Getting off to a great start

Hi everyone, hope this is in the right place.

Ive been thinking of getting into 3d printing for some time now but never really looked into it too much. I recently came across a member who showed just what is possible with 3d printing and I have to say, Its awesome stuff. I am a long time toy collector and I would like to use 3d printing to create accessories for my collection, weapons, display bases, etc

I have a small amount of 3d experience but i am still a noob. I am using Maya 2014 to build my models but how can I ensure my models will scale correctly and work as intended. I am mainly looking to make weapons for 5 inch figures.

Also is it possible to use mudbox/Zbrush to build models for 3d printing? The reason I ask is, shapeways has a 1 million poly limit. I have been studying games art so I have been conditioned to keep poly count as low as possible since games cannot handle that many. Mudbox and Zbrush are great programs for building fanasticly detailed 3d sculptres comprised of hundreds of thousands of polys. Of course the more polys you have, the more detail you can add and make it look better..

Sorry for the noobish questions and I hope I was clear in what I was asking, Just want to get some info before I get too far into my model and find out Ive made a massive mistake and wasted my time.

Thanks

I've only used Maya for a very short time years ago, so I cannot say anything that relates to exact procedures, but one thing you can do is get Netfabb Basic, which is free, and use it to scale your creations using the scaling functions. The software is specifically designed to help facilitate 3D printing, so the output is designed for the real world.

As for making sure that what you design in Maya is in conjunction with real life measurements, do some tests and create a pipeline where when you export a one inch cube and have it 3D printed it will come out of the 3D printer as a one inch cube. Also, if you're going to be making toy figurine accessories, which you can sell on Shapeways by the way, be sure to get a digital caliper. Since you're not building space shuttle parts you don't need an expensive one, just a cheapo like this one will do just fine. Best $12 you'll ever spend! This will let you make super accurate measurements that you can then use as the foundation stones of your creations.

Yes, Zbrush can be used. Everything I've created over the years for 3D printing has had Zbrush involved. The million triangle limit can be annoying at times, but most of the time one can get by with this limitation in place.

Got that type of calliper too!

I rather say get the calliper and netfabb basic and use netfabb basic and compare with calliper on first prototype rather printing an expensive cube.

Thanks for the reply guys.

I would consider printing a 1 inch cube for size comparisons via trial and error but I live in the UK and spending $20/£12 on multiple prints just to see If I have the scale right is not something im too keen on. Ive modeled a sword for a 5inch figure and uploaded it as a test.

https://www.shapeways.com/model/upload-and-buy/2349341?etId= 18381683&utm_source=automated-contact&utm_medium=ema il&utm_campaign=model-processing-success&utm_content =2&ca=email&ct=model-processing-success&cr=2

in case the link doesnt show the dimensions are:

ORIGINAL BOUNDS
(in) 0.343w x 1.339d x 0.101h
(cm) 0.872w x 3.4d x 0.256h
ORIENTED BOUNDS
(in) 0.331w x 1.32d x 0.1h
(cm) 0.842w x 3.354d x 0.254h
Volume 0.0352cm3
Density 4.91%

It passed all the intial checks except for the ceramics. It has thin walls. Could anyone tell me how big its going to print at? Its supposed to be around 4inches in length. But im seeing numbers everywhere and have no idea what they mean.

This it is the real size cm 0.872w x 3.4d x 0.256h

Get netfabb basic from here http://www.netfabb.com/downloadcenter.php?basic=1

Ah ah, I think I got it. I tried using Netfabb the other day but could fathom how to use it. Just poked around in the settings and was able to change the units of measurement from mm to inches.

https://www.shapeways.com/model/upload-and-buy/2351159

Look any better scale wise?