Several readers suggested we check out Magicube, a new repository for free 3D models. So we did.
models
3D Hubs Begins a Content Ecosystem
While 3D Hubs may be one of the largest networks of independently operated 3D printers, it really just provides access to printing. Until today, that is, with the addition of a new content service.
On the 4th of July, 3D Print Your Own Ellis Island Custom House
When there’s an important date, people like to celebrate. In the USA on this July 4th artist Don Foley is celebrating by giving away an incredible multi-part 3D model.
Uformit Seeks Interns
Our friends at Norway-based Uformit are looking for an intern to help develop interactive 3D designs.
NIH’s 3D Print Exchange
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) has opened its own public repository of printable 3D models.
Threeding’s 3D App Venture
3D model repository Threeding has done something interesting: they’ve created an app.
Solved: Tetrahedral Finite Element Mesh Sculptures
We’re amazed by Todd Doehring’s Meshagons, which are 3D printable “tetrahedral finite element (FE) mesh sculptures”.
3D Printed Handles for Stone Age Tools
In the most absolute and ultimate technology contrast possible, researchers have 3D printed handles for primitive flint-knapped hand axes.
Alternatives to Thingiverse, For Upset Designers
With controversy brewing around the most popular 3D model repository, Thingiverse, some ask what alternative repos may exist. We found more than a few.
The Redpah 3D Model Repository
We’re checking out a new 3D model repository that recently launched: Redpah.
MakerBot’s Digital Store Opens
As promised in their January announcement, MakerBot made good on their promise to open a digital store for 3D models.
3D Scan That Building – With A Drone
We’re looking at a project that makes 3D scans of large objects a lot easier – by using drones.
3D Model Marketplaces
With the huge number of personal 3D printers being sold, one wonders where 3D models will be found to print on them.
DiCaprio Gets a 3D Printed Oscar
The folks at CGTrader have solved Leonardo DiCaprio’s problem of not receiving an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards.
3D Print Your Honda Concept Car
Honda Motors has taken a big step into the consumer 3D printing world by offering cars for download.
Cubify’s 3D New Content
Up to now Cubify’s 3D model content has been somewhat simplistic. Toys, simple personalized items and the like have been the staple of online 3D content within 3D Systems’s Cubify operation. But now they’re taking a different and far more serious direction. If you hit the Cubify site now, (dubbed “2.0” by 3D Systems),… Continue reading Cubify’s 3D New Content
MakerBot’s Digital Content
While Thingiverse has been a wonderful source for 3D models for the initial wave of 3D printing, it’s not exactly consumer-friendly. It has a large number of models (over 218,000, according to a recent statement by MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis), which is good and bad. It’s good because the model you want is somewhere in… Continue reading MakerBot’s Digital Content
Solid Concepts’ Printed Metal Gun on Sale
In just short of two months 3D printing firm Solid Concepts has introduced, and will now sell a 3D printed metal gun. While the model M1911 semi-automatic pistol is made from stainless steel and Inconel 625 it’s going to cost you a bit more than your standard issue US Army pistol. According to… Continue reading Solid Concepts’ Printed Metal Gun on Sale
Fabulous Cosmo 3D Scans Released
Fabbaloo friend Cosmo Wenman, the fellow who produces incredibly detailed 3D models from scanned museum pieces, has released new sculptures. The two new releases are among the most famous statues in the world: the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace. Wenman did not actually scan the actual pieces, but instead scanned highly… Continue reading Fabulous Cosmo 3D Scans Released
The Smithsonian Releases 3D Scans
We’ve written about the Smithsonian’s forays into 3D scanning previously, but now you can access some of the 3D scans they’ve been collecting. Last week the institution released the first batch of 3D scans, all of which can be viewed online and several are suitable for 3D printing. As of this writing, some 17… Continue reading The Smithsonian Releases 3D Scans
3D Printed Dinosaurs So Large They Could Eat You
If you manage to make your way to the rear of this year’s 3D Printshow in London, you’re in for a treat – and a shock. There, you will be face to face with not one, but several full-size 3D dinosaurs. They have many teeth. Big teeth. They are so gigantic they could not… Continue reading 3D Printed Dinosaurs So Large They Could Eat You
We Found a 3D Zinjanthropus!
There are a great many exhibits among the booths at this year’s 3D Printshow in London, but one caught our eye. In spite of perhaps the least adorned booth in the entire hall, African Fossils provides something we’ve been seeking for quite some time: 3D models of our ancient ancestors. We’ve searched high and… Continue reading We Found a 3D Zinjanthropus!
World Heritage Sites Digitally Captured
CyArk, a non-profit initiative, proposes to digitally capture 500 key culturally relevant heritage sites across the world. They are building a repository of 3D information to protect the sites against damage from the environment, terrorism, vandals and any other threats. Their process is to use state-of-the-art laser scanning equipment to capture the physical structure… Continue reading World Heritage Sites Digitally Captured
3D Printing for Math Professors and You, Too
We’re looking at a PDF, strangely stored on Thingiverse, where one normally finds 3D models. The PDF is an academic document entitled, “3D Printing for Math Professors and Their Students”. It’s exactly that: a paper taking the reader through the process of linking mathematics and 3D printing. Yes, this means generating intricate 3D models… Continue reading 3D Printing for Math Professors and You, Too
Through a Scanner Fails, Then Succeeds
You might recall the Kickstarter project of one Cosmo Wenman of San Diego, who attempted to raise funds for a project to produce freely downloadable printable 3D scans of famous sculptures. Wenman required funds to arrange for travel and working expenses, but the fundraising campaign failed, having raised only USD$8,174 of the target USD$35,000. Sigh,… Continue reading Through a Scanner Fails, Then Succeeds
MyMiniFactory’s Free 3D Printable Objects
While Thingiverse has long been the go-to place for free printable 3D models, there’s another option as of last month: MyMiniFactory. A branch of iMakr, the site offers a number of interesting 3D models – all specifically designed for 3D printing on typical personal 3D printers. During our check, MyMiniFactory offered well over 100… Continue reading MyMiniFactory’s Free 3D Printable Objects
Voronoization
You may have seen those fascinating 3D models that seem to have replaced the normal shape with a strange, smooth skeletal networked form. The complex structures seem impossibly difficult to design with conventional 3D modeling tools, and indeed they are. Perhaps they’ve been made with mathematical 3D model generation tools operated by a PhD? Sometimes… Continue reading Voronoization
3D Burrito Sells 3D Models
Another commercial 3D model repository has launched: 3D Burrito. The service offers something for both makers and designers: makers can browse the selection of 3D models, choose and buy. A download later, you’ll be able to 3D print on your own 3D printer or upload to a 3D print service. For designers, 3D… Continue reading 3D Burrito Sells 3D Models
Michigan Tech’s Open Source Optics
Doing science can be an expensive affair, but a new project from Michigan Technological University is trying to make science more affordable and more accessible. In a recently published paper, professors and researchers at the university outlined their plans for creating an online, open-source library of 3D printable optics hardware. According to one of… Continue reading Michigan Tech’s Open Source Optics
The Most Dangerous Person in 3D Printing
Wired has named their list of the “15 Most Dangerous People In The World”. The list includes some certainly dangerous types, such as Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Mexican drug kingpin of Ciudad Juarez, but also includes some persons of questionable dangerousness, such as the scandalous former Army intelligence officer Paula Broadwell. One name we… Continue reading The Most Dangerous Person in 3D Printing
CubeHero Manages Your 3D Models
If you’ve made many 3D models you’ll soon encounter the problem of managing them. Which one is the correct one? Which copies are old and which are new? What changed between this version and that one? The software world has long solved these issues through the use of “change management software”, such as the… Continue reading CubeHero Manages Your 3D Models
MediaGoblin Shares 3D Models
MediaGoblin, the open source project that enables easy sharing of media, has added the ability to share 3D models. Not familiar with MediaGoblin? Here’s their own explanation: MediaGoblin is a free software media publishing platform that anyone can run. You can think of it as a decentralized alternative to Flickr, YouTube, SoundCloud,… Continue reading MediaGoblin Shares 3D Models
Legends of Kalidasia Pioneers A New Approach
Jason Rutherford of Kalidesia contacted us to talk about a new approach he’s taken in his gaming business. Rutherford makes the Legends of Kalidasia game, played with traditional resin and pewter figures. His company manufactures and markets these figures, but he’s concerned about the future. You know, the future where people print out their own… Continue reading Legends of Kalidasia Pioneers A New Approach
Articulate Your Own Mesh!
The other week we wrote about Moritz Bächer’s amazing software that is able to read a 3D model of a figurine and automatically determine where the joints occur. If that wasn’t enough, the software goes as far as to generate a new 3D models of all the limbs including movable joints. In other words, it… Continue reading Articulate Your Own Mesh!
Cubify’s Robots
3D Systems now has robots! Well, not actual robots, but instead a system of 3D models that can be assembled into a huge variety of robot shapes. The robot pieces include arms, legs, torsos, etc., but also accessories such as ray guns and backpacks. The pieces are intended to be assembled and fit together… Continue reading Cubify’s Robots
The Rygo – Printed
We wrote of an unusual crowd funding project to back what would be North America’s largest 3D print to date. The project was to print noted 3D artist Bathsheba Grosman’s Rygo sculpture using the D-Shape concrete 3D printer. We’re happy to see that the project was indeed successful as the print has been completed,… Continue reading The Rygo – Printed
Pondering Highly Detailed 3D Models
Today’s personal 3D printers can produce many types of objects, but the fine details are often obscured due to resolution limitations on the printers. A typical home 3D printer today slices models into 0.2-0.5 mm layers, meaning you’ll not only see layering, but also not see any fine details. Eventually we’ll see the capabilities of… Continue reading Pondering Highly Detailed 3D Models
Mcor’s Surprising Prints
During our visit to Rapid 2012 we were able to examine Mcor’s printed object quality directly. What we found was interesting. First, you must know that Mcor’s process is unique in that the objects are printed not in plastic, but instead with common, everyday paper. This is very noticeable when you pick up and… Continue reading Mcor’s Surprising Prints
Tutorial: Fix Your Messed Up 3D Scan
If you ever try to do 3D scanning at home using the rudimentary tools now available, you’ll quickly realize it isn’t particularly easy. Sure, the capture part of the job is relatively straightforward, but the clean up phase is often quite difficult. Typical raw scans contain not only stray data points and somewhat inaccurately… Continue reading Tutorial: Fix Your Messed Up 3D Scan
The Free Universal Construction Kit
There’s a growing amount of free 3D models, as you may have noticed, and a recent addition is the Free Universal Construction Kit by The Free Art and Technology Lab (FAT). They are a “an organization dedicated to enriching the public domain through the research and development of creative technologies and media.” And in… Continue reading The Free Universal Construction Kit
Rome, Digitized
Rome Reborn is a breathtaking project at the University of Virginia in which historians and 3D modelers are attempting the impossible: build a highly detailed, massively comprehensive 3D model of the city of Ancient Rome. It’s not just a single model, either. They’re intending on building several models representing the state of the Eternal City… Continue reading Rome, Digitized
3D Printing Movie Props At Home
We just finished reviewing a rather interesting Instructable detailing the steps you’d take to produce a complete, wearable Iron Man mask with your 3D printer (with some red and gold paint, of course). Maker samohtep takes you through the process of developing the model, printing the pieces, painting, finishing and assembly. The result is… Continue reading 3D Printing Movie Props At Home
Make Your Own iPhone Case, and More
There’s a great Instructable now available showing how to design and 3D print an iPhone case. You might not find that particularly interesting, but we found one aspect quite intriguing. It was the method of design. While one might simply obtain the dimensions of an iPhone and then design around that, the Intstructable did… Continue reading Make Your Own iPhone Case, and More
Astronomical Themed Prints
Sister site Mallyable has released a couple of interesting printable 3D models that have an astronomical theme. The Big Dipper Pendant and Constellation Pegasus Pendant both have pinholes in the same configuration as the actual stellar patterns. Adding simple string or chain of your choice makes the pendant wearable. These are not the… Continue reading Astronomical Themed Prints
More on Cubify
As we mentioned the other day, 3D Systems was set to announce something big at CES and they did: plenty of details on the new Cubify system are now available. Cubify is a very comprehensive 3D printing “system” involving a new personal printer, 3D print services, an online community, a model repository, an API and… Continue reading More on Cubify
A Robot at Mallyable
Our sister site and 3D model shop Mallyable just announced a very cool new 3D model: the Sitting Robot. It’s an exclusive digital 3D model of a particularly lazy robot that is conveniently sitting to permit easy 3D printing. If you haven’t yet heard of Mallyable, it’s our very own source for 3D models –… Continue reading A Robot at Mallyable
3D Printed Fractal Cube Originated in Second Life
In December 2007 Henry Segerman, a.k.a. Second Life avatar Seifert Surface, designed a “Hilbert Cube” using Second Life’s then simplistic 3D model creation tools and some tricky Python software. While this interesting object was for years used only within Second Life’s virtual world, there’s been a recent change: you can now 3D print this item… Continue reading 3D Printed Fractal Cube Originated in Second Life
Christmas at Bits From Bytes
The folks at Bits From Bytes have an interesting giveaway taking place this holiday season: their Advent Calendar 2011. According to Wikipedia, an Advent Calendar is “a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas”. Typically it involves a surprise each day, and BFB is doing… Continue reading Christmas at Bits From Bytes
SimCity or RealCity?
Yet another surprise source for 3D models has emerged: the game SimCity. SimCity, for those of you who have somehow never encountered it, is a simulation of a city. By tweaking various civic parameters, your city may thrive and grow – or die. It’s a great tool for learning some of the basics of city… Continue reading SimCity or RealCity?
Get a Free Car From Objet!
Objet, one of the major manufacturers of commercial 3D printers, is offering a complete car at no charge. Well, it’s not a *real* car, it’s only a 3D model of one. You can find it at the link below. Objet produced this model to demonstrate the capabilities of their 3D printer line. What are… Continue reading Get a Free Car From Objet!
Evolve Your Objects with Endless Forms
The creation of objects is often the biggest challenge to those using 3D printers, and thus we’re always interested in new ways to obtain or generate them. A new method of generation appeared that uses a Genetic Approach. Endless Forms provides an online dashboard in which you evolve objects into desired or at… Continue reading Evolve Your Objects with Endless Forms
From iOS Game to Reality With a 3D Printer
TUAW reports on one of the latest items from Voxelous, a company dedicated to producing real models of items from popular games. This time (but now sold out) was the runner from popular iOS game Canabalt. Here’s the details: Printed on a color 3D printer, dipped in super glue for strength, and given a… Continue reading From iOS Game to Reality With a 3D Printer
How To Build a Hand in Less Than an Hour
The coolest things to print on a 3D printer seem to be body parts, most often faces, but also cool are hands. However, hands seem to be a fairly complicated structure and many people simply try to find scans of 3D hands they can print. 3D Modeler Dennis Jensen shows us how to… Continue reading How To Build a Hand in Less Than an Hour
The World’s Smallest Stop Motion Video
Nokia Cellscope: a very simple combination of a Nokia phone and a microscope, capable of seeing very small things at low cost. The idea is to enable those in third world countries to perform basic microscopy – and then instantly transmit results for expert analysis elsewhere. To celebrate the development of the Cellscope,… Continue reading The World’s Smallest Stop Motion Video
Posable 3D Models From CADHuman
SolidSmack reports on CADHuman’s new posable 3D models, which are highly detailed 3D models that can be adjusted into various positions. This differs from the more common experience of non-posable models that invariably are not in the specific pose you need. The models currently include: Male & female figures Human male head Posable hands… Continue reading Posable 3D Models From CADHuman
3D Scanning by UAV
You may have guessed we’re fascinated with new ways of capturing 3D models for printing, and this week we’ve found a rather unusual method: UAV images. Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne’s Computer Vision Laboratory have developed software to combine thousands of images gathered by UAVs into very usable 3D models. The software,… Continue reading 3D Scanning by UAV
3D City Models Made By Missiles
Technology originally used for targeting missiles has been adapted to provide incredibly detailed 3D models of cities. Saab’s spin-off company C3 Technologies is gathering up a library of 20 city models suitable for licensing for mapping applications. We’re hoping they’ll make this data available for 3D printing, too. While we’re always watching for new… Continue reading 3D City Models Made By Missiles
Probing Knut’s 3D Brain
Berlin Zoo’s most famous resident, the polar bear banned Knut, died suddenly this past March. Apparently the bear, famous for controversy surrounding the practice of humans raising bear cubs, had an infection that led to encephalitis and accidental drowning. While Knut is gone, his brain lives on. It’s been captured in 3D by “some… Continue reading Probing Knut’s 3D Brain
Capture That Dinosaur!
Or at least capture their footprints. Most dinosaur species are now extinct, save for those that fly, but the large extinct versions occasionally left behind amazing fossil footprints. We’ve been reading a report of how palaeontologists have been using 3D scanning techniques to capture detailed 3D models of these fossilized prints for later analysis. According… Continue reading Capture That Dinosaur!
Microscopic 3D Models
We’re always looking for new sources of 3D models to print, and we found another potential source: microscopic imaging. Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Research Campus are using a special microscopic high-speed imaging (e.g. video) system to capture moving images of teeny things in action, like a single cell dividing, for… Continue reading Microscopic 3D Models
Who Needs 3D Printing Rules?
After reading Shapeways’ recent post discussing their new design rules for stainless steel prints, we thought we should weigh in. Shapeways has gone as far as developing a dedicated “Design Rule Repository. What’s in it? According to their post: This is a subsection of the website dedicated to design rules. Going forward, the blog… Continue reading Who Needs 3D Printing Rules?
The Zoybar 3D Printed Guitar
It seems there is growing interest in 3D printed musical instruments. After the amazing 3D printed flute we now see another 3D printed guitar: The Zoybar TOR. This funky item is composed of a small number of parts (three) printed by Shapeways. Designed by Bård S D, this item is not available for sale… Continue reading The Zoybar 3D Printed Guitar
More Great Printable Buildings
One of the easiest items to 3D print are models of buildings. Their shapes are often straightforward for successful printing and yet quite recognizable. It’s a great feeling when you print a building, give it to someone and they immediately recognize what it is without being told. But the question is, where do you… Continue reading More Great Printable Buildings
3D Print Spaceships From 2001: A Space Odyssey
It’s one of our all-time favourite motion pictures, perhaps yours too. The 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey still feels “real” and “plausible”, some 43 years after it was made and an even more astonishing ten years since the events in the film were to take place. But now you can relive your 2001… Continue reading 3D Print Spaceships From 2001: A Space Odyssey
Print A 3D Printer Today!
A surprising item showed up in Thingiverse the other day: an entire 3D printer! Thingiverse is one of the most widely used open source repositories for 3D models suitable for 3D printing, and you’ll see all kinds of interesting items appear. But today’s item was worth a post: user wacko posted a 3D model of… Continue reading Print A 3D Printer Today!
3D Marvels
We ran across an unusual 3D model service: 3D Marvels. The site operates as a clearinghouse for 3D artist works. In other words, you can shop there for STL and COLLADA format 3D models that you can print on your 3D printer. 3DMarvels is a companion site to the very successful Wood Marvels site, which currently… Continue reading 3D Marvels
Another Free 3D Model Repository
You might have read our previous post about 3D Model Repositories, and understand that there are, well, tons of them out there. We bumped into another one that was quite interesting, as it includes a large number of unique and free items, including many that are suitable for 3D printing. All3DModel is the site… Continue reading Another Free 3D Model Repository
A Whole Lot of Meshes
Looking for some 3D models? We stumbled into a rather large pile of them, located at the INRIA Gamma team research database. Researchers there evidently required a lot of models and collected many. Well, 90,000+ of them – that’s many! The models are mostly stored in .mesh format, but quite a few appear to be… Continue reading A Whole Lot of Meshes
The Tribulations of Printing 3D Models
You’ve read yesterday’s post about where you might find amazing 3D models for printing, but you’re wondering what to do next. Is it as simple as downloading the model and printing it? Not exactly. Here’s some considerations: Are you legally permitted to print this model? What license was it distributed under? Best to check… Continue reading The Tribulations of Printing 3D Models