Three-dimensional
(3D) printing of small objects at home has become a popular hobby for wannabe
designers, and this shows also in the new technology “hype” statistics.
Anything from decorative and hard-to-find spare parts to the constituent parts of
the printer itself can be manufactured using mesh designs and an export file
for the printer in question. Second Life © (SL) is also a viable platform for
viewing the designs before printing them in 3D, and now also designs made for
SL can be printed in glorious 3D for real-life (RL) use. Stareyes Galaxy
discussed the technology and real-life examples of SL jewelry with Joja Dhara
and Maxi Gossamer.
Joja
Dhara is a a community manager for FabLab Dronten in the Netherlands,
specializing on 3D printing. She is also the organizer of MetaMeets, a
conference series on 3D virtual reality spaces. I met her at the Venice sim,
and we sat down for a cup of cappuccino to discuss the past, present, and the
future of bringing SL designs to RL by 3D printing. She began by saying: “We have
been creating in 3D for many years and honestly, 3D printing is not new. I
remember, around 2007 there was a company in SL that could 3D print your avatar
already. Only in that time 3D printers were expensive. Now it is more available
for the masses so it becomes more interesting, that you can create something
here and someone around the world picks it up and likes to have it for real life.”
SLE: So, the
development is going toward where avatars can take their designs and print them
for real life, at their home, instead of having someone to do it for you?
JoJa: Yes, indeed, and the
fun part can also be that you both work on an item. I love for instance the
open-source Pixelviewer that has the ability to print out your object that you
created in-world.
SLE: How do you think
the current offering of home/hobbyist 3-D printers can do this for you?
JoJa: With some
interesting open source 3D programs like Sketchup and Blender, it makes [this]
possible. So yes, it is interesting to have a 3D hobbyist printer.
SLE: Home-grade
printers have some problems with regard to the filament getting all over the
place, filament supply cutting off at the wrong spot etc. Do you experience
these problems as an obstacle?
JoJa: In case of material instability...
I think we all are pioneers in this whole 3D web environment... Yes, there are
still some down things like material leaking etc., but as we are so known to ‘xyz’ we quickly can adjust.
SLE: If you are eager
to get a design of yours printed as a 3-D object, what should you do?
JoJa: First design it
outside the world ... like I say with Blender or Sketchup... let someone look
in-world to it, adjust, and then print it out...
SLE: So, you need to
be a mesh-qualified designer in SL (easy quiz) and have the software tool to
convert the design to code for the printer.
JoJa: To bring it in so far
as I know you need to know about how to import it inworld... so yes.
We
then discussed color and texturing. With the filament-style (additive) hobbyist
printers, only one color at a time is possible, but with subtractive-style
printers it is possible to color the resulting resin object by painting it.
Textures are difficult, as today it is costly to print a texture on a model.
Second Life could, even with these limitations, become a platform for sharing
designs. JoJa: “Hobby printing is great
for prototyping, besides outside world object to replace if broken. But it
would be interesting if for instance a button of a coffee machine is broken and
you have a file of this made, and share this here... press on the coffee
machine to get the file for the broken button or something.”
SLE: Where do you see
is the greatest demand for 3-D printing, currently?
JoJa: Prostheses, jewelry
business... prototyping of architecture... food printing... and as said broken
things... handles, buttons, beside all the great creativity in art... but also
in printing out the printer itself!
SLE: Yes, I have
often wondered - are we entering the era of self-replicating machines?
JoJa: We work at the FabLab
with a 3d printer that most parts are printed out by the printer... Felixprinter.
Exactly!
SLE: I know that all
of these open-source printers have their own web forums. Would it be a stretch
to expect to see some of that activity here on SL?
JoJa: Thingiverse is one
of them .. I dearly hope so.
SLE: Technically -
what are the size limits in 3-D printing?
JoJa: Of the hobby ones, I
would say 20 cm cubed.
SLE: So, no printing
a house to live in.
JoJa: No you need bigger
printer for [that] - but you can do brick by brick.
SLE: Is the 3-D
printing of objects expensive, in RL terms?
JoJa: No, you really can
take a lot out of filament of let’s say 1kg, only it is a matter of mass and
time.
Maxi
Gossamer, the well-known jewelry and accessory designer joined us, and we paid
a visit to her in-world store “Gossamer Jewellery” as well.
SLE: Maxi, maybe you
could tell me about how you came about the idea of taking your SL jewelry to
the real world, in the first instance?
Maxi: Well, I was making SL
jewelry and found Shapeways while browsing one day and I was totally amazed
that I could get my SL jewelry printed out in RL. In fact, I was stunned this
was possible. I didn’t know it was possible to print in silver and other metals
until I found Shapeways, and I saw all the other creators at Shapeways printing
all sorts of things - jewelry, lampshades, toys, etc. and I thought, I just
have to have a go at that! In fact I'm now thinking about opening a website to
sell my silver RL jewellery collections. Shapeways make it very easy to get
your designs printed.
SLE: For a designer,
what is required of you to make that happen?
Maxi: There are a few
special rules you have to stick to like thickness of metals so things don't
snap. Also I'm learning that on bigger pieces, if you're printing in silver or
metal you really need to make them hollow so you don't use too much silver so
the pieces are cost effective and affordable.
SLE: But those rules
would apply to any RL jewelry?
Maxi: Yes that's true,
although I think you can make jewelry with 3D printing that would be very
difficult to do using traditional wax carving method or you would have to be a
master carver and jeweler to do it. I can do things in 3D that I could never
make in RL for RL jewelry by carving wax blocks, but with mesh I can be clever
and look like I'm a master carver and jeweler - but I'm not really.
SLE: Do you know of
other services besides Shapeways who can do this?
Maxi: Yes,
iMaterialise.com also print 3D files. They also print in gold. iMaterialise
were more expensive than Shapeways so for the moment Shapeways are my first
stop.
SLE: What materials
are available to you from Shapeways?
Maxi: Silver is my preferred
metal as it gives the most details when it's cast. But Shapeways also do
stainless steel and bronze which can look nice for less detailed pieces, but
they are slightly grainy in effect. You can also print all kinds of plastics
and ceramics at Shapeways too. The file I send to Shapeways is used to print
the wax cast for the Lost Wax method, which has been used for thousands of
years to cast metals. There is another way to print gold and silver called laser
sintering. Totally amazing process, like science fiction, where you can print
directly in gold and silver, no wax cast needed - really expensive right now
though. Direct printing in precious metals is the Holy Grail I think.
SLE: How about gems?
Maxi: I have thought about
buying in jewels, getting the setting 3D printed and then putting the jewels
myself, but that's a second phase for me, I need to learn more before I do that.
Maxi
then described the items she’s had made for her in RL silver by Shapeways, the
first being the “Marrakech Heart” and the “Forget-me-Not Flower Heart”. She had
the “Candy Love Heart” printed in plastic in different colors. She also showed
some rings she has had made by Shapeways and hinted at designs she has had done
in RL that are not available in SL yet. Of the tools at her disposal, she said: “I couldn't do any of this without Zbrush,
which is a really amazing tool for 3D artists. As I learn more I think Zbrush
will be a major tool for 3D jewelers. Zbrush you have to pay for, but wow, it
gives you lots.”
JoJa: It’s so great to see
you Maxi get into the real life jewelry making. I had just a jewerly maker real
life getting into the 3D making... would be fun if they would then enter these
3D worlds to present it here... circle go round.
Maxi: Yes, JoJa the
crossover is wonderful and great fun.
SLE: Are there any
final remarks you might want to make about bringing SL designs into RL?
Maxi: Amazing things are
going to happen with this technology. This is just the beginning and the future
is full of potential. 3D printing is going to enable artists of all kind,
virtual and otherwise, do wondrous and beautiful things. Human beings are tool
makers and we now have at our fingertips the most amazing tools to help us make
things. A new age of making is dawning. I do love this technology, it frees us
artist types.
JoJa: Amen to that! As I
say if more will start to design for 3D printing they will come across the same
tools and might understand more what virtual worlds / 3D web is about.
I
contacted Bart Veldhuitzen of Shapeways and in our e-mail discussion, he noted on the
technology adoption: “In general, models that are optimized for
real time 3D visualization will need some work in order to be 3D printed. The
most important cases are when models aren't 'water tight' (they don't have closed
outer surfaces), or when the physical construction would be too weak to
print/handle/transport.“ He also commented on SL designs that are to be
printed in 3D for real-life use: “I find
it hard to give a statement on the business development of SL/3D printing. Maxi
is a successful story, but I think she has approached her 'shop' like any other
shop owner who works with us - create relevant models and market it in the
right way. One observation that I can share is that product designers may have
a different skill set from designers of game/real time content. As such, for an
SL designer to become a successful product designer, he or she may need to
learn some new skills. In general, product design is different from design for
computer graphics - after all, in a virtual environment you don't have to obey
physical reality.”
The
physical reality of Second Life objects is closer than we think, with the
emergence of the 3D printing industry. Maxi Gossamer and Shapeways are a prime
example of the pioneering work. As JoJa Dhara pointed out, there is a lot of
utility printing already happening with real-life designs – I am hopeful that
also the fantasy elements of SL will be brought to life with this technology.
Further
reading:
SLURL
to Gossamer Jewellery:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ooot%20Ooot/81/211/80
Printing things that I made in SL would be amazing!
ReplyDeleteAlmost like a RL-SL bridge in which I can hold my beloved SL objects in my hand!
Pleasant to be going to your blog once more, it has been a long time for me.
ReplyDeleteCheap Printing Services Near Me