Making a tail using 3D models

[Ottery]

It's been on my mind for a while, but ever since I've made and printed up patterns using Blender (a free 3D image program) I've been wondering if I could do a custom fit tail this way. [emoji4] I'll post my progress and all of the steps I use along the way, since it seems like it would be a million times easier for me. What I'm going to start with is getting a 3D model with the correct measurements for my hips and such, and you can easily do that with a program called MakeHuman. It let's you input all kinds of measurements so you can make a replica of yourself to dress up. After I get that done, I'll rig it (so I can easily move the limbs and such around), export it as a collada file, and then open it up in Blender and go from there. I'm currently on the MakeHuman step because my computer decided to randomly delete a bunch of my files so I'm currently doing a system restore and praying that I can get it all back. After I make and fit the tail in Blender, I'll add a texture. I'm thinking of adding a very faint vector scale pattern so I can "cheat" and get all the scales all lined up. XD I'll then make sure it's all the right size, and then upload it to a lovely website called fabricondemand.com. I'll have them print everything onto a yard of polyester lycra spandex, and I'll sew it all together when I get it in the mail. ^_^

Anyway, I want to eventually see if I can sell custom sized tail kits like this, for mers who want to paint their own tail but want a bit of help with fitting and the scales. [emoji4]

[malinghi]

That is fucking brilliant. I've been trying to use software based tools to help with tailmaking, but this is taking it to a whole other level. I designed a scale sheet in inkscape and cut the foam sheets with a laser cutter, but my approach doesn't do anything to design the tail to be a 3d object. I didn't even know this sort of thing exists, but it seems like a great way to make a tail.

[Keiris]

Sounds very unique and very COOL! Good luck!

[MermanOliver]

Cool! Sounds like it should work. Hope your printer is big enough :) .
EDIT: Forget what I said about the printer, I should have read your post more thoroughly... ;) That definitely should work.

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[Ottery]

I think it would also be nifty to use a 3D printer and make flukes, too. ^_^

[Ottery]

...and now Make Human won't boot. XD It's really not my day.

[Ottery]

Well, I gave up on trying to make Make Human work, so I just grabbed a random female model and used that. ^_^ This is basically what it's gonna look like.

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[Ashe]

Ok, this is going to be insane. Mermaids and technology colliding, so awesome!

[Maclanahan]

Question, are yous sending the 3D model file to fabricondemand.com, or the texture map or just an image of the 3D model?

[Ottery]

I'm sending the texture map. ^_^ I'm using the 3D model to fit it nicely and to match the scales up. My plan is that I want to be able to input measurements and get a custom printed tail where you just have to cut it out and sew it together!

I'm also going to be using the program to make my own fluke and scale mold for when I move up to silicone tails. ^_^ It's my goal to be able to make silicone tails as affordable and customizable as possible.

[Maclanahan]

Okay, so if I were to make it a feature to download the texture-map, would this program be of any help? http://danielheffley.com/3DViewer/

[Ottery]

It would be a good way to figure out colors and such, and I bet I could find a way to mess around with the map and get you a good working pattern. ^_^ It kind of looks like the scales are part of the 3D model, so if you could find a way to grab that I could probably fix it so I can bake the shadows and such onto the texture.

[Maclanahan]

Actually, the scales are generated by a bump-map because modeling all of those scales would have been a very tedious nightmare.

[Ottery]

Oh! That makes things tons easier then! XD

[Mermaid Aglaia]

I using Blender for taildesign too. But a different way. I create the models an than i use a CNC mill and 3D-Printer to create the molds. Its mutch more easy than making molds with clay and resin.

[Ottery]

I using Blender for taildesign too. But a different way. I create the models an than i use a CNC mill and 3D-Printer to create the molds. Its mutch more easy than making molds with clay and resin.
Wow, cool! Did you use your own 3D printer or did you ship it off? I want to use shapeways.com for all my 3D printing stuff. They have a strong and flexible plastic that I'm eyeballing as a possible monofin material. I'm just working out if it's going to be something I can use in the pool or if I have to coat it in silicone first, and I also want to design it so water can flow through parts of it to reduce drag.

I'm also trying to think of a way to make scale molds using Blender, but I think a better way might be to design a scale in blender, duplicate it a bunch of times and line them up, and then send them off to the 3D printing company to make. I'll use that to make a mold from, and I can always just order small bits of scales so I can see how well they turned out without having to buy a whole sheet. ^_^ They also offer maker discounts sometimes, and they currently have a deal going on where if you buy a basic material sample kit for 30 bucks, you also get a 25 dollar gift card! They have details on all the materials, like how tough they are, their flexibility, and how much detail they can show. The best part is that both the materials I want to play around with are super affordable and you can get the most amazing details out of them. The smallest embossed and engraved detail they say that shows up is 0.1 mm, and the thinnest they can print the material looks like about 0.3mm, although they recommend something a wee bit bigger because they loose a bit when cleaning it up.

Another nifty idea that I've been toying with is using the Kinect to do a 3D scan of my body and custom fit a top. ^_^ It's just sooooo cool how people can take things made for video games and hack them in such a way so they can get a million other uses out of them! The kinect senses depth, so along with 3D scanning, you can use it for robots! It helps them to identify and avoid obstacles, and they used to have to use bulky and expensive equipment to do that. Here is the website where you can download a free program that will do a 3D scan with the kinect: http://skanect.occipital.com I think you need an adapter for the kinect, so a bit of research would not hurt. Either way, making technologies like this affordable and available to the public just makes me sooooo happy because a lot of the most amazingly talented people I know lack funds to make their dreams a reality.

Like I mentioned before, it's my dream to make tails easier and less expensive to make, and more customizable so more mers can participate while adding their own personal style! I'm playing around with coding using some amazingly nifty API from bodylabs.com, and it will make it so you can input your measurements, see them on the 3D model, and then download the mesh with all the accurate measurements and everything! It's easier to deal with than MakeHuman, and MakeHuman disappointed me when I learned that you can't go over a certain body size, and they tend to be very small. I'm a US size 10, with 38 inch (96 cm) waist and I was hitting the end of the sliders and I don't think there was a way for me to go beyond that, although I might be wrong. Either way, it's Web based so you don't have to download anything other than the finished model, and you can embed it on a web page. ^_^

Hahaha, I wrote so much! XD This kind of stuff is my passion, obviously. ^_^ I'm still somewhat new to all this 3D stuff, so if anyone has anything to add or noticed that I gave wrong info somewhere, please please please post it!

[Ottery]

I'm making another post for my tail update because I didn't want it to get lost in my novel up there. XD

The bad news is that I'm giving up on MakeHuman due to sizing limitations and I just can't get it to work. It stopped working after I did the system restore, so that's probably what did it in.

The good news is that I found my copy of Marvelous Designer!!! I thought I lost it a while ago and I was so upset because it's an amazing program where you make patterns and they show up in a 3D environment, and you can use a model (I think you can customize the size) with it and even see what it would look like made from different fabrics. ^_^

I just woke up, and with a migraine no less (that's what I get for clenching my teeth), so I don't have any more progress photos just yet.

[Ottery]

Looks like it does! Woo!
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[Ottery]

Now that I've gotten this far, I'm gonna take a quick break. The hardest part is making sure everything is the right size before I go and print it on fabric.

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[SeaGlass Siren]

:O_o:

[Ottery]

I figured out how to make sure everything measures up nicely, and right now I'm working on making cleaner patterns. ^_^

[merkitty]

I think it's really cool! Blender is awesome to create and do many things. To prevent the stretching of the texture you get on the sides of the model, what you'll want to do is create a new texture and use a texture paint tool to get nice, even scales that will follow the curvature of a body, instead of going in a straight line.

Another thing texture painting allows you to do is define your seams and add special bits like printed fins that would line up with your calves and such.

From the image you posted, it seems like you've taken two flat sheets and used the shrinkwrap modifier to get them to conform to the legs? if so, you'll want to make it so that they're more symmetrical (use a mirror modifier)

There is an extension, in blender, that allows you to display the length of edges and edgeloops

you can denote select loops to display their length and that way you will have an easier time making sure everything lines up!

If you decide to create scales out of geometry, there are ways to bake that into a normal map that can be turned into a scale sheet.

Great job and good luck! this is so cool!

[Ottery]

Thank you so much for the tips! I've moved on to making stuff in Marvelous Designer, since it's specifically made for that kind of stuff, but I'll still probably do the texturing in Blender. ^_^ I also have photoshop CC that I can use to texture it, but it's kind of crashing whenever I try to open the .obj file.

[Ottery]

So I'm just thinking over my current issue, which is money. Since I'm disabled to the point where I can't work and my disability benefits haven't kicked in yet, I have to spend veeeery carefully. A very dear friend of mine heard about all my projects and how my therapist recommended that I go mermaid, and he's being the nicest guy in the world and sending me 350 nzd (255 usd)!

It's going to be about 37 bucks a yard to print the spandex, but I'd need two yards to do the tail AND the fluke, since I have to buy at least a yard at a time. I'll probably use the extra space to make a matching top. Now here comes the tricky part: I don't think I can afford (literally and figuratively) to mess up on this tail. I'm going with a group of mermaids to The Big Float (I have my ticket and such all purchased), and my old tail got ruined by mice (I also lost 60 pounds since last summer so it would take a lot of work to take it in). I was thinking about getting another tail from finfun (I have their fluke), but if I do that then I don't think I'd be able to also afford the new tail project. I also need a few things such as some shoes, make up, a haircut, and a new case and power supply for my old computer that was 10 times more powerful than the snail I'm using now. I think it shorted out when I added a new cpu cooler that required me to remove the motherboard (I think it's touching the metal case somewhere, but the case is broken so I still want to replace it), and the power supply makes the most alarming grinding noises. I'd open up the power supply to see what I can do, but I like being alive.

Anyway, after I get done texturing and making the patterns look pretty (it should take a few days to do, a week or so if my Illnesses flair up) I'll chart all this stuff out.

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello Ottery,

no i don't ship it off. I have my own 3D-Printer and CNC-mill. The comercial 3d printigservices are very expansive. The quality is perfect but a selfmadeprinter is also good and mutch more cheaper. Actual i mill the molds for my fluke. It's extremly timeconsuming. At the next days i made pictures for my Tail-Thread.

[teeth4u]

I have done extensive research in 3D modeling and think this is a very creative idea! My only concern is the cost and I see that this issue has already been addressed. 3D printing can take a long time and the technology needed for printing an entire tail is quite expensive. Printing the molds is also an excellent idea. The detail and precision that could be put into the mold via 3D technology could be incredible. Good luck with this! I am excited to see more progress.

[Ottery]

Sorry that its been a while since I updated, I ended up going the safe route and buying the fin fun tail. I'm still working on my tail, though! I figured out the measurement issue, but I need some way to test it on an article of clothing that will be worn. I already did a test run with a bag, and I think that I have a great idea as to how I can get a pattern printed up using my small printer! [emoji1] I'll be using Pepakura for this, and for those who don't know, its a program that "unfolds" 3D models so you can print it out and make them out of paper! Since I picked up a yard of pale (still too tan for my vampire skin though. XD) skin toned swimsuit fabric the other day to make a top and some bottoms out of, I'll be trying it out and posting the results today. :) I already did the top since its a simple tube top, and the bottom is going to be shorts.

As for the silicone tail that I'm planning for the future, I might also be using pepakura for making a sewing dummy! I'll sew a tail around a model of the right size in Marvelous Designer, export the tail as a 3D model, and then put it in Pepakura, scale it correctly, and then print it out and put it together! I've built things this way before (custom masks and armor), so I know how to make it usable. I'll also probably fill it with foam so it will be lighter and easier to deal with. As for the scales and the fluke, I'll be modeling those in Zbrush. I usually work in Blender, but Zbrush is more of a sculpting program so its exactly what I need.

I would like to test everything out, so if you want a free custom mermaid tail pattern (no fluke just yet), message me and I'll send you the list of measurements I need. :) I can either color the scales for you, leave them blank, or even just not have any scales at all. Its up to you!

[PearlieMae]

Wow...that's so cool that you know how to use that, but making a mannequin to build a tail on is SOOOO much easier to do low-tech.

Wrap your body with Saran Wrap and cover it all with a few layers of clear packing tape. One straight cut from top to bottom to take it off, tape it shut and stuff it with newspaper, packing peanuts, pool noodles... voila!

[Ottery]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, it's mermaid season and I'm pretty much booked every weekend. XD Anyway, I'm still working on the tail pattern bit by bit, and I started modeling some scales in Zbrush for the eventual silicone tail.

[Ottery]

Now that I have time, I can post an update!

Spoonflower finally sells lycra!!!!!!! They had a promo where you could get a swatch with the pattern of your choice on it for free, so I quickly made a scale pattern and ordered an 8 inch swatch to see how it would look. ^_^ It's right here if you want to take a look/buy it: http://www.spoonflower.com/designs/4474321

As for the 3D modeling of my fluke, I've got the shape down, I just need to figure out how I'm gonna print it in the size I need and how I'm gonna make the foot pocket. I might have to slive the fluke in half and print it that way, and then glue it to the the foot pocket.

Here are some fluke ideas I've been working on:
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[Mermaid Wesley]

SPOONFLOWER IS SELLING LYCRA??? Yaassssss


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