[dankjones]

Does anyone know of a free or cheap program that will convert a 2d grayscale program to a 3d .stl file?

I have a bunch of 1 bit and grayscale images that I want to convert to 3d low relief designs for use in ceramics. I'm hoping to just do some up "real quick" and send them in to quickparts to see how much it would cost.

[keebler303]

Artcam will export an stl as a grayscale, I'm not sure about the reverse though, have never tried it but I'd think it might have the capability.

Matt

[ger21]

I believe that MeshCAM can do it. Try the demo.

[yohudi]

Does anyone know of a free or cheap program that will convert a 2d grayscale program to a 3d .stl file?

I have a bunch of 1 bit and grayscale images that I want to convert to 3d low relief designs for use in ceramics. I'm hoping to just do some up "real quick" and send them in to quickparts to see how much it would cost.

Hi There,

there are quite a few FREE options for this... 3D Paysage, BmpBender, Bitmap to STL.

Most of these will generate a cheap and cheerful .STL from a bitmap.... no problemo.. especially on 1-bit sources. If you want something with smooth curvature then you may have to edit your images a little.. to create smooth gradients between transitions...

I suggest you see the tutorials and links pages.. as well as the downloads area at http:\\cnc4free.org. and you can check out some mesh surfaces and other content made this way in this thread...

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/woodwo...ing_files.html

some of the earlier stuff is generated using 3D paysage.. posts after January 2010 used mostly gmax...

See this tread for some idea as to the method... and results for different types of image etc

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/woodwo...lief_work.html

hope this helps

Danny

[dankjones]

I'm in the process of reading your ebook, I'm about halfway through chapter 2 at the moment.

I think I've got a general idea what I need to read. I don't need to do anything with toolpaths, or Gcode.

I just need a 3d model (.stl)with many different relief design arranged on a few different non-planar, non-uniform surfaces. I originally planned to just get the relief done by quickparts, then cast silicone on these parts to produce transferable pieces that I would then apply to a hand-built clay model, but if I can figure out how to make the full part in gmax, I'll probably just have the entire final surface made. It will cost a little more, but there will be fewer non-digital transfers of geometry, and thus less loss of detail in the finished product.

[yohudi]

Hi There,

Yes your right to start at chapter 2.. I think the 'basic' or 'apply mode' methods would probably be the most useful and easiest to pick up.. the basic method is the celtic dogs example.. and the apply mode method is the unicorn example...

either of these image editing should be sufficient to get you going...

thereafter almost any displacement 'engine' can make the mesh... this is dealt with in the first part of chapter 6. For a quick and easy option.. try 3D Paysage..

use an image with square aspect ratio...

set 3D Paysage segment settings to about 50% of the image resolution..

i.e for 1000 x 1000 pixel image use 500 x 500 segments

enter a height value and 3D Paysage will generate a mesh for you. This will save out as .OBJ format.. and a mesh convertor like meshlab or lithunwrap can get it to any format you need.. i.e .STL By experimenting with input images / reading the ebook.. you should find out what works best for your needs etc..

For a more sophisticated result, a multiple image approach in gmax is pretty hard to beat and can produce results equating with expensive software... after a little practice, this is the way to go if you want to displace non-planar geometry.

Hope this helps

Danny

[dankjones]

Hi There,

use an image with square aspect ratio...

set 3D Paysage segment settings to about 50% of the image resolution..

Why is that? Many of the things I'm making have a long aspect ratio, as much as 5:1

[yohudi]

Why is that? Many of the things I'm making have a long aspect ratio, as much as 5:1

Hi There,

You need a square aspect ratio with 3D paysage because it maps to a fixed aspect 100 mm x 100 mm mesh surface. If the image is not square the smaller edge is scaled up.. distorting the content... see the images below...

I suggested 3D Paysage initially as you hadn't done this before.. and it's a really fast and easy way to a positive result.

For control over aspect ratio... and pretty much everything else related to displacement modelling.. then i'd recommend gmax.. you can focus on just the things you need to know to displace meshes and export them... which would take no more that a couple of days at most to master... for your stated use.

Hope this helps

Danny

[dankjones]

Which version of gmax did you use in the ebook?

I'm running v1.2, and There are some differences from what I'm seeing in the ebook, specifically, I don't have 2.5D Snap, just 3D, angle, percent, and spinner.

[yohudi]

Hi There,

The snap options in gmax are on a rollout.. or dropdown... if you click and hold on the 3D snap button.. it will drop down two similar buttons.. with "2.5" and "2" as the lablels... also.. if you right click on this button.. whichever option is showing.. a panel allowing nomination of grid point, vertex, midpoint and so forth options for the snap target will appear in the view.

If you look at the 3D snap..(and other buttons) you'll see it has a small black triangle in the lower right corner.. quite a few other buttons in the GUI have this... any button that does... click and hold.. and further options will dispay... a couple that spring to mind are the select options of square, circular, or drawn selection area... and the pivot options of center.. selection center or transform center....that kind of thing... sure you'll pick up on it...

gmax version in the ebook is always the last version... gmax 1.2...

Well done by the way for giving it a go... if you have ANY problems getting the ebook methods to work for you.. please let me know...

Hope this helps

Danny

[dankjones]

Thanks, Danny.

Those buttons are so tiny I can hardly see the little black triangle!

[yohudi]

Thanks, Danny.

Those buttons are so tiny I can hardly see the little black triangle!

Hi There,

no problem and glad to see you're sticking at it... The gmax GUI is very handy.. almost every tool or function is accessible in a couple of clicks... once you get to know it... For your use you need to focus mainly on the 'modify' panel...

your workflow to a quick result should be as below...

1. Create a plane object... (again for this use image dimensions / 10..and corresponding segments settings..i.e for a 1000 x 1000 pixel image

plane L+W = 100 segments or divisions also 100

2. Put a 'Meshsmooth' modifier into the objects 'Stack'..don't change any settings at this point.

3. Apply a 'Displace' modifier to the 'Stack'... this is explained in the ebook.. "applying a heightmap to a mesh" task at the start of chapter 6.

4. Load your image.. use the 'Map' option in the 'Displace' modifier options area... this will allow you to have great control over the way gmax interprets the height map... There are other options like 'Bitmap' but stick with the 'Map' option.

Adjust the 'Displace' modifier 'Amount' setting.. the mesh in the view should respond.. and deform as you increase this setting... do not worry if it looks a little rough.. the mesh will probably need more subdivision and we will sort that out next very easily.

5. Go back to the 'MeshSmooth' modifier.. look for the "Iterations" setting.. increase this.. while watching the surface in the view. DO THIS GRADUALLY... each increase of the setting increases facecount by a factor of 4 . You should need about 4 iterations at most to get the smoothness you require, depends on your source material but you can go as high as 10 iterations... If you have the system resources to support the massive facecout that would result...

If you want you can apply 'Materials Editor' based adjustments described in chapter 6 of the ebook. These adjustments are VERY useful and they allow you to shape and deform the mesh in 'real-time' by parameter and 'bezier curve' type adjustment. As you adjust.. the surface changes.. that kind of thing... It's helpful to reduce meshsmooth iterations by about 1 for this work.. you get faster response and you can easily crank it back up for output.

Adjustment can go far beyond normal heightmapping tools.. gmax can manipulate displaced meshes using the heightmap data as a baseline.. so even if adjustments make the map whiteout.. gmax still maintains relative values... these options are mainly below the output panel of the 'Materials' editor.

6. When everything is OK... collapse the 'Stack'.. trim undisplaced faces... and export the mesh as .MD3 format...

.MD3 export was designed to protect sales of 3DSMax... it's not a format a lot of people used... 3D modellers being what we are.. we don't like non-portable formats... so utilities like 3D exploration (NoN expiring demo) and Lithunwrap (FREE) quickly and easily convert .MD3 to formats CNC'rs will be more familiar with.. no data is lost in the process.

When you get the hang of the above.. the actual process takes about 5 to 10 mins MAXIMUM. and if you do a lot of it you'll get this down to less than 5. If you do a great deal of this there's a maxscript I created to do most of the setup automatically by clicking a button.. this comes with the ebook...
There are a lot more refinements and other options to assist in generating detailed mesh surfaces. Much of this is covered in the ebook... but it depends just how far you want to go with it as a technique...

EDIT:

Some links that might help to see where you can go with it etc...

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/791840-post260.html
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...9&d=1314183279 - shows curve adjustments...
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/982893-post21.html - an example with some heightmaps to test
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/980760-post13.html - an example.. with maps .. and resulting 3D mesh
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/988566-post134.html - result of latest method updates - not yet in the ebook i'm afraid.. but will be
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/991981-post173.html - a couple I knocked out over the weekend...

Hope this helps

Danny.

[dankjones]

I'm having trouble exporting to .MD3 in gmax. It will only let me export to .P3D.

Is the .MD3 exporter plugin included somewhere in the files that came with the ebook?

[yohudi]

I'm having trouble exporting to .MD3 in gmax. It will only let me export to .P3D.

Is the .MD3 exporter plugin included somewhere in the files that came with the ebook?

Hi There,

sorry to hear of your problems... but it seems you do have something to export.. which is good news...

Extract the file 'exportmd3.dle from the attached zip.. and put it in your gmax\plugins directory..

When you go to export... if it doesn't show .md3 by default.. select it from the dropdown... just below where you'd type the file name on the file panel... It should then use this as your usual export option...

the plugin should come with gmax... but here it is anyway..

Hope this helps

Danny

[dankjones]

Thanks Danny.

The MD3 exporter seems to be part of the Tempest gamepack.

As far as I can tell, there's nothing else in there that I need besides the exporter.

I'm doing a mock-up of something with similar geometry to what I intend to eventually send off to quickparts (a sheet of relief designs) to get an idea of how much it will cost.

[yohudi]

Hi There,

no problem re: the exporter... I can't remember where I first got it now.. but I've never installed the tempest or any other gamepak...

these were proprrietory addons to allow developers and users to save in their own formats for direct use in games.. you don't need anything.. except the md3 exporter.. and something like lithunwrap.. or the non-expiring demo of 3D exploration 1.5..

there's a link to download this at the zone... in the share your parts or art .DXF thread I think. It's faster and prettier than lithunwrap.. and it will take .md3 straight to .STL.. with lithunwrap you have to get there via .OBJ.. you do get a nag.. with 3D Exploration... but the demo doesn't expire..

If you have any problems getting what you want out of gmax.. let me know.. here or elsewhere.. happy to help if I can..

Stick at it.. you're very close by the sound of things....

Danny

[yohudi]

To anyone interested in relief generation from greyscale...

just thought I'd post what you can do with an image.. 3D paysage.. and Meshlab....


Found a hi res heightmap.. for free from HobbyCNC..

Cut it into 4 quarters (copy and paste edits) and made the mesh parts in the images below using 3D Paysage

Assembled the result in Meshlab...not difficult... very little editing.. and just requires some basic knowledge about parameters to generate some pretty decent content....

result is below.. and is a good way to work beyond the 'normal' capabilities of your system (RAM / CPU).....

Hope this Helps

Danny

[dankjones]

Hey, Danny.

Have you played around with Blender much?

They've made some real improvement in the UI, and some of their algorithms in the last couple of years.

[digdan]

I have created a free online tool to convert grayscale 2d images into full 3d STL files.

Please feel free to use the service, and I encourage criticism.

Convert JPEG images into 3D Mesh

Here is a youtube vid of one of my prints :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojj3NEGGjS4