Hi David, Thanks very much! I'm currently experimenting with MeshMixer's "Reduce" to do the same kind of thing - though I think that will only get me so far. I'll certainly have a look at that walkthrough though. I have just realised part of my problem however, was that I was exporting the surface and ribbon representations though without realising it, rather than just the surface, which would be totally redundant when printed. Joe 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 Jointly working in: Waterfield Lab<http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/research/tsm/microinfect/staff/waterfieldlab/> (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 ________________________________ From: David Bhella <David.Bhella@glasgow.ac.uk> Sent: 22 September 2017 11:24:55 To: Healey, Joe Cc: chimera-users@cgl.ucsf.edu Subject: Re: [Chimera-users] STL File export size The free software package meshlab is very effective at reducing the complexity of 3D scenes for printing. There is a tutorial here: https://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/polygon_reduction_with_meshlab D. Dr David Bhella Director - Scottish Macromolecular Imaging Centre MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research Sir Michael Stoker Building Garscube Campus 464 Bearsden Road Glasgow G61 1QH Scotland (UK) Telephone: 0141-330-3685 Skype: d.bhella Virus structure group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CVRstructure Molecular Machines - Images from Virus Research: http://www.molecularmachines.org.uk CVR website: http://www.cvr.ac.uk CVR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch

On 22 Sep 2017, at 10:38, Healey, Joe <J.R.J.Healey@warwick.ac.uk> wrote:

Hi Chimera team,

I'm dealing with some protein structures that vary quite a lot in size. I'd like to make 3D printable versions, so I'm exporting STL files.

Is there any way to reduce the file size of the exported STLs? How might one control the level of detail (triangulation) of the exported file - I suspect the defaults are including a lot of detail that a 3D printer wouldn't even be able to replicate in the first place.

Many thanks

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

Jointly working in: Waterfield Lab (WMS Microbiology and Infection Unit) and the Gibson Lab (Warwick Chemistry)

Twitter: @JRJHealey | Website: MOAC Page | ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9569-6738 _______________________________________________ Chimera-users mailing list: Chimera-users@cgl.ucsf.edu Manage subscription: http://plato.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimera-users