@Louise_Driggers has been a staple artist in the 3D Printing community for at least a couple years now. Lots of her models have become very popular, such as Aria the dragon and the Adalinda prints; both which were able to print totally without support material. Her art is generally designed with 3D printing in mind from the get-go.
This print is no different in that regard. However, it is her first commercial print. While normally we discourage commercial linking in this community, I feel like she is such a strong contributor to the community with the models that she has already released for free that we could probably make an exception this one time. It would really be a disgrace if people weren’t able to admire her work. https://pinshape.com/items/36215-3d-printed-the-sorceress
General question: Is there a “needs support” utility that I can load an STL into and specify a few parameters (like max angle, layer height nozzle diameter - angle can probably be calculated based on the other two) that will scan the file and highlight areas that won’t or may not print well without supports?
@Louise_Driggers Hmmm… yes, the slicers do calculate that. I’m using KISSlicer, and I have to slice and then view the output - the generated supports distract from understanding the model and corrections needed. Was hoping there’d be something that shows results before supports are generated.
@Alex_Wiebe Simplify3D has that exactly that feature and it also has a custom support tool which is useful so you can add/remove supports at your discretion.
@Louise_Driggers evidently, I have not been to the beach often enough to see it either. So, silly question but with sometimes suboptimal retraction, does your model get a hairy butt crack?
@Alex_Wiebe the slicing software for FormLabs SLA printers (PreForm) has a good visual indicator of support requirements, colouring areas of the model that require more support with shades of pink to red. Of course, this is SLA, not FDM, so the support requirements aren’t exactly the same, but it might be useful as a general indicator (as long as you remember the prints are “upside down”!).
Best of all, it’s free to download and works even if you don’t own a Form printer, so you can try it out at no expense.
I love it! I’ll probably buy this model and print it out. I’ve never understood what prevents me from sharing the digital model, once I’ve downloaded it though. Code of honor? Legal action? I don’t understand how licensure would work on a model basically.