How to use DAZ Studio character in Blender to produce 3D Print figure

daveso

I've been trying and trying, watching videos, reading, and so forth for at least 2 years and still cannot figure out how to get a DAZ Studio character into Blender and then prep it correctly for 3D Printing. Perhaps there is a better way, but Blender seems to be the correct choice. 
So, let me say I'm newer than rookie at Blender. I don't understand it, but it is stated once you get a character into it, you should be able to get it corrected etc for 3d print. 

Yeah, maybe, but it isn;t that easy. I think a lot has to do with how its exported from DS. I tried just exporting as obj and also using the DS to Blender bridge, which was a whole different mess, but finally got that to work. 

So , for example, I created a character with some clothes, hair, and a pose. Exported and imported into Blender. Its a mess I guess as there were 502,000 holes plus a ton of other error. It is impossible to even try to repair. 
Then , in my reading, i found a deal that said to make the model as one object, which I finally figured out how to do that, but even then, it had 502,000 holes. 

Using DAZ to Blender bridge, I cannot even figure out how to select the entire objsct. I'm getting bones and all kinds of other stuff. I have no clue

It would be real good if someone can do a complete flow from beginning to end on how to do this. I know there are people that know how here. Thank you. All I want to do is 3d print a character or two. It shouldn;t be this difficult. 

Catherine3678ab

Just passing by:

Have never done this. But yes one needs a dimension of mesh with a hole in it {unless one is very wealthy and wants to waste a lot of plastic}.

Start with the concept of a sphere. Give it thickness. You know, 2 layers a little bit apart. Then make one hole in it {like at the bottom}. Join the 2 layers together. I don't think uvmapping really matters 'cause one either paints plastic or uses coloured plastic.

In the collection of Genesises, there are Genesis 2 male and Genesis 2 female. Both of those come with {check in the Product Library} mouth pieces for 3D printing those figures.

Either the other figures were made not to need those or nobody's printing them, I don't know.

Hair for 3D printed models ... look for "cartoon" type hair styles {also some ancient model type hair styles}. Fit these on to the figure so that they merge somewhat into the mesh of the figure, no gaps. Clothing ... would need to be similarly attached to figure. So say you have a skirt on G2F, grab the bottom line and extract over into the figure, some mesh. Pose said figure prior to turning it into an object of course. But pose it considering that you might like it to really stand in RL [real life]. Perhaps keep the fingers together - or grasped around that spear or something. Same might go for toes but there again one might have shoes on the figure. Remember a Base for the figure, like a big flat rock or something.

From D/S there is a free plugin whereby one can send their work of art over to a third party and they'll take care of fixing it and printing it -- haven't kept up-to-date with this option. The overall price deterred me.

Oh yes, the final object thing for 3D printing is to save it as .stl file. There is/are websites with free and $$ .stl files available for downloading or to send for printing. Might take a look at some of those for more ideas on how to model yours.

 

daveso

Catherine3678ab said:

Just passing by:

Have never done this. But yes one needs a dimension of mesh with a hole in it {unless one is very wealthy and wants to waste a lot of plastic}.

Start with the concept of a sphere. Give it thickness. You know, 2 layers a little bit apart. Then make one hole in it {like at the bottom}. Join the 2 layers together. I don't think uvmapping really matters 'cause one either paints plastic or uses coloured plastic.

In the collection of Genesises, there are Genesis 2 male and Genesis 2 female. Both of those come with {check in the Product Library} mouth pieces for 3D printing those figures.

Either the other figures were made not to need those or nobody's printing them, I don't know.

Hair for 3D printed models ... look for "cartoon" type hair styles {also some ancient model type hair styles}. Fit these on to the figure so that they merge somewhat into the mesh of the figure, no gaps. Clothing ... would need to be similarly attached to figure. So say you have a skirt on G2F, grab the bottom line and extract over into the figure, some mesh. Pose said figure prior to turning it into an object of course. But pose it considering that you might like it to really stand in RL [real life]. Perhaps keep the fingers together - or grasped around that spear or something. Same might go for toes but there again one might have shoes on the figure. Remember a Base for the figure, like a big flat rock or something.

From D/S there is a free plugin whereby one can send their work of art over to a third party and they'll take care of fixing it and printing it -- haven't kept up-to-date with this option. The overall price deterred me.

Oh yes, the final object thing for 3D printing is to save it as .stl file. There is/are websites with free and $$ .stl files available for downloading or to send for printing. Might take a look at some of those for more ideas on how to model yours.

 

thank you, thius is very helpful Blender will save as stl which is very good. I'll try G2. I've been using G8. I got a G8M printed the other day, nude, and that printed fairly well, but it needs dressed, etc. There is a toon product on sale today with hair for $4.99. will grab thaqt, plus I already purchased the G3 version. Shouldn;t be a problem using on G2. 

I did try that print service and got one corrected for $2, but if you want higher resolution it a lot more. I dint find the one I paid for working any better than the one I printed. A lot depends on your printer and the settings. I do know that holes in the mesh or gaps will not print, or maybe not correctly though. A lot of learning to do. I'm actually fdoing a Blender tutorials too, but just a workflow with some details would be very cool. I'm assuming it should be pretty much the same every time as long as the guidelines for prep are like you atate , the hands, everything meshed together, etc 

Catherine3678ab

Sounds like you're on track with the project, hope it works out.

There could be a "weld all" button or something like that in Blender. There is in Hexagon at least for "dots."

daveso

Catherine3678ab said:

Sounds like you're on track with the project, hope it works out.

There could be a "weld all" button or something like that in Blender. There is in Hexagon at least for "dots."

there is..but it actually didnt close the holes on my model.. it made everything one piece though. I dont know enough about how to use Blender to change the mesh. My project continues.