• The rig has some useful constraints.
• When you move the extruder bone, the z-axis will rotate with the height of the x-axis and the distance is already set with constrains.
• There is a custom bone to switch the printer on and off. Movement and light is both controlled with this driver bone at once.

Print_Setup Add-On:

Add-On must be installed (Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons -> Install -> Choose from disc ->Activate)

This Add-On creates automatically a time laps printing animation of any selected mesh object.

Select an object you want to be printed.

You can find the Add-On on the right-hand side in the 'n-menu'
Button 'Position Obj To Print' -> Bring object on printer.

·       Checks if selected Object is a mesh.

·       Duplicates the selected object (->PrintObj).

·       Sales object to MaxBounds of print volume if too big (-> <0.5m).

·       Sets the origin of the object to the lowest point of the object.

·       Positions the object with the origin to the center of print bed.

·       Checks if object is manifold -> repairs it if needed.

·       Assigns a print lookalike material to object.

·       Handles/deletes previous printed object and switches with new one.

·       Assigns object to Boolean Modifier for buildup visuals.

Checkbox 'With Material' -> Affect Material.

·       If checked a print lookalike material to object will be assigned.

·       You might not want that, if you have already a material on your Object, that you want to use.

Button 'Animate Print' -> Creates the print animation.

·       Utilizes the NLA Editor.

·       Activates the pre-animated tracks of the armatures and sets them on solo.

·       Calculates the length of the print using the height of the object.

·       Sets start and end frame of the movement and the animation settings.

·       Calculates the distance for the print movements depending on the dimensions of the object.

è Press start to watch the animation

Button 'Reset' -> Sets everything to default.

·       Deactivates NLA Tracks.

·       Deletes PrintObj.

·       Resets start and end frames.

·       Resets variables.

Notes

·       Only works in combination with our 3d model

·       If you change Data (Names, Hirarchy etc.) of the Armatures, the addon might not work properly.

·       Only works with one selected Object (the active one)

·       Don’t delete the collection with the Name ‘DontDelete’ and the objects in it as they are needed for the Add-On.

Versions:

Printer V1.0

·       Basic Printer Model with Animations

Printer V1.1

·       Bug fixes

·       Animations affect vertex groups, not objects anymore

·       Scale of objects normalized

·       Armature added

·       Time laps animation added

·       Material added

·       Add-On added

·       Collection structure changed