World-building gets a whole new meaning in the latest update to Minecraft. Players can now, with Mojang and Microsoft’s blessing, export their creations to Remix 3D.

An ocean of wholesale changes and game-improving tweaks made the recent Better Together update to Minecraft a pretty special thing. From cross-platform content and yuge servers to parrots — it was a pretty big deal that spelled out a rosy, interconnected future for the game.

But perhaps the most interesting new addition to the blocky phenomenon is the ability to export 3D models of specific blocks of content within the game world. Exclusively on the Windows 10 version of the game, it plays into a wider web of 3D modeling and printing that is emerging on the platform.

How it works is simple. By using a structure block in-game and specifying some parameters, it’s now possible to export said designated content direct into a connected Remix 3D account.

But what the heck is Remix 3D, you may be thinking to yourself. In a few words, Remix 3D is Microsoft’s own 3D content library. You can check out Remix 3D’s current collection of Minecraft models here.

The computing giant is building the platform into something of a hub. Keen eyed Windows users will have noticed it popping up here and there with company’s gradual introduction of 3D-based programs like Paint 3D and 3D Builder as core Windows apps.

Minecraft, Ourcraft: 3D Print Your Minecraft Creations

One of the features of Microsoft’s new 3D apps is the ability to 3D print the creations. Either by ordering through a service — in the case of a few trial runs we did writing this story, imaterialise — or by letting you export the models as one of a handful of printable file types. This includes the Microsoft-backed 3mf file format.

Sadly, it’s not currently possible to have any Minecraft models ordered for printing directly through Remix 3D. However, it is possible to load them directly into Paint 3D for editing and, crucially, export as a file for home printing. It’s a simple process, but somewhat tedious. So bear with us…

In order for your prints to resemble their Minecraftian equivalents, you first need to load the model from Remix 3D into Paint 3D. From Paint 3D, you then need to export as a 3mf file.

Take this 3mf file and now load it into the 3D Builder app. Once loaded, you’ll be presented with the model as it should appear, but click about and you may notice that it actually consists of many interconnected pieces. Here it’s important to ensure all pieces are selected (when the model first loads in, they are) and hit the “group” checkbox. With this done, you can then export the file once again as a printable file type of your choice.

We loaded a model this way into Cura 2.7 and it appeared as one whole piece, albeit with some nightmarish overhangs. Without “grouping” the pieces in 3D Builder, Cura just spreads them out.

Better Together… But Only on Windows

We suspect this jumble of disconnected pieces is what tripped up imaterialise, and is why direct prints of Minecraft models are currently deactivated from Remix 3D. We managed to side load one to the service from the 3D Builder app and, as said, it was too complex for a simple auto-generated quote.

In its current state, it’s a pain in the blocky behind. There are far simpler methods to extract designs from the PC version of the game.

There’s a long history of eager players looking to capitalize on the unique aesthetic of Minecraft for items in the real world. Open-source mods and companion apps exist for sole purpose of extracting the game’s player-created assets for 3D printing.

We go into greater detail in this post from a while back (but no less relevant now). And much in the spirit of Better Together, many work across platforms on both Linux and MacOS, as well as Windows.

Source:  TechCrunch