How to use Model Studio

How to fill a printer plate patient by patient, preparing each patient’s models and placing them on the plate, on one page with Model Studio.

• What it does
• Before you start
• Step by step
• The plate
• Settings
• What it costs
• Common questions
• More help

What it does

Model Studio puts Model Prep and Model Print on one page. You type the patient’s name, drop the upper and lower scans, prepare the models, and press Add to plate: the models go onto your printer’s plate and the page tells you how much room is left. Then you go on to the next patient, and when the plate is full you download it as one STL file.

Before you start

• An account that may use it: during the beta, invited testers only, even if you already use Model Prep and Model Print. Log in first. The first time, you also accept Model Prep’s and Model Print’s own terms, as on their pages (once is enough, here or there).
• The patient’s scans: the upper and lower STL files from your scanner, exported in the bite, as for Model Prep. Other files are listed as Not used.
• A computer, with a recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Model Studio holds every model on the plate in your browser: with several patients’ models open it can use about half a gigabyte of memory, which some tablets can’t spare.
• Privacy: your scans, your models and the patient’s name stay on your computer. Model Studio works in your browser and uploads nothing; the plate is kept in this browser only.

Step by step

1. Type the patient’s name in Patient name (it flashes until you do). Every word starts with a capital. The name is engraved on the models and used for the file names.
2. Add the scans: press Upload scans, or drop the upper and lower scans in the box. The line under the box says what arrived, for example J Van Der Merwe · upper and lower.
3. Prepare the models in the Model Prep tab, exactly as in Model Prep: paint and delete what you don’t want, choose the base, and add the hinge if you use one. The tab says Preparing… while it works and Ready when the models are done.
4. Press Add to plate (it comes on when the name is in and the models are ready). Model Studio saves the upper and lower STL files in your Downloads folder, puts both models on the plate and opens the Model Print tab. The line under the button says what happened, for example On the plate. Room for about 2 more like these. or The plate is now full.
5. Press Next patient: the name and the scans are cleared and you are back on the Model Prep tab. The plate stays as it is. Repeat from step 1 for each patient.
6. Press Download plate STL when the plate is ready to print: the whole plate is saved as one file, at once. After printing, press Clear the printed plate in the Model Print tab, as in Model Print.

The plate

• It is the same plate as the Model Print page in this browser. Models you place here are there too, and models sent with Download and send to Model Print from the Model Prep page also land here.
• When the plate is full, a model that doesn’t fit goes to the waiting list and the line under Add to plate says so, for example No room on the plate: the lower model went to the waiting list. It moves onto the plate when there is room.
• The Model Print tab shows the plate with Model Print’s own tools: the printer, Flat, Upright or Model angle, the plate views, the waiting list and the resin cost (see The plate in Model Print’s help).

Settings

Each tab has its own tool’s settings: the base, the wall, the hinge and the name in Model Prep (see Model Prep’s settings), and the printer, the gap and the resin price in Model Print (see Model Print’s settings). They are the same settings as on the tools’ own pages: change them in one place and they change in the other.

What it costs

Model Studio uses no credits: Add to plate and Download plate STL never ask for one. During beta testing it is free for invited testers. After the beta it comes with All Software, or with both Model Prep Unlimited and Model Print Unlimited; invited testers keep it. See Pricing.

Common questions

Add to plate stays off

It needs the patient’s name and the models ready: check that Patient name is filled in and that the Model Prep tab says Ready.

It says Already on the plate

These models are on the plate already. To place them again, change them in the Model Prep tab first; for the next patient, press Next patient.

A file is listed as Not used

Model Studio takes STL scans only. Anything else, such as a PDF or a photo, is listed and left out; the scans carry on.

It says Model Print is also open in another tab

The Model Print page, or Model Studio, is open in another tab, and both show the same plate, so a change in one may overwrite the other. Close one of them.

The page is slow, or the tab reloads by itself

With many models open, Model Studio can use about half a gigabyte of memory. Close other tabs, or use a computer rather than a tablet. Download the plate and press Clear the printed plate once it is printed.

It says Model Studio needs an update

Model Prep or Model Print has just been updated. Reload the page; if the message stays, let us know.

More help

See Video training, use the Help us improve Model Studio box under the tool to report a problem or suggest something, or contact us.