A little bit about me

I’m pretty much stuck in the ’80s, and I say that proudly. I love characters, cartoons, and stylized designs, and that influence shows up a lot in my art and hobbies. After high school, I studied animation and learned 3D modeling using Autodesk Maya on a Silicon Graphics (SGI) computer. Back then, the hardware needed to run that kind of software cost tens of thousands of dollars. Today, it’s wild to think that you can run powerful creative tools on a laptop — or even an iPad.

Fast Forward a Few Years…

A couple of years ago, I stumbled across a 3D modeling app for the iPad called Nomad Sculpt. It’s a surprisingly powerful sculpting tool, very similar to ZBrush, but way more approachable. Even better, there’s a growing community of artists who share tips, techniques, and workflows on YouTube.

One creator in particular, Dave Reed, has been a huge help for me. I’ve picked up a ton of useful techniques from his videos. And at some point, after spending hours creating characters, I started asking myself a simple question: Can I actually 3D print these?

Why 3D Printing, and Why Now?

I had been interested in 3D printing years earlier, but at the time, the machines were expensive, and the print quality didn’t seem worth the investment. So I stuck with traditional sculpting and digital work.

This time around was different. With my curiosity renewed, I started researching modern 3D printing — and honestly, it was overwhelming. The tech has advanced a lot. Yes, it turns out you can print models created in Nomad Sculpt, but it’s definitely not as simple as hitting Print and walking away.

The difference between FDM vs Resin 3D Printers

I touched briefly on the differences between the two types of printers in a previous article, but I wanted to go deeper into the research I did and the things I considered before making my decision. I’ll also talk about what I thought I understood going in — and what I quickly realized I had no idea I needed to know.

My main goal was simple: I wanted to print my creations with the best quality and detail possible. Beyond that, I honestly didn’t fully understand what it actually took to get a print from screen to reality, or how different the two types of 3D printers really were.

To be continued…