Adorable heart holding pig

An adorable pig holding a heart.

Full disclosure, the model is a mix of two different STLs given to me by PrintMon on Makerworld.

But saying that it is an AI generated model would be reaching too far.

In ten years we will have moved beyond those debates but as of right now, I feel like I need to write this. So, hang on…

I see AI as a tool, not good or bad in itself. It can be used to do wonderful things, as much as horrible ones. I hate it when it is used to dump slop trucks on our favorite websites. But if used as the basis upon which to create functional or decorative models, I find it awesome. Because it is empowering. Because it opens doors to people who, like me, simply cannot sculpt, or draw.

Seeing people using PrintMon, I wanted to see how good it would be at creating a pig, as I am obsessed with them. It took some time but it eventually generated the cutest piggy face I had ever seen on an STL. I did not grab the first result it gave me, I asked for more options again and again before keeping that one. At that point, the pig was standing on two legs. I printed it, fell in love with the face, but felt that it would be better to make the pig sit so no base would be needed for the pig to stay upright. So, some tinkering with PrintMon later, I got a sitting pig that looked good enough. The face of this one was clearly not as good, but I just wanted to use the rest of the body. Some time spent in meshmixer later, I had a sitting piggy, with the cuttest face and I also gave him pupils.

I sent the file to my Photon, fell in love again and spent days looking for an idea to make it into a functional object. In the meantime I printed a magnet version, by cutting a chunk of the back to make it flat and making holes with negatives volumes, for magnets to be glued in, all in PrusaSlicer. I will publish this version at a later time as I first have to redo it in meshmixer for the plane cut and the holes to be part of the STL.

I eventually printed a bigger pig, hollowed out and with an opening in the head to be used as a flower pot or a pen pot. This one got actual printed eyes and it looks very cute. I will publish it as a later date too. Additionally, I turned the model into a key holder, by making it slightly bigger, cutting a space for a mount at the back and modifying the heart to have an embedded magnet, to hold keys. Will publish this one later too.

I will work on making an apple as a replacement for the heart, so that there is something else for the piggy to hold. I actually still have a bunch of printed apples in a box, from an earring project, but they are slightly too small for this piggy. So, it wont be a big deal but I have to adapt things.

Anyway, all of this to say that I did not use AI in a lazy attempt to create a quick, soulless model, to dump on a website without printing it once, like I have seen many examples of.

I am also not trying to say that I am better or superior to someone else or something.

I am simply trying to anticipate some criticism that, I would actually totally align with in some situations, but do not apply in this case in my opinion.

I use Tinkercad on the daily, and Fusion once in a while. I know how to CAD. I constantly design practical parts for my own specific needs, and end up publishing a very small number of them.

Designing useful parts is no big deal to me, but I, for one, cannot draw or sculpt. So when I want to create something that necessitates an organic looking model, or a pig, a bunny and so on, I go on Printables or other platforms and look for models that are possible to remix. In this sense, this piggy, while being made of AI generated sections, is like any remixing project I have ever worked on, in my opinion. 

This piggy's face was just way too adorable to not use, sorry not sorry.

Happy sculpting and designing.

Support your local animal rescue organization.

Adopt don't shop.

Happy printing.

I originally wanted to post this as part of the Valentines day contest, but uploading the models took so long that I crossed the limit time.