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What programs do the pro's use to generate, and/or render 3D models that are then put into production? Is is possible for a hobbyist to feasibly begin making designs [now] that can be used in the [distant] future for at home printing?

1) zBrush seems to be popular (and more intuitive in it's modelling)

2) Maybe?

There are plenty of good programs for 3D modeling, but I've found the most simple is just Google Sketchup.

However, it's not that good for stuff with lots of curves iirc, or at least the free version is.


Also, Blender is supposedly the best open-souce program for 3D modeling, and I know a bunch of people who stuck with it even when they had access to programs you had to pay for. The learning curve is vertical, though.

Sketchup is rather cruddy for actual sculpting purposes, and is honestly best used for quicker CAD purposes. You can get some pretty impressive results with enough work, but there's far better programs out there. ZBrush, Maya, Blender, 3DS Max, and a few others, for instance.

If you are interested in 3D design - you really need to take a look at a specialist site in order to get a handle on the principles of the tools and techniques and then convert that over to printable models.

zBrush is often used in order to create high resolution models - but it has significant limitations in regards to rigging and animation, as well as being less than ideal for inorganic constructs (weapons, armor, vehicles and the like).

Programs like 3DS Max, Maya and other higher end 3D suites are capable of handling all the inorganic forms as well as dealing with animations and rigging figures and things like displacement morphs. They tend to be rather expensive though - so they are not ideal for your average hobbyist.

Blender is a good free 3D package, though it isn't as easy to use as some programs. It can handle most of the tasks which you need to do. Lightwave and Cinema 4D are both cheaper than Max/Maya/XSI - though they may well be outside what your average hobbyist is willing to spend.

Limited programs which are primarily designed as modelers like Sketchup, Wings 3D or Silo are capable of dealing with weapons and the like as well as creating the low resolution meshes as well as support for detailing in the packages like Wings and Silo.

Now as far as why you might want one versus another...or why the ability to animate is helpful - let me give you a quick run down of how I work.

1) In Max I create a lower polygon mesh using traditional polygonal modelling techniques. This mesh is used for animating, posing and is mapped to receive a displacement map.

2) I export the low resolution model to zBrush in order to create a high resolution model of the organic figure. Once I have that completed, I render the high resolution model out to create a displacement map. This is an image file which is capable of transforming a low resolution model into a high resolution model using a few different tools.

3) Back in Max, I will go through and create any inorganic items which are part of the model. Things like helmets, weapons, guns - and some organic components like horns, teeth and the like. I find it a lot easier to create hard edges in a proper polygonal modeler as opposed to a program like zBrush.

4) I rig the model in order to pose it and try out different configurations. Once I get a pose I like - I export that single frame out as a separate animation. This allows me to work out an entire squad or 4 of different poses for each figure in a short amount of time.

5) I then load each one of those back into a program which allows me to apply the displacement maps - either Max or Silo depending on what I need to do specifically. This automagically takes the low polygon figure and converts it into a high polygon model that has the individual poses I created earlier.

6) Make any fixes which need to be made in order to ensure they print correctly and then send the files off to be printed through the particular service which I am going with at that time.

The reason I like to animate with a lower polygon model is that the rigging is easier to deal with - and you can move around individual edges, loops and vertices. When you are dealing with a high polygon model - animating can become troublesome as you are moving around thousands to tens of thousands of vertices at a time. When you have a stray weighting that you can't get fixed...it can frustrate you for hours. Animating a low polygon mesh though only takes a few minutes to an hour - at which time I can grab various BVH files that have the proper motions for things like SWAT team drills, martial arts katas or other common movements.

I'm using a similar method to sculpt miniature for my own game.

@Sean: Why do you do step 5? I think Zbrush now supports being able to import the low poly directly and it reprojects the subdivisions for you.

Digital sculpting has come such a long way, it's pretty awesome now.

Before, even when working digitally, you had to deal with a limitation of polygon distribution, which is essentially how much detail in the underlying mesh of digital data was in the area you were scupting. You constantly had to watch this amount, and so arcane adjustments to make sure you always had enough detail.

Now they have dynamically generating meshes that puts back a lot of the instant artistry of sculpting.

A lot of that artistry isn't supported by formats like STLs which are used by the 3D printers though. In the case of step 5, it is because most the tools like zBrush aren't able to smoothly handle animation and posing. From time to time, after a figure has been brought up to full detail it looks a bit off - so I might need to rotate an arm or shift a leg position.

All the stuff I do in zBrush is in the standard "T" position. Lets me see where all the details are and get easy access to everything. I know some people use zBrush to sculpt things in the already posed position - but the big advantage of 3D sculpting for me is that you can repose things fast and easy. Sculpting them already posed limits that, since most of the time the posed figure isn't easily animated to change things up for multiple figures (quite often they can't be reposed at all because the geometry isn't there to support it).

I guess now everyone will discover that sculpting your own minis is harder than it seemed when it was just on the horizon. Now you see where some of the minis companies' money goes...

I have used Autodesk Inventor Fusion for the last few years.
Simple enough to use and very flexible.
I have yet to have any success sculpting humanoids, I stick mainly to terrain/ structures/ starships/ markers/ etc.

 ENOZONE wrote:
What programs do the pro's use to generate, and/or render 3D models that are then put into production?

The answer is one of two things:

1) The program your employer tells you to use because that's what they've been using for the past decade and built their system around.

or

2) Whatever the first high-end program you pirated happened to be, because that's what you're used to.

For someone who's just starting any of the high-end software is going to work just as well, the only differences will be slight things in the interface. By the time you get far enough into it to make an informed choice based on the subtle differences between software you'll either have the knowledge to make the choice and switch everything over to it, or be told what to do by your employer.

Is is possible for a hobbyist to feasibly begin making designs [now] that can be used in the [distant] future for at home printing?

Yes. 3d printing has certainly reached the point where you don't have to be a professional to attempt it. Assuming you have the patience to learn and spend the huge amount of time and effort required to get good enough at it that your stuff is worth printing you can do it. The primary limiting factor, besides whether you care enough to reach that level, is going to be the cost of getting your models printed.

Blender seems pretty cool and it is free. 3DsMax and Maya are very powerful, professional tools. They cost money. A lot of modern high end sculpting is done directly in Mudbox or zBrush.

You will have a very steep learning curve if you plan to use them though. You will also need raw talent and imagination to make anything worth while.

If you are interested why not look at http://www.3dtotal.com/

This is a great community with everyone from beginner to pro.

Cheers Vim