Plasticity for 3D Printing | Design and Print a Simple Phone Stand

[@EMunch-pv7lq]

Thank you for putting this series together!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Glad you like them!

[@SgtMajor82]

I've been struggling with Plasticity and this has been explained very well... Thanks! If I had one wish for Plasticity it would be to be able to add commands to that huge bottom bar that has all that space on it. Or to create your own detachable menu icons over the workspace for larger monitors. That would make it so much easier for people to learn.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

This video was done a little while ago and the UI has been updated a bit. The bar at the bottom is contextual so it will fill with tools based on your selection. BUT, if you hit F and start to search for a command, if you right-click on that command you can add it to your shortcuts. This means it will pop up when you hit F wherever your cursor is.

[@EG-1969]

Really appreciate this series. Thank you.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

My pleasure!

[@jeromeweaver809]

Thank you!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

You're welcome!

[@dadasut50]

Nice setup. great video as usual

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thanks for watching

[@jayd8935]

I think my biggest problem is that all extrudes and changes are relative dimensions. (+10mm for example) I've never been able to find a way to click 2 sides of a shape and say "OK, make these side have an absolute Y dimension of 150mm".

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

yeah once its made its made. There are some ways to get it. For example if you are extruding off a face and want the total thing to be 150mm. once you start the extrude hit "V" for pivot point, and set that at the base of your part(or origin), then make your distance 150mm. Its a bit of a workaround but is possible.

[@fifdesign89]

I think that's the problem with plasticity, the program gives you a lot of freedom but constrainings are missing. Maybe in future releases, some lines or faces can be dimensioned as fix...

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@fifdesign89 Yup, Nick knows so I would expect a future release to have something in place! Maybe v2.0

[@JustTryGambling]

Measurements are a thing now

[@rasikrodriguez3962]

Yep, this problem does not exist any more in plasticity

[@asd-fw7yb]

Gutes Tutorial....👌👍

[@jeromeweaver809]

Question? Is there a way to import STEP Files to modify them?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Yup. when you import a step file its treated just like a body that was made in Plasticity. You can push/pull to offset faces, round corners, delete/patch stuff etc.

[@Brocknoviatch]

As of v1.1 it appears that you can’t export out of plasticity using metric units and have the model be the correct size when you bring it into PrusaSlicer. Haven’t tried any others. I will have to try working in inches and see if that works, thanks for the tip!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Yeah the current beta fixes the STL export scaling issue. All other formats seem to export ok but STL no matter the unit is 100x too big right now. The creality slicer which is based on the cura slicer auto-scales it and i forgot to mention that. If you export in any unit, say 5mm cylinder, the output in STL will be .05mm. same for CM, M, or Inch. 5in will export as .05in. Hopefully that helps until the next public release.

[@chadisleiman4195]

How do you fix the scaling issue? Designed in inches in plasticity and opened in Prusa, everything was completely off and impossible to fix ...

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

When i use creality print or Orca i need to export with mm units. What you can do is before you export set the plasticity units to mm, export, then switch it back. Not a great solution and it kind of depends on what slicer you are using. If you open a file in Prusa, or any other you can scale it 2540% uniformly and get the scale right.

[@joshuaandashleyearles-benn4749]

Did you ever find a solution for this?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@joshuaandashleyearles-benn4749 Im on version 24.1.7 working with the preferences for units set to mm. and when i make a 25mm cube and export as stl, obj, or step. it comes in the correct size in my slicer. If I work in the inch unit system and export a cube that was 1in x 1in x 1in it will come into my slicer as 1mm. Same with Meter. It appears to use mm as the default but the mesh files like stl don't have a unit associated with them. so 1 "unit" out of plasticity seems to be 1mm into a slicer. The solution to get the correct scale is either to work in mm or to switch the units to mm before the export. but keep in mind if you make a 1meter cube then switch to mm it will be too large for nearly all desktop printers.

[@深海大菠萝]

Thank you！

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Welcome! Be sure to keep an eye out for new content. We are making a beginner solid modeling series now that should start to show up soon(hopefully this week )

[@marekzamlynski8058]

nice, but how to export for dual extruders? It means, how to force Plasticity to export a model with it's hierarchy to be able to select in the slicer which component of the model need to be printed by which extruder?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

I don't run a dual extruder but that seems like that is more of a slicer setting rather than an export setting. Generally you would set up a specific extruder per body in your slicer. What slicer are you using and what printer?

[@davejacobson5400]

If I wanted to 3D print this, is there a way to get the measurements (units) in Plasticity to export correctly? At the moment a 1 meter square cube in Plasticity will print real world size 1mm.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Yeah the export was an issue present. My slicer auto scales it but here is what I had found. The current beta fixes the STL export scaling issue. All other formats seem to export ok but STL no matter the unit is 100x too big right now. So this largely depends on the installed version of Plasticity. The creality slicer which is based on the cura slicer auto-scales it and i forgot to mention that. If you export in any unit, say 5mm cylinder, the output in STL will be .05mm. same for CM, M, or Inch. 5in will export as .05in. Hopefully that helps until the next public release.

[@j_shelby_damnwird]

Thanks!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

No problem!

[@ctarno]

how do you export out of plasticity so that when imported it is 1:1 scale?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Some slicers handle this a bit different. So it kind of depends. If you export an STL or OBJ from plasticity when your units are set to MM in the user preference and import that into Bambu, Creality or others it should be 1:1. Where things go a bit wonky is when the units in Plasticity are different as most slicers expect it to be mm. If you draw something with mm units and set it to INCH, even though its the same size, when you bring it to the slicer it will think its not 25mm, but it will take the .98in as .98mm. So all that to say if you set your plasticity unit to MM you should be fine as that is what the slicers generally want.

[@ctarno]

Thank you for your time. I appreciate your answer. If I may ask you another question, how do you import a mesh and make it a solid in plasticity?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@ctarno Importing and exporting does have some limitations for Indie vs studio licenses. Generally you use the P(file) menu options Import/Append. while you can bring a mesh in there are limited tool options. I cover mesh snap tools in the Whats New video here so you can see what can be done. kzbin.info/www/bejne/goSklGerrt2Hl9E

[@thedolenorway]

Just downloaded the trial and try to design a simple bracket, but I don't get that box to type in dimensions at all, which stops me dead before I get started.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

yeah several things have changed in the last few versions of Plasticity, the most recent being 1.4. is that what you downloaded? If you start creating a line or rectangle in 1.4 all you need to do is hit the TAB key. That should toggle you over to the dimensions. Also new in 1.4, if you draw a 2 point rectangle, you can hit the = symbol on the keyboard and it will bring the dimensions back up.

[@thedolenorway]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign Thank you! I discovered the tab thing. Still haven't figured out how the = key shortcut translates to my Norwegian keyboard layout though. 😂

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@thedolenorway yeahhhhh, i am no help there :) In plasticity the F key is find and you can start typing Dimension and see what hotkey is linked to it.

[@3lbsObacon]

Is it possible to import a logo or name etc. and imprint it onto an object in Plasticity?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Not at this time. You can bring an image in but its considered an Empty. And in version 1.2.1 I don't see an SVG import for curve path but i know that has been talked about and requested.

[@baconsledge]

why did your slicer have to rescale the part to 100,000 times? I notice if I make a 10" cube in Plasticity, it exports as a .25mm cube. What is going on? I changed units to inches in Plasticity.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

There was a bug in version 1.1 with the STL output. That should be fixed in version 1.2. I think i pinned the comment to the top about how it was scaling everything. are you on version 1.2?

[@baconsledge]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign Yes, just bought it. A lot to learn so I am content for now. Thanks for your video!

[@silenceDKgmail]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign I tried 1.2.13 today as of september 1. still cant export to STL , what a bummer :(

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@silenceDKgmail Is that a product of the license you have? I just downloaded 1.2.14 and its still there for me on the Studio license.

[@silenceDKgmail]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign Just downloaded the 1.2.14 and the problem is still there. I wanted to try it out before buying, but if I cant 3d print my object that kinda makes no sense to me. Have to look for some other software then. Looks nice though and powerfull. Hope they fix this issue.

[@Frederick.Grant.Banting]

Imperial unit system tragedy:)

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

lol. Yeah still at this point you need to set it up as a metric file and it will export ok.

[@jamesgillis8122]

way too fast

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Sorry to hear that James. I have some other quick start videos that are meant as a starting point.

[@alexanderreiner]

You can set the video speed to a slower playtime

[@arthurgibeaut6824]

You go WAY TOO FAST for a beginner to follow

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

We have a lot of other content on here for plasticity. If you are just getting started check out this playlist. kzbin.info/aero/PLBDfGh8A8kXVIrO1aizPFmRBy-A-G9svk I also have some getting started and UI intro videos.