Shapeways: 3D Printing for the Masses, Contest

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For the last seven months I’ve been freelancing for a startup called Shapeways. Our mission is simple: we will make 3D printing (or ‘rapid prototyping’) accessible for everyone. Just upload your model as STL, Collada or X3D and we can produce it for you in a number of different materials.

Three of us have a history with Blender and used to work for Not a Number, so there’s a lot of Blender work going on here in the office. It’s a tough job ;-)

We’re still in private beta, but I’ll be giving away 500 invitations (more about that below).

This video explains how Shapeways works (by yours truly):

Samples

Here are some cool samples, prepared by Blender users:

‘Furless Lion’
by Kernon Dillon [kernond]		 ‘Man in Man’
by Sacha Goedegebure [sago]		 ‘Petunia’
by Dolf Veenvliet [macouno]

Challenge: Create the hottest 3D object to ‘bring into reality’.

While preparing for our visit to SIGGRAPH, we’re hosting a design contest. The winner will be selected by the community; the grand prize is a $500 voucher!

WHEN:

  • Submissions Accepted: August 1, 2008 – August  7, 2008 (this is FAST! Hurry up ;-)
  • Top 10 Finalists ANNOUNCED: August 11, 2008
  • Shapeways Community Voting: August 11 – 14, 2008
  • Grand Prize Winner ANNOUNCED: August 15, 2008

HOW:

  1. Upload Object Design (STL, Collada, X3D) to your Shapeways account.
  2. Upload a rendering representing the finalized object
  3. Enter the tag “SIGGRAPHContest”

500 Invitations

I’ll give away 500 invitations to Shapeways; if you’re interested, sign-up and enter beta-code ‘BlenderNation’.

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    • http://blenderbuch.de/ Carsten Wartmann

      Are there tools to check a own design for “rapid prototyping ready” (i.e. watertight? Loose Parts?).

      Cheers,
      Carsten

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      Yes, once you upload your file we’ll run a number of checks before your model is put in the gallery: water tightness, non-manifold, minimum wall thickness. We can actually print loose parts (multiple parts in one order or moving parts).

      In short: once your model is uploaded successfully, we’ll be able to print it.

    • http://frigi.designdevil.de/ frigi

      Yay, signed up for the beta!
      Are multiple entries allowed in the contest?

      And about what Carsten mentioned: Is it completely left to us to fix such issues (you run the test and we got to make the changes) or are you offering a cleanup service?

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @frigi: yes and no. During the beta we’re offering help; you can mail a file with problems to [email protected] and we’ll do our best. I wonder how long we’ll be able to keep that up once things really start rolling though. We’ll discuss the idea!

    • http://frigi.designdevil.de/ frigi

      Allright, thanks.
      Forgot to pose another question though: A few such printing-services tend to have quite some problems with high polycounts (and thus pretty large files) because they lack RAM. Did you yet try out your limit and if so about which size is it?

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @frigi: we’ve tested up to 100,000 triangles and I *think* our server should be able to handle 500,000 at this moment. Checking those models will take several hours though.

    • Goofster

      Saw the article on right.nl and went all “hey I know that dude!” :)

    • tmr232

      Just wondering, how much is a printed model supposed to cost?

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @tmr232 – the price depends only on the volume of your object and the kind of material that you want. Prices are between $1.87 and $2.89 per cm3. There’s no additional shipping fee – worldwide.

    • Tx_Rx

      Nice project. just wish I had a killer model to submit! :) Look forward to seeing some of the entrants if possible.

    • http://www.rgbk.org Bmud

      Well THAT was cool!

    • Jon

      These are amazing times we are living in. I’m gonna dig out my old sketches for designer toys.

      Can the final printed objects (is there a word for them?) be painted with common paints?

      How are the real world dimensions of an object defined in Blender? Do Blender units equate to any real measurement?

      Is there a way to ensure there are enough polygons in a model to appear as smooth curves when printed? Or is some form of real world Subsurf modifier applied? Or should the models be built with NURBS?

      Will you hook up with a casting company so that the 3D prints can be used as patterns for casting in vinyl or metals?

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @Jon: yes, you can paint, although I haven’t tried that yet. We have some more info on that here.

      Dimensions are still a bit tricky – for STL, one Blender unit equals 1 meter (this will soon be selectable during upload); for X3D and Collada I believe that one Blender unit equals 1cm.

      All objects should be built from pure meshes, we currently cannot process any modifiers or curves/nurbs. I don’t have a rule of thumb for the number of polygons to make a surface smooth yet..

      And about metal casting: why not print directly in metal instead? ;-)

    • Francisco Ortiz

      Dude that’s GREAT!

      Prices for rapid prototyping here in Brasil are very high!

      Sadly we don’t have a culture able to help self-though designers in here.

      Now we have a go! All the best for Shapeways!

    • YoYoFargo

      I’m guessing you guys have all the Big Buck Bunny characters immortalized in plastic?

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @YoYoFargo: we’d love to but it’s not trivial ;-) Models all have to be watertight and non-manifold. If you supply me with a printable model, you’ll get a copy for free!

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      Hmpf, I think I need to clarify that a bit: when designing for 3d printing, you have to keep the printing process and its requirements in mind. Typically when modeling for animation there are many things that you don’t have to care about – many objects have holes, or have complete parts missing (if you never see a character’s back, then why model it?). Simply taking a model that’s been created for other purposes will likely require a lot of cleaning up before it’s printable.

      That’s why frigi above asked for a cleaning service – he obviously knows how much work this can be ;-)

    • http://www.montagestudio.org Jean-Sébastien Guillemette

      I’ll definitly be looking at printing some of my models with your service when it comes fully operationnal :)

      I do have some questions. I understand that the object needs to be closed, etc. But since I’ve never exported to stl, collada or X3D format, I’d like to know how your system behave with intersecting meshes.

      What I mean is that I have some car models, but the different pieces forming the car (tire, exhaust pipe, windows, etc..) are intersecting each other instead of being a single mesh completly fusionned (vertices/faces wise) together. The final mesh is completly closed, but there are some vertices ‘inside’ the mesh. Is that a problem? Or your system somehow only use the outline?

      Sorry for the dumb question :)

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      Intersecting meshes are no problem!

    • http://amoose.psoplayer.com amoose136

      This looks really useful. *bookmarked*
      What materials do you have?

    • http://www.steam-train.de/ Haunt_House

      Hi Bart

      About the hottest 3D Object: What are the maximum dimensions and resolution of the finished print?. I’m just curious about how much detail one should use.

      I’m quite sure I’ll use your company to make our steam train trophy (:

      Cheers

      Haunt

    • Ben

      You know, I seriously designed a piece the other day and thought – that would make a neat collectable if 3D printing wasn’t so costly!

      You guys rock, although I’m going to have to put my foot down in the next 6 days… Definately plan to send some stuff.

      Smoothness – Main in Man looks much smoother than say Petunia, but I’m guessing that is mainly because of the look of the material rather than surface quality? Probably not an issue, but does sandpaper work on these models if a surface is a little grainy and we are perfectionists?

      :)

    • Morris

      so a 10 cm cube would cost about 2000 dollars? hmmm

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @amoose136: currently we have four materials: ABS White (lower resolution but strong), Objet materials (white and transparent, hi-res) and SLS (very white, strong, slightly flexible).

      @Haunt_House: the maximum size is currently about 40x40x40cm, but printing something on that size would still cost a small fortune ;-)

      @Morris: yes, *but* you wouldn’t print a solid cube. Make it hollow and you’ll save a fortune.

    • Lasphere

      Hey Bart! This is a great idea! But just to make sure im know what you mean:

      This contest, does the winner gets his\hers model printed and shipped for free? Is that the prize?

      Thanks!

    • Morris

      Ohh!!! my bad. hollow cube. but, can this thing print hollow things, or do you mean print 6 plates and somehow glue them?

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @Lasphere: the winner will get a voucher that can be used to print for up to $500 at Shapeways. You can probably print your own design a few times from that!

      @Morris: yes, we can print hollow objects. The only requirement is that you leave a few holes in the wall so we can remove the ‘support’ or excess material that’s on the inside. It’ll arrive completely ready – no need to assemble. In fact, you can print out fully functional mechanical objects with moving parts – all in one go! For example, we have a print of an adjustable wrench here in the office. Take it out of the printer, and it just works :) (this stuff keeps surprising me!)

    • http://tieleman.m.googlepages.com freakydude

      Signed up for the beta.

      I have a few things I might want printed in 3D… :)

    • http://www.1door2.eu patdog

      Bart, I am curious why half your website is freely available and almost every second link you have to login to read. Wouldn’t it be beneficial to have as many people as possible reading your stuff?

      Under the About page > How it works > It only mentions export to Collada & X3D not .STL – of-course if you click on the tutorial page you get routed to the login page. Guess I’m just an average lazy person that prefers just reading stuff without having to use logins….

    • Hiku

      how thin can the objects be?

    • Jon

      Crickey. Printing in metal (Metal Laser Sintering) is just totally bonkers. I’m gonna have to get something done with that.

      Can you do smooth shiny chrome? Or maybe even black chrome?

      Thanks for answering my previous questions. It’s great that the 3D prints can be painted, but maybe you could add that as an extra option to your service. Just a small range of basic colours in gloss and matt would be OK. I would certainly pay extra to have a model arrive already finished in matt black or glossy red.

    • wolfmanyoda

      Sorry if this is a stupid question, I understand watertight but what is non-manifold?

    • http://home.deds.nl/~mp/ ysvry

      nice i have some blend files lying around , as ure all blender fans i assume it will be ok to send them as .blend files yes?, this is a blender site right? ;)

    • Roger

      great going bart and all! signing up right away! hope to be able to use this a lot in the future!

      cheers

    • http://www.pyrosever.com pyrosever

      oh man, that’s so cool. This is such a great idea for a business. Bookmarked.

    • http://www.steam-train.de/ Haunt_House

      @wolfmanyoda

      non-manifold means more or less that every edge of your mesh is part of two faces, not three+ or one. Then you have a closed mesh which has a clearly defined outside and inside if it doesn’t intersect itself.

      In Editmode, you can check for nonmanifold if you press Akey until nothing is selected and then Alt-Ctrl-Shift-Mkey. Very handy for checking meshes and one heck of a hotkey (:

    • wolfmanyoda

      @Haunt_House–Ah, thanks chief :)

    • Roger

      wow bart! you’ve been buzy! im really lookin forward to making my own actual 3d models! the 3d gallery works splended!

      small error on a description of a model:
      Title: Walker 3D Character Size: Height 499.7 cm Width 600.0 cm Depth 235.9 cm

    • http://www.creaturefeature.info/ Ataru

      Three cheers for ShapeWays! :-D Honestly, I love this… it’s awesome to have 3D printing, if a little expensive, available. Thanks Bart, and I’ll bet you’re having fun! ;-)

      Entered a fun cartoon model in the contest… can’t wait to see the results, it’ll be killer sweet whether I win or not! ;-)

    • Lars

      Nice that it also can be done with Blender.

      Your movie is also on Tweakers.net now, Bart.

      Check it out here: http://tweakers.net/nieuws/54896/nieuwe-online-dienst-maakt-3d-printen-betaalbaar.html

    • skuntz

      That’s great, but what sets your service apart from the many other 3D RP services out there? I have been working with RP services for years and there are hundreds to choose from.

    • Patrick

      Hi! Does it cost money to subscribe for beta?

    • http://www.1door2.eu patdog

      @skuntz You might suggest service? But shapeways aren’t fast in answering e-mails. Also they hide behind a shroud called ‘Login’. They’ve got a big backer called PHILLIPS which might give them some room to play with us. There is room for competitors so maybe they’ll squeeze in….

      @Patrik probably patience ;)

    • Patrick

      “@Patrik probably patience ;)” You mean it cost time and not money?

    • Witchfinder General

      @skuntz

      Any chance you could list some of the best RP services you have used so we can all check them out.

      Or are you just trolling?

    • http://www.blendernation.com Bart

      @patdog: about the login: yes, we’re aware of that, but it’s a choice we made. There’s still a lot of work to be done, so we’re currently not opening up the entire site yet. The ‘closed beta’ will be over in a few weeks, then all the info will be available for everyone.

      @hiku: it depends a bit on the material, but usually 3-4mm will work.

      @Jon: we don’t actually offer metal yet, but we’re looking in to it. I can’t tell yet if we’ll offer smooth metals yet. Stay tuned :)

      @Roger: ah, you spotted our testmodel %^) We made that one way too large by request of the artists, who didn’t want others to be able to order his model.

      @skuntz: we’re aiming to offer the best price possible, make the process as easy as we can and we’ll be offering all kinds of materials. Most RP shops are limited to one or two types of printers and materials, we’ll be offering much more than that!

      @Patrick: no, you can sign up for the beta at http://www.shapeways.com/beta and enter ‘BlenderNation’ as the beta invite code. You’ll get an invitation.

      @patdog: we’re *not* fast? Wow, we try to answer almost all our mail within one day even during the weekends. We thought that’d be fast enough ;-)

    • Randy

      Will any 3d file exported to STL work or dose it need to be done up in blender?

    • NCubed

      Congrats for the mention on 3DWorld’s weblog http://www.3dworldmag.com/page/3dworld/20080807

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