Hi Joe, We currently repair STL atomic structure models using Microsoft's online Tools3D site as described in Tom Ferrin’s message below. Since it is online that step could be done from a Mac (use Firefox, Safari does not allow upload for some reason). You need a Microsoft account and it asks you to give permission to share all your email contacts, or some such non-sense and does not let you proceed unless you say yes. I don’t understand that because it does not have access to those contacts since I don’t install anything on my machine, so I judged it harmless although annoying. The Microsoft repair supposedly uses Autodesk and netfabb in the cloud. We used an academic free version of Autodesk (on Windows only) to get similar results with more effort. The Microsoft tool does not return STL, instead giving a .3mf file which needs to be converted to STL. That can be done (on Window) with the Microsoft 3D Builder app. At any rate, this whole process works ok on Windows and produces a good quality mesh removing intersections of ribbons, atom spheres, and bond cylinders to produce a single closed mesh that the 3D printer software can handle. Tom
Begin forwarded message:
From: Tom Ferrin Subject: Protocol for 3D printing from ChimeraX Date: September 13, 2017 at 5:30:18 PM PDT To: Tom Goddard
1) Create the desired molecular display in ChimeraX and save as an STL file.
2) Upload the file to Microsoft's free "Tools3D" web site, tools3d.azurewebsites.net and click the repair button. Then save the repaired file on you desktop (it will have a .3mf file extension).
3) Download and install the "3D Builder" application, available for free at the Microsoft online store, and then open the repaired .3mf file and export it as a .stl file.
4) Open the .stl file in Catalyst and print. In Catalyst we always click on the Orientation tab and then the Optimize button before building the toolpath layers, as this minimizes the amount of support material used by the printer.
—t
om
On Sep 23, 2017, at 3:38 AM, Healey, Joe <J.R.J.Healey@warwick.ac.uk> wrote:
Hi James et al.,
Reading the document, for repair of STL files, there is the recommendation to use Netfabb, it appears to only be available for Windows however, do you have a recommendation for MacOS alternatives?
Thanks for all your help everyone!
Joe Healey
M.Sc. B.Sc. (Hons) MSRB PhD Student MOAC CDT, Senate House University of Warwick Coventry CV47AL Mob: +44 (0) 7536 042620 | Email: J.R.J.Healey@warwick.ac.uk <mailto:J.R.J.Healey@warwick.ac.uk>
Jointly working in: Waterfield Lab <http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/research/tsm/microinfect/staff/waterfieldl...> (WMS Microbiology and Infection Unit) and the Gibson Lab <http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/chemistry/research/gibson/gibsongroup/> (Warwick Chemistry)
Twitter: @JRJHealey <https://twitter.com/JRJHealey> | Website: MOAC Page <http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/moac/people/students/2013/joseph_healey> | ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9569-6738 <http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9569-6738>