I don't think painters have anything to worry about for a long time yet. First off to get near to photographic quality color images you need at least 32 bits which is something like 16 million colors. This machine is closer to 18 bits (263,000 colors there abouts). Another problem is the texture map itself. It isn't easy laying a convincing texture map on a complicated set of polygons,,, which equates simply to the more detailed the 3D sculpture the harder it is to texture with the printer. The way around this is to simplify the sculpt. Below is an experiment I did using an autodesk online product.
This is a texturized sculpture done on autodesk using there photo scanning process. (it was created using 75 individual images of the figure). At first glance it appears to be full of detail.
This is what the 3D object beneath the texture looks like.
More than likely that wonderfully textured mask was nothing more than a vague lump of plastic without the any detail. Even in Hollywood the 3D characters are very smooth and textureless till they add bump maps and displacement maps and etc...
And one last thing,,,, why is that everyone assumes that creativity and talent disappear when technology gives the artist new tools?
The first sculptors worked in mud, stone and wood. Do you think anyone complained that marble and clay would ruin the artistry and skill? No, they did not because they realized that with each new advancement in technology the artist must acquire new skills and master new materials and even greater opportunities to be creative are going to present themselves. When I hear people lament about these things, I have to wonder if they are actually creative people themselves.
I challenge anyone who things creating a masterful 3D object of any type to pic up some of the 3D software available and show me how easy it is to lay down a texture or create a convincing sculpt. Then you make the claim that technology has ruined the craft.
