Blender 3d Grey Scale Height Map To STL 

Hi, thanks for playing with the process. I am unfamiliar with image focus stacking software so I can't speak to that but you can always generate an STL from a good depth map. The 100 in the subdivision box is just a starting point for enough geometry to give you an idea of that the displacement looks like. The final geometry is generated with the subdivision surface modifier. I use a standard two button scroll wheel mouse with no changes. Lastly, I am using 3.5 currently but will probably upgrade to 3.6. I am not liking the UI changes in 4.0.

Glad it was helpful. This is a good technique to add in your pattern making tool box.

Hi. That does happen with Blender. This is an assumption but I believe when the geometry between the object and the cutter are too different the software can't calculate the difference correctly so deletes everything. If someone knows the correct reason why this happens please post a comment. First try to move the box to different locations so the geometry is different and see if the software can figure out the calculations better. If different locations don't work my second suggestion is to add geometry to the box by subdividing until the mesh density is closer to the object. It will add time and processing power to the computer but it also gives the software more points to do the calculation. Finally, I use the cutter to remove the unwanted background and keep the model water tight. Some cnc software requires a water tight model but some don't. See if your cnc software will take the open model. If so then just delete the background you don't want and start making sawdust.

@@olgwoodart4996 ok, I was able to do it with 3D Builder on Windows

No worries. Something really simple is probably being missed. It can be frustrating learning a very complex program but keep at it. All sorts options for patterns will open up once you master this. Start fresh. Add plane and select it. Go into edit mode and right click mouse and hit subdivide in the command list. In the subdivide box that pops up put in 100 cuts and hit enter. Important you hit enter. Go back to object mode. In the texture tab open your height depth image. Then in the modifier tab add a subdivision modifier first and then displacement modifier. The order matters. You should see the model. You can then add additional subdivision levels to the modifier to add detail. 6 levels is the max in the modifier. This is different than the left button window. If you entered 100 cuts from the mouse left click command list and then go upto level 6 on the modifier you will have an incredibly dense mesh. Your computer may have problems. I normally stay around level 3 or 4 but but for a very complex model with small details you may have to go to a higher level. You can then apply the modifiers and reduce the geometry if needed (decimate modifier). We are talking many millions of verts and several 100 MB file size for the pattern if you are at level 6 with the initial cuts.

@@olgwoodart4996 Thank you for your time. I'm REALLY new to blender and not all the menus in the video were apparent but with some time I worked through that. I ended up working through it to the point of "cutting" the extusion. Wish I could write down everything so anyone reading this could benefit but context is a thing. I'm at the point of a trimmed dimensional article sitting in space above the initial plan. It looks similar to the 2d photo but considerably less detail. Is that typical for rendering or just the way all of this translates? the Depth cloud was not defined well to start. Thanks again.

@@davidbolliger5470 Glad you figured out. The clarity of the model completely depends on the quality of the depth map. Each pixel in the depth map image is the x,y location and the grayscale conveys the z data. You want to use uncompressed file format images which can be hard to find unless you make your own. A good depth map can give you a very detailed pattern.

It sounds like there may not be enough geometry for the image to displace. This is a four step process. First make sure you did the 100 subdivision first. Add the texture type as image. Add subdivision modifier then add the displace modifier. I'll add info in the router forum.

@@olgwoodart4996 I was having the same problem, the octagon thing. But the missing part was the very part where you got to select the plane mesh to be subdivided. I selected the plane mesh by holding the left button and "circulating" the object like you would select something on windows file explorer. I guess this specific part is not quite clear in the video. I think people who are not real begginier like me would get that selection step just by looking what you were doing, for me I had to use my "background knowledge". All that to say, thank you. I really got what I wanted, allthough I don't know how to improve the quality of the object. I mean, it's good, but not with the nuances I was expecting. Maybe I should make a Blender course. xD

@@mikekiske Thank you for the feedback. To improve the quality of the model will depend on what's wrong with the model and how good the height map is (the free ones online are typically pretty bad). Smoothing, modeling or digital sculpting may be required and often is.

@@olgwoodart4996 I see. I made a model using copilot, then converted to depthmap using Tiled ZoeDepth, then inserted on blender. I was asking about the quality because on Aspire it looks better overall. But I kknow the very soon we will have what we need, maybe a "one click make it all" kind of thing. Thanks.

@@mikekiske My understanding (I don't have Aspire so grain of salt) Aspire automatically applies some smoothing to a depth map. For your Blender workflow add a smooth modifier to the end of your modifier stack. I normally bump up the factor to 1 and the repeat value to 5 or 10. The result should be closer to what you see in Aspire. I use Standard Diffusion XL and marigold height generator and the smooth modifier has become a part of that workflow plus sculpting and additional modeling. The AI models are never perfect for me.

Sorry to hear you are having problems with the work flow. Its probably something simple that was missed. 1. Prepare your canvas. Plane should have enough geometry. 2. Import the height map using the texture properties tab. 3. Apply the texture to the canvas using the displace modifier. Practice the workflow using some of my other height maps www.artstation.com/artwork/vo9Yv

Just been through it step by step using one of your images. . Still the same. The only difference is on texture you have “half float precision” with the box ticked. I don’t have that option available. Otherwise it’s the same Update - all good now.