Recently I got back into 3d printing, and after I set up OctoPi with my Ender-3, the first thing I printed was keycaps for one of the specific characters from a video game called Valorant. Keycaps are the keys that you press on when you type on a mechanical keyboard (click here for a better explanation.) (Valorant is a game I play with my two brothers Nicholas and Simeon).
In valorant, a 5v5 shooter-based game with about twenty characters, each has about four unique abilities that can help them perform in the field and switch from your in-game gun to one of your abilities, you press a key that you set on your keyboard. The keycaps I made are for each one of those abilities.
I found a 3D model keycap for only one character from Valorant on Thingiverse. Still, since there are about 20 different characters and they are constantly adding more characters every couple of months, there aren’t many free keycap 3d model designs for each specific character out there. But after looking up a couple of videos and testing different ideas, I concluded that designing them in software called 3D Builder was the easiest, thanks to this video which introduced me to the program:
And after playing around with the program (which was a lot easier to learn than I thought.) I created keycaps for my brother Simeon and Nicholas, who play different characters than I usually play. For future reference, I found that the following steps were the best for making new keycaps:
STEP 1:
Find the character you want to make the keycaps for on the Valorant fandom page, which you can find here. For example, this is Chamber’s page, then click on one of the pictures of the abilities you want to use, then right-click the image and click “save image as” and call it whatever the name of the power was (tip: create a folder to add all of the files that will be used for making the keycaps just to keep it organized)
STEP 2:
Download this blank keycap model from Thingiverse (credit: CASS Designs.) Then open 3D builder, assuming you have it installed. If not, here is the Microsoft store link. Then open your previously saved blank keycap model, rotate it 90° (blank top part facing up.)
STEP 3:
Click “Edit” on the top menu bar, then choose “Emboss.” Then click the “Pattern” dropdown button and select “Load” to find the picture of the previously saved characters’ ability that you wanted on the keycap and double click it once opened make sure that the “Bevel” button on the top menu is not selected. And move the image onto the blank top of the keycap and center it, then drag the green double arrow up as high as you want the picture to pop out. Then hit “Emboss.” If you need help, here’s a short video
STEP 4:
Now just press the hamburger menu button on the top left of the app and hit “Save as,” and save as STL, OBJ, or whatever file type you prefer. Then open the 3D model file in your slicer (I use Cura as it is the easiest for me). In Cura, there is a feature called support blocking, which, as the name implies, blocks the 3D printer from printing supports where you want it to. Click the “Support Blocking” button on the left side menu and then press everywhere on the bottom inside of the keycap except for the small cross-section where you attach the keycap to your keyboard, for example, this video:
And that’s it! If you need help in any way, write a comment below this post or contact me via email at the top of this site.