Quickly Modify Pre-Supported Resin Models for FDM 3D Printing

Speaking in very general terms, FDM (fused deposition modeling)/FFF (fused filament fabrication) 3D printing is better for strong functional parts, while resin printing is better for high-detail decorative models. Support for the latter naturally tend to be more complicated to accommodate the detail, so designers often distribute models with the supports already in place and ready to print. But that can be a problem if you plan to print the model on an FFF 3D printer, which is why Jacob from Painted4Combat developed Resin2FDM to let users quickly modify pre-supported resin models for FDM 3D printing.

This is important because modern resin 3D printers (particularly MSLA models) are capable of printing features at very high resolutions. It isn’t uncommon to see pixel sizes below 30μm — and that is before you even consider enhancements like grayscale antialiasing. For reference, 30μm is the same diameter as a typical human hair. With that kind of resolution available, modelers tend to make support contact points very fine, so they break off easily without too much scarring. But because FFF printers can’t extrude filament anywhere close to that fine, they can’t print the supports properly.

Resin2FDM solves that problem by modifying the support geometry to better suit FFF 3D printing. It is a Blender add-on that works best with Blender 4.0 and there are two versions: Resin2FDM Lite (free for everyone) and Resin2FDM Advanced (free for Painted4Combat Patrons). The latter has a few more convenience features, but Resin2FDM Lite is very usable for most users in most situations.

Jacob did a lot of very clever programming to make this work, but the functionality is easy enough to understand. Resin2FDM is able to automatically detect the supports and support contact points, by analyzing the geometry. That is possible because support structures are very consistent in appearance and fall within specific size ranges. Resin2FDM then separates the supports from the model, so they can be modified independently. From there, it can automatically perform tasks like increasing the sizes of the supports or the support contact points.

That alone would be very useful, but there is another big benefit: printing the supports at different settings than the model. You will likely want to print the model with the highest detail available, but the supports don’t need that. Because Resin2FDM is already separating the two, you can use independent print settings in your slicer. For instance, you can print the model itself at a layer height of 0.08mm, but the supports at 0.16mm. In Jacob’s testing, that was able to cut the total print time almost in half.

If you want Resin2FDM Lite, head over to the Painted4Combat Gumroad page to grab it for free. If you want Resin2FDM Advanced, join the Painted4Combat Patreon.