Pepakura and changing proportions

[gutabo]

Greetings,

I'm quite new to pepakura and I wanted to make an Ironman suit for my 3yo son. Lucky for me, there are plenty of Iron Man .pdo files around the net. My problem is that his proportions are not those of an adult. I tried to change the proportions of the models using pepakura with no luck. I also tried using Sketchup but I had no luck either. So I wanted to ask what is the best way to change the proportions of an already existing .pdo file? Thanks in advance!

[Revell-Fan]

1) Open the *.pdo with Pepakura Designer (not viewer) > 2D Menu > Change Scale > Scale Factor > change the values and hit OK. Then reorder the parts on the pages and print them.

2) If that is not possible (e. g. because the file is locked) you may print the file as is, take it to the copy shop and scale it up there.

[cfuruti]

Originally Posted by Revell-Fan

1) Open the *.pdo with Pepakura Designer (not viewer) > 2D Menu > Change Scale > Scale Factor > change the values and hit OK. Then reorder the parts on the pages and print them.

2) If that is not possible (e. g. because the file is locked) you may print the file as is, take it to the copy shop and scale it up there.

Since the OP mentioned "3yo", it probably meant changing relative body proportions - e.g., making the head much bigger in relation to the limbs. If so, this requires not a rescaling but a redesign of the original 3D model, which AFAIK is beyond the abilities of Pepakura Designer. Even 2D rescaling of individual parts is not generally enough: it can, e.g., make a thigh overall bigger, but not shorter or thicker.

[gutabo]

Originally Posted by cfuruti

Since the OP mentioned "3yo", it probably meant changing relative body proportions - e.g., making the head much bigger in relation to the limbs. If so, this requires not a rescaling but a redesign of the original 3D model, which AFAIK is beyond the abilities of Pepakura Designer. Even 2D rescaling of individual parts is not generally enough: it can, e.g., make a thigh overall bigger, but not shorter or thicker.

Thanks cfuruti, that's exactly what I meant. As tall as my son is for his age, he has a big head, short and fat limbs compared to those of an adult.


I have already tried doing an Ironman Mark 1 helmet and I had to do a big, ugly modification so it would fit his very round head:


I know now that(using scaling like Revell-Fan) that an Ironman mark 3 helmet
for him has to be 80% of the regular one for it to fit him nicely height and depth wise, but I need it to be 25% wider. So I only need to modify the width of the model in this example, in other instances like arms and legs I need them to be fatter and shorter. I've been trying to do it to an already built model with no luck. That's why I tried to use Sketchup(a 3D app) but Sketchup won't play nicely with pepakura. Help please?

[db-sa]

... 80% of the regular one for it to fit him nicely height and depth wise, but I need it to be 25% wider.

Altering the helmet part in this way will change the shapes of the unfolded pieces and working in 2D it is not possible to work out the necessary changes in the shapes of the new unfolded pieces from the shapes of the old pieces.
It can only be done by taking the original 3D helmet, changing it's proportions, and then doing a new unfold.

I do not know enough about Pepa' to know if you can extract the 3D helmet for use in any other program.

[Revell-Fan]

Oh, sorry, now I got it!

If you are able to open the mesh in SketchUp you should be able to rescale it. Just select the head, choose the scaling tool and pull the anchor in the middle of one side of the head while pressing the ctrl key (that way the head part is stretched to the left AND to the right at the same time by the same amount). The result has to be exported as *.kmz4 (Google Earth 4) file. Only SketchUp 6 is able to do that. The *.kmz4 file can be opened by Pepakura and then unfolded.

Before exporting you have to make sure that the dimensions are "understood" correctly by Pepkaura. You have to go to View > Animation > Properties > Units and select Decimal and Millimeter or Centimeter (you'll have to check out what works best for you). That way you can determine the exact size of the unfold, too. Then unfold the mesh in Pepakura using a scale factor of 1.

[gutabo]

Originally Posted by Revell-Fan

If you are able to open the mesh in SketchUp you should be able to rescale it.

How do I open it in sketchup? I'm using "Dancin_Fool's Iron Man mkIII - JFcustom foam version" that I found in therpf forums. I've tried to open it but I can only open it as a 2d file :(
I'm going to try for a while before asking for your help again :( SO far I have not been able to do it.

[Revell-Fan]

The file has to be converted to *.3ds first. Try google to find a suitable file converter or work around it by opening it in Pepakura Designer (full license required), export as *.obj and then convert to *.3ds. Open the file in SU by going to File > Import > choose file type *.3ds and proceed.

[Revell-Fan]

I could help you with the conversion from *.pdo to *.skp if you wish so that you can perform the changes in SU6, however, the edited files have to be unfolded again by yourself (unfortunately the "Reload model" function cannot be used).

[gutabo]

Originally Posted by Revell-Fan

I could help you with the conversion from *.pdo to *.skp if you wish so that you can perform the changes in SU6, however, the edited files have to be unfolded again by yourself (unfortunately the "Reload model" function cannot be used).

Yes please! :D Thanks in advance! :D I'll start looking for unfolding tutorials then :D

EDIT: Again, thank you so much!