Hey all. Similar questions to this have been asked, but I think my formulation is unique. I am trying to model some stone walls for architectural models. I need the stone texture to show up in 3D so it will print on a 3D printer. I am not sure what the best 3D software to use for this application.

I started out using Blender, but after many hours of use, while I can build some basic shapes, I can't get the textures right. I am beginning to think that learning Blender in order to make the simple shapes I want is like learning Linux in order to try and write a letter to grandma.

I also tried Rhinoceros, but have bumped up against the same basic problem. While I can figure out how to make basic shapes, I am having a real problem getting textures mapped on to them. It is important to note that the textures must be "real" 3D as opposed to mapped on jpegs. The texture of the stone must actually print in a stereolithography machine.

Anyway, I am not even sure what the right questions to ask are, much less which software is right or how to go about doing what I want to do. I am willing to do the work to learn the appropriate program(s), but, at this point, don't even have a clue as to which path to start down.

Hell, the right thing to do might be to just hire the work done. Then again, if I want to make changes later, I can't make them myself.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

what you need are displacement maps but I'm not sure if 3d printers understand this kind of information. From what I know about them they don't.

If you need detailed walls with every brick or stone having it's own volume you can try mudbox or brush. You will have to create a really detailed 3d object that will contain all the information you need to print.

Yellowbeard, you will bump in the same basic problem in all major 3d modeling surfaces. Because texturing is what you got in Blender and Rhino - applying jpg textures on 3d surfaces to tell the rendering engine how to render it. Another thing is that you can apply the same textures to different shader parameters like bump, specularity, reflection and so on. One of these parameter being displacement - that will displace the 3d surface during rendering to show depth. And as dTb wrote 3d printers will most likely not understand this kind of information. And if they can understand then keep in mind that displacement maps should be black and white.

But as it was also advised by dTb you can try using zBrush and Mudbox. There is an option in these programs to used textures as brushes to sculpt various small details. I think this is what you need.
_________________
Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand

I believe you are looking at Zbrush here

very simple use the bump file in (maya 2009 ) the material which you use the material