I was recently made aware of a free modelling tool called SolveSpace.
design
The HEFT: Designed With 3D Printing
A simple snow shovel attachment project made extensive use of 3D printing technology to develop a unique product.
3D Printing Idea: Winter Molds
A couple of folks have recently developed 3D models for snowmen, but we think this idea could go much farther.
Attempt to 3D Print Zolaās Train Reveals a Truth of 3D Design
Yale assistant professor of French Morgane Cadieu transformed a literary description of a train into a real 3D print. But sheās demonstrated a barrier to 3D printing by doing so.
Not a 3D Modeler? Hire One!
If youāre unable to obtain the 3D model you require for a print, just design it yourself. But what if you canāt?
3D Printing Hits CNN – And Not āJust Becauseā
A recent legal controversy involving 3D printing has risen to become one of CNNās top news stories.
inbuās 3D Modeling Approach
A UK-based service offers a way to transform an idea into a printed 3D model. This is the way it’s going to be for quite a while.
What To Make With Metal 3D Printers?
Earlier this week we saw a 3D printed branding iron. Could this be the beginning of a new class of 3D prints?
Make Certain Your 3D Modelās Bottom is Flat
If it hasnāt happened to you yet, it will in the future: prints with not-quite flat bottoms.
Unyqās Unique 3D Printed Fairings
Weāre checking out a new business that supplies prosthetic fairings using 3D printing tech: Unyq.
Thereās a Lot More to Natashaās 3D Printed Leg
We have obtained more details of the sequence of events that led to Natasha Hope-Simpson gaining a custom-designed 3D printed prosthetic leg.
DiCaprio Gets a 3D Printed Oscar
The folks at CGTrader have solved Leonardo DiCaprioās problem of not receiving an Oscar at this yearās Academy Awards.
Design of the Week: Morphologic
This week’s selection is Morphologic, by the team of Chien Shuo Pai, Alberto Herrera Salas, Nishanth Peethala and Zhu Kele. Their purpose was to develop a structure that could become an architectural component. In the image you can see a miniature version demonstrating how the basic component can be recombined into potentially colossal structures. … Continue reading Design of the Week: Morphologic
The Amazing 3D Printed Designs of Rob Elford
We’ve been perusing the works of UK-based artist Rob Elford, who specializes in wearable 3D printed items. Any one of his works could easily qualify for our Design of the Week feature, but we felt it necessary to show his new collection, “Ephemeral Delusions in a Motionless State”. Elford says: The inspiration for Ephemeral… Continue reading The Amazing 3D Printed Designs of Rob Elford
The 3D-Lab Store
We’ve uncovered yet another 3D model store, the 3D-Lab Store. Like many similar ventures, Poland-based 3D-Lab Store offers shoppers the opportunity to select a 3D print from a set of models. Some of the pieces offer sizing and color choices, which is particularly useful for bracelets. Objects are printed in various colors of PLA… Continue reading The 3D-Lab Store
A 3D Printing Revolution in South Africa
An event featuring several notable 3D print designers is to take place in Johannesburg on July 6th. The event, “Agents of the 3D Revolution Exhibition and Seminar”, is put on by, of course, Agents of the 3D Revolution, a new group formed to promote use of 3D technology in South Africa. The group includes… Continue reading A 3D Printing Revolution in South Africa
Autodesk Battles Bad Design
3D software giant Autodesk has released an infographic portraying the need for, guess what? 3D design software. (Click on the image above to see the fine details). It may be in their self-interest, but they have a valid point. The infographic indicates that a surprising amount of newly released products are subject to recall… Continue reading Autodesk Battles Bad Design
Geomagic and Alibre Merge
Two brands of 3D design software under one company? The inevitable occurred when acquirer 3D Systems merged the two previously separate and competing brands into one: Geomagic. There is no more Alibre, it turns out. They say: An initial step is that we have rebranded Alibre Design products as Geomagic Design. This means that… Continue reading Geomagic and Alibre Merge
Try Miproto To Refine Your Design
Many people become attracted to 3D printing because they correctly believe they can print of many amazing things. But what they may not realize is that it takes great skill to design amazing things. Everyone is not an Industrial Designer. But don’t despair! A new service called Miproto can fix that. Miproto, created by… Continue reading Try Miproto To Refine Your Design
Tinkercad Shuts Down
Oh woe. Tinkercad announced its pending demise, as the team developing it has been reassigned to another project. Launched in 2011, Tinkercad became the premier tool for web-based 3D model development. It even included direct hookups to various 3D print services, creating a very easy path to 3D prints for casual designers. By the end… Continue reading Tinkercad Shuts Down
Another 123App: Creature
Autodesk has been rapidly adding apps to their free suite of consumer 3D apps, with the most recent addition being 123D Creature, with which you can create “creatures”. The USD$7.99 iOS app is similar to others in the suite, permitting easy generation of a 3D model. This app is focused on limb-based objects that… Continue reading Another 123App: Creature
Neri Oxmanās Mediated Matter Lab at MIT
Neri Oxman, founder of the Mediated Matter Group at MIT’s Media Lab, believes that one day everything will be designed by nature. The Mediated Matter Group’s mission statement reads something like a manifesto. The Mediated Matter group is dedicated to the development and application of novel processes that enable and support the design… Continue reading Neri Oxmanās Mediated Matter Lab at MIT
Surprise! 123D Design Updated
We were very pleasantly surprised to see an update arrive yesterday for our copy of 123D Design, the free 3D design tool from Autodesk. What’s got us so excited? It can now export STL. The previous version of 123D Design permitted saves only in its own proprietary format, with a possible intent of… Continue reading Surprise! 123D Design Updated
Co.Design Names 3D Printing a Trend
Design blog Co.Design (part of Fast Company) listed Frog Design’s view of the “20 Tech Trends That Will Define 2013”. Such lists are always interesting to examine, as they usually confirm suspicions and indications observed throughout the year. But what did Frog believe were the trends? There are too many to mention, but some… Continue reading Co.Design Names 3D Printing a Trend
3D Printing Design Contest ā And the Winners areā¦
The 3D Printing Design Contest generated some pretty incredible designs. The imagination and ingenuity of our entrants impressed our judges. The Grand Prize Winner of the 3D Printing Design Contest wins a $2000 cash prize, and all winners receive $100 and a 3D print of their model created on a Stratasys Mojo 3D Printer. Thanks… Continue reading 3D Printing Design Contest ā And the Winners areā¦
There’s Only One One Just One
Some say that 3D printing is not useful for manufacturing due to the per unit cost of printing versus traditional mass manufacturing. That’s true, and so 3D printing is often used for prototypes and low-quantity production. Or even one-off personalized items. But now a venture attempts to push that concept to the limit. One… Continue reading There’s Only One One Just One
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
Around the Show Floor at Rapid 2012
While we’re intending on writing up several posts on our observations at Rapid 2012, we thought we’d start with a very cool selection of awesome stuff found on the show floor. Literally laying on the floor of the gigantic 3D Systems booth, this 3D printed guitar actually plays. Also in the 3D Systems… Continue reading Around the Show Floor at Rapid 2012
3D Balloon Printing
Normally one makes solid objects with a 3D printer, but how about making balloons? Yes, real, floaty inflatable balloons. That’s now possible, according to New Scientist, who reported on developments at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The trick is that they don’t 3D print the actual balloons. Instead, they design and 3D print… Continue reading 3D Balloon Printing
Inspired by Biomimetics
We’ve previously written on research into the application of 3D printing in building construction. The idea is that rather than having a completely uniform interior geometry for building materials, we create variably shaped interiors. In other words, instead of bricks with solid or uniformly latticed interiors, more material occurs in places where more physical stress… Continue reading Inspired by Biomimetics
On The Road With 3D Printing
The Pocket Factory Project seems a little crazy at first, but then it starts to make more sense in this rapidly evolving 21st century. It’s two creative guys stuffed into a Prius, driving around the United States seeking inspiration for creative 3D printing. Bilal Ghalib and Alex Hornstein are those guys and they’re traveling… Continue reading On The Road With 3D Printing
Send To Print/ Print To Send
We previously mentioned the exhibition at London’s Aram Gallery entitled “Send To Print/ Print To Send”, in which artists explore the possibilities using 3D printing technology. We just found a bit more information about this event. ArtsThread discusses the opportunity and as in other industries, the Arts can use 3D printing for custom, one-of-a-kind… Continue reading Send To Print/ Print To Send
3D Printed Exhibition at The Aram Gallery
If you happen to be in London before February 25th, you might want to drop by The Aram Gallery in Covent Garden to see their “Send to Print / Print to Send” exhibition. The exhibition features works by designers exploring the medium of 3D printing, including some folks whom we’ve written about such as Freedom… Continue reading 3D Printed Exhibition at The Aram Gallery
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
Finding 3D Models With Google
We’re always interested to find new ways of developing 3D models, be it through software modeling tools, capture through scanning of real objects, physical manifestation of found 3D data, or other techniques. Why? Because you can 3D print them! Now we see artist Daniel Michel of Germany has found yet another way to create digital… Continue reading Finding 3D Models With Google
A 3D Printed Hairbrush Bowl?
Qatar-based designer Thomas Modeen has produced a very unusual fruit bowl design. Well, we suppose it could hold a lot of other things, too. The design is inspired by a hairbrush – but upside down so that the bristles support items placed on top. There are plenty more pictures of the “Hair-Brush Fruit-Bowl” at… Continue reading A 3D Printed Hairbrush Bowl?
Industrial Revolution 2.0
Industrial Revolution 2.0 is the name of a special event taking place at this year’s London Design Festival. This event is located at the Victoria and Albert Museum, as are some of the other events. It turns out that most of the items on display at Industrial Revolution 2.0 are 3D printed by 3D print… Continue reading Industrial Revolution 2.0
Shapeways Teaches 3D Design
In an effort to generate more Shapeways designers, Shapeways is offering an in-class evening training class New York City on September 13th. They’re hoping to attract people new to 3D modeling who have used some of Shapeways’ unique model generators and want more. The course seems to be pretty basic, focusing on use of… Continue reading Shapeways Teaches 3D Design
New York City Ground Zero Model
An amazing three-part model of New York City’s Ground Zero is now on display at the Manhattan’s New York City Fire Museum. The three part model by artist David Munson shows a 3D cityscape of buildings in the vicinity of Ground Zero before the Sept 11th event, immediately afterwards, and finally after all is rebuilt. … Continue reading New York City Ground Zero Model
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
Freedom of Creation: Absorbed!
We’ve written many times about the amazing 3D printed furniture and artwork produced by the design house Freedom of Creation, home of master designer Jyanne Kytannen. But today we learned that FOC, like many other 3D printing-related companies and services in recent weeks, has been acquired by industry giant 3D Systems. It’s been getting… Continue reading Freedom of Creation: Absorbed!
3D Modelling Contract Work
You’re an experienced 3D modeller and have some time on your hands? Why not try doing some contract work for extra cash? One way to do this is at Projects For Freelancers, a site where the needy can post a job and the skilled can bid on a job. The site works as an… Continue reading 3D Modelling Contract Work
The SculptCAD RAPID ARTISTS Project
Sponsored by TEDxSMU and SculptCAD, the Rapid Artists project borings together a dozen Texas artists who will attempt to use contemporary 3D printing tech to produce works of art in ways they’ve never tried before. They’re using 3D modelling software to create designs in a variety of materials. The artists were selected late in 2009… Continue reading The SculptCAD RAPID ARTISTS Project
Rethinking Education Through Technology
If you happen to be in the top end of the Italian peninsula this weekend, you might consider attending a seminar put on by the lettera27 Foundation at Festivaletteratura in Mantova entitled, “The disenchanted teacher. Rethinking education through technology”. The seminar: focuses on how context influences the expression of each person’s potential, and how… Continue reading Rethinking Education Through Technology
A Trophy for Materialise
Materialise was selected to produce trophies for the Moto GP in Sachsenring and Formula 1 race in Budapest. The design was made by Antonio Pio Saracino at the request of Eni, who needed a new interpretation of their traditional six-legged dog logo. Saracino’s ethereal design is quite amazing, and of course, impossible to build using… Continue reading A Trophy for Materialise
Add a Floor for only $129
There are tens of thousands of new web-based services that do practically everything, from counting kids’ allowances to photo editing to managing your sales process. One of them is FloorPlanner, “the easiest way to create floor plans”. They provide a simple web interface with drag and drop capability for true ease of use. The… Continue reading Add a Floor for only $129
3D Printing Solves The Innovator’s Dilemma?
In the classic business book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, author Clayton M. Christensen describes a scenario which happens all to often in large companies: Inventive staff come up with a new way to produce the product Management is not interested in backing the new way because even if it succeeded, the amount of revenue is… Continue reading 3D Printing Solves The Innovator’s Dilemma?
uPrinting Arms
Tiberius Arms is a small company specializing in the design and manufacturing of advanced pneumatic weapons. You may have used similar weapons on the paintball grounds, but they’re also used by the military for training and police forces as a “less than lethal” weapon. Tiberius has been producing weapons since their first product, a sniper… Continue reading uPrinting Arms
The New Means of Production
We’ve been reading a very interesting article by Greg J. Smith of Serial Consign, which discusses the implications of advanced personal manufacturing capabilities on art and design. Smith explains the basics for those who aren’t familiar with modern fabbing, but then goes to review thoughts by several designers, writers and analysts. A key concept we… Continue reading The New Means of Production
Making an Artist’s Living by 3D Printing
There’s a wonderful article by 3D printing artist Bathsheba Grossman over at Say Something, where she describes her journey from student to world-renowned 3D artist. And the best part: She’s now making a living from selling 3D printed art. But it isn’t easy. She spent ten years after completing school to build up the… Continue reading Making an Artist’s Living by 3D Printing
Nervous Jewelry
Actually it’s not the jewelry that’s nervous, it’s the creators. Or their company: Nervous System. They produce a line of jewelry (bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings and brooches) that were generated by sophisticated algorithms in software. The designs are then either 3D printed, or in some cases 3D printed moulds are used to create the… Continue reading Nervous Jewelry
Bios in San Jose!
The ZER01 Art and Technology Network is preparing for what promises to be a spectacular event in September 2010 in San Jose, California. The event is an art exhibition held every two years, and this year’s theme is “Build Your Own World”. Now that’s the a theme Fabbaloo readers would like to hear more about.… Continue reading Bios in San Jose!
The Spatter
We bumped into this intriguing 3D design on Flickr, produced by Phil Renato. According to the Flickr notes, the item was printed by Mike Gayk at 3D Systems University in “Projet thermophotopolymer”, for which we can’t locate any more data. The fine details are interesting, and evidently some work was done to accomplish this: I… Continue reading The Spatter
Designing Interface Architecture
FABberz and the Live Architecture Network are collaborating on a new venture to bring design tools to students in Brazil. Their idea: produce collaborative designs with residents and students to improve housing conditions in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. They’ll be holding a series of workshops leading up to the 2016 Olympics, which are… Continue reading Designing Interface Architecture
Darwin’s Ring
Multiple tips arrived this week directing us to a rather amazing design: FluidForm’s Evolve Ring Silver, designed by Michal Piasecki and Krystian Kwiecinski. Not only does this item look very attractive, it also has a scientific heritage: The design was machine generated by Artificial Intelligence software, specifically a genetic algorithm. GAs use simulations of reproducing… Continue reading Darwin’s Ring
FOC Explores 3D Paper Printing
We’ve written a few times about the amazing paper 3D printer from MCOR, which uses common A4 paper as it’s build material. Now we see it being used by a professional design firm: Freedom Of Creation. They’ve been experimenting with the device and produced the iPhone cover shown above. As you can see, they slipped… Continue reading FOC Explores 3D Paper Printing
Planter Bricks
This one seems so obvious to us now after seeing it, but originality always comes from those who are the first to invent something. This time it’s a special brick used to hold vegetation, and you can see various styles in the image above. The bricks were designed by San Fratello Architects, who explain: The… Continue reading Planter Bricks
Radiohead Data Becomes a Head!
About a year ago, Radiohead released a great video of “House of Cards”, much of which was singer Thom Yorke’s face and head illuminated by teeny points of laser light. Very inventive, for certain, but they went a step further: Radiohead released CSV files the point cloud on Google Code for public access under a… Continue reading Radiohead Data Becomes a Head!
SUBSTANCE
We ran across an intriguing software tool that can be used to develop incredibly cool 3D models. It’s called “SUBSTANCE”, from NeuroSystems. Here’s NeuroSystem’s tagline: NeuroSystems creates and provides leading edge, high quality applications in the fields of realtime 3D simulation and Computer Graphics. One of those applications is SUBSTANCE, the Evolutionary and Organic Art… Continue reading SUBSTANCE
Sources of Inspiration
We’re always amazed by the incredible ideas from imaginative designers, who are often inspired to create fantastic works by unusual sources. We’ve seen designers taking cues from the weather, dead carcasses, natural design, mathematics, evolution, sketches and many other sources. Today we read an interesting article in The Daily Mail, in which they post startling… Continue reading Sources of Inspiration
MaterialEcology
MaterialEcology is an interesting initiative by Neri Oxman, who is attempting to devise experimental design forms that leverage the synergy of computing, ecology, material engineering and design. Their mission: an interdisciplinary research initiative that undertakes design research in the intersection between architecture, engineering, computation, biology and ecology. As such, this initiative is concerned with material… Continue reading MaterialEcology
Robert Geshlider’s Works
Robert Geshlider is a San Francisco-based artist that makes great use of 3D printers for his works. They are abstract and can be found from time to time in the great galleries of the world, including the SFMOMA. This work, entitled “Journal”, is from 2008 – and was created using SolidWorks and a ZCorp 3D… Continue reading Robert Geshlider’s Works
MCOR Paper Samples
MCOR passed us images of sample prints from their new MCOR Matrix 300 3D paper printer (that’s right – it uses sheets of paper as it’s build medium.) We’re quite surprised at the quality and features. Look for yourself: This is a Geocalamus acutus, Amphisbaenidae, or Worm Lizard, courtesy of Dr Emmanuel G. Reynaud, School… Continue reading MCOR Paper Samples
Printing Carcasses
Continuing with the biology-meets-3d-printers theme today, we’ve run across a dark hobby: printing 3D models of animal carcasses! Designer Harry Allen has scanned and modelled a dead firefly, and then implanted an LED to create an unusual lighting system. He’s also scanned a deceased piglet to create an actual “piggy bank”. Perusing his portfolio… Continue reading Printing Carcasses
BIOS Explores 3D Printing
The BIOS Collective is a working group of academic and professional designers exploring the application of biological patterns to architecture. We’ve seen a bit of this collision before where natural things inspire designs made real by modern 3D fabrication techniques. In this example, designer Charles Lee is working on a tower study for Ideate Inc.,… Continue reading BIOS Explores 3D Printing
The Weather Bracelet … and More
In another unique way of transforming an aspect of reality into 3D objects, fabricator, Flickr user mtchl has prepared an unusual bracelet, formed from the weather in Canberra, Australia. The circumference of the bracelet represents the 365 days of the year in question (July of 2008 through end of June 2009), and the outer edge… Continue reading The Weather Bracelet … and More
The “Most Complex Join”
The picture illustrates very clearly the problem here: how to fit the tabletop to the stand? By using a monstrously complicated join pattern! How can one create such a complex pattern? Designer Daniel Dendra used audio from Cairo streets to generate the intricate patterns, and then mapped them first to the tabletop and then a… Continue reading The “Most Complex Join”
FOC Left and Right
The most recent issue of Freedom of Creation’s newsletter describes a project they undertook for ASICS, in which custom packages were designed and made containing half of a secret object. The idea was to promote the notion of bringing two sides together, an admirable philosophy for any environment. From FOC: Asics launched their Left… Continue reading FOC Left and Right
MathMorph
This intricate model was designed by Jonathon Anderson by adapting the MathMorph techniques. MathMorph? It’s described this way: First, a series of computer models were generated by computer algorithms, cellular automation, and mathematic equations using Maya and Houdini programs. These computer models were fabricated as physical prototypes by the Stratasys FDMTM (Fused Deposition Modeling)… Continue reading MathMorph
Designer Power
An interesting concept got stuck in our heads, as you can see above. It’s from the Power Of 8 project in London, UK. What is it? According to their site: In this collaborative project, 8 people from different walks of life work together to build a public conversation about their individual aspirations for a… Continue reading Designer Power
CATIA Design Visualization Contest
A post at 3D Perspectives shows some of the great entries into their recent Design Visualization Contest. While some of the visualizations were well beyond the capability of 3D printers alone today, others might well be attempted on current technology, such as Dominik Wolm’s second place winning entry above. Via 3D Perspectives and YouTube
Designers: Needed or Not?
We’re written on this topic before, where the proposition goes something like this: 3D printing devices and technology become widespread; either they’re installed in homes or are in easily usable nearby service centers Consumers use the devices and begin designing their own models. But, they’re 3D laymen The need for designers begins to dry up.… Continue reading Designers: Needed or Not?
Light Fixture Design
What do you get when you combine barnacles, a ZCorp 450 3D printer and garlic? A really cool light fixture, of course! Designer Zach Kron created this curtain panel after extracting the fundamental design elements from the biological items and aggregating them into the above light fixture. Zach’s experimentation leads him to this tip:… Continue reading Light Fixture Design
Chair Made of Itself
Designer/Artist Eric Ku has several very interesting projects on his website, but this one caught our eye: An inspiration from the American contemporary artist Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chair. Instead of giving new definition, I redefined the concept of a chair by using alphabet. One is able to construct a chair by assembling… Continue reading Chair Made of Itself
How Small Are Your Fingers?
Ours are not exactly small, and therefore we’ll probably not be able to handle what’s being called “the world’s smallest cube puzzle”. It’s available at ShapeWays right now. It’s a classic 3D puzzle with tetris-like 3D shapes. The only catch is that they are really tiny, with the maximum dimension being only 7.5mm! Fortunately,… Continue reading How Small Are Your Fingers?
Breed!
We came across an interesting design that leverages 3D printing tech in a unique way. Erwin Driessens and Maria Verstappen are Netherlands-based artists who’ve developed many amazing pieces; their portfolio includes a wide variety of approaches. One of their works, “Breed” involves 3D printing. According to their website: Breed is a computer program that… Continue reading Breed!
Boing Boing Reviews 3D Printed Art
Over the past year we’ve featured many interesting works of art created by designers using 3D print technology to enable pieces previously impossible to create. Boing Boing has picked up on this concept and posted a gallery of many interesting pieces, several of which have been featured in Fabbaloo. Our favorite? It has to… Continue reading Boing Boing Reviews 3D Printed Art
Monaghan’s 3D Visions
We were contacted by designer and artist Jonathan Monaghan, who recently worked on the Digital Stone project in China. Jonathan normally works at much smaller scales, and much of his work involves use of rapid prototyping techniques. We particularly like the way in which he combines lighting to emphasize the 3D structures. The… Continue reading Monaghan’s 3D Visions
Architectural Concepts via 3D
Readers may notice our occasional rant on how 3D tech is often used to produce common objects, simple things that are merely more conveniently produced than traditional approaches. But that’s not what gets our gears turning. We look for entirely new concepts, things that would not have existed if not for the exploitation of contemporary… Continue reading Architectural Concepts via 3D
Personal 3D Printer Released!
Yes, you can now have one of your own! Imagine it sitting at the end of your desk, spitting out any objects you desire, or at least models you can manage to develop. Two things are interesting about the announcement of uPrint from Dimension Printing: It’s NOT from Desktop Factory It’s NOT under USD$5,000. In… Continue reading Personal 3D Printer Released!
SketchBot Comes to Life
SketchBot is a character designed by Brooklyn, NY designer Steve Talkowski. Hsi blog, appropriately named, “SketchBot” covers the gradual evolution of SketchBot through various designs and adventures over more than a year. Steve has created this character using an iterative process over a long period. Once his hand-drawn concept was completed, he built a prototype… Continue reading SketchBot Comes to Life
Langford’s Prints
Sean Langford is a “lead artist at Green Grass Studios”, where he works on “modeling, texturing, animation, lighting, compositing, and editing”, but his “focus has always been on character creation”. Recently he entered a model into 3DTotal’s periodic Sculpting Challenge and came in second place. With this amazing magical staff model shown above. Here’s the… Continue reading Langford’s Prints
An Interview with Sculptor Bathsheba Grossman
We’ve noticed Grossman before and been very impressed with her work. Now we find a full-length interview with the sculptor from Desktop Engineering Online, in which she explains how she came to use 3D print tech. Highlights we observed: Grossman feels that she was ābacked intoā working with 3D printing as a way to accomplish… Continue reading An Interview with Sculptor Bathsheba Grossman
Sketch Furniture Into Reality
Swedish design firm FRONT is pioneering a rather unusual method of developing 3D furniture models. They use 3D motion capture techniques to trace the movement of a sketch artist’s pen in three dimensions. The sketch artist, in this case, is drawing life-size furniture in empty space. Once you have a 3D model, what might you… Continue reading Sketch Furniture Into Reality
CoReFabulous Chair!
Designer Amar Eloueini’s CoReFab chair is constructed using digital design and produced using 3D Print technology. At first glance the chair is certainly interesting, but it gets more intriguing when you learn how it was designed: CoReFab#71 is one chair within a series of infinite possibilities. This chair is the result of a computer designed… Continue reading CoReFabulous Chair!
Behind the Sign
A few months ago we wrote on Karsten Schmidt’s work to produce a 3D sign to be used for a magazine cover. Today we ran across a rather long interview with the artist, who explains how the process was done. Highlights: Used a ZCorp 450 printer, which seems to be the most common device these… Continue reading Behind the Sign
The Birds!
Alfred Hitchcock could never have imagined what might happen to his work 45 years after it was released. And neither could we. An anonymous design student used frames from Hitchcock’s famous thriller, “The Birds” to create a 3D work of art portraying “an abstraction of suspense and tension between the mother and the woman of… Continue reading The Birds!
Towson Report
We read Susannah Naree’s eclectic report on a visit to Towson University by designer Arthur Hash, who is one of many who are using 3D technology (among other techniques as you will see) to develop unique and innovative artistic designs. Hash’s website provides a rather unique dynamic display of his recent works, including the baby… Continue reading Towson Report
Mouse Brains
We don’t know about you, but if we received a 3D Mouse Brain as an anniversary present, we’d be pleasantly surprised. That’s exactly what happened when LiveJournal blogger Molliebatmit opened her first anniversary present. She writes: And yesterday, Adam came home with my anniversary gift. Now, some people might get a necklace or a pair… Continue reading Mouse Brains
The DesignDashboard
This intriguing tool gets more interesting the deeper you look into it. What is it? It’s a handy device to help you discover new design aspects of almost any complex design situation. According to their Q/A: The Dashboard maps design space and then lets you choose a path. Specifically you can use it to… Continue reading The DesignDashboard
Is a 3D Print High Quality?
Many who encounter 3D printing initially react badly when they realize that the print resolution on today’s 3D printers is not so great. For fine details, the capability just isn’t yet there, at least with the lower cost 3D printers and services. However, that does not mean 3D printing is unusable. You simply… Continue reading Is a 3D Print High Quality?
Digital Vases
Artists continue to exploit 3D technology. This week we encountered a report from Digital Collisions that spoke of New York based designer Joshua Davis, who recently used 3D tech to produce stunning vases, including the one pictured above. Davis evidently used Maya to produce the 3D model, which was then printed. The vase… Continue reading Digital Vases
3D PreFab Home
It’s not a home, exactly, but at least some components of a prototype home of the future were manufactured on a Z-Corp 3D printer for the “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. According to DesignNews on wall: has been fabricated from a… Continue reading 3D PreFab Home
Signs of 3D
Another innovative use for 3D printing has appeared as reported by Today and Tomorrow. PRINT magazine commissioned a cover from Artist Karsten Schmidt, who: used the Gray-Scott reaction diffusion model in a Processing sketch (an open source programming language) to generate a 3D typographical model. While this project was intended as a magazine cover,… Continue reading Signs of 3D
The Most Expensive 3D Model?
The folks at Blossom posted several articles recently detailing their work to design and produce a rather unusual 3D object. It’s a small-scale model of a strange and complex sculpture, as you can see in the rendering pictured here. Evidently the shape of the object baffled the 3D printers as it had a double-layered shell… Continue reading The Most Expensive 3D Model?