Alex Ruaux | alex@alexruaux.com | @molecularcode | #3dprinting

Use the Kinect scanner to make models for 3D Printing

Reconstruct Mehttp://reconstructme.com

Demorun from “Program Files”

Start ReconstructMe Scan OpenNI.bat

“p” to start recording“r” to reset recording“esc” to end recording

Having scanned your model using a Kinect and ReconstructMe, you will have a name.ply file saved in the ReconstructMe folder under “Program Files” (windows).

The first step is to convert this to a .stl file, which is easily done in MeshLab.

File -> Import Mesh… – navigate to Program Files/ReconstructMe/name.plyOnce the file has loaded, File -> Export Mesh As… name.stl

You now have an .stl file you can open in netfabb

First you should load the model into netfabb and get yourself familiar with rotating, moving and zooming in and out of the model.

Part -> Add -> name.stl

Select model (left-click and model turns green)right-click to rotate model and left-click on green square at center to move model(right-click on model for menu to rotate, move, center etc.)

Our next step is to crop the bottom of the model and create a flat surface to place on the build platform.

Use move and rotate to position your model parallel to the ‘build surface’.

Move the plane cut on the z axis slider (RH side of the screen) to select where you want to ‘cut’ your model.

click “Execute cut”, thenclick “Cut” to confirm

To get rid of the unwanted part, select the part you wish to remove (hi-lighted green) from the parts list on the right.press delete

Part -> Export part -> as STL

To clean up the model and close any unwanted holes, load the name.stl file into netfabb.

Select model (left-click)Click repair (red cross)

“Select shells” to select the model, then “Toggle selection” to select everything other than the model. Press delete to remove all the extraneous parts of the model.

Click “Apply repair”

To tidy up the model so that it is ready to print, we want to run it through the automatic repair settings in netfabb.

Select the model again and click repair

Select “Automatic repair”

Select “Default repair”

After the repair has processed, click “Apply repair”

Export part as STL