3d Hanzi Generator

Introduction

This program generates a 3d model of a Hanzi/Kanji character using stroke data from Make me a Hanzi. It extrudes the character with the stroke order as the Z dimension.

It does this by splitting up each stroke into parts following the stroke order, and then skewing each part to form a slope.

In this blog post I go into detail about about the inner workings of this program. It uses SolidPython, OpenSCAD, Voronoi diagrams, PCA, and quite a lot of linear algebra.

Examples

Watch this YouTube video to see some examples.

Usage

The input of the program is a .yml file containing the settings to generate the model.

python src/main.py --out-scad main.scad --stl true --out-stl main.stl --settings examples/ai.yml --parts strokes

See src/base_settings.yml for all configuration options.

Installation

Make sure you have OpenSCAD installed. If you're on Apple Silicon, make sure to download the Universal version and not the Intel version.

# Create a venv or similar, then:
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Printing workflow

1. Generate strokes STLs and plate,pillars STLs
2. Verify design
3. Import to PrusaSlicer
4. Split to objects (top menu)
5. Export from PrusaSlicer as STL
6. Import in Cura
7. Use tree supports and raft to slice and print (preset available at res/cura-preset.curaprofile)

Contributing

Please use black (pip install black) for formatting.