Question.. what target poly resolution should I shoot for for the Ultimaker 2.0 extended +

[gareee 37]

I've got some models I've done in the past and wanted to know what upper limit I should shoot for as far as the number of polys in an object?

I'm using lightwave 3d and zbrush, and zbrush can go crazy high on polycount, but I should be able to decimate my stuff down for whatever the ultimaker needs.

[yellowshark 143]

Last year I printed something from a scan. The raw model had 700,000+ faces and that plus down to around 400,000 faces screwed several pieces of software I sometimes use; I did not get as far as Cura and printing. I decimated down to 80,000 and that was fine but I have no idea if that is a good target to aim for or whether it is smarter to go lower or higher; my output normally comes from Solidworks and is not something I pay any attention to.

[gareee 37]

That at least gives me a start. I've searched online, but can seem to find any recommended upper limit.

[valcrow 144]

It really depends on the size of the model you're printing. You should import your model into cura, and zoom out until it's almost real life size. If you see large facets, you will likely see them in your print. If it looks mostly rounded/detailed, you're good to go.

Generally zbrush models are already way high in polycount for 3D printing.

If you have too many polys it will simply slow down your slice and you won't gain any additional detail in your print. So judge by the size you're planning on printing and adaptively decimate.

As a guideline, if you imagine a 4cm diameter cylinder, 160 segments would be a good place to be to make it round and not facety. You need less for mechanical shapes.

[gareee 37]

Understood, but zbrush has excellent decimation tools for reducing polycount. The problem is I don't know what max ultimaker can take so I know what the top bar to stay under actually is, and I haven't been able to find that in the documentation anywhere.

There has to be a file size or polycount that exceeds what ultimaker can handle, and that's what I'm trying to discover.

[yellowshark 143]

Just loaded a 200,000 faces model into Cura OK. I then loaded a 680,000 face model in but it was too big. I scaled it to 80% and it fitted and was OK. Now whether it was still 680,00 faces or 80% of that I have no idea

[gareee 37]

Hmmm that's interesting... I wonder if there is some correlation between model poly density and model size?

I'd think since slicing a larger print creates more slicing data, that it's cutting into the amount of memory allocated to poly count ?

[gareee 37]

Hmmm that's interesting... I wonder if there is some correlation between model poly density and model size?

I'd think since slicing a larger print creates more slicing data, that it's cutting into the amount of  memory allocated to poly count ?

[yellowshark 143]

Ah I think you misunderstood me. When I said the 2nd model was too big, I meant that it's physical dimensions were too large to fit the build plate, not that it had too many faces.

[gareee 37]

Ah, gotcha! Thanks for the clarification.