Designing a Restoration: Free and Open Source

[patmo141]

WOW! this is sweet Pat. How about a cut back, maybe in Beta?

Cutting back is just removing a layer of the ceramic so you can add a different glaze/porcelain on top for visual effect? If you can email me a 10 step "Cutting back for dummies" or point me to info on the process so I could then try and duplicate the hands on process in software that would be great.

I think all I would have to do is duplicate the outer skin of the crown, then you could use the subtract/flatten/carving tools to "cut it back" while still having the original skin to compare to.

 

[Usr_stl]

I'm following your steps...

Ill have 100% same point of view and did some research find ur post...

 

[Usr_stl]

I do that...

 

[Usr_stl]

beginner(im sorry for double post)

Just a quick video (3 mins) showing how you can register two 3d models together with MeshLab. It's quick, easy and free!

YouTube - Image Registration


Could be used for all the normal stuff...

Image stitching (multiple scans one model)
CT scan Data + Intraoral or Model Scan for implant/crown planning
Opposing Arches + Bite Registration
Scan in an old Denture + Model Scan then register them (virtual pickup impression)...does anyone do that yet?

i did that... Where r u stuck

 

[Usr_stl]

beginner(im sorry for double post)

Just a quick video (3 mins) showing how you can register two 3d models together with MeshLab. It's quick, easy and free!

YouTube - Image Registration


Could be used for all the normal stuff...

Image stitching (multiple scans one model)
CT scan Data + Intraoral or Model Scan for implant/crown planning
Opposing Arches + Bite Registration
Scan in an old Denture + Model Scan then register them (virtual pickup impression)...does anyone do that yet?

i did that... Where r u stuck?

 

[Mark Jackson]

I am sooo lost. What a cad/cam ignorant I am. I was hoping to dodge the bullet and retire before learning this, but it catches up too fast. Now I feel like I missed the boat by decades. There is so much on the market, that I don't even know where to start looking. I also don't have the finances available for an expensive system and am just a small lab that such a large investment would not make any sense at the moment. I just would like to keep in the loop, but maybe if I wait long enough all the competitiors have eliminated each other and there will be only a few systems left to choose from.

It becomes overwhelming when you don't know what you are looking at. The best way to figure all of this out is to come visit a lab like mine and spend the day in the CAD CAM department and get yourself accquainted with all of the hardware and software.

Also, this particular thread is geekdom X10, and not necessary for most guys who just want to push a button and go. It's easier than you think, trust me.

 

[patmo141]

I still dabble with this from time to time as a hobby...I've got it user friendly enough for most single units and multiple non connected units. Here is a mock case of 3 unit bridge on implants. Notice no non manifold edges (in Meshlab) and the cleanliness of the outpyt stl thanks to the tooth library a collaborator and I made. this is just prrof of concept and I banged it out in 15 minutes...so ignore any gross design errors in placement,contours, rotations, etc which you may find offensive

 

[DMC]

Patrick, you are the man.

Looking great!

 

[patmo141]

Scott,

Thanks man. I have so much to update and so little time. Today I'll share this tidbit

A colleague of mine and I modeled a nice all quad, low poly tooth library so a) we aren't violating any copyrights, and b) for the creative doors it opens up fo sculpting custom tooth libraries that output a clean, CAD/CAM useable mesh. This one took 10 minutes of messing around, and I don't have any of my sculpt settings saved. Once I get a few presets locked in, this will be childs play for anyone with an imagination to get clean, beautiful custom STL's. I'll have to make a video demoing why this is cooler than I can explain with words here.

from right to left low poly base mesh -> high poly sculpted mesh -> clean output (most detail preserved....see wireframe below)

 

[patmo141]

Bridges...whhhaaaat?

YouTube - ‪Automatic Bridging‬‏

early experimental at the moment. But not bad for one click.

 

[DMC]

that is sooo cool!

Nice work Patrick.

 

[patmo141]

Thanks Scott! also....never trust youtube's music suggestions for your videos. I'm going to make another video and re-upload then edit the link, because that is embarrassing.

 

[Hary]

Amazing, are you able to articulate with the antagoniste?

 

[DMC]

I thought you were going Tex-Mex on me.
It was a little weird, huh?

 

[patmo141]

Amazing, are you able to articulate with the antagoniste?

If you have a scan of the opposing dentition and a bite registration, then statically yes. But no, not like virtual articulation (excursions and what not).

 

[patmo141]

Finally, the feature I have been waiting for

YouTube - ‪Automatic Margin Detection‬‏


It takes a little while because I am stealing data from the render engine....it would be nice to do it w/o having to render the scene ha ha.

 

[patmo141]

London, Maryland and Draw....

Bridges!


YouTube - ‪Sneak Peak at the Next Release‬‏

-patrick

 

[mrcadcam]

Good job so far pat. I had started on something similar a while back with rhino but then life caught up. Im not sure if youve kept it open source with coding but ill try to contribute to the cause when i get free from my 9 to 5. That and familiarize myself with blender again. Its a nice piece of software but it can be hotkey nightmare sometimes.

 

[patmo141]

mrcadcam, thanks so much for your interest and support.

"hot key nightmare" indeed. One of the best things they have done was the new space-bar search menu. I also need to take the time to embed some of the functions in my menus to replace keyboard strokes with mouse clicks. I would be happy to have another collaborator!

Re: Open source. Lot's of people have asked me about the "direction" I'm planning on taking this. The way I see it,

1. I don't have time to monetize this project as a proper business venture.
2. The market is saturated with competitors
3. Keeping it open will allow other people to make changes for their personal needs.
4. I know many don't feel this way, but once I sell something, I feel an obligation to maintain its quality. So, w/o testing and a whole lot more work, I wouldn't feel comfortable selling something with the implication that it is fit for a particular use.
5. It's a hobby and if I go and try and make it a business, I've turned play into work...and that's no fun.
6.free and open is driving much of the progress at the moment. While I think my personal work is more than 90% of the overall project, it wouldn't exist without that other %10.


On the other hand, Open Source and Free are not technically synonymous. There is a lot of free software that is not open source and the other way around. In the future, I would be totally open to the concept of "selling" it for a small fee, but it would still be open source (meaning you can change it, take pieces of it for your own use, even redistribute it under the right context). I think it will be free as long as my free time allows it and I continue to enjoy it as a hobby (reserve right to change my mind ). It would be nice to set up an optional "pay what you think it's worth to you" to maybe fund the supply of coffee needed to maintain a high quality project. Also, once I sell something, I no longer have collaborators, I have customers and/or employees and that changes the whole dynamic.


-Patrick

 

[patmo141]

More Bridge Workflow

Finally got around to making some of those early bridge functions a little bit useful. Still a little ways to go (evidence by the error in this video) but for the most part it goes pretty well and fairly quickly.

‪Simple Bridge Framework‬‏ - YouTube