Despite Housing Woes, Architectural 3D Printing
Thrives
Last year, Mark Mackie spotted a trend that was eerily familiar to him. Architectural design and model making was entering the same phase that mechanical design and parts making had experienced a decade before: a transition from 2D to 3D design, and all the pains and promise that accompany it.
3D-Printed Mountain Lodge Model
Photo Courtesy Sweet Onion Creations |
Determined to not miss-time this opportunity, Mackie launched QuickARC in October, 2007. Since then, despite the housing slump, the division is up to about 5 projects a week. "We had our best month ever in April," Mackie says.
QuickARC isn't exactly on the bleeding edge. Some architects and builders have been using additive manufacturing to create architectural models for a number of years now. It's just that better and cheaper rapid prototyping processes, combined with increasingly CAD-savvy architects, means that computer renderings are steadily being replaced by 3D-printed scale concept models. According to a number of service providers, the trend is so strong that it's overpowering the retrenchment in residential construction.
Technologies
QuickARC makes 65% of architectural models using the stereolithography (SLA) process. This is more a tribute to Quickparts' existing machine base than anything - the company has 47 SLA machines. QuickARC builds 30% of its models using six Z Corp. 3D printers, and the remaining 5% are built using selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), or polyjet. Mackie admits that it is cheaper to use a 3D printer, but that as the model increases in size, the cost advantage disappears, due to the effort required in piecing component parts together. Using 3D Systems' Viper Pro SLA System with a build capacity of 650 x 750 x 550 mm using a large size resin delivery module, "we can knock the piece out in one build," he says.
At RedEye ARC, RedEye RPM's new architectural and home builder model maker, the technology of choice is FDM. Once again, this is due more to RedEye's origins than anything (RedEye is FDM system manufacturer Stratasys' service bureau arm and has 85 machines in Minnesota, 15 in Europe, and 5 in Australia), but there are some advantages. RedEye specializes in what it calls an "interactive model," where roofs and floors are removable to allow for a better view of hidden features. "Other technologies can't do that because of the supports required," says Jeff Hanson, manager of business strategy and development at RedEye ARC.
Hanson is making the comparison to 3D printing, which is the most widely used for architectural model making due to Z Corp.'s marketing to architects, and its superior speed and cost. The 3D printers use a white powder that is bonded by liquid adhesive that is deposited by an inkjet print head. The resultant model looks good, but is somewhat brittle.
Software
Of the service providers RapidToday spoke to, almost all said that extensive file repair was often necessary to get drawing files 3D printable. Mackie at QuickARC put it at 20% of total cost, or US$600 of a typical US$3,000 model build. (For perspective, he says this model will use only about US$250 of SLA resin, which sells for about US$1,000 a gallon.)
There are two problems will architectural CAD files. One is that most architecture software programs, like ArchiCAD and Revit, don't allow direct export to STL files, the RP standard. So, files have to be exported to DWG, imported into AutoCAD, then exported to STL...
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Posted by admin on Thursday, 08-May-2008 09:23 AM
Software Eases 3D Printing of Avatars
In 2006, when Mike Buckbee started offering the service of 3D printing Second Life avatars, it created a sensation. After all, there were already some two million residents of the virtual world, many of whom spent as much time “in-world” as in the real world. Why wouldn’t they want a tangible version of their digital persona?
World of Warcraft FigurePrint |
Reached on his cell phone by RapidToday, Buckbee says he is still plugging at it, but he isn’t thriving. He still works full time as a project manager for a development company, and runs Virginia Beach, Va.-based Fabjectory on the side. (As of post time, the site had been down for a couple weeks). Partnering with rapid prototyping service bureaus like Anvil Prototype & Design in Charlotte, NC, Buckbee says he still does 5-10 a month, but that “it’s time consuming” to fix the breaks and thin features like hair and ear rings that look good on a computer screen but are impossible to print. “Avatars are created for visual effect – there is no thought given to printing them,” he says.
Maybe so, but a lot of thought is being given to making it easier to transform an aesthetically pleasing avatar into a digitally-sound fabber-ready .stl file. Given the huge numbers of online players (13 million uniquely-named avatars in Second Life alone), the potential market is huge. In March, Massachusetts-based Z Corp. (in partnership with Finnish software developer DeskArtes) released the best effort to date. Its ZEdit Pro software automatically detects problem areas, and helps to close gaps, repair meshes, and add depth. The software also makes it easy to add graphical elements, like color, texture, and labels. It also splits too-large models into multiple pieces and hollows out objects, saving on pricey build media. Besides avatar printing, the software is meant to ease the printing of medical scans and architectural renderings.
The idea is to democratize 3D printing, to give MCAD capability to computer users with no more than generic MS Windows skills. “We want to move to being like a 2D paper printer – no training class involved,” says Roger Kelesoglu, Z Corp.’s director of customer development. Of course, democratization only goes so far. ZEdit Pro costs US$2,500 and only works with a Z Corp. printer, which run US$20,000 and up.It will be interesting to see how ZEdit and other inevitable software offerings affect companies like Redmond, Wash.-based FigurePrints, which created a buzz at its startup in December, 2007. FigurePrints fabs 3D models of characters from World of Warcraft, which now has over 10 million subscribers. FigurePrints has been
Z Corp. Spectrum Z510 3D Color Printer |
If FigurePrints can adjust to the rapidly shifting landscape, there should be plenty of business to go around. Electronic Arts has dropped strong hints that it will offer 3D printed figures from its oft-delayed blockbuster game Spore, which is now due September 7, 2008.
As for Z Corp., it’s already working on the algorithms for software to address the next most pressing issue: “Solving the problem where ...
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Posted by admin on Friday, 25-Apr-2008 13:43 PM
Battle of the Cheap 3D Printers
| Advantage | |||
| Name | V-Flash Desktop Modeler | 125ci 3D Printer | V-Flash – Superhero name trumps recycled BMW model name |
| Manufacturer | 3D Systems | Desktop Factory | 125ci – DF was founded by prolific Bill Gross and his Idealab. 3DS has more experience, but it lost $5M in 2007. |
| Availability | April 2008 | 3rd Quarter 2008? | V-Flash – A product beats a prototype any day |
| Cost | US$9,900 | US$4,995 | 125ci – Duh |
| Material | Photopolymer | Nylon-aluminum-glass composite | 125ci – More robust material |
| Max Build | 7” x 9” x 8” | 5” x 5” x 5” | V-Flash – Bigger is better |
| Outside | 30” x 27” x 24” – 100 lbs | 25” x 20” x 20” – 90 lbs | 125ci – Smaller is better |
| Technology | Film Transfer Imaging | Halogen bulb melts plastic powder in .010 thick layers | V-Flash – SLA-like process should deliver better accuracy, resolution, and finish |
| Website | modelin3d.com | desktopfactory.com | 125ci – Less corporate, better graphics |
| Overall | 125ci – V-Flash builds a better part, but the 125ci’s cost is revolutionizing the industry. And DF is promising a US$1,000 3D printer in 3 years. Given the delays of the 125ci, don’t bet on it. | ||
Posted by admin on Monday, 25-Feb-2008 10:45 AM