List of top 3D modelers

Here is a list of popular modelers that get alot of work. What I have seen from my research is that there are alot of modelers out there and it is hard to pin down many top product or engineering modelers that specialise in 3D. Here is the link.

http://designshack.net/articles/graphics/20-rockstar-3d-modelers-you-should-hire-for-product-mockups/

More cool stuff from the world of 3D printing

The medical industry has embraced this technology from working with biological material to using materials to act as support or physical structures. In this case they use a scanner to obtain the patient's dimensions and create a lightweight yet strong cast for broken bones. This is another glimpse of the future where medical treatment is highly personalised.

 

This is a new range of ABS plastic that comes in flouro colours. These colours could create some striking effects in an effective model.

This is an example of a new material that can be printed with creating a flexible, rubber-like material. This is one of the numerous new materials being developed for printing.

This is a nice sculpture of a Bodoni B that is scaled by 50% in height and diameter from top to bottom.

 

This piece was created by an extremely large printer that is capable of printing in multiple colours and materials at once. It may still be a prototype but it could be a step towards breaking the existing restrictions on 3D printing.

Here is yet another selection of cool things from the 3D printing industry.

This is a visualisation of how mankind might colonise space in the future by sending robots ahead to gather material and use it to create habitats and other useful items so they don't have to be transported there. This could revolutionise the way we explore other planets in our solar system and possibly other worlds in the distant future.

This is a prop from the movie Ironman 2. It was printed and is an example of the Hollywood industry beginning to embrace the technology for creating its props.

This is a printer head that is made entirely from metal making it extremely durable and versatile as well. It can handle printing with materials such as ceramics, salt and even food like material. It is made to be able to work with many types of machines and can even have a fan attached to it. This is an example of the new wave of technology allowing the creation of custom 3D printers.

The design for this chair came from a mathematical algorithm and was the printed using aluminium. This is an example of what machines with artificial intelligence will be able to create autonomously in the future with only minimal input from humans.

This is a machine that is in development and is close to becoming a viable consumer product. It is a 3D printer that is able to create objects out of steel, stainless steel, aluminium, bronze or copper without the need for support structures. It uses a combination of extrusion and welding to create its structures and relies on several programs working in unison to be able to manage the many functions required.

Hello, here's some more images of cool stuff.

This is a model that can be downloaded from Thingiverse. It is a tank that is based on an existing type of fan belt. All of the components except the motors and nuts and bolts are printed. Looks like a fun little machine. Seems to be missing a control unit though, but one may be able to take one from another remote control vehicle.

This image is of a recreation of shark skin printed by in 3D. Bio mimicry will be an important source of technological breakthroughs for the future. This reproduced skin managed to cause a significant reduction in drag and energy required for propulsion. This could be applied to any number of water craft or even vehicles that travel through air.

This printer is the latest release fro Airwolf. It can maintain higher temperatures at the printer head enabling it to use higher grade materials like nylon. This machine is at the high end for consumer printers and is almost commercial grade. The fact that it can use quality materials and it's large print area makes this a very desirable model. When I purchase a printer it will be at least of this spec.

This image is of a concept prototype. It wasn't made to be entirely functional but I think it's a pretty cool idea and wouldn't take much tweaking to make it a proper product. I can think of two things that would make this a good item to use, first would be the more comfortable position you could hold the phone at and using the right materials you could cut down radiation from the phone making it safer to use.

I like this model of a motor because in the future 3D printers will be able to produce items like this that are comprised of multiple materials and parts. This will make a large difference to how consumerism works probably reducing the retail market, but opening new avenues like material supply and object design.

Here's another selection of things from Pinterest and around the web.

This photo is of a component from a rocket that has been printed. NASA is looking into creating more of it's parts this way. They hope using this method will reduce production costs as well as time.

This is an image of a futuristic concept that uses protocells to create a skin that reacts to pressure and is able to adjust itself accordingly by swelling up or contracting. The shoes almost become a living organism and need to be immersed in nutrient to recharge and even repair itself. These kind of materials might be popular in the future for all kinds of materials that involve physical contact with organic surfaces.

This is a pasta printer that can create 20 pieces of pasta in two minutes which while might not be commercially viable yet, the speed has improved ten fold from the last prototype. The inventor of this machine hopes to have one of these units in every restaurant within a decade, printing out custom pastas to customers requests.

This image is of a propeller engine that was printed out in pieces and the snapped together. Creating the tabs and fasteners to achieve this is one of the techniques I wish to learn.

This is a working bearing system that was printed out as one piece. This would be the ideal way to print out complicated items in the future and combined with dual material printers the possibility of real time device manufacture is achievable.

Here is another selection of things from pintrest and around the web, some new devices and a new method of 3D printing.

This image is of some objects that have been printed using a alloy. The process that created this is called Direct Metal Laser Sintering and involves a high powered laser being shot into powdered metal that melts the shape into the material. Some sectors of the manufacturing world like the aeronautic manufacturers are embracing this process because it creates highly accurate and durable objects in an efficient way.

This machine is a commercially available finishing machine for 3D printed objects. Like the process I have talked about in a previous post, this machine uses acetone vapour to melt down the ridged surface of printed models. This model costs around $700 dollars or so.

This machine employs a new way of printing in 3D that allows editing, pausing and physical manipulation. It even allows the use of more than one material to be used in the print. What makes this possible is the resin gets injected into hair gel which acts like a structure enabling the object to be printed without brackets. The material remains soft and malleable within the gel until it gets exposed to UV light where it hardens and sets. The object is removed from the gel and then can be reused.

Creating moulds for objects from prototyped 3D objects is a real world application that creates many new possibilities in providing casts for mass production in a shorter turn around time.

This is an interesting development as far as the meeting of technologies. This is a new kind of phone that can have different microchips attached to it to alter the performance, memory and functions in an entirely customisable way. The chips are printed and in the future there will be many companies that will produce them to attach to you phone. This will be of interest to hobbyists who want to create their own technology.

Hello again, here is a selection of what I was looking at this week.

This is currently the largest contained 3D printer available, it works the same as any other printer on a larger scale. Even given it's size it is still only a prototyping machine. The technology still has many limitations that preclude it from becoming a viable manufacturing tool. From the materials used, the finished texture of the objects and the time taken to print them 3D printers will remain a tool for hobbyists and prototyping until those issues are solved. This may take a decade.

This image is of cutlery that has been printed using steel and then electroplated in silver. The cutlery needs to be plated to make the objects food safe as the unplated steel has many imperfections in the surfaces that hang on to bacteria and may leach into foods when being used. Being plain steel the objects would be susceptible to rust as well reducing the lifespan of the object.

This is an image of synthetic human cell tissue that has been printed. Medical 3D printing technology is a branch that has developed quite rapidly and could play a major role in the future providing new organs, bones and tissue for treatment of various problems.

This device is one of the first examples of a printer that can create food by printing. This is pretty much a novelty at the moment. The most successful ingredient to use is chocolate so far. As far as convenience or ease of use is concerned, these machines are not. The refills would be expensive and the range of foods you can create is quite limited. I imagine the future of food creation would involve a machine that uses a special substance that can be manipulated into certain formulations as well as being able to cook the food.

This image is of a structure that is smaller than the width of a human hair. This opens up possibilities to combine with nanotechnology to create nanobots and other structures and materials that could be useful the future, including the possibility of self replicating nanobots that can live inside humans to repair damage and destroy viruses.

Here are some more things I found cool this week. First one is a handy way to give printed models a glossy smooth surface.

This method is quite a simple way to finish your models. It involves a hotplate, a glass jar and some acetone. Sounds dangerous but the method looks pretty straightforward and would be a great way to make your prints into display quality items.

I like this photo and I would like to think in the future you can get cereal printed out in custom shapes just for fun. As far as foods go, cereal would probably be the easiest to produce printing in 3D as they are quite manufactured anyway.

This is a model that is available on the website thingiverse.com. It is a highly articulated action figure that is printed in pieces and then assembled. Finding models to print out is getting easier every day. In the future it is possible people will buy objects online, download the plans and print the item at home.

This object was printed in ceramic. This is an interesting material to use as it seems to be able to produce a smoother surface and would be a better texture to paint. For artistic sculptures and display models, ceramic would be the material of choice.

This image is of printed walls of a house. The material used is mostly derived from waste products. Producing houses this way could be a very low cost and potentially environmentally friendly way to solve  issues such as homelessness in third world countries and quickly rebuilding after disasters.

Hello there, here is a collection of items that have caught my fancy this week
I like this photo because it reminds me of a toy castle play set. This kind of modular interlocking set of buildings could create a wide ranging variety of products that could be used to make individual play sets and enable secondary creation of objects like figurines to sell with them.



This is a drill which has been printed and while its not fully functional, the chuck turns and the trigger depresses. This is a good example of the possible future of creating complex items like tools or toys although this kind of holistic printing is quite a way off.




This image is of a city that has been modelled and printed in edible chocolate. Printing with food is an exciting glimpse of what may be possible in the future. Units that can print any type of food may be found in every kitchen in a few decades and would be able to create any kind of food by manipulating a source material into the right configuration and consistency.

This image is of a printed pizza. This is a interesting one as it uses more than one nozzle to be able to complete this. Multi nozzle machines are the next step form 3D printing enabling the creation more complex items. The only problem with this machine is the amount of clean up that would be required to keep it hygienic. You would need to flush out the lines after every use plus it would require a different kind of dough and sauce that may or may not be easier to produce than normal dough.


This ball was printed using titanium. Printing with metals is the cutting edge for 3D printing at the moment. It requires a high amount of accuracy to create reliable parts. The machines that print using titanium are very expensive as is the raw materials used in the process. It is hard to see this technology reaching the hobby user because of the expenses involved. The developments achieved however will filter down into the more accessible technology as time goes by.


This is an example of a real world use of 3D printing technology. It is a very useful medium for developing and creating items that conform and work with the human form, many prosthetics are made using this method. Combined with clever electronics, this hand can become a true extension of the body and function effectively.

Hello there, here are some examples of what I would like to build and some things I found cool. These images have been pinned on my 3D Inspirations pintrest board.

This image is of a functional plane that was created at a university. This is the kind of item I would like to create, some sort of flying machine that has multiple parts which are fastened together. This would be a more complex project and would require some research into connective design.

 

This is a cool model I found on the internet. It's a character from Street Fighter and I would like to have the talent to make a model like this, but I want to focus on product design more than organic creations. I just think there's an impressive amount of detail in this model.

 

This device is called the Mush. It amplifies the sound output from a smartphone without any power. This is the sort of item I would like to design. It's innovative and useful. It looks good and has potential for being a salable product.

This is an example of some more artistically conceptual product design while still remaining functional. These designs are a bit outside the scope of what I personally would like to create but I think they're still pretty cool.

 

This looks like a modern example of the artistic style of futurism. It implies speed and movement. It looks like a complex model and is also an impressive size for a 3D print. I can't imagine how long this would have taken to print and the size of the printer. Objects this size would be hard for me to do without breaking it down into parts so I wouldn't get this ambitious just yet.

This caught my attention. This is a 3D printer that uses clay to make it's models. This feature could have some interesting applications, I'm thinking of being able to make some complex moulds for casting metal objects. This is also a more environmentally friendly material to create objects and once they're fired they would last as long as any plastic object.

Thinking about creating

I would like to start envisioning different items that are unique. I would begin by sketching out pictures and thinking about how I would go about building the items in Blender. I will continue to scan Pintrest and the net for inspiration, to find out the trends and what's been done.

I would like to get into prototyping as a first step by creating a set of characters for fun. Not sure about what type of characters I will create as in geometric or organic modelling.

Link to my 3D inspiration Pintrest board

Hello there, I've just set up my first pintrest board for my 3D conceptual development. Here's the link.

http://www.pinterest.com/2013steven/3d-inspirations/

I'll be doing regular updates as the year goes on.

Greetings. In this blog I will be exploring and taking inspiration from designs and artworks I find while browsing the web and from the social media site Pintrest in particular.

The purpose is to increase my design knowledge and held to develop my own style and method of creating products and items in particular.