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Chocolate Monkey Heads!

56

small_chocomonkey00.jpgAfter (almost) two years of writing for this website I thought I'd seen it all. Fortunately every now and then someone proves me wrong! Yesterday, Chris Want presented his collection of Blender chocolates to us. I'm sure that you'll all be having a hard time trumping THIS! :)

Chris writes:

Proof that I have far too much time on my hands. This project was inspired by the chocolate Hepatitis-C molecules by Caitlin Berrigan I saw at SIGGRAPH. My chocolate monkeys are based on the ubiquitous Suzanne (aka "Add->Mesh->Monkey" in Blender) and Cornelius, both designed by Willem-Paul van Overbruggen.

If you're thinking of trying to order a box of Suzanne and Cornelious chocolates, forget it: I tried and failed. He probably ate them all.

About the Author

Avatar image for Bart Veldhuizen
Bart Veldhuizen

I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.

56 Comments

  1. At last Blender is used for something useful! This should go immediately on the blender homepage. Features: modelling - animation - rendering - chocolate manufacturing...

  2. My question would be more targeted toward the 3D printer :P

    Is it a private 3D printer? Did you use one at your work? Did you ask a rapid prototyper in europe to do it for you? (if yes, I would like to have the adress, as my current prototyper seems to be sulking/blacklisting me...)

    Which process was used? STA? STS? FDM? :)

    PS : if you still have time to lose... How about a monkey cake with the same process? hehehe :p

  3. The texture is awesome, and the AO, impressive. :P ;)

    Joke aside, I require Suzanne chocolates so I can throw them at people at work. First they'll be confused as to why they got hit by a chocolate monkey head, but then the natural lust of chocolate will consume them, and I will control the work force.

  4. *collywobbles*
    when will they be buyable?
    Which flavours? (this looks like milk chocolate, what's about white and black chocolate?)
    If you're into it: what's about ice? :) ice monkeys :D

  5. @aws357

    Yes it is a private 3D Printer. Model is a ZCorp Spectrum Z510 (makes full color models out of plaster). I'm sure google will help you find a service bureau (I think the '3D Art to Part' website was used to print the Suzanne Awards in the past). Also, with an application like mold making where you are trying to avoid undercuts, there is also a possibility to use a CNC milling machine.

    Regards,
    Chris

  6. You did not work your chocolate shader...next time heat 2/3 of your chocolate at 45°C then cold it at 31°C by adding 1/3 of chocolate, and your chocolate will be shiny!!

    Felicitations!

  7. These would really make great gifts and awards! Maybe the Blender Foundation would be interested in the molds so they could mass produce chocolates for the e-Shop. I think these would be very popular. Great job!

  8. @-iFab- and rickpier

    No, this is 'chocolate compound coating' which is chemically easier to deal with than real chocolate because they've replaced the cocoa butter with vegetable oil which makes it easier to crystallize properly. It's pretty tasty, but not superb like real Swiss or Belgian chocolate.

    I have tried tempering Belgian (Callebaut) chocolate with the heat/seed/cool process that rickpier mentions, but it's a lot of work and in the end I had air bubbles which made the monkeys look pretty nasty (but damn, did they every taste good!).

    Chris

  9. Brilliant and yummy, and I'm sure eating monkeys is healthier than Hepatitis C Truffles.

    You may have a boutique industry there, molding peoples' models in chocolate!

  10. Man, good render... It almost looks real! SSS on the skin is really good, and still pasty, looks like a corpse. Teeth are uneven and look like they haven't even been cleaned recently. Chocolate looks badly baked... So much detail.

    Wow!

  11. Wow, Can I have a box, I'll 'buy' you a free copy of Blender?

    This is so amazing. Theirs a really good market for this, not only by blender users, but by those oodles of people that like monkeys.

  12. I see I've come to this thread way, way too late to start making jokes about what convincing renders these are...

    Pretty cool idea, though!

  13. Be funny to make an animation, then make chocolates out of each frame, and make a big chocolatey stop action animation.

  14. Damn, somebody remind me to brush and floss before my next close-up teeth photo!

    I should point out in my defense that what looks like serious discoloration on the lower front teeth is actually caused by the shadow of the monkey.

    @Bmud: prices vary a lot, so make sure you shop around -- most sites will have a 'Request a quote' link. Always make sure that the units you desire are clearly specified to the service bureau. Different technologies have different costs of consumables too. The cheapest are the plaster powder based 3D prints. Be careful about infiltration options (i.e., post treatments) since they might limit what you can do with the model afterwards (although they will usually improve the strength and finish of the final product). Also, if the service bureau gives you a better rate if you print a few more, take them up on it since it's easy to break 3d prints or damage them when you are post treating them.

    Chris

  15. @Hos et al,
    Umm I was joking... My teeth are probably worse than yours so don't worry about that.

    I have to admit I did think it might be rendered at first... and the joke was too much to pass up.

    Honestly, really good work. Choccies look delicious!

    Ps Hope I didn't offend.

  16. The perfect Xmas prezzie for little blender kiddies, or perhaps in a selection box, or an advent calendar, or Xmas tree decorations, or ...

  17. I my self having some red mold silicone but heat resistant for lead metal but never used it cause never found a method to easely dose the hardener. And here on this topic no access to any 3D printer.

  18. Mate you could seriously sell these on the E-shop. I know the process is long and time consuming but you could sell a box of 12 for like $50 if you wanted. Someone would buy them. And if you start getting flooded with orders, raise the price. If they want chocolate monkey heads they are gonna have to pay for them!

    Seriously sweet idea though. I for one have learnt something about 3d printing - It's rad =)

  19. Heh- I'd surely love to buy some. Additionally- it would be a great promoting tool. Imagine blender stand on GDC or SIGGRAPH with chocolate monkeys offered to visitors. I doubt and 3d package promotion took such an approach

  20. Your teeth look a million times better than mine Chris, damn genetic caries disease, so don't be so self-conscious about em.

    I still require chocolate monkey heads however. I must control the masses to do my bidding and for that, I need the power of chocolate monkey heads.

  21. a request to blender officials:
    make n sell these suzanne chocolates and chocolates of some other complex shapes. this will help in funding of development of blender 3d.
    its a new concept n could be a big commercial success (seems so from the responses).
    i'll be waiting for these to come out in the market.

  22. I would love love love to buy this mold to use....please let me know if you are going to sell it on etsy.com or ebay.com Awesome job.

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