easy way to turn 2d b&w image into a 3d image?

[Elbot]

I cannot figure out an easy way to turn a black and white image into a 3d image. For example, if I have a picture of a circle, I want to drag the circle photo in a CAD program and turn it into a cylinder.Is there such a program? I want to use this feature to turn a photo into a simple relief image 1mm thick in a different color with my dual extruder to make a headstone plaque with a pic of my dog and a few words on a plate.

Thank you.

[Z LeHericy]

I know that Autodesk Inventor can do a similar thing using the "emboss" function, but it's tricky to get the images to work properly sometimes.

-Zeno LeHericy

//((=:Z:=))\\
INVENTIONS
Technologies
zinventions.com

On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 11:25 PM, Elbot <tomas...@gmail.com> wrote:

I cannot figure out an easy way to turn a black and white image into a 3d image. For example, if I have a picture of a circle, I want to drag the circle photo in a CAD program and turn it into a cylinder.Is there such a program? I want to use this feature to turn a photo into a simple relief image 1mm thick in a different color with my dual extruder to make a headstone plaque with a pic of my dog and a few words on a plate.

Thank you.

--
 
 

[Elbot]

Figured it out. Use Shapeways. You can upload a pic and then either have them print it out for you in any material you wish (including metal) or download it and print it out yourself in plastic.

 

[JohnD]

Now that's a novel solution! ;-)  I was going to say OpenSCAD is excellent for doing both basic and complex 2-d Extrusions.  Take a look here - I created this from a 2D DXF of the Koch snowflake.  This isn't a good example of "simple" btw! :-)

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35616

[Jetty]

There's OmNomNom Creator that will do this for you by drag and
dropping the picture:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24639

[Cymon]

I use InkScape's trace functionality, turn it into an SVG, import that into your 3D program of choice, and go.

I'm interested in making those lithopanes, but I think I've got an idea for that one.

[Dan Newman]

On 19 Jan 2013 , at 1:55 AM, JohnD wrote:

> Now that's a novel solution! ;-) I was going to say OpenSCAD is excellent
> for doing both basic and complex 2-d Extrusions. Take a look here - I
> created this from a 2D DXF of the Koch snowflake. This isn't a good
> example of "simple" btw! :-)
>
> http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35616

And if you use a Mac, there's OmNomNom Creator,

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24639

One of the things it is designed to do is to convert b&w images to
3d printable models.

Dan

[Justin Leone]

I guess Koch Snowflakes are a common thing for 3D printer enthusiasts to be drawn to.  This was the first object I designed (using Lightwave) specifically for printing, before seeing all the Koch Snowflake derivatives on Thingiverse:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108622562693383451746/3DPrintedObjects#5825269654568447266

[BTHOON]

I'll throw in a solid recommendation for Tinkercad.  Aside from the fact that it is now ABSURDLY expensive ($20 a month to START?), it is the best way to extrude SVG images (made in inkscape for instance)

[Jason Preuss]

I second InkScape's trace function. I use it quite a bit to convert wood patterns into prints.

I import the SVGs into Blender and extrude away.

[neoteric]

i love these two programs.  Super simple for creating reliefs.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=8fc203c6d53cfcf639464b616dec43af&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnczone.com%2Fforums%2Fproduct_announcements_manufacturer_news%2F67996-bmp_bender_free_3d_software-5.html&v=1&libid=1358862446011&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.needfulthings.net%2Fbarebones%2Ffiles%2FBmpBender.zip&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnczone.com%2Fforums%2Fproduct_announcements_manufacturer_news%2F67996-bmp_bender_free_3d_software-4.html&title=BMP%20Bender%20FREE%203D%20software%20-%20Page%205%20-%20CNCzone.com-The%20Largest%20Machinist%20Community%20on%20the%20net!&txt=BmpBender.zip&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13588624570825

I don't know why that link looks like that, but the software is very good.

I also like this

http://texel3d.free.fr/projets/3dpaysage/index.html

These are both super simple.

[Cymon]

Blender: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.4/Tutorials/Textures/Maps/Creating_a_Heightmap_from_a_Plane

[Ian Johnson]

Also Photo to Mesh http://www.ransen.com/phototomesh/Default.htm

Here are a couple of lithographs I made with it- 

[Cymon]

Wow, expensive for a simple piece of software. Still, it'll work better than blender which gets a little laggy working with that many vertices at once. 

[Justin Leone]

It seems like the OP isn't looking for something that uses a grayscale image as a displacement map on a highly subdivided plane (which any decent 3D software should be able to do), but take a 2-tone black and white image and use that to extrude a shape into 3D.  And while the former method can be used to approximate the latter, the difference is that creating a high density lattice will use a ton of unnecessary polygons, and the end result will never be entirely smooth.

Probably the best method for this is to use photoshop to create a selection and convert it to a path.  Here's a tutorial on exactly how that works:

http://www.photoshop-plus.co.uk/2011/05/24/converting-a-selection-into-a-path/

Then import the paths into any 3D software.  I use Lightwave, but I'm pretty sure any 3D app worth it's salt (including Blender, which is free), should be able to import illustrator paths as a curve or polygon, and then use the 3D software to extrude that flat shape along it's normal to give it height.