Fixing impossible STL's with Meshmixer 3.1.118 BETA

[@donnymiddlebrook]

I'm just getting into 3D printing and this vid, 5 years later, is still very helpful.

[@z.maulerant5861]

Came across this yesterday and it helped save my blue rose STL file since it had a whole bunch of gaps! Thank you for pointing out this tool since I couldn't find any other tutorial that showed it. I was about to edit it in blender but this is SO much easier!

[@23yendou]

after 3 months of trying everything and nearly giving up,this works🤗 thank you so much,the offset was the only thing i didnt play with because it usualy crashed before getting to this value

[@roussel000]

5 years later you still helping people like me, I printed a Zenitsu model for my girl, thank you bro

[@normabarr1492]

Nice! I just discovered Netfabb cloud solution is no longer free to upload and fix those separate shells and the full version of netfabb is not cheap!. I am also a huge meshmixer fan so thanks for another great video, great timing and as usual explaining what the complex options actually do!

[@MakersMuse]

Hi Norma, it still seems to work OK for me? Keeping in mind the new domain is modelrepair.azurewebsites.net , but typing in cloud.netfabb redirects to it. Just tried it then and it didn't try to charge me! I STILL prefer meshmixer though, gives me far more control. Many thanks for the kind words :)

[@normabarrify]

Brilliant, thanks for that!

[@sidevon6819]

Good to see you doing mesh mixer again. I would like more of these and OnSpace if you get the time. Ta.

[@SiriusXification]

"3D_Map_killmenowedition.stl" How about a story time?

[@MakersMuse]

hahaa well spotted. That's what you call files when they take hours to compute and it's crashed the last 5 times you tried :)

[@AbsurdAsparagus]

also he named this file "miku thickened", any people seeing that are gonna give some looks

[@mralabbad7]

@@AbsurdAsparagus at least it's not "thiccened"

[@mikelaffosse3233]

Hi Angus, just got my flexion extruder (with a nice makersmuse discount!) thanks so much for that review, I love it! If you use flexible material you need this!! Thanks again

[@MakersMuse]

Awesome to hear! :D

[@bradykirk9932]

Angus, thanks for all of your help with these vids. If you're ever in the Vancouver BC/Seattle WA area let me know, I owe you a beer!!!

[@milhooz]

Hey Angus, did you do the video about the long and tedious way of fixing the file? I'm interested and can not find it in your channel! Thanks for the videos, really helpful!

[@techster7481]

Hi Angus I personally love your videos, I also subscribed. I am a newbie for 3D printing and your the person I always come to. Thanks for making these videos :D

[@MakersMuse]

Hey Thanks! Hope they help and happy printing.

[@RCONSTRUCT]

3D printing enthusiasts can use Meshmixer 3.1.118 BETA to fix and prepare models for printing. ⦁ 💻 Software: Meshmixer is a powerful tool for fixing STL files, with features like "Make Solid" and Boolean operations. ⦁ 🖨 Fixing STLs: The "Make Solid" tool can repair unprintable models by offsetting and adding thickness to fix errors. ⦁ 🔧 Boolean Operations: New Boolean Union functions allow combining separate shells, fixing geometric designs. ⦁ 📦 Reducing Triangles: Meshmixer's "Reduce" and "Remesh" tools help simplify models, reducing file size without losing detail. ⦁ 🧐Inspecting & Repairing: Inspector tool identifies and fixes errors; manual repairs may be needed for complex models.

[@pojntfxclassics3132]

I just love your minimalistic intro!

[@saywhat9158]

Helpful stuff and definitely a time consuming process to learn and do with good results. I like the separate part idea as opposed to all the support printing and thus it would be great if this or any software could easily add "snap together" mechanisms to the end of parts so you could assemble without glue the parts that you deconstruct.

[@RisingMooon]

so i just found this video but can't seem to find the video that was referenced that was supposed to come out shortly after. I'd like to see it for the longer method, hmm

[@jort93z]

same

[@Spartacusse]

came to the comments looking for a link for that exactly.

[@gothmaniow]

@@Spartacusse me too ...any luck ??

[@Spartacusse]

@@gothmaniow Nope. I ended up watching a bunch of random videos about meshmixer, specially how to prepare 3d scans for printing, and learned a bit from each video.

[@spikekent]

Superb insight as always Angus. Good to see you on Anthonys stream earlier too. Thanks mate.

[@MakersMuse]

Thanks Spike was good to see you in there too!

[@JaimeFriasJr]

Thanks, I was struggling with my friend file. When I saw the file was mostly surfaces I was regretting helping him, but this program just save me a lot of time. Thanyou a lot!

[@luizzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Hugely helpful as always! Can't wait for the whole fixing video. Thank you, Angus!

[@mechanoid5739]

Tried looking for the full fixing video! Can't seem to find it in the listing?

[@reignandbongao9497]

I'm an Architecture student, when I'm making a model to be printed I completely switch programs to fusion 360 or something to avoid janky mesh from something like sketchup does. BUT this isn't something my classmates do when giving me the files to print stuff at 3 days before the passing date.

[@devvyas6751]

this chanel is a goldmine :)

[@logiclrd]

It's been many years but KZbin just saw fit to recommend this to me now, in June 2022 :-) I thought I might point out that STL files can contain multiple independent manifolds, and the slicer will effectively union them as part of the slicing process without needing complex geometry. So, you can probably get away with just moving the different parts to intersect and then exporting it like that. It doesn't need to be a single mesh. :-)

[@Drewbakka]

great tips there! coming from Maya and houdini I'm keen now to give mesh mixer a go for my next character print. looking forward to the next vid!

[@Iisakki3000]

That's a nice linustechtips wan hoodie you are wearing.

[@Roompje0]

this is the meshmixer I always wanted! thanks for showing it off :D

[@albertor1061]

Are you selling/sharing that repaired miku? I was actually looking for a printable one

[@Robothut]

thank you for these Meshmixer vlogs !

[@Krougher]

Thank you very much you helped me on a struggling problem with models !

[@isaacevans3747]

This helped alot with my project ,thanks

[@nix_cosplay]

This video really helped me out, thanks!

[@kinematics4999]

Great Tutorials Thanks... do you have a video how to prepare file-model to be printed in METAL ? Like a sculpture head... in Metal ... Thanks

[@larrymortimer4833]

Very Helpful Angus! Thanks so much.

[@UnlikelyCreators]

This has simplified so much and I will finally fix a Lara Croft model my friend has!

[@MakersMuse]

Sweet! Yeah it's awesome for game files.

[@FuriousPenguinArt]

Rhino3D can very much be used for 3D printing and has built in tools to fix stls.

[@MakersMuse]

+cubify-sculptor ah! But is Rhino3D free?

[@FuriousPenguinArt]

well nothing beats free but i wouldn't write it off as unusable either

[@ChordOfC]

This is great, thanks! This video got me to start a favorites playlist :D

[@ChordOfC]

Alas, generate face groups doesn't seem to activate for me. There must be something simple I'm missing.

[@MakersMuse]

press spacebar and change the viewing mode to facegroups, it's probably on vertex color. :)

[@ChordOfC]

That did it! Thanks Angus!

[@jockspice]

Excellent stuff, Angus. These tutorials are mega useful. Any chance of a S3D one?

[@MakersMuse]

I certainly can, what kind of things are you chasing?

[@jockspice]

S3D is fairly intuitive, but it's getting the best out of it, like any software, which is the ultimate goal. To that end, it's things like using the advanced processes, profile creation for getting the best out of different types of material, playing with the scripts, those things would be useful. Also getting the most out of the mesh and repair menus, if they are required. Thanks for the reply!

[@LG-kj5qq]

In Meshmixer, what is the difference between your first, Edit, make solid or going into Select tool, select all and Make Solid model? Thanks

[@ShotgunAU]

Sweet vid dude, helped a lot.

[@tjuggernaut29]

I did the same thing, importing the obj from rendering a pmx but when I go to make solid as you did, it crashes meshmixer every time. how do I fix this?

[@alexprime9055]

Hey Angus. I'm having a really difficult time with some Arkham Origin models. I have Deathstroke's faceplate, but it came a bit weird. The outside looks normal, but when you flip it around, it has this salmon pink color and doesn't seem to exist at all. I cannot select any of the bits inside the faceplate, and there is no structure to any of it when I try to put it in Simplify3D. From the front, it looks fine but, again, when you turn it to the back, it disappears completely. Clearly something is wrong with the model, but I am not sure if I can fix it via Meshmixer or not. It would print just fine if I made it solid, but that adds a TON of extra material on the back of the head and behind the eye hole and everything. For a better idea of what I mean, this is the picture of that salmon color texture that I do not understand at all: oi67.tinypic.com/25i3exl.jpg If you have any suggestions, let me know! Thank you!

[@Shiruvan]

so... did it worked out? I assumed that I have to prepare my own 3D models already made into necessary parts with the keys, in wherever software the model was made in, to avoid something like this, but I didn't know that you can pick so much of individual parts that seemed merged together during 'remeshing' thing early on the video, let alone making keys for each parts after it.

[@lego_minifig]

if it makes you feel better it still takes awhile to process on a 12 core 3900x. especially if you max the detail on the make solid tool

[@Oberonjames]

So where's that other video? I'm very interested in how he created those interlocking parts. I can't find it on the main site. Of course, I don't know what it's called. Does anyone know what it's called?

[@pipkoal2718]

I'm planning on putting my cr 10 on one of those portable picnic tables from bunnings would you think thats okay, or would i need a more sturdy table?

[@twaiz7122]

hey, the miku figure... the inside part of the skirt was a mess... could you show how to fix it?

[@thinkdunson]

what is the name of the video at the end where he's spray painting filament? nvm, found it. 3d print in any colour.

[@benoitlagassedelocht1595]

Hi, nice video! Are you planning on getting the new Wanhao duplicator i3 PLUS ?

[@MakersMuse]

Hi, thanks! Yes I am hopefully soon.

[@edh7482]

Hi i have been playing with the Chitubox and exporting models from Sketchup. And on one model i have noticed a few dark triangular surfaces. these do not appear to be holes but i think are reversed faces. My question is will there be a problem when the model prints?

[@sidyoung]

Well done! I can understand you!

[@CJPrinting]

Using Meshmixer Beta = living on the edge

[@MakersMuse]

Yea man I ain't scared of no instability ;)

[@MP-pv9nj]

Very helpful video, helped me find out I need a new computer lol. Anytime I load up mesh mixer my computer freezes :(

[@willannand9988]

Is it possible to preset the "Make Solid" variables. I like the Accurate Type, and about 470 on both Accuracy and Density. And would like to not have to set them every time.

[@JJ-vp3bd]

did you figure that out if you can make your own perset

[@YuanLiuTheDoc]

I was playing with (new) Craftware last night and noticed a "Drop plane" mode ("Align and stick the selected object onto the bed surface or onto the surface of another object") and a "Auto drop" option ("When enabled, manipulated objects will tend to fall down to the bed surface"). At least Drop plane is not new. Can the second task of fixing geometric misalignment be performed with these features?

[@markusmaier7507]

Did you ever make the Miku advanced repair video? Can't find it but need it badly for an SAO model my daughter wants and I've repaired and it's still so FUBAR pieces are floating around and breaking off

[@peanutbutter3578]

if i download an animated file and it has like 500 parts together making up the model how to i stitch the into 1 solid mesh??

[@blaze6134]

Thanks, this helped me with a stl that was just unprintable

[@nunooliveira1570]

Loved it! Thank you!

[@ajasshamsudheen4351]

Hi i convert an mdl file to obj from fsx game (airplane) and import in fusion360 slicer but the model have broken parts and have edges, no smoothness ,how can we repair it?

[@girass]

10:47 Dododododots! Dot dot! Dot dot!

[@MakersMuse]

So many dots...

[@adaptivetech8165]

+Maker's Muse want to watch my live stream right know? Just started a new one

[@MixedGears]

This tool is really powerful. But without checking some tutorials it is also the weirdest tool possible or let say not particularly intuitive.

[@AndrewBetts]

I've several models I'm working to cut up for 3d printing but plane cuts alone aren't cutting it. I was hoping to check it how you did the more advanced method with Miku about I can't seem to find the other video. If it was never released can someone direct me to a place that might be able to help?

[@bitsurfer0101]

If I attempt to use netfabb on a file that looks ok, it doesn't really work. What could be possibly wrong with the file? I downloaded a file from grabcad. Could you do a video on that?

[@leatherandpoemscharmyman5774]

hellow how to fix manifold problems with this program? thx

[@suzycoffey5810]

how do you fix a thrid party file that has missing or extraneous feom thingiverse.

[@BigNas24]

What's the tune playing in the background? Is there a link to it?

[@ibrahimtan4724]

i want to exporting SVG but i see to ''error writing file'' can you help me for meshmixer pleasa

[@khalilburno9713]

Thats So Coool ,Thnk you Angas :-)

[@boboscurse4130]

My model has some red areas. When I auto-repair it removes huge chunks of the model! I don't know how to proceed.

[@sburgos9621]

Can it fix daz hair to make it printable? Also having issue printing daz clothing. Only found one tutorial for the hair using blender but the person doesn't really tell you the step by step.

[@JJ-vp3bd]

did you ever figure that out

[@sburgos9621]

@@JJ-vp3bd No I didn't and because of the dead end I put my time and effort into other things and moved away from 3d modeling completely. I just couldn't justify the hours spent designing characters if in the end I wouldn't be able to print them, which for me, was my goal.

[@JJ-vp3bd]

@@sburgos9621 i figured the hair itself has to be solid so it works

[@sburgos9621]

@@JJ-vp3bd I ran one test print and everything else printed fine except for the hair and clothing. I did have some issues with the face as well but I read that it may be due to the fact that I didn't erase the teeth and inner mouth parts. I didn't run the test again to try it out but it made sense given how perfect the rest of it printed out.

[@_Rabz]

I spy with my little eye, a Pioneer controller and a MIDI Fighter! I 3D print my own midi fighters! @maker's muse

[@TommieTF]

Could you maybe do a tutorial on how to make a hollow object solid in Meshmixer, for example I ripped the Vault-Tec van from Fallout 4 and fixed it with Netfabb, but the inside is hollow, so it's impossible to print.

[@MakersMuse]

Sure thing - what's the exact name of the file within the game? I'll have a look at it.

[@TommieTF]

Hey Angus! Thanks for responding. It's the file in Vehicles>Automotive>VaultTecVan_PreWar_01.nif It has an interior with chairs but ofcourse for 3D printing you just want the inside solid so you can print it properly without having to use useless support inside of the model. As you can see on this link : i.gyazo.com/f042b118d2a69aed3156780ffc30d02d.png . Some parts also don't slice even after making them thicker in Meshmixer. The same goes for the file LoadScreenArt>Armor03PowerArmor5T45.nif, which is also hollow on the inside which makes it impossible to print without useless support. See this image: i.gyazo.com/d8edb0a86c4d21947bfd07cd9e11c94e.png . Thanks in advance! Oh yeah and could you also maybe show us how you made your Mirelurk 3D printable. I tried printing it yesterday but a lot of parts weren't connected.

[@rebelscum5189]

How would you rate blender. I've been using it to repair stls. I don't even like to model, I'm just addicted to repairing them.

[@chester82gtstang]

I've discovered printing human like figures especially ones with Dresses / tunic style clothing print best upside with way less supports.

[@JJ-vp3bd]

smart

[@aleksandrnovakov2578]

Does anyone have the link to the video he talks about at the end? It'd be really helpful to me right now. Thanks in advance.

[@_Piers_]

Assuming you're streaming tomorrow, what time are we on this week?

[@KarlKarlex]

where are you at?

[@DocCleaner]

+Maker's Muse: I can't​ find the extensive repair video you describe in this video. Could you (or someone else) point me to it?

[@IbakonFerba]

As someone who models for animation and games, these models physically hurt me... The Topology is absolutely awfull, the plane had like a 100 edge pole!!! I know that 3D printibg has other requitements, but still, it hurts me xF

[@fsfazekas]

Sadly, I have an obj that crashes meshmixer 3.5.474 when I try to make solid...

[@lawnmowerguy22]

Hi angus, I have this file that is 'leaky' and each time I've tried to use Meshmixer to fill the thousands of holes it just crashes, any ideas of what I can do?

[@MakersMuse]

Your computer may be the bottleneck if the file is very large and damaged - I find it maxes all 6 cores on my Xeon mining rig using make solid - it's very CPU intensive. How big is the file in mb? Have you tried netfabb cloud? Might work.

[@lawnmowerguy22]

both my gaming rig and reasonably high end laptop seem to crash as soon as I click "make solid" The file is only 5.27mb so I am a bit puzzled. will give netfabb cloud a shot too, cheers for that!

[@lawnmowerguy22]

Just an update - Microsoft's model repair service (formerly netfabb cloud) worked excellently, thanks again for the advice!

[@MakersMuse]

Sweet! Glad to hear. Now it's fixed you might have to thicken some areas which Meshmixer will be great for.

[@Tjup]

any chance u can help me out, im struggeling to print something or repair it

[@Zachtmaynard43yeabud]

I have a helmet and when I fix errors it makes it solid is there away to fix that

[@Panoreth3DPrinting]

Nice job

[@MakersMuse]

Cheers Pano! When's your next 3D Printing network stream? Happy to jump into one at some point.

[@Panoreth3DPrinting]

+Maker's Muse it would be SO honored to have you on riley and i's live stream, email me at [e-mail] to figure out the details

[@3DJapan]

Watching this 6 years later. My client gave me a model to clean up that is just awful.

[@matty0nic]

are u ever coming back to fremantle soon?

[@MakersMuse]

Not at this stage sorry, though I'm sure I'll be visiting Perth now and then.

[@matty0nic]

oh ok, thank you for being very active with your subscribers

[@MakersMuse]

+Matty Dickens it's the weekend so I give myself more time to spend chilling on social media :)

[@TheMidnightSmith]

I Love You Man!!!! This old video saved my butt! I got an awful, awful STL where they put parts together but a million shells, and boolean combine was not working well in Meshmixer (odd artifacts on edges) this however, worked perfectly!!! As given, left, make solid, middle, and sharp edge preserve, right. www.dropbox.com/s/qrw1uta07c1kxqj/pegsfixed.png?dl=0 Thank you!!!

[@dukemagus]

doesn't meshmixer has a "snap to surface" function? it'd be way easier than guessing when the archives are touching

[@MakersMuse]

Sadly not that I know of, maybe the latest version? I need to play with it.

[@lestrike2707]

I really need a quick tutorial (3-9 minutes) on how to merge two solid meshes xD

[@MakersMuse]

Use Boolean Union in Meshmixer, I've got a video on it :)

[@lestrike2707]

I know :) the ussue is hat the models I am creating wear arnour (up to 30 seperate meshes) which must be merged. Boolean just fails and doing it manually takes ages ^^

[@MakersMuse]

Oh I'd use repair in 3D builder if you have win 10 then, that'll stitch them together.

[@lestrike2707]

Cool thanks I'll give it a go and let you know if it worked! ^^

[@lestrike2707]

It actually did. Sadly it destroyed other parts but hose are easily repaired. Thanks, your're a livesafer! =)

[@plexion01]

What was the second model supposed to be?

[@roboticsgenius]

Probably the only human to actually read the EULA :))

[@MakersMuse]

Just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything like all your files are belong to us in there.

[@Ro321chile]

THANK U SO MUCH

[@jiorjos74]

may i send you a problem that i have with a flat that i can´t fix.

[@mrlegoboy413]

thanks mate

[@a51mj12]

7:22 HHHAAAHHAHAHAHAHA LOLLLLL, rright? :D

[@catboytoys]

thanks a lot!

[@ayourk1]

Maybe Arm sock = Shirt sleeve?

[@tinplategeek1058]

Arm sleeves :-)

[@MakersMuse]

I like arm socks :P But thanks haha, wow they actually exist too..

[@3D_Printing]

My Bad STL Repair Play list, (includes yours) kzbin.info/aero/PLUqt0sTiXUDdzthX5FvTIJKvfIAp47tfG

[@rifqimaulana7537]

Thanks

[@darkshadowsx5949]

its also easy to miss reverse faces in blender.

[@izzoriousaxel8807]

Maya isn't the cause of this, it's the person operating it. Maya also has boolean functions and poly merge tools, so...why were those nubs not part of the rest of the model? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Meshmixer for me though is almost exclusively used for when an OBJ/STL I just exported from Maya causes an error when I try to import it in UP Studio/Cura/whatever, or imports fine but the geometry is exploded everywhere for no reason. Just importing into Meshmixer and exporting it again fixes it, which is kind of frustrating lol

[@LukePettit3dArtist]

You should have just handed it back to you friend to fix in Maya, after all it wasn't Maya that left the objects hovering off the wall :-) Really, its knowing how to model for 3d printing its got "nothing" to do with the software. Computers only do what we tell them to provided they're not buggy as crap. Your anime model proves my point, you had to design it to be printable so ultimately its the limitations of FDM printing and the designer not the software. Stop picking on Maya or other design tools if it f%^ks up as a designer, you need to accept responsibility, you didn't allow for the printers limitations. If its from someone else then hand it back to them to fix and stop blaming Maya lol Kudos for the how to fix these things in meshmixer though, cause you're always going to find models designed by people who know nothing about the relationship of 3d printing and its design needs or people who just don't (want to) see the relationship and leave the problem in your court.

[@MakersMuse]

Wasn't possible the designer was long gone :) The dimples were modeled as 0 thickness as well, you're right it's not the software but again, Maya isn't designed with manifold 3D Printable files in mind and afaik doesn't have any printability checks built in. I know Zbrush does now, which is pretty cool.

[@gamerguy9729]

Mesh mixer is free right

[@MakersMuse]

Yeah dude, at least for the moment

[@gamerguy9729]

Maker's Muse wow you reply really fast