New Equipment Digest: Airwolf 3-D announced early this week that it has added an entry-level 3D printer—the AW3D HDL—for the professional market, that costs $2,295.00.
All 3D printers are made in America, manufactured in the company’s 12,000 sq. ft. facility in Costa Mesa, Calif.
3 comments:
One thing this article brought up at the end was that they were encouraging student lessons on how to operate the device. I believe that, given the direction these machines are going in, students of many disciplines should be briefed in how they operate before they start becoming run-of-the-mill.
Specifically, they would be very useful in many theaters for many different purposes. Not necessarily to print out props or anything like that, but to replace specific pieces of instruments, or to assist in a set designer's model building process.
As these devices become cheaper and cheaper, schools, and theaters all over the country should begin to invest.
This is cool, although I doubt it’s the first 3d printer that offers this aggressive pricing.
I understand that it’s definitely a selling point to be able to get the machine for under 3000 dollars, for a variety of reasons. A lot of government and public organizations and large nonprofits require certain purchases to be below a certain threshold. I also understand that a complete machine for this price is very attractive for startups.
What is not mentioned in this article is the cost of the printer material. While the price of the machine is low, do the consumables cost as much as other, more expensive, models? If so, I’m not sure it makes much sense to get a less equipped machine if you can afford it.
What potential use does this machine have? Well I think every props shop should have at least 3. While it may be more expensive, it could prove an invaluable tool for props shops to print duplicate and rehearsal props of original more fragile pieces, particularly when combined with the Autodesk software mentioned in another article this week.
It's both cool and scary to watch the prices for 3D printers continue to drop. On one hand, this could be valuable technology on the general market. On the other hand, a 3D printer falling into the wrong hands could mean trouble. We have only begun to see the capabilities of these machines, and I don't believe their full potential has yet been reached. Whether the technology is good for us as a society or will eventually be harmful is a question that neither I, nor anybody, can answer. However, it will be very interesting to watch the evolution of 3D printers play out. Will this be a standard item to have in a home one day? Will it be something everyone grows up using? It's not out of the question, as people were once just as mystified about things such as the Internet.
Post a Comment