country Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 A client wants to get a 3D print of their house plan. Has anyone done this with success? The printer requires a STL file, which I can do but I would like to know how many layers to turn off and what to leave on before exporting. (eg. Interior walls, interior doors staircases, etc.). Should I save a copy of the plan and just clean it up for the export? The person doing the printing does professional printing for different manufacturers so is quite knowledgable but I would like the best export I can to start with. Any and all suggestions welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbuttery Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Should I save a copy of the plan and just clean it up for the export? Sherry: I would unless you can control "everything" with layers/layersets I haven't heard to much "chatter" about this but it is suppose to work Lew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 I hope a few users have done this type of project. I can see where items such as gutters, piles, footings could be eliminated to decrease the complexity. I did find one discussion that mentioned Chief wasn't "watertight"??? Hopefully this isn't the case with a proper plan. I am going to read up in the reference manual because there wasn't much of anything except how to export STL in Help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopsaw Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Sherry, Likely a good test would be to re-import the STL model and take a look. You might find that things like windows all need to have their materials changed. Please let us know how it goes as there are only a few previous threads on this subject. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 I didn't realize I could import and open the file. That will be a big help. I will definitely report back on what I find and if I get a plan that works well I will post it. If things don't work, I will also let everyone know why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 Chopsaw I did a full STL export of the current file and then opened it in a new plan file. It comes in as a library object and looks exactly how it should. ( I even left the terrain , trees, walks, etc.) Now I can get rid of all the items I don't need for the model and work from there. Thank you very much for that suggestion. It will save me lots of back and forth with the printer to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 The person doing the print has told me to be sure the model is waterproof. The one comment I could find on the forum was that Chief in X8 wasn't waterproof. Does anyone understand what I have to do? I do see gaps in some areas between the soffit and roof and was wondering if I should make the roof a solid slab or ? I have sent a note into tech support to see if anyone there knows anything but I would think someone in our group would have done something like this. (Only $100 - 200 for a scale model!). The printing company did give me a list of file formats that would be easier for them to fix but none of them are supported by Chief export. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 I don't think a lot of people are doing it yet, for me 3d and 360 views and making a video to send to the client are better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 I agree with you Perry and would never have attempted this if a client hadn't asked. I said we had the file format to export so we are hoping it will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 3 hours ago, country said: The person doing the print has told me to be sure the model is waterproof. The one comment I could find on the forum was that Chief in X8 wasn't waterproof. Does anyone understand what I have to do? I do see gaps in some areas between the soffit and roof and was wondering if I should make the roof a solid slab or ? I have sent a note into tech support to see if anyone there knows anything but I would think someone in our group would have done something like this. (Only $100 - 200 for a scale model!). The printing company did give me a list of file formats that would be easier for them to fix but none of them are supported by Chief export. You can find a STL File Format Converter online Sherry , eg Autodesk has the free MeshMixer , it will import STL and can then "fix a file" and then export it in a number of other Formats apparently check this page .... https://www.mmmanual.com/export/ The program download http://www.meshmixer.com/ ** word of caution ...I know nothing about 3D Printing I have just read about MM in the past.... M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 Thank you Mick. I have already downloaded the program and imported the file. It actually looks pretty good. Now I have something to play with over the weekend. It looks like there are training samples and lots of help files. I'll report back on how things go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Would be interesting to see what you come up with and of course pics of the Final Product too when done. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Also would be interested as it is coming here for the higher end homes. Glad you have started the work already. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Sorry about the delay in reporting back. I tried a couple of the programs to attempt to fix the mesh and make it waterproof. I found it required a similar learning cure to properly using photoshop or gimp. Much more knowledge than I was willing to put in the time to learn. My client was going to see if the printer had someone knowledgeable in mesh repair to make the model waterproof. I haven't heard anything but they were away for a month so I may still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Thanks for the Update Sherry , appreciate it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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