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Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire: Get a sneak preview of Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire by category each day until the big day, Sept. 22nd! Today’s featured category is 3D Printing.
Its funny that U saw this article because my high school was actually supposed to buy one for the prop shop. That is partly why our class was taught how to use 3d Studio Max. How these work I believe is that they read a rendering in 3DSMAX or autocad and then print thin layers of plastic ontop of one another and eventually it comes up with the 3D version of your rendering. Most of the props my school would have made with thee would have to have been made in separate pieces because I believe that they dont really print things that are much over 1ft.
I think these printers would change the props and probably scenery industries and have a higher demand for more tech-savvy designers.
This machine really does have fantastic potential for the theatre industry. Imagine being able to scan in a picture of an antique (yet falling apart) lantern or such and then being able to replicate it without damaging the original or guessing at the dimensions and design. Also, if you were in need of certain bolts or screws (at least for a temporary plastic fix) in lighting or sound equipment, you could produce it without having to wait for it to ship over or going to a specialty store and hoping they have it in stock. Undoubtedly, this is expensive equipment, but hopefully in the future this will be applied to theatrical uses.
While I agree with Kelly in the fact that this machine has great potential for our industry, it also sort of scares me. The technology involved with 3D printing is outstanding, and is something that could definitely be useful in theatre. However, I worry that designers and technicians will lose knowledge of how to actually create things, and to use their minds and creativity to come up with solutions for props, set pieces, etc. The 3D printer would allow for a prop master to simply create their props through a simple printing process. While this technology is outstanding and inspiring, it could also be dangerous. There is so much creativity and thought that goes into creating props. A machine like the 3D printer means that artists may just stop learning how to do things for themselves.
I have seen 3D printers before, and they are quite fascinating. The ones that I have seen people work with however have been ones where you have a 3D drafting that you input into the computer with dimensions and such, and then the printer creates it. When I went to the Maker's Faire over the weekend, I saw the 3D printer that HackPittsburgh had set up. It was an incredible set up. They had an xbox kinect hooked up to their program, and they used it to scan people's faces as they swiveled around in a chair. Then they would clean up the images they scanned, and send it to the printer. It was really wonderful to see the live scanning of objects/people and not have to do much of the work yourself.
I think 3D creation technology is pretty amazing. The ability for humans to design something using tools they can work with better than the tools that would physically create what is in their mind is a great resource. I can think, but I can't draw or sculpt. With tools like CAD, I can communicate my thoughts, but instead of paying a painter or sculpter to now realize my thoughts, I can use something like this.
I know CMU recently bought a 6 axis plasma cutter, which can do amazing things. I look forward to getting more technology like this on campus so it can be explored by the arts to see how it can be utilized to realize creative visions.
I'm not too excited about this article. Maybe it's because I've seen 2 3D printers already? One was at the Phoenix Science Museum, and they were recreating a femur bone. What they did was scan the object with a 3D scanner. It scanned various layers from multiple sides. Then the machine melted wax coils and laid the wax according to how the object looked in the scanner. The result was a femur bone made up of many levels. It reminded me of lego toys. The whole 3D printing sounds cool, but I don't see any creativity or individuality in it. Personally, I don't care what a computer / scanner / printer can show me. I know they recreate and copy images. Show me something different. WOW me!
6 comments:
Its funny that U saw this article because my high school was actually supposed to buy one for the prop shop. That is partly why our class was taught how to use 3d Studio Max. How these work I believe is that they read a rendering in 3DSMAX or autocad and then print thin layers of plastic ontop of one another and eventually it comes up with the 3D version of your rendering. Most of the props my school would have made with thee would have to have been made in separate pieces because I believe that they dont really print things that are much over 1ft.
I think these printers would change the props and probably scenery industries and have a higher demand for more tech-savvy designers.
This machine really does have fantastic potential for the theatre industry. Imagine being able to scan in a picture of an antique (yet falling apart) lantern or such and then being able to replicate it without damaging the original or guessing at the dimensions and design. Also, if you were in need of certain bolts or screws (at least for a temporary plastic fix) in lighting or sound equipment, you could produce it without having to wait for it to ship over or going to a specialty store and hoping they have it in stock. Undoubtedly, this is expensive equipment, but hopefully in the future this will be applied to theatrical uses.
While I agree with Kelly in the fact that this machine has great potential for our industry, it also sort of scares me. The technology involved with 3D printing is outstanding, and is something that could definitely be useful in theatre. However, I worry that designers and technicians will lose knowledge of how to actually create things, and to use their minds and creativity to come up with solutions for props, set pieces, etc. The 3D printer would allow for a prop master to simply create their props through a simple printing process. While this technology is outstanding and inspiring, it could also be dangerous. There is so much creativity and thought that goes into creating props. A machine like the 3D printer means that artists may just stop learning how to do things for themselves.
I have seen 3D printers before, and they are quite fascinating. The ones that I have seen people work with however have been ones where you have a 3D drafting that you input into the computer with dimensions and such, and then the printer creates it. When I went to the Maker's Faire over the weekend, I saw the 3D printer that HackPittsburgh had set up. It was an incredible set up. They had an xbox kinect hooked up to their program, and they used it to scan people's faces as they swiveled around in a chair. Then they would clean up the images they scanned, and send it to the printer. It was really wonderful to see the live scanning of objects/people and not have to do much of the work yourself.
I think 3D creation technology is pretty amazing. The ability for humans to design something using tools they can work with better than the tools that would physically create what is in their mind is a great resource. I can think, but I can't draw or sculpt. With tools like CAD, I can communicate my thoughts, but instead of paying a painter or sculpter to now realize my thoughts, I can use something like this.
I know CMU recently bought a 6 axis plasma cutter, which can do amazing things. I look forward to getting more technology like this on campus so it can be explored by the arts to see how it can be utilized to realize creative visions.
I'm not too excited about this article. Maybe it's because I've seen 2 3D printers already? One was at the Phoenix Science Museum, and they were recreating a femur bone. What they did was scan the object with a 3D scanner. It scanned various layers from multiple sides. Then the machine melted wax coils and laid the wax according to how the object looked in the scanner. The result was a femur bone made up of many levels. It reminded me of lego toys. The whole 3D printing sounds cool, but I don't see any creativity or individuality in it. Personally, I don't care what a computer / scanner / printer can show me. I know they recreate and copy images. Show me something different. WOW me!
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