the size and number of polygons in the mouth cavity to make it more suitable for a print (04-06). The mesh was not scaled at this point, because we wanted the option of posing the character with the existing rig. A bust statue does not require arms or a lower body, so we chopped off the arms and all geometry below the lower torso (03).

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. Direct and robust, LightWave 2018 serves the artist first, for visual effects, motion graphics, game development, architectural visualization, product design and advertising.Modeling for 3D printing is a new discipline for many with LightWave and requires a certain rigor. Workflow enhancements and powerful new tools solve your animation and design challenges and streamline your creative process. When time is short and the job impossible, LightWave 2018 simply delivers. Title: NewTek LightWave 3D 2018.0.3 Build Win/Mac

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