First Timer

I'm a designer and builder of custom pipe organs at C. B. Fisk, Inc. in Gloucester, Massachusetts. We make a 1:16 scale model of the church or concert hall we are working in so that the visual design is properly done. To date all the modeling has been done in house, mostly in wood. I am exploring the possibility of having some parts, especially the multiples, done by 3d printing.
I've been working in AutoCAD for thirty years, but in 3d for just a few. We run v. 2014.
I uploaded an .stl file of a baluster I need 35 of. I want to try having these made in flexible plastic, but in the preview it looks more faceted than I would wish. I'd like to know how to get it to print out smoother.

www.cbfisk.com

Welcome! can you share a link to the item or a screen shot so that we can see what you're seeing?

This is possible, you'll need to typ in the command 'FACETRES' and then enter '10', that's the maximum, if your STL gets over the maximum file size try to input a lower value.

Goodluck, kind regards
Steven

https://images.shapeways.com/model/picture/190x153_4543820_1 5010285_1459267186.jpg

Thanks in advance for your help.

Dead link. I hope you're not talking about the thin wall test preview, it is decimated. -S

Link works for me, yea, you need to increase the facets in the model. Looks like Steven3D has the experience in autoCAD

Maybe you have admin powers because that link is still dead from here in multiple browsers. Shows the little graphic 'This model is no longer publically available'. Hopefully it is sorted out. -S

Hmmm, I shouldn't be able to view private things even with my powers.

The Thin Walls visualization _is_ decimated. Your original file as it was designed, is sent to the printer.

Several of the Shapeways tools work with a voxelized (and decimated) copy of your model.. not the original. Part of the reason is that is so the tool can run faster, another reason certain tools work due to the conversion to voxels.

What I'd recommend is download a copy of Netfabb Basic (free) and view your model with it.


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Make sure that in AutoCad that you turn off any smooth shaders.
Depending upon the geometry you are building, you need to have more facets around a curve. Eight or sixteen facets per curve is not near enough for a large part. You need something above 1000 facets around a curve if the part is say 100mm in size if you want it to be smooth.

With a 0.5mm diameter item, it will look round with only 16 facets, but that won't work on large items.

The other way to express it is that for maximum smoothness, the width of a facet should be 1/2 the resolution of the printer.