Statue/bust of someone's face

Has anyone here attempted to create a statue of a person or a carving of someones face on a shapeoko? I have an ongoing competition with my friends and I want to make a trophy that features my friends’s face on the body of a cherub/little chubby cupid-like fella. I dont need it to be 360 degrees, 180 degrees Mt Rushmore style would be perfect. Thanks!

You need to model this in 3D somehow — that’s the stumbling block.

So, it’s a bit like

Q: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”
A: “Practice, practice, practice.”

Or, in this case, learn Blender, or Sculptris or some similar 3D modeling/sculpting program.

Some folks have been successful with photogrammetry, and there has been some discussion of using the Large Language Models (LLMs) described as “AI” on a different forum I participate in:

but it is light on details and specifics.

For a bit of discussion as to how the LLMs were initially arrived at and then repurposed for image creation see:

I believe @KevBarn14 has a video on the Carbide 3D Youtube channel which touches on this sort of thing.

Ha! Well said. Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction, Will.

Once you arrive at a 3D model, we do have a program which might be useful:

If you own a 3D scanner and can output an STL, you should be able to remain inside Carbide Create Pro for the 180° style face.
I have the appropriate equipment at my home shop (for automotive work) and have been thinking about a project with the above workflow. :thinking:

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Perhaps…. Said project could be documented in a format that could be replayed for the masses. :face_with_monocle:

For a previous discussion of a 3D scanner see:

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@WillAdams

Thanks for the reference. I will read the documentation.

My reply to KevBarn14 was a shameless plug for him to create one of his awesome videos that so many of us have reviewed and learned from.

Good idea. If I am able to make progress, I will document it. if I am successful, or have learning points that may help others, I’ll share with everyone how I spent an obscene amount of time Essentially trying to prank someone

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I used a Lynx scanner to acquire a STL of a carved eagle and was able to mill it on my SP5.
I had to spray Dr Scholls foot powder on the black painted wood in order to get a good scan.

Once you get a mesh file (STL or OBJ), you are on your way.

If you are a IPhone 13 or newer user, there is a free Lidar app that will produce STL files.

I have not tried it ( Pixel ) , but it has been around for a few years.

Note: I just checked the pricing for Polycam. The free version does not allow export, I think.

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You can’t really get the free version without signing up for a plan. And then the free is o my 7 days.

It’s kinda pricey to just try it. If it really works it may be ok.

The google search of “iphone lidar scanner app” shows promise.