Experiment: using AI to find the joints in a figure, then suggest seams and re-pose the arms before printing
I make ModelSplitter, a free browser tool for cutting models into printable parts with pins (modelsplitter.com). This clip is not something in the app yet. It's an experiment I ran this week and I'd like to know if it's worth pursuing.
The AI looks at a figure and guesses its skeleton: shoulders, elbows, knees, neck, and which part of the surface belongs to which limb. From that it could:
- suggest cut lines at the joints, which you'd adjust before cutting (the orange rings)
- bend a limb before you print, here both elbows, with nothing else moving
Honest limits: on this alien it found the arms and legs cleanly, but it didn't separate the head from the jaw, so turning the head twisted the face. On a figure standing straight in a uniform the limbs came out blotchy. Bends also crease the inside of the joint a little. And it needs a GPU, so unlike the rest of the tool it would mean uploading your model, only when you choose it.
Two questions for people who split and print figures:
Would seams suggested at the joints save you time, or would you redo them anyway?
Is posing a limb before printing something you'd use, or do you just find a model already in the pose you want?