G'day people,
I'm totally new with CNC but not new to 3d..
I've probably started learning about bas reliefs arse about perhaps but if you can bear with me I'm hoping to learn some more.
Over the last couple of months I've become quite good (at least I have) at creating clean bas reliefs. I've learn't how to take a 2d pic and convert it to a Bas Relief. This took a lot of time to work out, perseverance and a lot of luck and I think I'm there.
I have an interest in setting up a machine for carving bas reliefs, so I decided to learn how to create the bas reliefs and learn how to use the software to do so, thankfully there is a lot of software available for trial which enabled me to whittle down what to use. Even though there is software that claims it can do 2d to 3d I've found that not to be the case, most produce rubbish and don't implement code proper math for creating a Depth Image, I got lucky and found some software which does an excellent job the best Ive ever seen even though it was never intended to be used for creating Bas Reliefs for CNC.
Allegorithmic - Smart Textures - Bitmap2Material - Normal Map Generator not expensive to buy, only thing you need to get used to is the water mark during the trial. The other excellent piece of software is BmpBender if you google for it you should find it without problem. The software has gone to heaven so to speak, its only a tiny program some 5 meg in size but it produces an excellent STL file and its free. The other software that can be used to produce the STL and relief is Autodesk Mudbox, a trial is available though it is expensive. BMPbender will give you the STL you need with no learning curve and within seconds. Pity its not longer being developed.
I've watched hours of youtube videos on other products like ArtCam but for the price some sell in the many thousands of dollars, I have found for a fraction of the cost and with much less effort and definitely a much less learning curve you can do better. Using the software I've mentioned with a bit of determination you can produce an excellent quality depth map for producing Bas Reliefs in several hours for some to no more than a week of fiddling about.
The most important things being but never mentioned by a lot of software manufacturers that claim 2d to 3d is having a good clean large format picture of the subject you are trying to obtain a Z depth for. Which will allow you to edit elements of the pic to make sure you get proper Z depth etc etc etc. I'm sure a lot of you have come across that same issues that have interest in bas reliefs. GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program this is free open source software similar to photoshop for touching up any work that needs to have your depth image adjusted.
I'm now at the point almost any good pic with patience I can produce an excellent bas relief mesh and topic as a .STL file.
Where I'm stuck now is validating the .STL, I don't know nor do I have any clue as to how a STL file should be.
eg:
1. is a 100 meg STL to large or too small
2. does the size or mesh density affect the speed of carving
3. what is the ideal balance of detail, or do you loose detail depending on bit size.. seems obvious but Im not sure.
4. How does mesh complexity affect time of build, I don't want to produce an STL file that will take a week to carve.
5. can a STL file be scaled without affecting the final product. ie take an STL that is 6x6 cm make it 12 x 12 cm without affecting quality or do we need to remesh it.
I've done a lot of searching and found that Bas Reliefs seem to be a too hard basket, I've found that not to be the case or I'm just searching in the wrong place, hence coming to this forum.
Is there specific software I should be looking at that can aid in STL validation if I am using the correct term I don't know.
My best proof for validating whether or not the STL files I produce are any good is to have someone build the project. Not knowing anyone that has a CNC I need to wait till I build my own, so at the moment I'm enjoying the process of learning to make what I can.
Like I said new to CNC but not new to building things in 3d.
I am retired and need a hobby, and I would dearly like to now build many of the things I have created over the years into tangible objects. I nearly purchased a 3d printer but choose not too, I'm not a great fan of plastics I'd much prefer carving in wood, or soft metals.
Regards and thanks in advance for advice given.
I'm totally new with CNC but not new to 3d..
I've probably started learning about bas reliefs arse about perhaps but if you can bear with me I'm hoping to learn some more.
Over the last couple of months I've become quite good (at least I have) at creating clean bas reliefs. I've learn't how to take a 2d pic and convert it to a Bas Relief. This took a lot of time to work out, perseverance and a lot of luck and I think I'm there.
I have an interest in setting up a machine for carving bas reliefs, so I decided to learn how to create the bas reliefs and learn how to use the software to do so, thankfully there is a lot of software available for trial which enabled me to whittle down what to use. Even though there is software that claims it can do 2d to 3d I've found that not to be the case, most produce rubbish and don't implement code proper math for creating a Depth Image, I got lucky and found some software which does an excellent job the best Ive ever seen even though it was never intended to be used for creating Bas Reliefs for CNC.
Allegorithmic - Smart Textures - Bitmap2Material - Normal Map Generator not expensive to buy, only thing you need to get used to is the water mark during the trial. The other excellent piece of software is BmpBender if you google for it you should find it without problem. The software has gone to heaven so to speak, its only a tiny program some 5 meg in size but it produces an excellent STL file and its free. The other software that can be used to produce the STL and relief is Autodesk Mudbox, a trial is available though it is expensive. BMPbender will give you the STL you need with no learning curve and within seconds. Pity its not longer being developed.
I've watched hours of youtube videos on other products like ArtCam but for the price some sell in the many thousands of dollars, I have found for a fraction of the cost and with much less effort and definitely a much less learning curve you can do better. Using the software I've mentioned with a bit of determination you can produce an excellent quality depth map for producing Bas Reliefs in several hours for some to no more than a week of fiddling about.
The most important things being but never mentioned by a lot of software manufacturers that claim 2d to 3d is having a good clean large format picture of the subject you are trying to obtain a Z depth for. Which will allow you to edit elements of the pic to make sure you get proper Z depth etc etc etc. I'm sure a lot of you have come across that same issues that have interest in bas reliefs. GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program this is free open source software similar to photoshop for touching up any work that needs to have your depth image adjusted.
I'm now at the point almost any good pic with patience I can produce an excellent bas relief mesh and topic as a .STL file.
Where I'm stuck now is validating the .STL, I don't know nor do I have any clue as to how a STL file should be.
eg:
1. is a 100 meg STL to large or too small
2. does the size or mesh density affect the speed of carving
3. what is the ideal balance of detail, or do you loose detail depending on bit size.. seems obvious but Im not sure.
4. How does mesh complexity affect time of build, I don't want to produce an STL file that will take a week to carve.
5. can a STL file be scaled without affecting the final product. ie take an STL that is 6x6 cm make it 12 x 12 cm without affecting quality or do we need to remesh it.
I've done a lot of searching and found that Bas Reliefs seem to be a too hard basket, I've found that not to be the case or I'm just searching in the wrong place, hence coming to this forum.
Is there specific software I should be looking at that can aid in STL validation if I am using the correct term I don't know.
My best proof for validating whether or not the STL files I produce are any good is to have someone build the project. Not knowing anyone that has a CNC I need to wait till I build my own, so at the moment I'm enjoying the process of learning to make what I can.
Like I said new to CNC but not new to building things in 3d.
I am retired and need a hobby, and I would dearly like to now build many of the things I have created over the years into tangible objects. I nearly purchased a 3d printer but choose not too, I'm not a great fan of plastics I'd much prefer carving in wood, or soft metals.
Regards and thanks in advance for advice given.