Can you use your own designs?

[EscapeTheClouds]

Hello,

I'm one of the 500 "early birds" that preordered the Mod-T at $149 and I'm very excited about the product. While the store, the media campaign, the concept, and the machine itself seem very impressive, there is one thing that isn't clear: will you be able to print your own homemade designs using the Mod-T?

I'm certainly happy for the curated selection of objects. My wife, for instance, would get some good use out of it making things for around the house.

However, for the rest of us that know our way around a 3D design application (I use Maya and Sketchup), can we print out our own original designs? In the specs for the product, it lists that .STL files will be supported. My aim is to create, make, and sell original merchandise for my music projects. Without that capability, this machine won't exactly be useless to me, but it'll lose a great deal of its luster.

Thanks!

[NewMatter]

Yes, the MOD-t software will include a slicer for working with standard STL files generated by most 3D design software. The printer itself will also accept standard G-codes so you will be able to use 3rd party slicers like Cura or Slic3r (although you'll have to set up the machine specific parameters yourself).

[Feign]

I imagine that if it supports .stl files, then it supports them no matter what you make them with. I know Sketchup already exports into .stl, and I'm pretty sure Maya does too. Almost every worthwhile 3D modelling software can save in .stl format, it's about as ubiquitous as .jpg is for images.

[EscapeTheClouds]

Thank you for the responses, the clarification, and the good news. I've been wanting to get into 3D printing for a while, and have plenty of ideas for things I want to create, but the price has always been so prohibitive. I look forward to spring next year!