3d printer experience?

[Bjarredsbon]

Hello,

 

I am asking for ideas and experiences for successful 3d printing, using Zortrax M200 and Home Designer Pro.

 

Ideally I would like to export multiple 3d models from HDP, one for each room and root section.

This way it is possible to "look inside", and it is also possilble to create large enough models. (My printer is otherwise limited to 200mm)

 

Has anyone experience doing something like this?

Should I look at 3rd party sw to split the house in multiple sections?

 

Thank you

Peter

 

[DavidJPotter]

3D Printing was added as a feature only last year, in only Chief Premier. Only a tiny percentage of Premier users have reported results using Chief Premier. New things take awhile to catch on.

 

I do not know the acceptable file formats that 3D Printers require (none of my clients are interested in having such things, so for me, my use of Chief Premier and Home Designer is purely for monetary gain, not a hobby) but you can find that out by reading your users manual for your printer and so find out. Then you can look at what Home Designer will currently "Export" from its "File- Export" menu and thus answer your own question for now. I doubt anyone here knows positively unless this thread is read by someone at Chief Inc Sales.

 

You can also just call Chief Architect - Home Designer Tech Support or Sales and just ask them.

 

DJP
 

[Bjarredsbon]

Thank you David

 

3d format is not an issue, there are several to choose from.

 

It is more a question of controlling what is included inside the model(s).

- How are glass windows exported, for example. Kind of expected they are exported as "air" so one can see through them after printing.

- My project consist of around 10 rooms. It would be very nice if HDP allowed to export one room per file. Then I can print them individually and assemble the the rooms myself. Roof should go in a seperate file too.

 

If someone has more experiences from 3d printing, please contribute!

 

/Peter

 

[barthmv]

I have not done any 3d printing with home designer software but I have done a lot of it with Unigraphics NX software.  Most 3d printer use a stl file format.  I can't imagine printing a complete 3d house model in a single 3d printing but instead would build it wall by wall and then assemble it to form the complete house.  3d printing can't deposit drops of plastic in mid air so it creates support structure when ever the model requires empty space below it.  The support structure needs to be removed after the model is formed.  Designers of 3d models try to position the models in the position (Z axis) the will create the least amount of support structure.  An example of this would be if a roof was formed on walls the empty space below the roof would be completely filled with support structure.  if a floor and walls were built without a roof or ceiling support structure would not be needed.  Don't know if I am making myself clear or not. 

[Bjarredsbon]

Makes total sense. I was hoping HDP could print floor+walls for one room at a time. But it seems there is no automatic or semi-automatic way to do this. If I manually have to select wall by wall I think I will abondom the idea already now.

 

Btw, some printers actually support to print a water solvable support material. A bath and all support is gone! But not my printer.

 

I was also surprised at the very limited support for 3d viewing/editing in HDP using 3d glasses. None, except for model export really. In 2018 I thought this would be a basic feature.

Hope to see big inprovements in both these areas!