ZBrush for Digital 3-D Printing - ZBrush Creature Design: Creating Dynamic Concept Imagery for Film and Games - page 759

5. Select a unit from the two buttons: in. or mm. Most printing companies prefer to work in metric units,
but imperial units (inches and feet) will be fine. The stl file has no internal units, so you will need to tell
the printer what measurement and unit type you used.
6. I want to export a figure that is 12 inches high. Set the height slider to 12 and press enter.
7. To export an STL file, press the STL button in the Export section of the interface ( Figure 11-77 ). ZBrush
will request a filename and export the SubTools as a single STL file. This file can be sent to the 3-D
printer or the printing company for output. Some companies will offer a web interface for uploading your
data. See the list of service providers earlier in this chapter for companies that can print your figure.
Figure 11-76: Update size ratios
Figure 11-77: Click the STL button to export a binary STL file of all your decimated tools.
STL binary is the default STL file format. STL binary is the best option as it exports smaller
files. Neither STL format supports UVs or textures. VRML will export a model that has a tex-
ture and UVs applied to it. This format is ideal for color-printing purposes on machines like
the ZCorp, which will print a texture on the model. If you have polypaint on the model and the
printer will support vertex RGB, use the ExpColors option to export colored vertices. If you
need to export an STL ASCII format, this can be enabled under the Advanced Options of the
plug-in.
That completes this chapter on 3-D printing and ZBrush. We have seen how to use ZBrush as a tool in
conjunction with 3-D printing and milling technology to create physical sculptures on the real world. We
have seen the various applications of 3-D printing from concept design to fine art to toys and collectibles.
Figure 11-78 shows the final 3-D print produced by Ownage.
Figure 11-78: This 3-D print was produced by ownage.com —Ownage supplies the best quality for the
lowest prices for all your 3-D printing and casting requirements. This figure has been molded for multiple
castings.