Video of 3D Figure Printing

[Tonton]

I recommend anyone interested in the subject to have a look at the following:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2013/oct/23/3d-printing-statue-come-to-life-video

I’ll leave it to the sculptors to comment – although this has consequences for us all!

Jeff

 

[RKapuaala]

The video never ran for me, but I'm wondering what you mean by consequences?

 

[Meehan34]

I recommend anyone interested in the subject to have a look at the following:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2013/oct/23/3d-printing-statue-come-to-life-video

I’ll leave it to the sculptors to comment – although this has consequences for us all!

Jeff

That is awesome. I too am confused as to the consequences you hint at, the only consequences I see are all badass.

 

[Tonton]

By consequences, I meant that this is surely the way “mass-produced” figures will come to market soon. (By mass-produced, I mean in the numbers that we are used to seeing from the major manufacturers.) I’m certainly not qualified to comment on the standard of the sculpting achieved by the 3D photographic method shown in the video and that’s why I left it to the acknowledged sculptors to do so. If this method gains widespread acceptance, I can see a new role for tailors/seamstresses to provide cheap replica uniforms for a human to model and “the rest of us” (i.e. the non-specialist sculptors) may be able to club together to pay for a 3D photo session using those uniforms. It should then be possible to submit the resultant 3D model to a manufacturer to produce the figure “on demand” (we might even get them to competitively quote for the privilege!) and in various scales, as I'm sure they will equip themselves with the printing technology to remain in the game. I don’t know why this should be badass – perhaps calligraphers felt the same way about the invention of the Gutenberg press… and look where that led.

I’m sure there’ll always be a niche for the very talented individual sculptor but I’m just looking ahead to the majority practitioners of our hobby, the painters.

 

[RKapuaala]

Tonton, the photographic technique is not a new one, its the way they are doing with multiple cameras surrounding the guy that is being digitized. I don't know if they have improved, but the previous Autodesk utility took a minimum of fifty photos to get a 3D object roughly imitating the human form,,, and I mean rough, no discernible features what so ever and no detail at all. What it did was texture that object so well, it made up for the crude object. They textured it so well, I thought I was looking at an amazing 3D model of my sculpt that I could export and enlarge and send off to be printed in various scales. In reality it was not worth printing without the texture.
Keep in mind the material they use is plaster, that is so they can add the texture on during printing and you get what looks like an accurate model of what ever or who ever you scanned. These plaster prints are very fragile and take a long time to print. They normally have a 7 day turn around time.
There could be better machines out there scanning from photos and printing up hi res colored figures in a material that is both durable and cheap, but I haven't heard of them. As far as mass produced figures flooding the market with really accurate scale human figures, I'm all for it. It won't stop me from sculpting though, so, there is no impact on me. HP announce a few days ago that they were going to get in to the 3D printer business and were planning to release their first printer mid 2014,,,, I am excited. You can also use your xbox kinects to scan live beings or objects and export them to 3D files. I am learning how right now and my first project will be a sword for my Black Hawk Militia man of 1832. I built the musket in a 3D program and had it printed.

I scored a nice circa 1932 Artillery sword replica on ebay and I'm going to scan that puppy with my kinects and see if I can't have that printed out. Its a brave new world out there and you gotta love it. I often wonder what Devinci and others of his time would think with all the technology available now. I'm sure they would be like kids in a candy store.

 

[RKapuaala]

Thats 1832, sorry the edit feature does not work on my computer for some reason.

 

[Gra30]

This is very interesting, I had been very sceptical before but recently I have seen some very very nice pieces produced combining 3d sculpting and manual, Pathos to name one, superb. I have saved all links and spoken to people as I myself would like to at least try and obtain a working knowledge of the medium ( I have a few friends that already work digital and my father in law was designing on a computer when I first sniffed the beer

Today in the UK the headlines are of a gun produced by a 3d printer, not new I know as this has happened before in the world, but today's was quite big for the UK.
I hope, and really hope, that this new medium doesn't become so precise that it is restricted, but somehow, looking at today, I think the dream of printing accurate pieces within the household has gone back for many years.

Technology at the level we as modellers ask is just not going to be made available to us, why, because it opens doors for abuse as proved. Yes, it will be possible to do, but within the household, I think very very unlikely due to Big Brother. The prices will be so huge, are they really going to allow a normal person to design or be sent something so accurate that it is functional, and the level of detail we are asking for is finer that a bolt in a breech block.

The people that invest in the machines to sculpt and cut a master will be the same as those that pay for a sculpted master, if not bigger companies.

If possible to outsource , costs of initial sculpt and timescale will be the same, production of multiples will be the same process, ie master to mould to cast, not viable to print casts direct from machine for above reasons (time). Anyone that has outsourced casting knows the prices.

Somehow though, I can see the hand pieces becoming more expensive, as happened when photographs replaced the portrait.
Try asking a price for a painted portrait now compared to a digital photograph
Purely my views and in response to it affecting us all.
Divinci and others probably thought the theory of splitting the atom was amazing, in theory ;-)
Best wishes

 

[Funky50]

On a lighter note I do have a mental picture of a fully suited and booted mounted lancer manoeuvring his horse up the steps of selfridges for his 10.30 appointment with the booth....LOL

 

[Tonton]

RKapuaala – if you want to watch the video and can stand to go to Rense.com, you should be able to watch it in the article titled “How To Get Yourself 3D Printed” which is at #113 on the list of subjects, as of today. (It means scrolling down a little over 1/3 of the Rense home page.) Although this is a British-produced video, it obviously plays properly in the USA from this source.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts once you’ve been able to watch the process.

Best wishes,

Jeff

 

[RKapuaala]

RKapuaala – if you want to watch the video and can stand to go to Rense.com, you should be able to watch it in the article titled “How To Get Yourself 3D Printed” which is at #113 on the list of subjects, as of today. (It means scrolling down a little over 1/3 of the Rense home page.) Although this is a British-produced video, it obviously plays properly in the USA from this source.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts once you’ve been able to watch the process.

Best wishes,

Jeff

Tonton, thanks. I actually saw it already. Not sure why it wasn't working before. My thoughts are above.

 

[RKapuaala]

In other words, I really doubt you are seeing anything more than very well placed textures on a humanoid looking blob.

 

[Meehan34]

I don’t know why this should be badass – perhaps calligraphers felt the same way about the invention of the Gutenberg press… and look where that led.
quote]

Yeah, you're right, that printing press ended up bad for everyone

In other words, I really doubt you are seeing anything more than very well placed textures on a humanoid looking blob.

That's the way it looks to me too. It is just applying the color print to the rough shape of the individual. There is a shot in there of plain human prints and they don't look very detailed.

 

[Tonton]

Yes. All true. But it’s early days yet. Wonder how far the technology will have evolved in a couple of years.

Jeff

 

[RKapuaala]

Yes. All true. But it’s early days yet. Wonder how far the technology will have evolved in a couple of years.

Jeff

Jeff you can bank on it developing first in 3 areas;
1. Higher resolutions for more detail
2. Cheaper materials to bring down costs
3. Affordable desktop printers that ship with the first two developments.

Like the first 2D matrix printer a couple of decades ago; once an affordable desktop 3D printer starts appearing as a common device for all computers 3D printing is going to grow exponentially. 3D printing business are going to have to offer products that you can't get or afford on your own desktop version, and I think the first thing they are going to develop is a color printing method that allows textures that are photo quality color and detail printed on objects that are as finely detailed as a Carl Reid sculpture.

 

[Tonton]

Thanks, RK. I agree with your assessment. I was involved very early on in the “desktop publishing” game and can see 3D printing being even more revolutionary than that was.

Jeff