3-D Printing is now affordable

[Harry P.]

Hey! That's very cool! I didn't know 3-D files could be saved as a PDF.

[NormL]

As the maker of the pdf you hold the keys, but, in general they have a very limited number of polygons and are demo purposes only

[Psychographic]

I should have been more specific in my question. I had assumed the file would need to be exported as another format and that it would have to be rescaled for the printer. I was just wondering if the wireframe or whatever it is called in the gaming world could be transferred to use for a 3D printer.

[NormL]

Yes, now that you mention it, the files would almost always have to be re-scaled.The wire frame is the Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) of either a surface or solid. If you have a TIN drawn as a solid and it is water tight then apply some software magic and print. For the most part, even though it can represent a solid, a TIN is considered a mesh or a surface. A surface has no depth or thickness as a solid does, as when in a game you are at the edge and things are a little wonky and you can look down the edges of the panels. A surface or cannot be printed as there is no thickness, you can add thickness and print. I hope that answers your question ...

[NormL]

Maybe I should go in a little further since you are going to have to share 3D information on this forum, ... well fairly soon. A pdf utilizes a "Universal 3D" format know as .u3d there is a commercial package for this Tetra4D or you can make the .u3d in a freeware program MeshLab. MeshLab will convert a lot of formats. Once you have your 3D design as a u3d file and you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat version 8 on you can import it. Not all versions work so I will place a u3d if I can for you to test your version. Mine is Acrobat X and it is tools - content - multimedia - 3D

The forum would not let me attach a ".u3d" so I renamed it ".doc". Rename it .u3d and you can place it in Acrobat.

Jack24.doc

[Foxer]

In general a 3D object made for a video game will be optimized for a few faces possible and still end up looking good. It's more a matted of the video card than looking good to a modeler. Something you'd want to print with your new 3D printer would have a many faces as you could get.

[my66s55]

The new Makibox 3D printer to be released this March. Starting price is $200.00. http://www.makibox.com/products

[sjordan2]

Living large: a 3D-printed house.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/tech/innovation/building-3-d-printer/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5

[martinfan5]

The new Makibox 3D printer to be released this March. Starting price is $200.00. http://www.makibox.com/products

That is very cool

Edited January 25, 2013 by martinfan5

[Danno]

Buy one, JW!

Then I'll come over and use yours!!!

[MustangGuy23]

I really wish I could afford one of these. Opens up so many ideas for those of us who like to scratchbuild, but have less-than-stellar skills.

[sjordan2]

One more sign that the technology will be picking up speed:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/tech/innovation/obama-3d-printing/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

PLEASE don't use this as an excuse for political commentary (prohibited on this forum) or snarky comments.

Edited February 13, 2013 by sjordan2

[MAGNUM4342]

You know, they laughed long and hard at Gene Roddenberry with his communicators and replicators in Star Trek. Now here we are only a half decade later with cell phones (some of which still flip open) and 3D printing. Makes me wonder what's next. SNARK!

[NormL]

Glad you changed the link, the first one had me confused to say the least

[NormL]

You have heard of the iWatch haven't you? Dick Tracy

[Deathgoblin]

I really want one of those. I could do all kinds of things with it.

[sjordan2]

You have heard of the iWatch haven't you? Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy was at the forefront of a lot of technology, some of it yet to come. As a character named Diet Smith said -- an entrepreneurial mogul in the Dick Tracy strip -- "The nation that controls magnetism will rule the universe." He invented floating platforms.

[David]

Here is a link to a blog for Autodesk discussing 3D printing.

http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2013/01/dont-have-a-3d-printer-no-problem.html

David

[sjordan2]

Hmmm. I opened a new thread based on a current news event of particular interest on this subject, but now it's post #114 in an old thread. Perhaps we should combine all General Lee threads into a single thread?

Reminds me of a quote I read years ago when The Los Angeles Times newspaper was going through major problems:

"It's fascinating reading the L.A. Times. You never know on what page you're going to find a Page One story."

Edited February 14, 2013 by sjordan2

[martinfan5]

Reminds me of a quote I read years ago when The Los Angeles Times newspaper was going through major problems:

"It's fascinating reading the L.A. Times. You never know on what page you're going to find a Page One story."

The AZ Republic is like that as well

[Danno]

The single biggest problem is the one we were told to ignore and that is accuracy. As I alluded too, another issue is that most the game models I have seen are modeled to surfaces and not solids. This does not sound like much, but, can be painful. For instance, the Atom model that I have going on in another thread, the tires are surfaces as I had no intention of printing them. I am using some off the shelf Pegasus tires and made some surface representations of them as place holders. If I forget to turn them off the printing software just ignores them, anyway.

Basically if the model is a 3D solid, it is just a simple software handshake and make sure it is within your printing minimums and water tight.

Some of you undoubtedly know, but, you can save 3D data in pdf's. I have attached one of the 1/24th scale jack I did as a sample. Just click in the picture and rotate, pan and zoom with your mouse. There is also the ability to comment and measure and turn items off and on if it has been set up for it.

OMG! That's awesome.

[Fender]

It is very interesting to watch one work-- there was one at the company I worked at. It had a little window where you could see the part come into being. That was a few years ago. I have a part from the machine. It's a sectioned off box about 3 x3 with about 3/8" walls, closed in except for the top of the "box". White plastic. Very clean very distinct smoothe edges and corners. The first thing I thought when I saw this printer was how it could make model parts. Like any new technology the printer was not cheap. It needed it's own air-conditioning unit and venting. That was big bucks.

[sjordan2]

Just saw this on another forum: The James Bond DB5 that was destroyed in "Skyfall" was a 1/3 scale model that was 3D printed...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2232252/The-secret-James-Bonds-priceless-Aston-Martin-DB-5-stunts-3D-printed-models-used-Skyfalls-dangerous-scenes.html

[GerN]

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/

This excellent website recommends an issue of Make magazine devoted to 3D printing. It sounds like a good summary of where the technique is currently.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

I have read thru this post, and am excited about the technology, but to be honest, and not sure that I have the "architectural" or Design/drafting" skills needed to implement it. Say I need a replacement carb, I would assume I need a fully detailed digital redering for the "printer" to work from, would I not? If I have NO clue how to do this drafting, or insufficient time in my life to learn the skill, then the tool would not be helpful would it?

I certainly can see several aftermarket firms getting great use out of the tool.