3D printing Poser models – questions answered

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From say the above model of the two workers standing by the anvil what is a list of actual programs needed to the to the point of printing?

The two figures by the anvil were actually a ready made model that I downloaded from myminifacory The model was a scan of a famous sculpture of the half brothers Castor and Pollux which I downloaded for free. There are thousands of famous sculptures there for free. You can even buy filament with embedded stone powder to make them look realistic!

But had I chosen to create exactly the same scene in Poser or DAZ Studio, and assuming that the hairstyles and props were available, the only other REQUIRED program would be Cura, which as you have already discovered is free. Get that here. Some printers come with their own slicer software that you can use instead.

So, if you created the scene in DAZ studio (free) using figures you already own, you could create everything you need in two programs for free. However, if you wanted to tweak the 3D scene or build props such as that club from scratch, you could do so in a 3D program such as Blender which is also free. I use 3D Studio Max because it’s more powerful and it’s what I have grown used to.

You have mentioned DAZ, Poser and 3D Studio Max. Not sure if it was here, but thought I’d heard support for Poser has gone downhill considerably and now not sure if it is worth upgrading

Poser hasn’t gone downhill per se – it still does many things better than DAZ Studio and I love it but it does not support their latest three generations figures or the wonderful hair styles and Smith Micro seems to have abandoned it. It’s still my program of choice but I swap back and forwards between the two as needed now. If your only objective is 3D printing, you may as well stick with DAZ Studio or whatever version of Poser you are using. If you like the idea of superb rendering quality using the Poser 11 PBR engine then upgrade in one of the many sales they run. You can probably do so for well uner $100 if you time it right.

You have mentioned a ‘slicer’ program and Cura…which after a quick google while typing this I see is a slicer program- the ideal one because it appears to be free or is the difference between this and paid program mostly fripperies?

Most slicers are free. Cura is a fully featured piece of software. Simplify3D at $150 offers more features, but they will be beyond your needs for the first few months – maybe forever (although the graphical representation of the slicing is a fun novelty). Many serious users still use Cura as their sole slicing program. In some situations, Simplify will give you better quality off the bed by enabling to set the advanced parameters of your printer such as the routing that the print nozzle takes as it prints (which can avoid failed prints or print imperfections such as stringing). In some cases Cura’s slicing AI does a better job, and in others, Simplify is better. Even Simplify evangelists will sometimes still revert to Cura for the occasional task.

Basically, just trying to get an idea of costs aside from the printer.

Apart from the printer and the filament which comes in 1kg rolls, which is enough to print at least a dozen maybe several dozens of 6 inch figures for $10 (Cura will even calculate the cost of each print for you), there are no essential expenses. Extra software is optional and you can easily live without it with careful planning. You will probably want to buy a few  clean up tools if your printer doesn’t come with them. Mini craft files, chisels, needle nose pliers, and cutters. I got all the bits I needed for under £20 and honestly I only use a single chisel and the pliers although I expect to use the files more often! If you buy the very popular Creatily CR10, or the CR10s which I use, or the Ender 3 which has a smaller print size, you’ll be buying a printer which is massively customisable, so if you want to improve it for finer detail (by adding a smaller nozzle – a few dollars), a wider range of print materials ($10-50 per roll), faster printing (a larger nozzle and a more powerful hot end), or greater stability (kit for £20), you can do so. Few modifications cost more than £20, and many can be printed with the actual unit. I can’t speak for other printers much. If you buy a resin printer, the quality will be higher but the cost of ownership is MUCH higher and there are far more processes and the resin is corrosive. Laser sintering printers are MASSIVELY more expensive to print and there’s massive waste so I won’t go into them.

There are dozens of reasonable printers on the market. I suggest watching youtube reviews. Three channels I trust are MakersMuse, Filament Friday, and CNC Kitchen.

I hope that this answers all your questions!

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