#HP 650C 3D Studio driver
6 messages in this thread
Does anybody know if there is a driver available for printing directly
from 3D Studio release 2.x to the new HP 650C plotter?
If not, might there be one forth coming?
Also, what hardcopy drivers will come with 3DS r3? Will we be limited to
the HP Paintjet driver again?
I am also posting this question on the HPPERIPHER forum
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
:\jon\are.ndt
It's fairly simple (very) to just render your images to disk and then
use any number of windows programs to print the image to the 650C. I
do it all the time using Corel Draw. The HP comes with a very nice
windows driver which you should have no problems with. The output is
very nice actually –
I've printed 640x480x24 .TGA's to 18"x24" (no one laugh) using Corel
and they look really nice actually. But you will have to judge for
yourself of course.
David – No reason for anyone to laugh, I'm using a 500C and have had
great results also with Corel Draw. One of my clients was so
impressed they went out and bought one the next day (Actually a
550C). Great for proofing and storyboards. -JE
Ah, I've been looking for someone who has been using the HP-500C or
550C with 3DS! I've been considering getting a color printer of some
type to print out renderings from 3DS as samples, and wasn't sure
which type of printer to go with. I have a color dot matrix (ugh!)
that I don't use for this because of obvious reasons, but was curious
about the image quality that the 550C puts out. I was hoping I could
keep the cost of a color printer under $1K (it will take a while to
save up this much <g>), and then later, when business starts getting
lucrative (wishful thinking?) I could move up to a higher grade
printer if necessary. So, how good are the images printed from the
500/550C? What type of paper is recommended for the best results?
Are there any other color printers in the less-than-1K range that
would create better images?
As long as we are on the subject of printing and 3DS, I have another
question. Currently, I have a Panasonic KXP-4420 laser printer. I
was looking for a way that I could print out 3DS Mesh Files, for
reference purposes and to use as development aids (ie: put notes on
them so I can remember what materials or techniques I used when
developing my images). I have Generic Cadd 2D, and hope to
"transfer" to AutoCad LT when it becomes available. I tried saving a
3DS file as .DXF and then import it into both Corel Draw and Generic
Cadd, but it was a no-go, probably because these are both 2D
programs. Does anyone have any suggestions here?
Denise – I've been very impressed with the 500C for the money. I think
their selling now in the $350 range. I don't think there's another
printer in this range that compares. The image quality is very good,
but not on the level of a continous tone printer. The next printer I
would go with is the Fargo which is very close to professional units
and runs around $1200. For proofs and such I think the 500C works
great. My portfolio is built with images produced from this printer,
but then I'm not into professional prints as mostly I work in the
Video domain. The paper I use is the HP Glossy which is a kind of
Mylar paper. It runs about a 1$ a sheet. The real question is how
good a print do you need. For my application the 500C works great.
As for the DXF into Corel Draw, I am able to do it with ver 3.0 The
trouble is that if your mesh has alot of faces you end up without
alot of detail. Sometimes I'll cut the back half of a mesh off with
a boolean operation. You can also render in Wireframe mode and print
the results to the 500C. Just have to see what works best for you.
A while ago Karen Anderson, a dealer and graphics/windows wiz was
trying to do the same as you i think, w/ some initial problems…she
put a notice up here after solving it.. about using a program called
"Image Alchemy" to send to the HP, also at different times Greg Pyros
has recommended this program…its also what the Encad people were
using to plot with their new color plotter at Adesk U.