Tag Archives: design

Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Stocks, Cloud, Virality, Children’s Books, Olympics

3D Printed Rocket Espresso Cup

A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from July 9 to July 15.

Monday, July 9

Tuesday, July 10

Wednesday, July 11

Thursday, July 12

Friday, July 13

3D Printed Rocket Fuel Espresso Cup Goes Viral, Boosts Sales

 

3D Printed Rocket Espresso Cup

The emergence of 3D printing technology and 3D printing marketplaces, like Shapeways, is enabling designers to publish innovative products that are ready for commercial use. One such product is this Rocket Espresso Cup by Isohedral which is 3D printed in glazed ceramics.

3D Printing Rocket Espresso Full

For a great design to catch the eye of consumers, it needs to be photographed in context. These warm, artistic photos truly tell the story of that morning espresso – a.k.a. rocket fuel. The photos were posted to Flickr, Tumblr, and other social networks, where they went viral and were reposted over 6,000 times.

The outcome of this social media exposure was captured on the Shapeways blog:
  • A spike in traffic to the Rocket Espresso product page that has lasted over a week,
  • X number of sales of the cup to people all around the world
  • Traffic increase across the entire site
  • Increased sales to individual shops across the Shapeways site
  • An inspiring story of the little rocket that could…

All this from a great design, beautifully photographed and shared into the social web….

This experience should help other designers with ideas for promoting their own products in the future.

 

Bring Children’s Books Alive: 3D Printing The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 3D

Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic children’s book originally published in 1969 and enjoyed by kids across the world.

3D printing marketplace i.materialise hosted a contest for designers to create their favorite storybook character. The winner was design firm timeRemapper who depicted Carle’s caterpillar laid up on a couch after too much pizza.

The winning design was 3D printed by i.materialise.

3D Printed Hungry Caterpillar

3D Printing Architecture From the Cloud with 3D Model-To-Print Service

3D Model to Print

Cloud-based architecture 3D printing service 3D Model-To-Print announced availability of its service in North America after 3 years of development.

3D Model-To-Print (3DMTP USA and 3DMTP LTD) today announces the industry’s first affordable cloud-based service available in North America (www.3DMTPusa.com). Released after three years of development and rigorous testing, 3DMTP’s revolutionary, cloud-based patented technology prepares models to be 3D printed by automatically converting commonly-used architectural software files into 3D printable models, all without the need for costly and time-consuming manual preparation.

3D printing is used in architecture for a more effective and efficient design cycle, and improved visualization between the architect and their audience. The challenge of 3D printing for architects and designers has been the complexity, time, and cost required to prepare 3D design files for printing. With 3DMTP, architects and designers can see a return on investment in about one hour, compared to the traditional manual process.

“The solution that 3DMTP provides is one that has long been needed for our architectural customers,” states Kevin Carr, General Manager of Imaging Division of Mastergraphics — a a 3DMTP USA user, 3D print network member, and both an Autodesk and 3D Systems reseller with locations in Wisconsin, Chicago and Minneapolis. ”Not only does it save hours–even days–in the process of preparing 3D architectural design for 3D printing, it also significantly reduces the cost to prepare the designs, making  3D printing a more usable and affordable option for those wanting to make models of their architectural designs.”

How It’s Done
3DMTP is dedicated to making 3D scaled models printable and available to every architect, developer, and designer at a reasonable price. The innovation is based on cutting-edge algorithms which study the geometric structure of the model, then identify and automatically fix problems that would have prevented it from successfully printing.

“We are committed to providing a state of the art experience that will simplify and enable seamless execution of 3D architectural scale model creation,” comments Ilan Sidi, CTO of 3DMTP and the pioneer of the technology.  

How to Get Started
First, log in to the 3DMTP Portal. Once you are ready to turn your design into a 3D printable model, upload your design file and set your parameters: scale, profile, and desired 3D printer. 3DMTP automatically processes the file without any additional operator interface. 3DMTP also fixes holes between polygons and facets, repairs reverse surfaces, changes the thickness of walls to minimum print tolerance for the selected printer, fixes non-volumetric geometry (making objects “watertight”), and fixes many other problems of degenerated geometry that otherwise would prevent the model from printing successfully.

Become a Member of the 3D Print Network
3DMTP USA is now cultivating a 3D print network in the US and Canada, comprised of 3D printer dealers, BIM/CAD dealers, and 3D print providers such as architectural model shops and reprographics service bureaus.

“We are creating this professional network to help support the anticipated demand for printing 3D architectural models, due to the reduced time and cost to ready AEC models. This increased demand will be a direct result of the introduction of the 3D Model-to-Print™ automated technology into the North American markets,” explains Phil Magenheim, Director of 3DMTP USA.

Those interested in learning more about converting their 3D architectural designs into printable 3D models, or those interested in learning more about becoming a member for the 3DMTP print network member, should visit 3DMTPusa.com or contact 3DMTP USA by emailing info@3DMTPusa.com or by calling 301-637-5900.  

About 3DMTP
3D Model-To-Print (3DMTP) develops and offers a unique, innovative, patented cloud-based processing service and studio software that can make every architectural 3D CAD, BIM, or SketchUp design a scaled printable model. 3DMTP is a privately owned and funded venture founded by a group of software entrepreneurs and architects who identified a novel and cost-effective solution for automatizing and optimizing the creation of 3D architectural scale models using 3D printing technologies.

 

Via 3dmtpusa.com.

3D printed architecture photo by post-apocalyptic research institute used under Creative Commons license.

Moddler is Making the Market in High-End 3D Printing [Video]

Moddler 3D Printing

John Vegher, founder of Moddler, is making a market in high-end 3D printing. His clients are from all industries: medical devices, industry designers, film studios, fine artists, students, architects, and more.

His team receives a digital file and then 3D prints the design on an Objet Eden 500V, which costs about $250,000 and can print high-resolution in 16 micron layers. They clean up the print and ship it back to the customer.

Where does Vegher see big changes coming? In material science. You can print in glass, metal and more.

Watch the video below to see what Moddler is cooking up in 3D printing.

 

Via VentureBeat.