Dynamod Game System - Colored Floors

More information on the website: https://dynamod.games

Colored floors are designed specifically for FDM printing and utilize a new technique called filament painting, as popularized by HueForge. By superposing different filament colors in very thin layers, the light transmission through those filaments naturally mixes the colors together to create realistic-looking gradients.

This technique works with any FDM printer since the color changes only happen between layers and slicers can instruct the printer to pause so that spools can be manually changed. Printers with an automated material system make this more convenient since the switching can happen without manual intervention.

Printing Instructions

For filament painting to work properly, the following FDM base settings are important:

For best results, use height range modifiers or printing processes.

From 0.0mm to 2.6mm:

From 2.6mm to top:

Individual Colored Floor Instructions

Each floor STL file is accompanied by an Instructions TXT file. This file lists the filament brands and colors that were used for the design. While it’s possible to use different filaments, those might have a different hue and transparency, possibly resulting into a different visual outcome.

Let’s take a look at one of the instructions files:

Dirt Floor Instructions.txt

Print at 100% infill with a layer height of 0.08mm.

Filaments Used:

• PLA PolyTerra Charcoal Black Transmission Distance: 0.3
• PLA PolyTerra Earth Brown Transmission Distance: 0.3
• PLA PolyTerra Wood Brown Transmission Distance: 0.3
• PLA Bambulab Basic White Transmission Distance: 11

Slicer Instructions:

• From 0.00mm - 2.60mm : Layer height 0.2mm, infill 25%
• From 2.60mm - 4.60mm : Layer height 0.08mm, infill 100%
• Start with PolyTerra Charcoal Black
• At layer #19 (3.08mm) swap to PolyTerra Earth Brown
• At layer #25 (3.56mm) swap to PolyTerra Wood Brown
• At layer #28 (3.80mm) swap to Bambulab Basic White for the rest.

Most colors used are PolyTerra filament, I like the vibrant and matte look and their transmission distance seems to work well for floor designs. I have experimented with many different whites and Bambulab Basic White is my favorite since it can be used for subtle gradual shading and doesn’t take an excessive amount of layers to become fully opaque white.

When you set your slicer up, make sure to differentiate the height up to 2.60mm from everything above with height range modifiers, different processors, or other techniques that are applicable to your slicer. Everything below 2.60mm is the mechanical structure of the tiles and can have a higher layer height, while everything above is filament painting. Once the filament painting starts, it’s very important that infill is set to 100% and that the layer height is 0.08mm.

Next, indicate that filament changes need to happen at the exact layers that are listed in the instructions file.

In the example above, you’ll start with Black and at 3.08mm (layer #19) you’ll indicate that the filament should be switched to Earth Brown. In slicers that are derived from PrusaSlicer, this can be done by using the right-hand vertical layer selector and right-clicking at the appropriate height to issue a Change Filament command. Other slicers like Simplify3D will require different processes or height ranges. When that is the case, please note that the heights and layer numbers in the instructions indicate the start of the next layer with the new color, not the last layer of the previous color.

Gradually configure the filament changes until all those in the instructions have been added. When you preview in the slicer, please note that colors are treated as fully opaque, so none of the intended gradients will appear.