So glad I found your channel. I've found very little on youtube for using blender for 3D modeling of miniature stuff. The stone wall video melted my brain. I knew it couldn't be super hard to do, but all my 3D knowledge is with solid modeling, Inventor and Fusion. All I wanted to know how to do was take an STL exported from fusion, and put some fricken stones, or wood texture on it. Might seem silly to people who are familiar with mesh modeling, but for someone who works much faster and understands solids, mesh seems like voodoo. As a total noob to blender, THANK YOU. Good idea for a video would be taking something as simple as a plain mini base, and adding cobbles, or sci-fi textures.
Really happy you've found the videos helpful. I'm slowly getting through a video looking more at tuning the stone walls for a building so you might find that interesting. Good call on the cobble/stone bases. I have a series of videos looking at making bases but that's looking at making them from scratch. You might want to check it out though: ua-cam.com/play/PLnqmLZKRm5CYlRZ6rjHT_eUKcJVC9FFhv.html
For 3D printing there really is no need to boolean/join the separate objects together. The slicer software(s) are all far more capable at dealing with overlapping manifold objects than they are at dealing with non-overlapping but also non-manifold objects (which boolean more often than not creates). I long since stopped bothering trying to join everything together like this, and I almost never have issues printing them. I found wasting time doing booleans, fixing the issues it creates, finding more issues etc... was just not worth the effort since they will slice absolutely fine if you just keep them all as overlapping parts. I had way more errors in the slicer back when I did join them. The final STL file is also much easier for people to edit since linked selection will continue to work on all the unjoined parts; so if you are sharing the files (selling, giving away etc) the end user will have a much easier time modifying the objects if they need to.
I can't agree that the final STL is easier to edit and it can create further issues as you continue with your workflow. If you bring an STL like that back into Blender it can be a nightmare and a total mess of parts, especially with complex objects. Also with objects like that you rapidly lose the ability to do other booleans as Blender can not calculate it correctly. This makes really powerful addons like Boxcutter and some Hard Ops functions not work (or at least not in a predictable way) and other functions such as adding textures from alphas impossible or panel lines/etc. This example is the limit of where I would go only because it was towards the end of the workflow, it was only in one predictable location (so it could be fixed it it had to) and I would make sure that I fix the object in another program, such as shown. If it works for you then feel free to do as you please, and if it was a free model on something like Thingiverse then I wouldn't complain at all (and anyone that did can frankly be quiet and jog on, its being given for free) but it just isn't suitable if it was going to be a paid for model.
At no point did I say during the modelling process that objects shouldn't be joined, clearly this has to be done to allow tools to work. My point was that there is literally no point in taking the completed model and wasting heaps of time unifying it all together at the end, creating holes everywhere, having to then fix said holes etc... when a slicer will slice the object just fine when its made up of multiple manifold objects even when they overlap. In particular the whole section near the end of this video where you carve out of the pole from the cloth and then have to fix all the errors was simply not needed in order to print it. The slicer would have worked perfectly fine with the pole and cloth intersecting and you are far more likely to create issues in the slicer by unifying the parts in this way and creating wonky geometry. I've had to fix hundreds of files, often commercial ones bought by people who then commissioned me to print them; usually due to non-manifold/non-watertight issues causing the slicing to fail. But it rarely happens with objects where the parts have not been unified (since there has been no complex booleans done at the very end messing up the geo) and this lack of being unified also makes it very easy to make tweaks such as adjusting poses or scaling an individual part or extracting a part to either remove it from the print entirely or use it with another object. Are you really saying you think its easier to modify an STL file thats had all its internal geometry removed and all the parts physically connected vs being able to just hover over a part and hit L to select all the connected geo so you can move it freely? Have you actually tried slicing a file where you leave the parts separate (e.g this banner without the pole carved out of the cloth)? TLDR: You are doing needless destructive work at the end of the modelling process that creates more issues than it solves, removes flexibility in the final output, and even when all those issues are corrected will give you exactly the same result in the slicer as a version of the file with none of that extra work being done.
@@SkonkBot I mean it hardly takes a long time to do. Without explaining things on the video it's saving, opening in another program and setting it running. And if the thing I wanted to modify needed sculpting or any work over a point when they join (such as adding icons/etc) which would typically be the things I'd change then it definitely helps being manifold object or the sculpting will create huge numbers of errors. Maybe we just look at files we purchase and want to do things in different ways. Regardless having a single manifold object let's me know for sure that it's manifold and won't cause the issues you're saying you have to fix. You can run those checks effectively in Blender on joined together parts. But if it works for you that's totally fine. 👍🏻
Ive found easier to just have the final sculpts remeshed at .02 and then decimate for optimization, since printing at such fine details don't really do much difference in visual quality and saves a lot of time and headaches. Just need a powerful PC to do all at once, or do by pieces if it's a big, complex print.
@@ArtisansofVaul Was super clear and got my banner all good! I am on Mac though and not quite sure what additional 3D Printing software I should get to start refining these models. I mainly do characters and in game assets but 3D printing and miniatures are now back in vogue after I found your channel. I saw Lychee but before getting a subscription I am wondering how far I can go with the free version.
@andycrystal I used the free version for a good year before I upgraded. The free version does everything well, the pro version has just got tools that makes to quicker to get everything ready. So it depends if you value your time or your money more 😅
@@ArtisansofVaul I just Have a question... I want to use this to create flag animation for davinci resolve.. something like kings and generals... when i Import an image for the flag it gets distorted.. Now I want to use import picture as a plane.. What do you think? Thank you!
@@LegacyLabyrinth So animation isn't really my main use for Blender but I have a few suggestions that might help. If the image is distorted when it's brought in as a flat image is it distorted in one axis? If so I would guess that the scale needs to be applied. If the distortion happens during the animation there is at least one (maybe a couple that also affect it) of the settings for the cloth that is how far it can "stretch" so that might be causing the distortion.
This was a great video - as others have commented, im looking for a way to add a logo to the flag - in my case it would be more 3d than just an image, so using a knife projection isnt as useful. is the flag going to be too complex to use conform object?
I'm planning a video to cover this soon 😁 The initial idea I had was using a shrink-wrap modifier and this does work.... but only if the flag is relatively flat, so it's pretty limiting. However, I may have found a solution but I need to test it, I just haven't had the chance yet.
@@ArtisansofVaul oh that's awesome! Currently I'm grabbing an STL and have bisected it and limited dissolve a few times, but hope to make it work! Can't wait to see your video!
@@joshsteffens2115 So that may be tricky to do with an STL as this feature needs clean quad geometry to work. You may be stuck going the shrink-wrap method unless you are making the flag part yourself
It's a great question and (sorry about this) there are a lot of possible answers depending on the icon and how deformed you're going to want the flag to be. Also I sometimes do it after so that the icon can be recognised. I'd use a shrink-wrap and add it to the flag (either before or after) using a 2d design and then solidifying it after the animation. Or you could use a knife project before and extrude the design out before or the animation or knife project, animate, then extrude along normals (I haven't tried this last one as it just came into my head but it should work)
Could you import that checked/fixed by 3d builder object into blender and run 3d print addon tool on it, I'm just wondering if it will find any issues, or it doesnt matter at this point as long as our slicer doesnt show any errors?
No difference except your put the pinned points on the side and probably make the wind a bit stronger. I would then make the damage/threadbare sections after by sculpting or booleans to take out chunks/round parts of the flag.
As someone who is just getting into Blender from Fusion 360, this kind of thing will make my list much easier!! Could you show how to do it with a triangular banner?
I would do it in exactly the same way I think but after subdividing the plain I would boolean to make the triangle shape apply it and then go through the same process.
@@ArtisansofVaul thanks for that!! I looked at making the triangle first but it went a bit strange. A second question is how would you emboss something onto a banner whilst still achieving the “blowing in the wind look”? I use SVG files in Fusion that a friend has drawn up so using those makes intricate designs.
@@Guardiansofwiltshire That's a tougher question on putting the design on as it can stretch. I think You're going to have to involve some UV mapping after the flag shape is confirmed. I can't say its something I've done but that would be my go to.
@@ArtisansofVaul like I said I’m new to Blender and just pointing in the right direction is a great start, thank you. If you figured out how to do it, I’ll love to see a tutorial. I like your style of video, how everything is explained and clearly you can follow along. This video I followed in real time and got the same (very similar) results after only opening Blender for the first time this week.
@@Guardiansofwiltshire awesome to hear you followed it along 😁 Really cool. I'll add it to the ever expanding list of things I need to cover (which has now got to 4 pages of a notebook 🤣) but it's an interesting issue.
Amazing stuff! :D I need to do a decorated flag, an embossed one, similar to many GW models, with legion-specific iconography. Do you have/know of a tutorial on that too? I mean using, vector graphics to add to the flag before starting to manipulate it as you do :) ?
I very rarely use vector graphics as I find them a bit of a pain but you can work through the cleanup of them. If possible you want just lines, not filled in imaged.
Thank you so much for your videos. Combined knowledge from this one and the one with lattice and the results are so cool!
@@Narper100 😁👍🏻Awesome that it's being helpful and thays a great combination of tools.
Thank you so much for this indepth Tutorial. You cover all the things that Beginners need and what i was searching.
😁 Cheers
So glad I found your channel. I've found very little on youtube for using blender for 3D modeling of miniature stuff. The stone wall video melted my brain. I knew it couldn't be super hard to do, but all my 3D knowledge is with solid modeling, Inventor and Fusion. All I wanted to know how to do was take an STL exported from fusion, and put some fricken stones, or wood texture on it. Might seem silly to people who are familiar with mesh modeling, but for someone who works much faster and understands solids, mesh seems like voodoo. As a total noob to blender, THANK YOU.
Good idea for a video would be taking something as simple as a plain mini base, and adding cobbles, or sci-fi textures.
Really happy you've found the videos helpful. I'm slowly getting through a video looking more at tuning the stone walls for a building so you might find that interesting. Good call on the cobble/stone bases. I have a series of videos looking at making bases but that's looking at making them from scratch. You might want to check it out though: ua-cam.com/play/PLnqmLZKRm5CYlRZ6rjHT_eUKcJVC9FFhv.html
Yo I just wanted to say: Thank you so much for your channel and videos! This type of help is exactly what I've been looking for.
Thanks so much Chris. It's always great to know they are helping 😁👍🏻
Couldn’t cope without 3D builder! Great work as always
Cheers! 😁 It's such a time saver it's unbelievable. Probably the most reliable "fixing" software I know of.
@@ArtisansofVaul sadly not available on mac; I have been using the fix function in LycheeSlicer which seems to get the job done most of the time
Can't wait to get back from vacation 😅. So many ideas with this already. Thanks for the video.
Glad its getting people to try things 😁
For 3D printing there really is no need to boolean/join the separate objects together. The slicer software(s) are all far more capable at dealing with overlapping manifold objects than they are at dealing with non-overlapping but also non-manifold objects (which boolean more often than not creates).
I long since stopped bothering trying to join everything together like this, and I almost never have issues printing them. I found wasting time doing booleans, fixing the issues it creates, finding more issues etc... was just not worth the effort since they will slice absolutely fine if you just keep them all as overlapping parts. I had way more errors in the slicer back when I did join them.
The final STL file is also much easier for people to edit since linked selection will continue to work on all the unjoined parts; so if you are sharing the files (selling, giving away etc) the end user will have a much easier time modifying the objects if they need to.
I can't agree that the final STL is easier to edit and it can create further issues as you continue with your workflow. If you bring an STL like that back into Blender it can be a nightmare and a total mess of parts, especially with complex objects. Also with objects like that you rapidly lose the ability to do other booleans as Blender can not calculate it correctly. This makes really powerful addons like Boxcutter and some Hard Ops functions not work (or at least not in a predictable way) and other functions such as adding textures from alphas impossible or panel lines/etc. This example is the limit of where I would go only because it was towards the end of the workflow, it was only in one predictable location (so it could be fixed it it had to) and I would make sure that I fix the object in another program, such as shown. If it works for you then feel free to do as you please, and if it was a free model on something like Thingiverse then I wouldn't complain at all (and anyone that did can frankly be quiet and jog on, its being given for free) but it just isn't suitable if it was going to be a paid for model.
At no point did I say during the modelling process that objects shouldn't be joined, clearly this has to be done to allow tools to work. My point was that there is literally no point in taking the completed model and wasting heaps of time unifying it all together at the end, creating holes everywhere, having to then fix said holes etc... when a slicer will slice the object just fine when its made up of multiple manifold objects even when they overlap. In particular the whole section near the end of this video where you carve out of the pole from the cloth and then have to fix all the errors was simply not needed in order to print it. The slicer would have worked perfectly fine with the pole and cloth intersecting and you are far more likely to create issues in the slicer by unifying the parts in this way and creating wonky geometry.
I've had to fix hundreds of files, often commercial ones bought by people who then commissioned me to print them; usually due to non-manifold/non-watertight issues causing the slicing to fail. But it rarely happens with objects where the parts have not been unified (since there has been no complex booleans done at the very end messing up the geo) and this lack of being unified also makes it very easy to make tweaks such as adjusting poses or scaling an individual part or extracting a part to either remove it from the print entirely or use it with another object.
Are you really saying you think its easier to modify an STL file thats had all its internal geometry removed and all the parts physically connected vs being able to just hover over a part and hit L to select all the connected geo so you can move it freely?
Have you actually tried slicing a file where you leave the parts separate (e.g this banner without the pole carved out of the cloth)?
TLDR: You are doing needless destructive work at the end of the modelling process that creates more issues than it solves, removes flexibility in the final output, and even when all those issues are corrected will give you exactly the same result in the slicer as a version of the file with none of that extra work being done.
@@SkonkBot I mean it hardly takes a long time to do. Without explaining things on the video it's saving, opening in another program and setting it running.
And if the thing I wanted to modify needed sculpting or any work over a point when they join (such as adding icons/etc) which would typically be the things I'd change then it definitely helps being manifold object or the sculpting will create huge numbers of errors. Maybe we just look at files we purchase and want to do things in different ways. Regardless having a single manifold object let's me know for sure that it's manifold and won't cause the issues you're saying you have to fix. You can run those checks effectively in Blender on joined together parts.
But if it works for you that's totally fine. 👍🏻
Ive found easier to just have the final sculpts remeshed at .02 and then decimate for optimization, since printing at such fine details don't really do much difference in visual quality and saves a lot of time and headaches. Just need a powerful PC to do all at once, or do by pieces if it's a big, complex print.
Excellent tutorial.
Cheers. It's a hard topic to balance correctly so it's great to hear its being useful.
@@ArtisansofVaul Was super clear and got my banner all good! I am on Mac though and not quite sure what additional 3D Printing software I should get to start refining these models. I mainly do characters and in game assets but 3D printing and miniatures are now back in vogue after I found your channel. I saw Lychee but before getting a subscription I am wondering how far I can go with the free version.
@andycrystal I used the free version for a good year before I upgraded. The free version does everything well, the pro version has just got tools that makes to quicker to get everything ready. So it depends if you value your time or your money more 😅
fantastic, thank you!
My pleasure 😁
This is great, thank you for that
No problem at all 👍🏻😁
Man this is fire! Thank you very much!
My pleasure 😁 Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment👍🏻
@@ArtisansofVaul I just Have a question... I want to use this to create flag animation for davinci resolve.. something like kings and generals... when i Import an image for the flag it gets distorted.. Now I want to use import picture as a plane.. What do you think? Thank you!
@@LegacyLabyrinth So animation isn't really my main use for Blender but I have a few suggestions that might help. If the image is distorted when it's brought in as a flat image is it distorted in one axis? If so I would guess that the scale needs to be applied.
If the distortion happens during the animation there is at least one (maybe a couple that also affect it) of the settings for the cloth that is how far it can "stretch" so that might be causing the distortion.
@@ArtisansofVaul I will try some things and let you know. Thank you!
@@LegacyLabyrinth Please do. I'd really love to know what helps.
This was a great video - as others have commented, im looking for a way to add a logo to the flag - in my case it would be more 3d than just an image, so using a knife projection isnt as useful. is the flag going to be too complex to use conform object?
I'm planning a video to cover this soon 😁 The initial idea I had was using a shrink-wrap modifier and this does work.... but only if the flag is relatively flat, so it's pretty limiting. However, I may have found a solution but I need to test it, I just haven't had the chance yet.
@@ArtisansofVaul oh that's awesome!
Currently I'm grabbing an STL and have bisected it and limited dissolve a few times, but hope to make it work!
Can't wait to see your video!
@@joshsteffens2115 So that may be tricky to do with an STL as this feature needs clean quad geometry to work. You may be stuck going the shrink-wrap method unless you are making the flag part yourself
How would you go about adding iconography to the deformed flag based on when the flag is flat before the sim?
It's a great question and (sorry about this) there are a lot of possible answers depending on the icon and how deformed you're going to want the flag to be. Also I sometimes do it after so that the icon can be recognised. I'd use a shrink-wrap and add it to the flag (either before or after) using a 2d design and then solidifying it after the animation. Or you could use a knife project before and extrude the design out before or the animation or knife project, animate, then extrude along normals (I haven't tried this last one as it just came into my head but it should work)
Could you import that checked/fixed by 3d builder object into blender and run 3d print addon tool on it, I'm just wondering if it will find any issues, or it doesnt matter at this point as long as our slicer doesnt show any errors?
If there were any errors the slicer would have shown it.
And what about a clasic flag, or even one that is... like rotten (threadbare). Like the one on the skaven wheel.
No difference except your put the pinned points on the side and probably make the wind a bit stronger. I would then make the damage/threadbare sections after by sculpting or booleans to take out chunks/round parts of the flag.
Could you do a tutorial on how you get the viewport to look so pretty like Zbrush?
Already done 😉 ua-cam.com/video/GcNHZILKl3I/v-deo.html
great tutorial, will you make one for a robe?
I can do. I would be much more likely to just sculpt that though.
As someone who is just getting into Blender from Fusion 360, this kind of thing will make my list much easier!! Could you show how to do it with a triangular banner?
I would do it in exactly the same way I think but after subdividing the plain I would boolean to make the triangle shape apply it and then go through the same process.
@@ArtisansofVaul thanks for that!! I looked at making the triangle first but it went a bit strange. A second question is how would you emboss something onto a banner whilst still achieving the “blowing in the wind look”? I use SVG files in Fusion that a friend has drawn up so using those makes intricate designs.
@@Guardiansofwiltshire That's a tougher question on putting the design on as it can stretch. I think You're going to have to involve some UV mapping after the flag shape is confirmed. I can't say its something I've done but that would be my go to.
@@ArtisansofVaul like I said I’m new to Blender and just pointing in the right direction is a great start, thank you. If you figured out how to do it, I’ll love to see a tutorial. I like your style of video, how everything is explained and clearly you can follow along.
This video I followed in real time and got the same (very similar) results after only opening Blender for the first time this week.
@@Guardiansofwiltshire awesome to hear you followed it along 😁 Really cool. I'll add it to the ever expanding list of things I need to cover (which has now got to 4 pages of a notebook 🤣) but it's an interesting issue.
Amazing stuff! :D I need to do a decorated flag, an embossed one, similar to many GW models, with legion-specific iconography. Do you have/know of a tutorial on that too? I mean using, vector graphics to add to the flag before starting to manipulate it as you do :) ?
I very rarely use vector graphics as I find them a bit of a pain but you can work through the cleanup of them. If possible you want just lines, not filled in imaged.
@@ArtisansofVaul Thanks mate :) I'll try to figure it out! I'll start trying this out just to understand the process! Cheers
@@marcoz6269 Limited dissolve will likely be your friend when sorting out the huge number of additional vertices there will probably be.
Lmao, your computer didn’t like this video
Sorry, I dont understand?
@@ArtisansofVaul the fan was spinning the whole video✌🏼 try getting a new mike
@@addepaddes 🤣 I think it might be the case of "try getting a new computer". Or maybe turning down the sensitivity. My appologies if it was annoying.
Ofc thing comes out just after i've made my banners.. :D well your method would have been much easier. ah well.
Sorry man. Did yours work out though?