Submitted 3 weeks ago by ClydapusGotwald@lemmy.world to 3dprinting@lemmy.world
Just a small rant but I hate that sites allow you to upload a STL without a picture of an actual printed model. It is dumb that you can make an image of it in photoshop or whatever software which you can tell is fake. I think you should have to print and take a picture. I think it would also help stop the AI posters that don’t flag their models as AI. Least makes it take longer for them to post.
Thanks for reading my Ted talk.
AI aside, I disagree with you. I’ve seen in past people with modelling knowledge posting stuff (openscad, stl…) without having a 3d printer and to me, that wasn’t an issue as long as they specify it in description (most of time they did), they would also take advice IF they were printing issues and would fix it. So yes, I could lost a bit of time and filament but nothing compares to the time those people invested to share/give away their work to the world while they were not even in a position to print their own stuff.
Blaming site is an easy solution, but let’s be honest. If they were to verify everything uploaded+description, we would end up with ads everywhere, click baits making site unusable or paid subscription…
Let’s not forget that 3d printing/printer has grown thanks to people sharing their knowledge and failures. If I have to fail a print because I’m lacking on modeling and therefore depends on others people work, that’s not a problem, I’m just there doing my part and giving feedback so we can build something better all together.
I have to agree with @paf@jlai.lu on this. I’d much rather have those models as part of the ecosystem than not. I do think part of the 3d printing hobby is learning to look at a model and recognize what can be printed on what type of printer, where supports are needed and where modifications may need to be made. For example, I recently purchased a model through TitanCraft. And the models they create are clearly designed with a resin printer in mind. they have some small features which are difficult or impossible to print on an FDM printer. While I knew that mini-figure models can be challenging on FDM, I went ahead with the purchase anyway. And the resulting min-fig’s staff was so thin my printer just couldn’t print it cleanly. I had to load the STL into Blender and spend an hour or two separating the staff out from the rest of the model and then I thickened it considerably. Sure, the haft of the shaft is a bit thick for the proportions of the model, but not too bad.
I make a similar evaluation of stuff I see on the various model sharing sites, before I try to print it. Does it need supports? Are some of the details going to be very hard or impossible for my printer to make? Should I split the model? And, while I am pretty crap at Blender, I may consider doing some simple edits to make a model easier to print and/or make changes I want. For example, I liked these ghosts but didn’t care for the spring and just wanted them hollow so I could stuff a UV LED inside them. With glow in the dark PLA, these look neat at night. So, I beat my head against Blender until I had them how I wanted them.
So, I wouldn’t want to stifle other peoples’ creativity. Let them create and enjoy the fact that people are willing to create and release this stuff for you to print. If it doesn’t work out, fix it and re-release it.
In the same way that Printables has an option to hide AI-generated content from the search results, you could just have an option toe exclude models without print photos.
How would you verify this? I usually include a screenshot from Onshape if I have not printed a model of mine yet.
The website would have to verify the lack of a print photo. I’m guessing at this point it would probably be some AI image recognition filter so they don’t need to have humans verify all the uploads manually.
Well yes and no. I think mostly it’s up to you to determine if the model is good or not. .here is an example.
I wanted to make a model and I needed a female face. (A mask). I found one in creative commons. When I attempted to use the face/head model I realized it wasn’t symmetrical. Or level. And had weird internal geometry.
I fixed those issues before I could use it for my mask model.
I figured since I did all that work and it was a nice female head, I would upload it on thingiverse so that others wouldn’t have to do through all the same trouble.
But I don’t want to just print a female head. I didn’t need one. So I didn’t. There is no photo on that upload.
It’s not really necessary.
I did, however, print the mask I made and posted photos of it with the model.
I hope my example illustrates why enforcing the photo rule isn’t going to work in all scenarios.
Just fyi. On makerworld.com, in order to upload a profile file (a pre made print file), you are required to use a photo of the model.
I think it works as a rule for that.
Many of them actually do. Report any model that doesn’t have a printed picture with it and printables/makerworld will both take them down.
You can always not use those sites and/or only print the ones that have picture and ignore the others. People are offering hours if their work for free (including a bunch of prototypes and wasted plastic you never see), including licensing them sometimes very generously, and you come complaining that there isn’t a picture? If you can’t look at a model you won’t be able to tell if the uploaded pictures are from the same version of the model uploaded.
Absolutely not. They should allow you to tag & filter by models showing printed examples, and maybe rank them higher in the results, but I’d refuse to use any site with such an overreach of restrictions.
Just an optional search filter to exclude models without photos would be nice. No need to completely ban designs that have never been printed.
On the other hand, in an ideal world I would expect the number of likes to reflect the overall quality of the entry, which of course includes aspects like photos and a nice description (which is important, too), so you just need to sort by likes. I’m not sure — are there many designs out there without photos, either own or from makes, but with lots of likes? If so, why?
I am not going to bother taking a picture to upload with the model. Then you never get to see what I made. I understand the concern with AI slop, but this would also hurt the collaboration/sharing for non AI related posts.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
And also weed out models that are clearly impossible to print.
FWIW I always make my headline image a printed instance of whatever it is. I figure nobody’s interested in anything else.
JigglySackles@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I like to see the model render as well, but yeah more or less.