3D Technology in Art and Craft – A Question- 3D Printing in Color

By Bridgette | November 3, 2013 |

I’m working on a new book that details 3D technology in Art and Craft. It will describe how to create art using such things as 3D printing, 3D scanning, 3D sculpting and 3D milling. It will show how to combine these technologies with traditional art and craft. It will also contain interviews with businesses and artists to discuss their processes. Finally it will be a one stop book that features vendors and other resources.

I’m culling through my many years of research and writing on this topic. I studied 3D technology as it is combined with art as my MFA, and have written and lectured on this topic often. I’m also looking at the new technology that is coming out. In light of that, I thought I would post some of my own questions on the topic. If you have an answer to these questions please feel free to post in the comments section of the blog or drop me a line. Please cite your answers when possible. I greatly appreciate it.

3D Question- printing in color.

I’m intrigued with printing in color.
As part of the book I really want to walk the reader through creating a piece of art that uses 3D scanning and 3D printing as the art interacts with natural surroundings. I wrote about that in a previous post. I love the video created by Greg Petchovsky who takes objects in the real world and then recreates them or adds to them in a 3D program and then prints them out using a 3Dprinter. I contacted Greg about this project, asked him how he scanned the color and what other details he could tell me about the quick projects in the video. He was kind enough to answer some questions. Here are his comments from the e mail

Greg shows how he scans existing structures and then creates something to fit in those structures.

had my prints done by Shapeways, they used ZCorp 3d printers.

The material isn’t waterproof, it will warp and develop white discoloration if exposed to water. I haven’t left 3d prints outside for a long period of time, so I’m unsure how long they would hold up.

I set up the scale in 3ds Max. I just used calipers to measure the object, but in future I’m thinking I’d include a wooden ruler in the scan.

I don’t think I’d use masks or visibility to make meshes fit into each other. I’d try to use booleans. I haven’t experimented all that much with booleans in zbrush, but basically there’s a button over each subtool that lets you chose between additive, subtractive, or intersection. And the resulting mesh can be calculated using the “remesh all” button… though the results might be somewhat mushy. I believe similar (possibly better?) results can be achieved with dynamesh? And I guess the details could be re applied using projection.”

The video from Laika shows the pieces being dipped in super glue. Yes, as the video says they used 77 gallons of super glue for the making of these pieces. Click on the photograph to go to the video

I am also intrigued with the work of Laika and how the puppeteers created the pieces for the making of the movie Paranorman. Each puppet was created using different expressions. These expressions were used with stop animation and some computer graphic work to create the film Paranorman. I’m assuming the super glue will help to strengthen the piece as well as keep it clean.

It is reported by the University of Texas at Austin Architecture school, in this article that using super glue can double the price of a 3D printed piece. I’m still not certain what the process is of “dipping” a piece in super glue/acetone. Seems like it would make a mess and be very difficult to handle. I can’t believe no one has figure out another way to harden these materials. Also, it looks like none of these things printed in color can be used outdoors, so I may have to modify my example for the book to use drift wood instead.

I contacted one of my go -to people on 3D printing Paul Cesak, who just happens to also be the guy that started the 3D printing group on linkedin. The 3D printing group is growing by leaps and bounds. He replies “only with 3D Systems can a 3D print have the full spectrum of color. The downside of that is that it is printed on plaster, is very fragile, and has the texture of sand. Indeed small details are either not printed or are lost in the post-processing.”

Paranorman video from Laika shows stop animation and the interchangeable part of the characters created with 3D printing.Click on the picture to see another video about creating Paranorman.

I contacted one of my go -to people on 3D printing Paul Cesak, who just happens to also be the guy that started the 3D printing group on linkedin. The 3D printing group is growing by leaps and bounds. He replies “only with 3D Systems can a 3D print have the full spectrum of color. The downside of that is that it is printed on plaster, is very fragile, and has the texture of sand. Indeed small details are either not printed or are lost in the post-processing.”

Another artist that I will be interviewing for the book is Eric Van Straaten. This video shows his work being created. I’m not sure he uses anything to strengthen his pieces. I’ll let you know after we talk for the book.