3-D MODEL FILES

Rhaven Blaack

!!!THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!
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I like to introduce a new section in the RESOURCE SECTION! 3-D MODEL FILES!
This section is specifically for 3-D files (i.e. lwo files, Sketck-up files, and others).
You can use these for 3-D printing, paper/cardstock models, or short films.
*PLEASE STATE FILE EXTENSION OF THE MODEL FILE IN THE RESOURCE DESCRIPTION!*
 

Revell-Fan

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The first submission is the original SketchUp model of the Colonial Blaster. It may help you tremendously with building it because it shows you the assembled parts. I have added some layers useful to make parts of the model invisible. Have fun and enjoy! :)


colonial-warrior-blaster-jpg.177583
 
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Cybergrinder

Member Extraordinaire
I have always struggled to extract/convert the model from games or other programs. My thinking is if the more adept 3D designers amongst us who maybe don't want to go to the lengths of designing a printable paper model could save a version that can be opened in Peprakuria or similar programmes?

The lesser path designers could then work with the 3D version and develop a printable version? Just a thought...
 

Revell-Fan

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Most game models are not immediately suitabe for papercrafting because the models were designed for gaming. Their top priority is to look good. Upon closer examination you will encounter a most common dreadful thing: intersections. These have to be eliminated first before you can build anything. In addition, actual game models have a very high poly count which needs to be reduced to make a reasonable base to work with. Pepakura is only a tool for unfolding, not mesh manipulation. So if you have a game model you'll have to tweak it first before it can be turned into a physical model.
 

xaero892

Mad Modeller
I can extract models from quite a few games and convert them to .obj files.

If anyone with better 3d modeling prowess than me would be prepared to fix the errors, I can probably help get the required model.
 

zathros

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I find .obj files to be the worst offendeing models because of parts that don't intersect properly and edges with double lines, sometimes as much as 6 or 7 of the same line (curve) and there is no reasonn for this. You couldn't even Render a model like this in Rhino. I find Blender models need massive cleaning up before even attempting to convert them into something paper can handle. That being said, I have seen a few that aren't done so slopilly, but it boggles the mind that Blender can work with such a mess. I don't think you could make precision parts with Blender, not for the Aerospace industry, unless you were really disciplined. It probably shows how little I know of Blender, but two serious attempts at it, and I found it too unintuitive to work with. IMHO, and it's not cheap anymore. Dollar for Dollar, Rhino is far superior, and has so many plug ins, and you can make virtually anything in it, and either 3D print it, or machine it. My hats off to those that excel with it. :)
 

Gandolf50

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I find .obj files to be the worst offendeing models because of parts that don't intersect properly and edges with double lines, sometimes as much as 6 or 7 of the same line (curve) and there is no reasonn for this. You couldn't even Render a model like this in Rhino. I find Blender models need massive cleaning up before even attempting to convert them into something paper can handle. That being said, I have seen a few that aren't done so slopilly, but it boggles the mind that Blender can work with such a mess. I don't think you could make precision parts with Blender, not for the Aerospace industry, unless you were really disciplined. It probably shows how little I know of Blender, but two serious attempts at it, and I found it too unintuitive to work with. IMHO, and it's not cheap anymore. Dollar for Dollar, Rhino is far superior, and has so many plug ins, and you can make virtually anything in it, and either 3D print it, or machine it. My hats off to those that excel with it. :)
Blender's tool set is better suited to entertainment or artistic modeling, like that used in the creation of animated films and video games. By contrast, Rhino's features and tools make it better equipped for professional design, including architectural, mechanical and automotive design work.
Oppps BLENDER is FREE... and Rhino..Mucho Dinero!! Unless you can get a student version.
By .obj files, I am going to say YES and NO... Yes, most of the ones you see are crap as far as converting to paper, with all the reasons you mentioned...but the file .obj is only as good as it's a modeler. You can make a beautiful .obj file that is perfectly fine to convert to paper... but most I believe you are seeing out there are game rips and the like...they are low poly and intersected and all sorts of problems...or they are just made for renders so that the intersections are not important, the real problem is when you find a model you want to make into paper and the .obj is one of those !!

Example..this model could have come from Rhino just as well as Blender...but since it is not made for precision reference data and the like, but purely for rendering, there are shortcuts, some parts intersect but could be fixed with a little work and boolean modifiers. For paper that is exactly what you would have to do. In Rhino the parts could be refined down to ....000.0001 decimal points, and constructed in manufacturing. But the Rhino version will not allow you to add a PBR texture and then flatten for paper. It just will not work... in Blender..No Problemo!

Greebles.png
Left-over greebles that were not used, but saved to a Blend File as the next project just might need one of them...

and as far as Blender Rendering... the new image I just uploaded to HERE say's it better.
 

zathros

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Yes, I agree to everything you said. However, you can add textures to parts that are flattened. Fortunately I have a younger one in school, so Rhino is just $200 bucks for us, and as far as Blender goes, you have to agree, it's not as intuitive, maybe for someone of your abilities who can see through thee interface mess that all these programs present, but for someone first learning, I am of the opinion Rhino is far more intuitive (IMHO). As I do make parts that are machined, and used in various vehicles and aircraft, the ability to do so is a feature I cannot do without. I've converted many .obj files, and have made them suitable for paper, most of the time, when I get actual blueprints, I find the models are a representation, but as you say, it's only as good as the modeler. The problem I see is that it allows you to get away with sloppy modeling, textures aside, what are you learning when a program lets you make a sloppy model and accepts and "Renders" it?

That may be good enough for some people but not me. The textures issue is something that could be done post modeling, but as that is my weak point, and frankly, to be honest, textures look good on pictures, but on real models, paper especially, they tend to look like crap. They look much better is airbrushed, painted, or applied externally to the model. People have come to overly rely on textures in their paper craft, and end up making various primatives, with loads of textures, to make it look like what they are trying to emulate.

I do believe that lines and such have their place, but imagine a model where the panel lines are there because it is an actual panel line? Sure more work, but what you get in the end is a better model.

Gandolf, you proof of that, all of the works I've seen you do use the paper as a basis, and are painted, and "made realistic" by your fantastic technique. No program or printer can print that. :)
 

Gandolf50

Researcher of obscure between war vehicles...
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Oh, I get it, as it is your background where you learned from. I have a VERY eclectic background from construction, Master of Fine Arts and many others, and computer Grafix superimposed on all of it. Gaming has maybe made a BIG effect, and the need to make stuff in the gaming industry.

all my stuff takes a super high-rez mesh which is re-topo'd to reduce poly count and to make it a better mesh. When you SCULPT and model, it is literally adding and subtracting mesh. Take a look at ZBrush some time..the meshes are a nightmare, but what is done, amazing.
Just as an example...not Zbrush but Blender re-toped mesh down to a manageable size and better mesh lines.
Paper-NONO.png
and a render of the above...
Render-Paper.png
 

zathros

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Oh, I get it, as it is your background where you learned from. I have a VERY eclectic background from construction, Master of Fine Arts and many others, and computer Grafix superimposed on all of it. Gaming has maybe made a BIG effect, and the need to make stuff in the gaming industry.

all my stuff takes a super high-rez mesh which is re-topo'd to reduce poly count and to make it a better mesh. When you SCULPT and model, it is literally adding and subtracting mesh. Take a look at ZBrush some time..the meshes are a nightmare, but what is done, amazing.
Just as an example...not Zbrush but Blender re-toped mesh down to a manageable size and better mesh lines.
View attachment 177675
and a render of the above...
View attachment 177674


Exactly,, my background kind of hampers me. I have done texturing in Rhino, but what I have done is drawn borders using Curves, and had those unroll with the part, that gave me the location where to put any weathering, as you said, Rhino won't unroll textures.
I understand my limitations, and try to work and expand whenever possible, but know when to get on making something, and when to spend 4 hours trying to learn something. My ability to loft Hulls has been something I treasured, and I started doing that when I was 9 years old, using string and a straight edge.

I never begrudge someone who basically knows how to do virtually everything.. You are great at what you do, there is no denying it. I am more firmly entrenched in making things out of metal or composites, in my machine shop, than modeling virtually. I can model just about anything, but have zilch skills in texturing, which there are thankfully others here who can pick assist.

Funny, what you said about Rhino producing in tolerances in .004" of an inch. At Sikorsky Aircraft, routinely we worked with .00002" plus or minus tolerances. Off course, not everyone there had the patience to do that, but with those tolerances, the ambient temperatures, state of the machine, how you held the part, the material you are working with etc., all come into play, and that is what being a master in that field requires, looking at the whole picture.

Rhino 4 can be had for pennies on EBAY. Rhino 5 can be purchased on Ebay rather cheaply sold by people who purchased it and found they either couldn't figure it out or it wasn't what they wanted.

Take the last picture you posted, in my life, as nice as that looks, knowing how to do that would do nothing for me. I don't do gaming like you do. For what I need to do, I do well. To be honest these days, as most of what I make comes out of my head, the blueprints come afterwards. I guess that's why I tend to push Rhino, so people can make real things, and the amount of formats in exports too, as far as investment in time, Rhino is a more useful tool, for time invested. IMHO. :)
 

Lee Clifton

Wisdom and Kindness, A Zealot Sage
Anyone ever found a 3D model to unfold of the Stark Tower or the Avengers Tower? I have paper models of the Baxter Building and the Daily Planet, have looked for a model of both towers and the Daily Bugle but I've never found either. I saw a real simple model of the Flatiron building that they used for the movie version of the Daily Bugle but I didn't get to download it.
 

zathros

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Anyone ever found a 3D model to unfold of the Stark Tower or the Avengers Tower? I have paper models of the Baxter Building and the Daily Planet, have looked for a model of both towers and the Daily Bugle but I've never found either. I saw a real simple model of the Flatiron building that they used for the movie version of the Daily Bugle but I didn't get to download it.


I have never seen anything like that. I think this thread is more for 3D files, and questions thereabout, in relation to 3D printing.. The answer, for my part is "No", Lee. :)
 

Gandolf50

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There are a couple (Cr--PY ) ones on Sketch-up...And quite a few .STL for Printing...only one has the full base ..but it is a box with pictures on it and an export to .Dae scatters a lot of the parts...
I have a low-poly Holo version... ??PM me if you want..
hOLO.png
 
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