[?]Welding up a model automatically

[lucky.BOY]

Hello, guys, i have a little issue here.

I have this model of Garrus extracted from Mass Effect 3 files which i want to get 3D printed for a friend of mine.



The issue is that as I have found out you need to the mesh welded up into one piece or else it will go wrong on export to STL.

The thing is divided into quite a few separate meshes, and welding it all up manually is a idea i dont fancy at all. So, do you gusy have any tips on hasting it up a bit? The resulting tris count etc doesnt matter really as its not going ingame.

The best idea I have had so far is using Boolean tool to do some of the cutting and then cleaning up manually after it, but that turns out to take a while as well... And it is really messy.

Any input is welcome, thanks!

(Im using 3ds max 2014 atm, but willing to switch to max 9 if necessary or some other student available software, like maya etc.

[Rhino]

No simple way that I know of. Pro Boolean is possibly your best bet tbh, even thou its a very bad method that can create more problems than its worth but since optimization shouldn't be too much of an issue here (never done 3D printing but if its anything like CAD/CAM which I have done, optimization never comes into it) then it should be an option. But at the end of the day, I don't think your going to find any simple method tbh.

[lucky.BOY]

Yeah, optimization is not an issue, nor wierd smoothing groups etc, at least i dont think so. Will give pro boolean a try, thanks!

[Tim270]

Just kinda looks like a few hours of making it watertight to me.