GMAX,Blender,and the "3D" one..

[Daveroo]

will these programs produce a model that could be imported into a 3D printer?,i was looking at the link tufun put up for the "Blender" and the dutch airplane...if you took that and installed into a 3D printer..would be awesome.

ad wouldnt it be cool to be able to print an entire airplane on a 3D printer?.....would have to be done in sections and assembled,as most of the personal 3D printers ive looked at only have a 4.75"x4.75"x4.75" working space.
but you model the working flaps and ailerons and then print them out..these things would work in your hands...know?..

[Skyhawk_310R]

As long as you formatted the file into one recognized by a 3D printer, the answer would be yes. My understanding is that the standard file format is called .STL though some printers can also support .OBJ file format. As long as you use a file format conversion application that can take what you rendered in 3D Studio Max and convert it to an STL or OBJ format, then you should be able to perform a 3D printout of the object.

Ultimately, as long as you have a precision 3D printer, and the conversion software, there should be nothing that would keep someone from designing objects and printing them.

Ken

[X_eidos2]

I've been looking into making some models using 3d printers as well. I have a list of items that I'm pretty certain the regular plastic model makers will never make, like the Vickers Warwick (which my Dad flew in WW2) or the ship that I served on in the Navy (USS Wabash). I've been looking at the ads from the company Shapeway. You send them your 3d files and they do the printing. Looks like they offer a lot of support like checking your files to see if they'll work OK. Apparently the biggest cost is the cost of material. Also, in one of their articles they mention that the printer has a hard time with parts that are smaller than 1 mm thick. If that's true I wonder how one would make the trailing edge on a wing or elevator. The samples that they show on their website are super tiny - like game pieces for some board game - so I'm wondering if anyone has tried making a 1/72 scale model. Something to investigate.

http://www.shapeways.com/

[warchild]

Doesnt Rhinoceros 3D ( http://www.rhino3d.com/ ) also export to 3d printers???

[hairyspin]

From Gmax? Good luck, it has no file exporting facility other than gamepack-related modules. Anything else requires low cunning and roundabout methods to bypass the limits hard-coded into Gmax.

[Francois]

There are quite a lot of export programs to get 3DP files as a result, but haven't seen from Gmax yet. I too am into this area (see my recently started crowd funding project for D-Day : http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/produce-d-day-1944-scale-models/x/1583780 ) and have done quite a bit of research.

If you want to produce really finely detailed models I think you're better off in having the small parts made separately. Most printers have limitations in the complexity of forms, especially 'overhang' issues.

[n4gix]

From Gmax? Good luck, it has no file exporting facility other than gamepack-related modules. Anything else requires low cunning and roundabout methods to bypass the limits hard-coded into Gmax.
Tom, it is possible to use the FS2002 or 2004 SDK tools to export from GMax, and intercept the output using the two programs "Doc Moriarty's MDL Commander" and Chris File's "Middleman."

"Middleman" will allow one to preserve the .x file, which may then be converted by any of several programs to .OBJ format.

"MDL Commander" would only be needed if one wished to use the files to generate a FS .mdl file.

However, that said actually finding "Middleman" is a real challenge of "Googlititics..." :dizzy:

[X_eidos2]

Over at FSDeveloper you can download a copy of ModelConverterX which can take a mdl model exported from Gmax and convert it into 3ds or Obj file format. One of the key things about modeling for a 3d printer - all the parts need to be solid, closed shapes and two shapes can't share the same edge. These and other points are listed in the articles on the Shapeways website.

[OleBoy]

I can't imagine the cost of the machine that's required for the shaping. Especially for an in-home hobby type of use :pop4: Those I've seen look like high dollar techno.

[Sundog]

For 3D printing, I use Pro-e and/or SolidWorks as we have both at work. Those aren't 3D modeling software, they're solid modeling software as they have mass properties. Then I just export the model out as an STL file and send it to be 3D printed.

That's probably not what you were looking for, but I just thought I would throw it out there as an FYI. I have 3DSMax, but I haven't tried to make anything for 3D printing with it because I find Pro-E and SW easier for what I'm doing. So far, I've only printed a rocket nozzle and a tank gun muzzle. I'm currently working on a wing for a version of the F-16 that was never built, so I can make the aircraft using the Academy 1/72 F-16.Whatever you end up using, stick with it and good luck.

BTW, I have the parts printed at Shapeways.