Does anyone know of a software application that will convert a 3D stl file to a grayscale image for the purposes of 3d engraving. I know there are a lot of "heightfield from bitmap" but I essentially want to do the reverse, create a top view grayscale image of a solid with color corresponding to the objects' distance from the z plane.
it would also be neat if I could find a camera that would do this. essentially create an image with a rangefinder, closest objects being white and furthest objects fade to black.
thanks