My first job was DOS 3, Vax/VMS and whatever OS comes on a PDP-11/70. We didn't have any machines running it, but I learned a LOT from a DOS 1.0 manual that was still kicking around my office - stuff that they stopped putting in the documentation for non-devs so as not to frighten them away.
Then add in the 56k modem we had to use just for internet vs today you can get 2.5 Gb. Having the experience what we went through set the foundation and appreciation of what we have today. When I want to relax I always just work on my computers while listening to music, or just play Trop's game.
Such luxury. We had 300 baud modems after those awful 1200:75 nonsense things - 1200 download/75 upload. A bit better than semaphore, but only just!
In fact, they weren't even called upload and download back then as I recall, they were Tx and Rx - transmit and receive. I remember those little rectangular led's on the modem flickering away - so modern...
in the model world gluing things together isn't unheard of, right? I'd imagine you could glue them together from multiple chunks, the paint is another issue entirely though.
Yes, but that only works if all parts are printed correctly. With the current models for Erika and Scarlett, the problem is that the hair cannot even be printed correctly: some parts are already missing during the print, and others break off when removing the supports. The latter could be glued back if there was a way to separate the thin hair that got merged with the supports, but the parts that did not even print as intended cannot be recovered.
Anyway, here is my progress with the second attempt at printing Erika (model lying down). As I scaled up the model, it uses a bit more than 120 grams of material instead of 40. The printing time has also increased significantly: more than 15 hours. But what unfortunately did not change is the fact that the hair is very messy because it is made of thin strands or facets without any volume.
I leave the printer running (still 4 hours to go) but I already know that the hair will be broken and cannot be glued back, because there was no way to provide adequate support for the thin strands of filament. So the printer turns the hair into some messy spaghetti that falls down or that is dragged around while printing, causing some damage to the supports or to the rest of the model. Details under the spoiler for those who are curious:
Unfortunately, this means that most hair styles available in Daz cannot be used directly. Some basic low-poly hair could be used because those are made of a limited number of polygons and they are usually handled like solid objects (e.g. for games, anime, etc.) but then Erika and Scarlett would probably not be themselves anymore.
I respectfully suggest that you read the forum rules, or read them again. We are discussing the game assets (Erika, Scarlett) with the creator of the game, and how to print the assets specifically provided by Trope95 to test 3D printing. This seems to be on-topic according to the forum rules (rule 2.1, second bullet). If the discussion about how to turn these My Dorm characters into tangible objects would become excessive compared to the other discussions, then it would make sense to create a separate Fan Art thread for this, as suggested (but not required) by the rule 2.9. But so far I have only posted 3 messages (now 4) about printing Erika in this thread, which does not seem to be excessive compared to the amount of GIF reactions and other comments that are not directly related to the game.
Nevertheless, I will try to respect your opinion. As this discussion about printing these assets from the game seems to bother you, I will refrain from posting more progress updates in this thread unless specifically requested by the creator of the game.
Yes, but that only works if all parts are printed correctly. With the current models for Erika and Scarlett, the problem is that the hair cannot even be printed correctly: some parts are already missing during the print, and others break off when removing the supports. The latter could be glued back if there was a way to separate the thin hair that got merged with the supports, but the parts that did not even print as intended cannot be recovered.
Anyway, here is my progress with the second attempt at printing Erika (model lying down). As I scaled up the model, it uses a bit more than 120 grams of material instead of 40. The printing time has also increased significantly: more than 15 hours. But what unfortunately did not change is the fact that the hair is very messy because it is made of thin strands or facets without any volume.
I leave the printer running (still 4 hours to go) but I already know that the hair will be broken and cannot be glued back, because there was no way to provide adequate support for the thin strands of filament. So the printer turns the hair into some messy spaghetti that falls down or that is dragged around while printing, causing some damage to the supports or to the rest of the model. Details under the spoiler for those who are curious:
Unfortunately, this means that most hair styles available in Daz cannot be used directly. Some basic low-poly hair could be used because those are made of a limited number of polygons and they are usually handled like solid objects (e.g. for games, anime, etc.) but then Erika and Scarlett would probably not be themselves anymore.
I respectfully suggest that you read the forum rules, or read them again. We are discussing the game assets (Erika, Scarlett) with the creator of the game, and how to print the assets specifically provided by Trope95 to test 3D printing. This seems to be on-topic according to the forum rules (rule 2.1, second bullet). If the discussion about how to turn these My Dorm characters into tangible objects would become excessive compared to the other discussions, then it would make sense to create a separate Fan Art thread for this, as suggested (but not required) by the rule 2.9. But so far I have only posted 3 messages (now 4) about printing Erika in this thread, which does not seem to be excessive compared to the amount of GIF reactions and other comments that are not directly related to the game.
Nevertheless, I will try to respect your opinion. As this discussion about printing these assets from the game seems to bother you, I will refrain from posting more progress updates in this thread unless specifically requested by the creator of the game.
Thank you very much for your comments about printing. After returning to work, I will start (as long as time available) my struggle with print figurines. I will try to include your experience. I will use the resin method. Once I have some acceptable effects, I will show you on the forum.
Unless someone is opposite.
Yes, but that only works if all parts are printed correctly. With the current models for Erika and Scarlett, the problem is that the hair cannot even be printed correctly: some parts are already missing during the print, and others break off when removing the supports. The latter could be glued back if there was a way to separate the thin hair that got merged with the supports, but the parts that did not even print as intended cannot be recovered.
Anyway, here is my progress with the second attempt at printing Erika (model lying down). As I scaled up the model, it uses a bit more than 120 grams of material instead of 40. The printing time has also increased significantly: more than 15 hours. But what unfortunately did not change is the fact that the hair is very messy because it is made of thin strands or facets without any volume.
I leave the printer running (still 4 hours to go) but I already know that the hair will be broken and cannot be glued back, because there was no way to provide adequate support for the thin strands of filament. So the printer turns the hair into some messy spaghetti that falls down or that is dragged around while printing, causing some damage to the supports or to the rest of the model. Details under the spoiler for those who are curious:
Unfortunately, this means that most hair styles available in Daz cannot be used directly. Some basic low-poly hair could be used because those are made of a limited number of polygons and they are usually handled like solid objects (e.g. for games, anime, etc.) but then Erika and Scarlett would probably not be themselves anymore.
I respectfully suggest that you read the forum rules, or read them again. We are discussing the game assets (Erika, Scarlett) with the creator of the game, and how to print the assets specifically provided by Trope95 to test 3D printing. This seems to be on-topic according to the forum rules (rule 2.1, second bullet). If the discussion about how to turn these My Dorm characters into tangible objects would become excessive compared to the other discussions, then it would make sense to create a separate Fan Art thread for this, as suggested (but not required) by the rule 2.9. But so far I have only posted 3 messages (now 4) about printing Erika in this thread, which does not seem to be excessive compared to the amount of GIF reactions and other comments that are not directly related to the game.
Nevertheless, I will try to respect your opinion. As this discussion about printing these assets from the game seems to bother you, I will refrain from posting more progress updates in this thread unless specifically requested by the creator of the game.
Yes, but that only works if all parts are printed correctly. With the current models for Erika and Scarlett, the problem is that the hair cannot even be printed correctly: some parts are already missing during the print, and others break off when removing the supports. The latter could be glued back if there was a way to separate the thin hair that got merged with the supports, but the parts that did not even print as intended cannot be recovered.
Anyway, here is my progress with the second attempt at printing Erika (model lying down). As I scaled up the model, it uses a bit more than 120 grams of material instead of 40. The printing time has also increased significantly: more than 15 hours. But what unfortunately did not change is the fact that the hair is very messy because it is made of thin strands or facets without any volume.
I leave the printer running (still 4 hours to go) but I already know that the hair will be broken and cannot be glued back, because there was no way to provide adequate support for the thin strands of filament. So the printer turns the hair into some messy spaghetti that falls down or that is dragged around while printing, causing some damage to the supports or to the rest of the model. Details under the spoiler for those who are curious:
Unfortunately, this means that most hair styles available in Daz cannot be used directly. Some basic low-poly hair could be used because those are made of a limited number of polygons and they are usually handled like solid objects (e.g. for games, anime, etc.) but then Erika and Scarlett would probably not be themselves anymore.
I respectfully suggest that you read the forum rules, or read them again. We are discussing the game assets (Erika, Scarlett) with the creator of the game, and how to print the assets specifically provided by Trope95 to test 3D printing. This seems to be on-topic according to the forum rules (rule 2.1, second bullet). If the discussion about how to turn these My Dorm characters into tangible objects would become excessive compared to the other discussions, then it would make sense to create a separate Fan Art thread for this, as suggested (but not required) by the rule 2.9. But so far I have only posted 3 messages (now 4) about printing Erika in this thread, which does not seem to be excessive compared to the amount of GIF reactions and other comments that are not directly related to the game.
Nevertheless, I will try to respect your opinion. As this discussion about printing these assets from the game seems to bother you, I will refrain from posting more progress updates in this thread unless specifically requested by the creator of the game.
Thank you very much for your comments about printing. After returning to work, I will start (as long as time available) my struggle with print figurines. I will try to include your experience. I will use the resin method. Once I have some acceptable effects, I will show you on the forum.
Unless someone is opposite.
Thanks! After the two tests with Erika, I did a test with Scarlett. Instead of the AmazonBasics red PLA, I switched to a different type of filament: ColorFabb StoneFill PLA. It is a matte gray filament that gives the appearance of stone or concrete.
There is still the same problem with the hair. This can be seen in the following screenshots from the slicer software (PrusaSlicer), showing on the left side how the model is loaded, and on the right side how the model is sliced in layers for the printer. Here I used 0.15mm layers. You can see in the sliced model that many parts of the hair are not converted to proper layers because they have no volume. As a result, several bits of filament are floating in mid-air without any supports.
The slicer shows that several thousand polygons in the model are not closed correctly. Usually, a model should consist of a single shell and should not have any open edges. The hair is really messing up everything.
Despite all these problems with the hair, the result is not too bad. Here are some photos (below the spoiler due to their size):
I did not print it with the highest quality settings (0.05 or 0.07 mm layers) because I knew that the hair would be a mess. The problems with the hair are also causing some of the details of the face to be lost.
But even with the medium quality (0.15 mm) the result looks rather nice. And it will probably look nicer after I clean up the thin strings of filament. No, Scarlett does not have hairy legs...
One problem with this model is the pose: without supports, Scarlett always falls to the side or to the back because there is no flat surface under the center of gravity. The butt cheeks are not on the same level and they have no flat areas, so the model is unstable. A real person sitting on a hard surface would have some flat areas under the cheeks and thighs. If there was a way to fix the hair and improve the pose a bit, this would be a very nice model to put on top of a monitor, or sitting on the edge of a shelf.
Thanks! After the two tests with Erika, I did a test with Scarlett. Instead of the AmazonBasics red PLA, I switched to a different type of filament: ColorFabb StoneFill PLA. It is a matte gray filament that gives the appearance of stone or concrete.
There is still the same problem with the hair. This can be seen in the following screenshots from the slicer software (PrusaSlicer), showing on the left side how the model is loaded, and on the right side how the model is sliced in layers for the printer. Here I used 0.15mm layers. You can see in the sliced model that many parts of the hair are not converted to proper layers because they have no volume. As a result, several bits of filament are floating in mid-air without any supports. View attachment 4559713
The slicer shows that several thousand polygons in the model are not closed correctly. Usually, a model should consist of a single shell and should not have any open edges. The hair is really messing up everything. View attachment 4559722
Despite all these problems with the hair, the result is not too bad. Here are some photos (below the spoiler due to their size):
I did not print it with the highest quality settings (0.05 or 0.07 mm layers) because I knew that the hair would be a mess. The problems with the hair are also causing some of the details of the face to be lost.
But even with the medium quality (0.15 mm) the result looks rather nice. And it will probably look nicer after I clean up the thin strings of filament. No, Scarlett does not have hairy legs...
One problem with this model is the pose: without supports, Scarlett always falls to the side or to the back because there is no flat surface under the center of gravity. The butt cheeks are not on the same level and they have no flat areas, so the model is unstable. A real person sitting on a hard surface would have some flat areas under the cheeks and thighs. If there was a way to fix the hair and improve the pose a bit, this would be a very nice model to put on top of a monitor, or sitting on the edge of a shelf.
Just "Wow", I'm with Trop on this I'm really loving what you did here and the insights and skills it takes. I can't wait for the finish product. Great job UnwrappedGodiva .
Just "Wow", I'm with Trop on this I'm really loving what you did here and the insights and skills it takes. I can't wait for the finish product. Great job UnwrappedGodiva .
Thanks, but let's give credit where credit is due: the real effort goes into creating the models. All these nice characters that we see and enjoy in My Dorm were created by Trope.
Converting a 3D model (the .OBJ file) into GCODE that can be 3D printed is no effort, really: I just had to load the model, let the slicing software do its job, then send it to the 3D printer and wait a bit for the result. For me this took only a few minutes, compared to the hours that Trope has spent creating and customizing these models for My Dorm. It may sound like magic to you, but once you have a bit of experience with 3D printing, you will know that printing an existing model is actually very easy.
Also, to be clear about the finished product: I am doing this for fun and I am not intending to sell any of this because this would go against the Daz license and against Trope's wishes. I don't use Daz myself, but I checked their surprisingly restrictive 3D printing license after Trope mentioned it here, so I know that selling My Dorm figurines would not be a good idea. In fact, I am almost glad that the models provided here by Trope have so many problems with their hair and with their unstable poses because this means that there is no risk that someone would grab these models and start selling My Dorm figurines without asking Trope and without respecting the Daz license.
If there was a way to fix the hair and improve the pose a bit, this would be a very nice model to put on top of a monitor, or sitting on the edge of a shelf.
I decided to deal with the problem of hair. I think I will have to remove some of the individual highlights. I will also remove eyelashes. This should make it easier to print.
As for the poses, she is supposed to sit on my shelf above the monitor.
