I have spent a lot of time looking at past threads and tutorials but I am still struggling to find the answers.
Is there a very basic, detailed tutorial on how to bring in a 3D grayscale image as part of a project and create the toolpaths?
Older posts and videos describe using .png files but newer ones seem to be all about .stl files. Honestly, I don’t know the difference. And I made a little progress by creating a component, putting the image on it, assigning to a new layer, and creating a roughing and finishing toolpath. But then I cannot solve how to make a workable image.
I saw some information about height, stock to leave, Add, Subtract, etc. but I don’t seem to be in the right part of the Design or Model or else I don’t understand what to do.
Any help is appreciated, but do not be brief please. I need step-by-miserable-step instructions.
Can you share the grayscale image you want to use, and describe what you want to do with it, including dimensions?
A .png is a bitmap image, like a .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .tif, et.al…
A .stl is a faceted body described by a cloud of points in 3D space
Simply put, both formats can describe a 3D solid. They just do it differently.
And once imported to CC, the STL is converted to a 3D heightmap.
.png == portable network graphic, a 2D pixel image
stl == comes from an application “Stereolithography CAD” and was used as the file extension for 3D data from that application
Some previous tutorials which may help:
(note that importing a pixel image is much the same as an STL, just no rotation option)
If you’ll upload your file we can walk through this with you here — just let us know stock thickness and how you want things to cut.
Take you image and turn it to black and white.
Your choice to make the dark or light areas, high or low in CC.
A normal 24bit image has 256 values (0-255) as to how light the pixel is.
In the HSV color definition, Hue Saturation and Value, The above number is for V.
That value becomes the scalar for height values in CC.
CC assigns a Z offset per the grey value.
You may have to edit the image to get a result you like.
You guys are still assuming I know more than I do.
I will attach my image.
I am attempting to do Practice Project 2, page 77 from CNC Router Essentials by Randy Johnson. Perhaps you have that book.
It is a simple sign with raised V-carve letters and a carved 3D model of a horse. Obviously I’m using Carbide Pro instead of Vcarve in the book. So far I have been able to translate most everything in the book to Carbide Pro. But I do not have the image from their library, so I found a similar 3D grayscale image and that is what I’m working with.
When you make these suggestions of what to do, please include the appropriate tab and subject (Design, Model, Toolpath) and the field(s) where I would do what you suggest.
I’m a 72 year old guy that did Master Data Management, no training in Design, Engineering, etc.
I do appreciate the help, but I am not up to your level yet, so start lower, please.
On the other hand, I can help you with welding if interested!
That file is a pixel image which uses light/dark to display the image — it would work as a lithophane, but since light/dark are not mapped to height/depth, it will not work for 3D as-is.
Some folks have experimented with using AI to create a 3D model or a height/depth map from a pixel image, but that is not something which our software does.
It might be you could trace or re-draw it to make a V carving or other design.
Here is my latest simulation. I attempted to follow your screenshots as much as I could. I need to better understand how to relate the surfaces (with the 2 offsets) to the actual material in the Job Setup.
I’m still unclear of the definitions/functions of Base Height of the different Shapes and as related to Stock to Leave. We have experimented changing individually and the results do not seem to be as expected.
In this simulation I feel like the outer ring is too deep (and really not needed) and the horse is too thick. But when we made adjustments the side of the horse got flat (even with the surface of the material).
I’m planning to cut this as shown just to see what happens. BTW, I am simply doing a Vcarve for the text instead of raised Vcarve as in the book project. I want to get the horse image first.
NOTE: When you enter the height to import the grayscale bitmap, you are defining the height for white to black. If the bitmap ranges from white to 50% gray, then it will come in at half the height you entered. You can adjust the height to accommodate, or edit the image for more contrast.
Not a complete failure, it but needs work. I Rough Cut with 1/8" then did 2 Finish Cut passes with 1/8" and another with 1/16". I had to start the Finish with my Z zeroed to about 3/8" above the material, then again about 1/8" high because it was trying to cut almost 3/4" in a single pass. I need to try to figure that out.
Why did the Finish toolpath do that big outside rim? I don’t really want it and the Rough toolpath only did the inside circle. I tried changing the Surface components but could not remove the rim without messing up the rest.
The cut is pretty accurate to the simulation but has a lot of striations. I assume I need to change my Stepover.
I don’t really understand everything I did (with y’alls help) but at least I did something.
