Last week we lamented the current state of personal 3D printing workflow: difficult. It’s so difficult we believe many potential mainstream 3D printer owners would never be able to make their way through it. But what’s the answer? What should the experience look like for the majority of future 3D printer owners? Let’s look… Continue reading Where’s My 3D Print Button? Part 2
software
Where’s My 3D Print Button? Part 1
We’ve all seen this button many times. It’s how you produce 2D paper output, and you’ve used it perhaps all your life, maybe every day. It works because it’s easy. It works because it’s familiar. It works because all the hard stuff is already figured out for you behind the scenes. Enter personal 3D… Continue reading Where’s My 3D Print Button? Part 1
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
Shrunken Heads at Opend3DP!
The folks at Open3DP continue to investigate ways to produce 3D glass printing, and they’ve been quite successful so far. A recent post shows their work, but as one can clearly see in their image, a problem is shrinkage during the post-printing firing phase. Yes, that’s right – the image on the right shows the… Continue reading Shrunken Heads at Opend3DP!
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
Replacing .STL
We wrote on the problems with the prehistoric .STL format the other week, and bumped into a potential replacement: GTS. It’s an open source project: GTS stands for the GNU Triangulated Surface Library. It is an Open Source Free Software Library intended to provide a set of useful functions to deal with 3D surfaces meshed… Continue reading Replacing .STL
A Chameleon Tears Down Barriers
A1 Technologies, the folks who make the very inexpensive RapMan 3D printer and more recently an inexpensive 3D scanner, now produce an innovative 3D mouse system: the Chameleon 3D. The Chameleon 3D is actually an effective packaging of software and hardware from other developers. The hardware comes from Novint, whose very unusual Falcon haptic controller… Continue reading A Chameleon Tears Down Barriers
netfabb Studio 4.2
Yes, it’s just been updated and available for download. netfabb is a lightweight Windows software tool specifically engineered for additive design. netfabb offers a “basic” version completely free of charge, which includes these features, among others: Advanced model browsing and STL management Automatic part fixing, mesh editing and analysis Measurements and quality assurance Packing… Continue reading netfabb Studio 4.2
ZBrush 3DPrintExporter
Another really useful plugin has emerged for the popular and powerful ZBrush digital sculpting program. The new 3DPrintExporter does exactly that: it prepares a properly formatted .STL file quite suitable for transfer to any 3D printer or 3D print service that accepts .STL (which is pretty much all of them.) The proper preparation of… Continue reading ZBrush 3DPrintExporter
XVL Studio Version 8.1 Released
Lattice Technology has just released a new version of their 3D modeling suite, XVL. It’s being distributed to customers with maintenance contracts this week. There are some pretty amazing features in this release: Geometry Difference Detection – detection of geometry differences so that changes in models are easily tracked Export of Assembly Animations to AVI… Continue reading XVL Studio Version 8.1 Released
Meshlab
Just so you know, Meshlab has released version 1.2.0 of their software recently. What is Meshlab, you ask? From their project site: MeshLab is an open source, portable, and extensible system for the processing and editing of unstructured 3D triangular meshes. The system is aimed to help the processing of the typical not-so-small unstructured… Continue reading Meshlab
T-Splines 2.0 Nearly Available
T-Splines 2.0 for the Rhino 3D modeling package is apparently going to ship in the next few weeks, and we noted some very useful features: Maintains a continously editable smooth and watertight model – watertightness is not lost during editing Organic shapes are easily and quickly created Ability to define high or low detail… Continue reading T-Splines 2.0 Nearly Available
Fix That Rhinoceros!
The University of Minnesota’s course “ARCH 4150” provides an introduction to Rhino, but we noticed they’ve posted a detailed workbook on how to prepare your Rhino files for 3D printing. The book covers aspects such as naked edges, mesh conversion and accuracy. Enjoy! [UPDATE] Fixed the link below. Via uofmdigifab09 (PDF)
AnarkikAngels Challenges Conventions
Edinburgh-based AnarkikAngels is trying to break down a barrier that we’ve seen others try to breech: the difficulty in acquiring 3D models. As we’ve said many times before, 3D printing is simply not going to get off the ground until your mom is able to create or find useful 3D models suitable for 3D printing.… Continue reading AnarkikAngels Challenges Conventions
ShapeShop 3D Modeling Software
A new 3D Modeling tool has emerged: ShapeShop! It claims: ShapeShop is a new 3D modeling and design tool with a fun, easy-to-learn interface. Sketch-based shape creation and editing tools make it simple to quickly translate your ideas into a 3D shape, and drag-and-drop decal compositing makes texturing simple. Best of all, ShapeShop is free!… Continue reading ShapeShop 3D Modeling Software
AutoCAD 3D Bonus Pack
A new Bonus Pack is available for AutoCAD via your subscription. In fact, there are three available. The first provides extra measurement techniques, PLINE and rotation functions and a few other items. The second permits PDF underlays. The one we’re interested in is the third, the “3D Printing Bonus Pack”. What does it do? Well,… Continue reading AutoCAD 3D Bonus Pack
Cadalyst on 3D Publishing
We spend a lot of time thinking about designs and the technology to print those designs, but what about the notion of publishing designs? Once a model is produced, what happens to that model? Is it kept in a folder somewhere? Is it published on the Internet? What happens to that model once it is… Continue reading Cadalyst on 3D Publishing
Shapeways Creator Launched
Last week Shapeways, one of the newest and most interesting consumer-oriented 3D print services, launched a new beta of their user-friendly “Shapeways Creator” software. It is their answer to the difficult question of enabling laymen to design their own 3D objects without having to learn complex 3D software (which Shapeways also accepts, if you… Continue reading Shapeways Creator Launched
Through The Barrier
Previously we reported on a breakthrough in 3D software that permitted Revit 2009 users to easily access 3D Print Services via a special .STL exported for Revit 2009. Now Bim & Beam are collecting sample images of printed 3D objects that result from the use of the new software. Via Bim & Beam
STL Barrier Broken!
One of the ongoing bugaboos of 3D printing is that most 3D printers accept a limited number of 3D input files. Most typically, STL is expected. If you don’t match the protocol of your printer, you can’t print. One of the biggest hurdles has been making it possible for existing 3D models to be printed,… Continue reading STL Barrier Broken!
3D Printing from Google Sketchup
QuickArc has just announced that their 3D model viewer, QuickArc 3D, now can read and convert Google Sketchup 3D files into printable 3D format without any fuss. This development enables the release and potential printing of tens of thousands of 3D models previously in 3D jail within Google’s vast library. Free download (registration required)… Continue reading 3D Printing from Google Sketchup
ZEdit Unleashed
The big news this week was Z Corp’s announcement of new software: ZEdit Pro, which is used to develop 3D designs suitable for printing on 3D printers. Of course, the software just happens to be optimized for use in Z Corp’s line of 3D printers, but we suspect it works with other devices as well.… Continue reading ZEdit Unleashed
Considerations for 3D Printing
We frequently scan the Internet to find the latest on Fabbing, and lately we keep finding many postings regarding DesktopFactory’s sub-$5000 3D printer. We’re guilty of that ourselves.Many of these postings imply that 3D printing is going to be relatively straightforward. Just purchase the now-inexpensive printer and you’re good to go! But it’s not like… Continue reading Considerations for 3D Printing
OGLE 3D Model Extractor Available
The folks at Eyebeam OpenLab have produced (and released as open source software) OGLE, a very interesting package that: allows for the capture and re-use of 3D geometry data from 3D graphics applications running on Microsoft Windows. It works by observing the data flowing between 3D applications and the system’s OpenGL library, and recording that… Continue reading OGLE 3D Model Extractor Available