Full Version: Moi3D for 3D Printing? (Compared to others?)

Hello everyone - I've been eyeballing Moi for some time now, and am interested in it for the purpose of creating 3D models to be printed and such

As such...I was curious as to what everyone's opinions on this would be? (I know that this forum would most likely be biased towards Moi, however, I figured it would helpful to ask nonetheless...)

I've also looked at things like Fusion 360 and Blender - though, I'm not too big a fan of Fusion 360's subscription model and have heard that modelling prints with the end use of being printed is a little more difficult/involved with Blender than another option (Like Fusion 360...)

But I'll digress - your opinions and thoughts are greatly appreciated!

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Before 3D Print you must have a 3D Model!

So find the tool where you have the more fun to modelise! :)

If it's easy, ergonomic, zen without a big curve learning... it will be a moment of inspiration for you! :)

10 seconds fresh air for relaxing of that http://moiscript.weebly.com/biblio-elephant.html

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Are STL files the basis of 3d printing?

Maybe this winter I'll finish building my 3d printer kit.

- Brian

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Hi monkey_man,

MoI is perfectly suitable for 3D printing! I use it all the time
at work. However, in order to print models in color I always
convert from MoI .obj to .wrl (VRML) in Blender.

@Brian .stl is a standard file format which is used for 3D
printing, without color.

Regards
Stefan

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I also use MoI to model items for my 3D printer.

MoI > STL export > Simplify 3D slicer > GCode export > Robo R2 printer.

Works great. What kind of models are you planning to make?

Ed Ferguson

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Primarily planning on modelling some different waveguide designs for a loudspeaker, among other such things

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Hi monkey_man,

I have modeled more than 150 models to print them and making pendants, rings, earrings. ..
One of the best feature for MOI in this use is Having the status of parts : surfaces and solid !
Solids are printable objets and Moi always give this status.
Nurbs give you opportunities to model easy and fast. Export functions are great too to have stl files.
Test it ! Use it!

FR

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Monkey-man: Waveguides for speaker enclosures should be easy in MoI. About all you should need are lofts or sweeps, and shell commands.

I 3D print mechanical parts & assemblies so it's a good fit for MoI. I have also used threaded brass heat-set inserts in my 3D printed parts to fasten items together with machine screws. That's something to consider doing if you need to print a large waveguide in sections, or need to fasten one to a wood enclosure.

Ed Ferguson

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Hi monkey_man,

I use MOI for 3d printing. The model is exported as OBJ and imported to Simplify3D for the final process to the 3d printer.

Wayne

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MoI3D is perfectly matched for 3D printing-- here's why.

It's always good to understand a few things about 3D print files and the software used to create them.

Many of the modelers out there, including Blender, Modo, 3D Max, SketchUp, Maya and others are "surface modelers."

This makes it easy to model shapes and objects which are not "manifold" -- which means 'water tight.' The idea being if an object is manifold, and you pour water into it, no water will leak out.

Many surface modelers have features which will check for manifold, but it's super easy to have crossed polygons, missing sliver faces, double vertices, inside surfaces etc, which can be very hard to fix in surface models.

Another type of modelers are "solids modelers." These are typically expensive CAD applications which have a built-in geometric understanding of what is "solid"-- and solid is always manifold. The biggest issue with these programs is the complexity of interface and cost to use.

MoI3D is a "solids modeler." And, it's most affordable and very easy to learn as well. In fact, 3D printing was the primary reason I started using MoI3D in the first place... years ago.

One other thing i should mention. In order to 3D print your model, it needs to be converted to polygons, (which interestingly are surface representations). MoI3D has the best remesher I've ever seen in a solid modeler, and that includes the very expensive ones. In fact, I advise corporate CAD users to purchase MoI3D for this feature alone. They can export from their CAD program into MoI3D and then export the polygon mesh.

Why is this important? Because converting from solids to polygons can be tricky at times. MoI3D has a great WYSIWYG interface that previews the mesh density *before* exporting.

So, that's a long way of saying, YES. MoI3D should be your first choice for creating models for 3D printing.

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MOI is where I start anymore. Very versatile.

I also use Viacad Pro and Powerpack Modelling

Imports .3dm exports iges step stl obj and more.

Give Slic3r a go.

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