New Feature: 3D Printing App?

The place to talk about Stella4D, Great Stella, and Small Stella. Feel free to ask questions about them here.
Post Reply
albertpcarpenter
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:18 am
Location: Missouri
Contact:

New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by albertpcarpenter » Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:22 am

New feature or one I am unaware of... Is it possible to export Stella files for 3D printing? If so how? If not could that be done? Albert

User avatar
robertw
Site Admin
Posts: 676
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:47 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by robertw » Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:13 am

From Stella's menu you can export a 3D model as .STL and some other formats. .STL is the standard for 3D printing.

"File->3D Export->Export STL"

You may want to try doing this with a Stellation view selected rather than the base view. This will only export the visible parts, and not all the hidden intersecting parts as well, which some 3D printers may have trouble interpreting.

Another tip is you can display edges as cylinders and vertices as spheres, and then hide all the faces before exporting, to export a hollow model with just edges and vertices.

albertpcarpenter
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:18 am
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by albertpcarpenter » Sat Feb 20, 2021 10:34 pm

Thank you very much. Albert P Carpenter

albertpcarpenter
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:18 am
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by albertpcarpenter » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:27 am

I'm sorry to trouble you again, but I did the things you instructed me to do (stl file format in base stellation view) to be able to 3D print. Unfortunately, Shapeways had trouble with the files. I work with surfaces like the ones attached and one sided surfaces like the Mobius strip that I would like to 3D print. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Image


Image
Thanx, Albert

User avatar
robertw
Site Admin
Posts: 676
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:47 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by robertw » Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:18 am

3D printers require a solid enclosed volume. Looks like you're hiding some faces but not others, so the parts are infinitely thin. It would not be easy to thicken these surfaces in Stella. I don't know whether another app provides a way to do that. Might be a good option for the future, but sorry, I don't know what to suggest for now.

albertpcarpenter
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:18 am
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by albertpcarpenter » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:58 pm

Ok, well do you think you will create a thickening App for surfaces anytime in the next year?
Also, is there an export file for augmented reality and or virtual reality files?
Thank you, Albert

User avatar
robertw
Site Admin
Posts: 676
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:47 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by robertw » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:23 am

Probably safer to presume I won't be adding such a feature within the next year. I've thought about it before though to help with what I call topological models, which are otherwise tricky to make, eg https://www.software3d.com/HollowSSD.php But it's not something I have any immediate plans to look at.

What format would you need for AR/VR? Stella can export several 3D formats, so one of those could probably be used with a VR/AR viewer.

Stella can also display 3D stereo images, for use with either red/blue glasses or with the two images side-by-side which can be viewed directly (cross-eyed or wall-eyed) or maybe with a 3D headset (but I don't have one so I'm not sure).

albertpcarpenter
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:18 am
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by albertpcarpenter » Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:14 am

Ok, I thought it might not be a priority, but thought I'd ask anyway. Thank you for responding so promptly, I really appreciate it. The Topological Small Stellated Dodecahedron is a beautiful model. Do you have an interest in other topological structures besides links such as knots or braids? I put a few on my other feed to share that I made with GS. There is also a Klein cube I made with GS too.
Thanks, Bert (aka Albert)

User avatar
Ulrich
Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:08 am
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by Ulrich » Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:10 pm

You can try to augment the faces with thin prisms and then export a stl-file. It's a bit complicated and the result isn't very exact, but it should work.

Image Image

Ulrich

albertpcarpenter
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:18 am
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by albertpcarpenter » Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:07 pm

Thank you Ulrich, I'll give that a try and post the results later.
Albert

albertpcarpenter
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:18 am
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: New Feature: 3D Printing App?

Post by albertpcarpenter » Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:41 pm

Ulrich, so I was able to render a "thick" annulus and faceted cuboctahedron in Stella, but the STL file did not work in Shapeways. Not sure how to fix that. Will try something else. Thank you again, Bert

Post Reply