3D Printing Learning Curve and Costs for Various 3D Sculpting Programs?

I have used blender to do some 3D sculpting for some video game projects. The program is free, but there's kind a learning curve to it. Fortunately there are a LOT of tutorials for it.

As I said, I've only used it for 3D models of video game characters, so I don't know how well it's suited for 3D printing.

 

I used Sculptris to create the initial model and then imported it to Blender to separate it into individual pieces. It is doable (and free!), Blender is awkward to use, but there are tons of tutorials, which helps a lot. I did not sculpt anything in Blender though, I only used it to create joints - add spheres, subtract channels and sockets.
I also suspect that ZBrush Core ($185 per license) has most functionality needed for doll modeling, but I had not had time to try it :/

 

I've done it similar to CrazyAnna, but with 3D Builder instead of Blender to do the cutting and hollowing. It's free with Windows 10 (and 8, I think) and pretty easy to use.

 

Wow I even have 3d Builder preinstalled. I had no idea, will definitely check it out.

 

If you ever get the chance to use it, I would suggest looking into ZBrush - you can get a month and a half free trial, though the actual license is on the pricier end. However, I've used it a fair bit for 3D printing and I have found that it's the most intuitive and easy to get the exact thickness/details/etc that you would want. It's a bit of a learning curve, but there are tons of tutorials out there for it.

Blender is a very good, cheaper alternative though! It's a good program to get used to 3D modeling.

 

I use Blender for almost everything. Its a big program with many functions though, so there is a learning curve for sure. But there are tons of tutorials online.
Sizing the object into the scale you want to is no problem at all. Also there is an add-on which tells you if the wall thickness is good enough to be printed.
I tried ZBrush and while I like it very much, I do miss the Dyntopo option Blender has for sculpting.
Dyntopo lets you add denser geometry in places you need while sculpting.
ZBrush though is able to handle more polygons than Blender, before the PC starts to slow down, but for me its more than enough.

 

Another thing to add to this discussion, you can also get an Academic ZBrush license if you're a student (I'm not 100% sure, but you might still be able to get this while not enrolled in school either; I just can't remember the rules). It's about half the cost, so it's still pricey, but it's good if you're just learning and making stuff for yourself only/not planning to sell anything, at least for a while! You can always upgrade to the full license later by paying the difference. The Academic version is the same as the full Commercial version...just like the free trial. They are really nice people, so you can always email them about it if you have questions. The other nice thing is they have repeatedly said that they will never charge for software updates, and that's held true for ages so the initial investment is all you need. Also, they added a monthly subscription cost vs buying the perpetual license outright.

It is a fairly steep learning curve, not necessarily to just get the basics of sculpting down, but to learn a lot of the helpful features. I still feel like I have a long way to go and I am totally behind on new features. I learned how to use ZBrush from a class at Gnomon in LA which is crazy expensive for SURE (but Eric Keller is amazing!!!), but you could also check out the Gnomon Workshop. Again, it's pricey per month, but they do have a free 3-day trial so you could watch some of the ZBrush titles over a weekend. My hero Eric Keller also has books on Amazon and the community and ZBrush LIVE are pretty amazing resources. The Gnomon Workshop also runs contests sometimes for subscriptions.

I totally get that ZBrush is expensive for most people, but just throwing out some ideas if you are interested in it. It's pretty darn fun.

 

These an Adobe 3D modeling program, but its kind of basic: 3D design software, AR design software & apps | Adobe

 

I believe you can now get zbrush core 2020 for $9.99 a month. I’m no expert and brand new to sculpting in general but I have been using the free trial of zbrush 18 for a few weeks now, with a few weeks left to go, and I love it!

 

Oh this is a great idea! I knew the basic approach to sculpting a doll was to first sculpt the figure and then the joints from there, so this makes a lot of sense

So, I just checked it out, it looks like Zbrush has released a free version called "Core Mini," which actually has Sculptris Pro inside of it. You just make a Zbrush account and then download the software. I'll be trying it out over the next week and I'll let you guys know how it goes!

 

I find zbrush to be the best software for modelling- however it is expensive and its ui can be confusing. If you can use photoshop though, then you can use that.

 

I know i am very late to this thread, but I've found nomad sculpt, an ios/android app for about 15€ (one-time purchase) , and it's been a godsend! Of course, you'll need a powerful tablet (i have a S7+) with pen support, but if you do, it's well worth it. It's very intuitive and still in active developpement, with many videos and a dedicated forum!
It's still not as powerful as Zbrush and imo, it still needs a few tweaks, but those are minor issues.

Hope it helps (if i'm not too late lol )

 

Also a very late addition to this post, but I've also recently started sculpting in Zbrush, and I'd say it's a worthy note to attach to this subject and the learning curve; zbrushcore mini doesn't have the 'dynamesh' function that the paid zbrushcore has, which had me pulling out my hair initially. Dynamesh basically means that the program re-thinks your mesh or your polygons for you whenever you need it to, so in places that could 'break' from e.g. being pulled or moved too much, the program fixes it for you, so you can just focus on the sculpting part and not the technical aspects. So zbrushcore mini is really good for giving 3d a try, but if it intimidates you if your model starts to bug out, know that it's a lot easier in the 10$ version. Personally I initially got very indimidated by the models breaking, but then tried it with Dynamesh and it was a completely different experience! Good luck out there

 

I use blender and I've only picked it up a few months ago and since then I've fully finished my first BJD sculpt! It might look daunting at first, but as long as you get the proper tutorials you need it's actually much easier once you get the hang of it. Through the power of google and these series of tutorials I had enough basics to figure out how to fumble my way into sculpting! The best part of course... it's free!

Here's some things that no one told me about that I figured out that might help as well:

Near the top right of the screen there's a symmetry sculpting option. Select x and it will sculpt both the right and left sides at the same time


This is the boolean tool, aka the MOST PERFECT TOOL EVER FOR MAKING JOINTS! Just drag one object into the other and by applying this modifier (set on difference) it will create an indent to whatever shape the object you selected is in. There's some good videos you can look up on youtube for a more in depth explanation but basically, look into this tool!



And of course the remesh tool! Sometimes when you sculpt your geometry it reaches a point where the geometry is too compressed or stretched in one way. This basically adds in some geometry and can help you sculpt further. Use it whenever things aren't working like a fresh layer of clay. Remember, to sculpt you need a lot of geometry so I suggest only ever toggling this from 0.1 - 0.0001. The lower the decimal, the more geometry you'll have.



If there are two separate objects that happen to be combined as one object, click the object you want to separate then hit L. Then, right click and hit separate>selection and they will be separated into two separate object. Good for separating different parts of the body like the forearm and shoulder so that you can add the joints between em and such

And that's it for 'things I wish I knew when I started'. Looking up tutorials will be your biggest help, the playlist I linked is for animation but a lot of the information will help you get started on basic sculpting too! I'm still a beginner with blender but I think it's a great option to use.

 

Thanks