As time passes by, the world is beginning to witness a famous merger between two amazing worlds. The worlds of gaming and 3D printing technology are getting closer each passing day; closer than anyone would have predicted. As it stands now, lovers of these two worlds can now decide to get any of their beloved game characters. This is all thanks to business outfits that now 3D print these characters and deliver them directly to the doorstep of these game lovers.
It seems to be a different case here as you’ve always been the DIY kind of guy. Plus, your love for World of Warcraft (WOW) is one that stands out. As it is now, you will love to 3D print your own beloved character from the World Pf Warcraft game, but you do not know about how this is done. Thankfully, there are several resources out there for you to benefit from. There are video tutorials, instructional articles like this one, and many others that can walk you through this process. By the end of the process, you will be playing your game encircled by the 3D printed models you have chosen to print.
To be very frank, we have constantly been enthralled by certain characters from some of the very famous video games around. For lovers of World of Warcraft (WOW) and League of Legends (LOL), the feeling is definitely mutual. Even if you have not played these video games, you must have heard about them one way or the other.
Our concern here is not about which of these two games is supreme even though that is one path we would have loved to walk through. What actually strikes us the most about the World of Warcraft(WOW) is the characters in it. We have provided you a link to a video tutorial from Kripzy on how you can create your own WOW character yourself using 3D printing technology. To augment the information provided in this tutorial video, this text will lead you through the steps you have to take if you want to easily create your own WOW character using 3D printing technology. Follow through!
To start, you can proceed to watch the YouTube tutorial video we mentioned above here before we dive right into it.
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Steps To 3D Print Your WOW Character
Let us get right into it! You can easily make that your preferred WOW character from the comfort of your home. Thanks to the cutting-edge impact of 3D printing, you only have to follow a few steps and you can have a room with all your favorite WOW characters all around you.
1. Get The WOW Game
To begin this DIY process, you must have the WOW game installed first. We thought it unnecessary to have this as one of the steps we will be giving. However, we understand that some have only heard about this game but have not played it. Hence, we must make it clear that you must have the game fully installed before you begin the process. You can download the game from here. After you have successfully downloaded the game, and you have installed it on your device, you can now proceed into the thick of it.
But for those who have already got the game, you do not have to install it again.
2. Download The WOW Model Viewer
Once you have successfully installed the WOW game, the next step is to download the WOW Model Viewer (also known as WMV) This is a free application, so you do not have to be bothered about any kind of payment at all. You can download the WOW Model Viewer here.
We will recommend that you download the most recent version of this software whenever you are ready to do so. We have used the WMV v8beta5 and we had no single issue with it.
Once you have downloaded this software, get it installed on your computer. Since the software is a beta version, a forum has been created to follow up. You can find the link to this follow-up forum on the right side of the download icon.
3. Acquaint Yourself With The WOW Model Viewer Application
The next step is to acquaint yourself with the WOW model viewer application. This depiction of this application is “a tool used by Machinima Artists to view and capture model and character animation from World of Warcraft. As an open-source project, we encourage the development of features that may be useful to current or future artists.”
It is practically a hub where you can go to access accessories that are related to different games. So, when you are searching for whatever pertaining to WOW and the game’s printable 3D models, this is the place to come to.
4. Create Your Own WOW Character
After you must have completed the download of the WOW model viewer (WMV), just launch the program. If the program does not come on, on its own, immediately after you installed it, then open the “find the location” segment of the file (WowModelViewer) You will always find this in the application’s file.
Know this! Whenever you launch the WOW Model Viewer application, a warning message will come up confirming if you truly want to go load WOW. Select Yes. After this, you will see a large menu displayed on the left side of your Windows. This is where all the activities pertaining to the creation of your beloved WOW character takes place. Right there, you have the option to select which WOW character you wish to 3D print yourself. You will also be provided with the animations, the landscapes, and the likes.
But, in the case that you have already created a WOW character of your choice, you only have to load it. Easy Peasy! Just by clicking on the character tab right at the top of your Windows, you can load your already-created WOW character. Once you have done that, click on the “Import Armory Character” icon.
What comes up on your screen next is a query requesting a link to the character you have created and would love to import. You must give the link from this particular site. It will be something like this: http://eu.battle.net/wow/fr/character/archimonde/S… After this, take a pause. In a few moments, you will have your WOW character all up on your screen.
5. Get Your WOW Character Ready To Be Printed
Once you have successfully created your WOW character, the next step is to get it ready for printing. To do this, you will start by exporting it. Note that, you can only export this newly-created character as an OBJ file. To export the character file, start by clicking on “File” at the top left flank of your screen. Next, click on the “Export Model” icon. Open this section and select OBJ.
As soon as you have exported your created character as an OBJ file, move this file into the blender tool or in any other 3D modeling software you prefer. Then, add finishing touches to clean up the character.
Understand that some parts of the character you have just created cannot be printed using a classic 3D printer. However, with the help of a competent modeler, this will not be too tough a nut to crack
After this, your character is set to be printed. You can now move it out as an STL file. Next, get your Gcode using your software. If you do not have your own 3D printer bit you have created your character, 3DHubs is there to help you print your character out.
If you have a 3D printer, all you have to do is simple and direct. First, save the file as an STL in the storage space of your desktop computer. At this point, you are set with your STL file ready to move to the next stage, which is to send it to your 3D printer. But before then, we would advise you to rename the file with whatever you deem fit. This is just to ensure it does not get confusing later on
At this point, for those of us that have been printing with a 3D printer before now, we know what to do next. For the benefit of those who do not know what to do next, start by turning on your 3D printer. Then you proceed to open up the STL file you have just renamed. After this, forward this STL file to your 3D printer, and pause while your 3D printer does the rest.
Conclusion: Enjoy Your New WOW Character
Now you have your favorite 3D printed WOW character with you. It must be a nice feeling being in the same space with that WOW game character you always admired. All thanks to the advent of 3D printing technology/additive manufacturing, you can bask in this luxury for as long as you want to.
It even gets more exciting when you discover that you can have these STL files already created and downloadable on certain 3D websites like MyMiniFactory, Thingiverse, and the likes. Check out this particular STL file to know what