Stanford Bunny Mesh Mods: Distort

We use Meshmixer a lot in the shop, and teach our students mesh-editing techniques using it. Despite Autodesk's endless cat-and-mouse game with this unsupported software, we find it still works well on both Windows and Mac, and it remains an indispensable part of our workflow.

We demonstrate several mesh modification techniques from import to fabrication. Our subject is the famous Stanford Bunny, which comes pre-loaded with Meshmixer as a non-watertight mesh. These techniques are detailed at newMediaWiki, our Open Education Resource.

Distort

This demonstration, distort, uses a simple non-uniform scale to create an anamorphic projection. From one view, the bunny is barely recognizable; from another, it looks like a normal object.

For others in the series, check out our Collection: Stanford Bunny Mesh Mods.

Printing

Resolution: There are three different poly resolutions available for this model: one at ~7K, one at ~600K, and an ultra-high one just over 1M. PrusaSlicer warns about slow processing over 1M, but we've never had a problem with it. Use whichever works best for your print size.

Size: The original bunny is a scan of a terra-cotta garden tschotchke that stands about 7.5 inches high. Without distortion, the model can fit full-size on an MK4 build plate. This distort is unusual because its length is about 27 inches at that height! So, printing size depends on your goal. Examples include but are not limited to:

• An MK 4 print, fitting at an angle with a height of 3 inches.
• An XL print in one piece, fitting at 3.75 inches (50% original) height.
• An XL print cut into two parts fits at full size, then can be assembled.

On the bed: We've supplied raw meshes from Meshmixer. In the distort mesh, the base is fairly flat, but you may wish to cut a sliver off the bottom. We did: we used Cut to delete the first 0.02 inches of height from the model, which ensured dead flat adhesion.

Supports: The bunny is impossible to print without support. Our strategy is to use paint-on supports, using automatic painting at an angle of around 40 degrees. We use organic support to avoid body-to-body support at the ears, and we typically expand the first layer from the standard 3.5mm to double or triple that to assist with adhesion.

Other notes: It's a sculptural object, so layer height, infill, and whatnot are discretionary. But don't waste a lot of material on high-percentage infill: we use gyroid at 5% and it works well. We do like the look of a Concentric top fill pattern because it visually blends in nicely with the layers.

Licensing notes

Stanford's work apparently happened before the evolution of licensing schemas on the web: their requirements are described here under the Please acknowledge… heading. We've applied a CC-BY-NC License as what seems to be the closest match with their text.