Playing with Makehuman 3D App

[John_Bouck]

This the start generic figure that all your renderings will evolve from, male, female young old etc.

Now you tweak using all the designing tabs in the program. I just did a grumpy middle aged dude.

Add some clothes from the limited library MakeHuman has. (If you can’t use the Assets, because your OS is too new for MakeHuman.)

And export it as an STL file so you can load it to your printer. You have to adjust the size, (Scale you want) before you hit the print start button.

STL file rendered to 1600x1600 resolution.

If some one wants this STL file, message me with your email address and I’ll send it to you to play around with on your printer.

[Bruce_Chandler]

Wow. Very nicely done!

I find all this technology very interesting! Thanks for the little tutorial.

[ctown2 (Craig Townsend)]

John,
What’s your OS and computer set up?
I’ve got a older Windows 7 with only 8 gigs of RAM and worried it might not be enough power to run the program.

[John_Bouck]

Craig,
I use an Apple Studio with 32 Gigs of Ram, OS Ventura m1 Max.
My old Mac has only 8 Gigs Ram Intel. It could operate Makehuman, (Slowly), but
not Blender. (The graphics card was not good enough)

[ctown2 (Craig Townsend)]

Thanks. I’ll have to install and see if it works. My slicer programs and CAD work okay. Not that I should get distracted with making figures quite yet.

[John_Bouck]

An update.
I didn’t like the raw STL exported from Makehuman, because it printed rough with all the facets. (Those tiny rectangular shapes that make up the entire model.
So I downloaded Meshmixer to smooth out the STL file. That worked and the printed sample was smooth. But Meshmixer is no longer in use. (it is now Fusion). So it wasn’t stable.
So now I export the sample as a Collada (dae) into Blender. Then export it as an STL file for printers.

This is the rendering of a school kid in Makehuman:

This the Collada file in Blender:

And the STL file exported: It is smoother than a raw STL exported from Makehuman.

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

Nice. I asked my son about Blender training. He said it’s been a few years since he played with it and he was never an expert. Looks like you have taught yourself better than he could have trained you!

[John_Bouck]

Jon,
I’m currently learning the “animation” section of Blender.
That way I can pose a figure other than the standard Makehuman poses.
You have to put a skeleton inside your rendering in MH, and then export it to blender as FBX file.
Then, once I figure it out, I can bend the joints in Blender, and then export it as an STL for printing.
I have tried a little sculpting in Blender as well. I’m not to good at it.

[Devon_Sinsley]

I really can’t wait for you to master the MakeHuman/Blender process so you can teach me.

[John_Bouck]

Devon, all of the Blender tutorials I have read or watched on Utube stress that an electronic sketch pad and pencil are best to design and sculpt in Blender.
There is a clone of Blender out there that is mouse user friendly. It’s called Bforartists. Pretty much the same as Blender, but easier to use.
I’m still playing around with it a little. It seems I can sculpt with the mouse easier than Blender.
It’s from Germany.

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