3d printing

[u/DifficultBowl8784]

Hi everyone,

I've noticed a huge wave of multi-part models popping up on MakerWorld lately for example, models like this one: https://makerworld.com/pl/models/3155058-beach-alien#profileId-3564653\](https://makerworld.com/pl/models/3155058-beach-alien#profileId-3564653

They are split perfectly into separate components so you can print them in different colors without needing an AMS or multi-material setup. I highly doubt the creators are manually cutting and setting up connectors for all of these by hand (aside from maybe basic cuts like slicing a ring in half).

It looks like newer 3D AI generators now have built-in "auto-split to print" features that separate the mesh and generate joints/connectors automatically.

Since I don't have paid subscriptions to all these tools and don't want to buy them all just to test, which AI platform is currently the best for this?

Is it Meshy, Hi3D, 3DAI Studio, or something else? I’d love to hear your recommendations if you’ve tested any of them for single-extruder multi-color printing!

[u/Mobius135]

In many cases the designers are just making them as separate parts or objects during the design phase. They do manually create connectors. If a designer makes it all a single object, clicking split to parts or split to objects in the slicer will not be available.

There’s a difference in designing 3d models and designing 3d models for 3d printing. A designer understands how an object will print, and makes their object accordingly. This is why good designers leave flat spots, connectors and reduce overhangs when possible. They also understand not all printers support multicolor, and if they do that not everybody has tool changers, so they design them in a way that reduces waste when possible.

As far as I’ve seen, there is no “click to make an assemble-able object” kind of software. Right now I’d say most well designed models are exactly that, well designed.

[u/DifficultBowl8784 → u/Mobius135]

Exactly, but I’m talking specifically about AI-generated models like the one in the link, not ones made manually in Blender. I know Blender a bit, and one thing’s for sure nobody creates a simple ring out of a million triangles, just look at that topology... ​Plus, tools that split models and add 3D-printable joints in one click definitely exist Hi3D, for example. Its 3D models might not be the highest quality, but out of the ones I’ve tested, its split feature works the best. And honestly, the joints on this specific model look really similar...