3d printing

[stan]

http://www.3dsystems.com/on-demand-3d-parts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this might be useful to someone..

[froo]

That's pretty cool stan! Thanks for sharing!
I wonder when prices of these 3d printers will come down to a more affordable level.

[Emmanuel]

I ordered a "3D print" for a French client in 2008. The model was created in trueSpace and sent to the printer in STL format. It was measuring 24 x 8 x 10 cm. I remember I paid less than 200 euros (shipping included) for this.

I was very happy to see that I could generate a solid model directly from trueSpace !

[marcel]

I use stl for 3D print each week since many years with ts. You can also export as obj to another soft to convert as stl if there is a problem with the industrials. Most important is the quality of the mesh. Different than work for illustration. My clients pay the 3d print, never me. I can't imagine to pay for hundreds products i did with This technology

[marcel]

You can Have a 3d printer for the price of a good pc today. But it is for professionnals. In several years, it Will be as simple as a 2d printer for all.

[richlevy]

There are many different kits on the market right now that allow you to make parts and models, either from your drawings or for parts for machines. I still has a bit to go to get to the point where you can manufacture small scale from your house or garage, but the technology is getting closer all of the time.
http://www.makerbot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are many more sophisticated kits than this one, also make CNC machines is reasonably affordable and doable now for people with some electro mechanical skills. I have a good number of links for this also... it can be a bit pricey, but certainly in the realm of a high quality pc now.

Rich

[marcel]

I know a kit for a machine for 1200 € but resin for 3d print is not cheap. Same problem as ink for 2d work with large format. 3d print at home is not interesting for money. Only if you need to see quickly the result. But it is a need of professionnal.

[richlevy]

It may not be there right now... but there are hobbists making money with the lower end technology http://makerbot.tv/EU3H/makerbot-tv-s02 ... isits-bre/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
So, depending on your definition of a "professional" it is possible. As you say, it is still new and in a couple of years the technology will be developed further. Somewhere I have a link for another product similar to the MakerBot, one of the founders has gone out and started another company. There are also a couple of DIY versions on the web, they are getting there, not yet, but I think this will be taking off soon, there are a lot of people working with the technology right now.

I was just watching a video of a new version of the MS Kinect, this one is able to scan a high resolution 3 D model of a person I think it is the fusion http://research.microsoft.com/apps/vide ... ?id=152815" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; now look at this http://reconstructme.net/blog/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , this places a lot of power in the hands of non professionals, or does this create opportunities for nonprofessional/hobbists to become "professionals". This type of technology with a decent 3d printer, and you have a lot of power in the hands of normal people.

On the 3d forums a couple of months back there were many threads pertaining to the deal Weta? is doing, creating a school and having students paying them to work on productions... another thread in the Luxology forums had the title, "Is 3d becoming too easy?"... Than there are sites popping up all around the web for DIY type stuff, for almost anything... we live in a very different world than we did 5-10 years ago, things are changing very quickly, except for very gifted people, many industries will be able to be done by grunts... even electrical engineering is facing this with the way microcontrollers are developing today...

Man was that a rank or what
Nice seeing you posting on the boards again Marcell.

Rich

[marcel]

Thank for your info Rich. When i Say "professionnal" i mean "work for money". 3d print Just for fun need money that most of we don't Have. Professionnal is not necessary better
than non professionnal. He have the tools. That is the difference.