Covering the surface of a part with a texture that will 3D print

[Pettersson]

So this is one of these "I'm pretty sure this isn't possible but I'll ask in case anyone has any tips" things. I have a client that asked me if it's possible in Creo to cover a part surface with a textured pattern, sort of like the "rough" appearance, in a way that will affect the physical surface of the part, and not just the rendering. There is third party software that can do it, but he wanted to know if it's possible in Creo. Basically, the texture should 3D print. I can imagine trying to do this with some Flatten Quilt Deformation and some pattern work, but it would be a LOT of work for each part, especially since he would prefer a somewhat random pattern and not something repeating like a Fill pattern.

So yeah, the ideal here would be to convert the "Rough" appearance into 3D geometry, but I haven't heard of such a function. But maybe it's available in the Additive Manufacturing Extension that I don't have access to? Any tips?

[Constantin · Accepted solution]

Good morning,
I am quite certain, that this is not possible in Creo.
As you mention, some third party apps use 'displacement maps' that can be turned into actual gemetry (all based on tesselated data). 
Creo only has texture maps but no displacement maps.

[Pettersson]

Yeah, I figured it's probably not possible, or I would have heard about it. But it was worth asking, in case I had missed some clever functionality in the newer releases.

[Michael]

You can export your model into keyshot which will let you drag textures on top of bodies. You can then export this as a 3M file and 3-D printed with the texture  

[Pettersson]

Not sure I'm following here, but we are talking about texture in the common sense of the word, i.e. displacement maps. Not texture as in color. I'm looking to have a 3D roughness to the surface. Something like this (though maybe coarser):

[Michael]

Yes I understand what you’re looking for and it’s a displacement map. I’ve been able to create knurled and leather using this methodology and 3d print it. It geometrically adds the displacement into 3d 3mf. 

[Pettersson]

Ah, right. Didn't read properly at first and missed that you are talking about a third party software. Yeah, so that's a possibility. I was looking to see if it's possible in Creo. Looks like there's a Keyshot plugin to Creo, though. Not sure if that one can do it, too?

[MartinHanak]

Hi,

maybe you can test https://3dcoat.com/ software.

Note: I do not have personal experience with it.

[Patriot_1776]

As others have said, I don't believe it's possible.  Plus, I REALLY don't think you want to go down that path even if you could,  The increase in model size would be immense, drastically slowing regens and any rendering or viewing or zooming or spinning of the model even when it's just shaded.  If you tried that as wireframe or hidden line, forget it.

Having done a ton of plastic work over the years, it's not needed and is in fact detrimental to making the mold anyways.  Just tell your mold maker you want "X" texture in "X" areas.  They've ALL told me NOT to try and put a texture like that on the model.  The only exceptions being, say, a corporate logo that's repeated, and even that's a PITA to model in many cases.

[Pettersson]

In this case, the client I'm talking to IS the mold maker. They've acquired a 3D printer and want to print their own tools for small-scale vacuum molding of their own products, rather than paying someone else to do it. The model being heavy is only a problem if you put it in assemblies, not so much if you only use it for printing.