In this update, I’m going to cover the new sculpting tool in the 3DShoemaker shoe last and component design software.
What makes 3DShoemaker unique among footwear design softwares is the comprehensive parametric approach. The advantage of this is approach is that the foundation of footwear design becomes more scientific, leading to better repeatability and thus the opportunity for improved comfort in the resulting footwear. Yet the parametric approach is not suitable in all situations. In particular, challenging orthopedic cases, where foot shapes may be highly irregular, benefit from a more freeform design approach. So that is where the new sculpting tools in 3DShoemaker come into play.
With the new sculpting tools, material can be laid up similar to how plaster might be added to a sculpture. The first step is to choose the type of object to sculpt, which can be a shoe last, orthotic, or component. Then you can choose the radius of sculpting and amount of material to add and click the desired location on the shoe last. And then it can be subtracted as would be done with a physical sculpting tool. Additionally, surfaces can be smoothed to ensure a blended transition between sculpted adjustments.
There are of course other softwares out there that can be used for sculpting. But the integration within the 3DShoemaker array of shoemaking tools is highly convenient. Furthermore, the new sculpting tool has capabilities specific to footwear sculpting. For instance, there are constraints that ensure the bottom surface of the shoe last maintains smooth continuity when material is added to the sides of the shoe last. And the orthotic can automatically update to reflect the sculpted changes of the shoe last.
And perhaps most importantly, the sculpting tools allow the material to be snapped to 3D foot models in order to achieve specific offsets from the foot in desired regions. For instance, the shoe last surface can be made to match the foot surface in the ankle region with a particular offset, say two millimeters. Similarly the orthotic surface can be sculpted so that the arch of the orthotic closely follows that of the foot, but with a specified offset.
Once sculpting is completed, girth curves can be updated and their lengths can be checked in the side panel UI to ensure the overall fit of the shoe built on the shoe last will meet the requirements.
While the sculpted shoe last and orthotics are a departure from the parametric framework of 3DShoemaker, they can still benefit from the post processing tools such as preparation for 3D printing. The alpha hinge for opening the shoe last can still be designed as well as the smart supports for simplified FDM printing of orthotics. And morphing patterns and components to the sculpted shoe last is also still possible.
In futures videos, I’ll do some case studies that involve using these new sculpting tools.
