Designing for 3D printing (and Wings vs Sketchup Questions)

[Ran13]

While I think Wings is perfect for creating your 3D design, Blender recently had a suite of tools added that really helps make your mesh 3D print ready by checking the mesh against a custom set of parameters that you set to match the prerequisites of your particular printing hardware. Things like intersecting faces, allowable wall thickness, and overhang angle which are important parameters to a successful print run.

I suggest starting in Wings for the initial design, then running it thru Blender to check and correct any problem areas.

Here's a page that lists the tools:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extens...intToolbox

And a short (4:30) sample chapter of DVD video training that's available which highlights how the tools work in realtime: