Design a Part of Anouk Wipprecht x Polaire’s Open Source Dress!
One of our favorite designers, Anouk Wipprecht is starting this cool new collaborative project that we at Materialise are really thrilled to tell you about. We already absolutely love her “Smoke Dress” and Cirque du Soleil pieces that she’s printed with Materialise, and are excited to see the final result of her next project: an open source dress that will be made by parts designed by YOU.
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Introducing Our New Multicolor Gloss Material!
Good news for fans of multicolor, that sturdy sandstone material that comes out of the printer in vibrant colors!
This material is now available in a glossy, bright new finish that gives your print a smoother, more polished look. It can intensify dark or vibrant colors, diminish the appearance of print lines, and photograph in a similar way to cold-cast polymer resin.
Read on for details.
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SculptGL For Beginners: Powerful 3D Sculpting Without Software Downloads, Logins, or Headaches
SculptGL is a free 3D sculpting CAD (Computer Assisted Design) program created by Stephane Ginier, a University of Montréal exchange student. It lets users sculpt 3D designs, apply symmetry, import/export these files in 3D printable formats, and automatically share them on portfolio sites like Sketchfab.
It is free, browser-based (no software downloads!), does not make users create accounts, and can be used on devices that have limited internal storage space or memory (i.e. Chromebook.) Win! This is a good software to learn 3D sculpting on, but it does not include hollowing or hole-making (i.e. Boolean) features.
To make files printable, you may need a second software (like Blender) to hollow your files, add escape holes, and repair broken topology. You can also hire a designer to clean a file up for you. Read on for our definitive SculptGL 3D printing tutorial, lovingly assembled by your Community Manager.
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Come to our October 2014 3D Printing Meet-up in Belgium!
Want to learn about 3D printing and connect with other designers? Then come join our upcoming meet-up at our Belgium headquarters! The meeting is in Leuven, Belgium office on October 10, 2014 at 14.00-18.00 GMT +1 (Belgian time).
Sign up for this free event here.
Read on for directions and more info!
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3D Printing and Public Education Join Forces to Create Tactile Learning Objects for Students With Total or Partial Blindness
Could 3D printing launch a revolution for 285 million people with total or partial blindness? Many of us learn by visually browsing thousands of texts, images, and videos. Until recently, hundreds of millions of people with total or partial blindness could not access most of this information. They relied on slow-moving braille translations, a situation that noticeably improved with the launch of the internet and its accessibility tools (i.e. text-to-speech software.) The internet created a revolution, and another one is already underway: 3D printed “tactile learning” objects.
3D printing can quickly turn 2D images into textured 3D images that people can touch and learn from. We spoke with University of Texas at El Paso biologist Dr. Michael A. Kolitsky to discuss how 3D printing is changing education, and how it will make new educational opportunities accessible to students with special needs.
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7 Essential Tricks to Prepare Your 3D Model for 3D Printing
There are many 3D modeling programs out there for creating stunning 3D designs. But what looks great on a screen isn’t necessarily ready to be 3D printed. Typically 3D models need some preparation to be 3D printable. Luckily, fixing your own design can be surprisingly simple. In this overview we will show you the 7 most important tips and tricks to prepare your 3D design for 3D printing. This ‘Printable 3D Design Checklist’ features information about the most common 3D printed design flaws and how to fix them.
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How To Make a 3D Model from Photos in 5 Easy Steps
The scanning app that is mentioned in this blog post is not available for download anymore.
Click here to learn about the top 20 3D scanners.
Looking for turning a photo into a 3D model? You can easily create 3D printable objects and 3D models from images and photos nowadays. In this tutorial, we will show you how you can turn ordinary 2D pictures of everyday objects into extraordinary 3D models. Turning 2D into 3D has never been easier as this project requires no coding experience and runs 100% on free software. If you think about 3D printing these 3D models, you don’t even have to buy a 3D printer and you can do it all without leaving your house. Let’s get started!
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Reduced Lead Times for Silver: Get Your Silver Faster than Ever!
Good news for fans of sterling silver, the lustrous metal with the moon-like white glow: our fastest silver lead time is now only 6 business days!*
That means you can place an order for our Silver (Gloss) material on Monday, you could get the tracking number as early as next Monday.* To see an estimated arrival date, start by uploading your design here for free.
This special 6-10 business day lead time is for our Silver (Gloss) material only. But our Silver (High Gloss) also has a faster lead time, by two whole days! Compared to industry averages of 10-14 days, our premium grade sterling silver is among the fastest 3D printed metals to ship. Read on for more information…
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6 Best 3D Printed Fantasy Designs
The world of 3D printed fantasy design is unlike any other: it not only imagines another world, it makes it real! If you’ve ever struggled with symmetry, shaky hands, or poor eyesight, then designing and 3D printing your designs could give you abilities you never knew you had. Zooming can make up for blurry vision, symmetry options and “undo” buttons make up for unsteady hands, and you can create or render nearly any lighting condition (including ones that cannot exist in the real world.)
Feeling inspired? There’s free software here, if you scroll down. Now go check out the 6 most beautiful 3D print designs created by some of our favorite fantasy artists, along with tips about joint design, color 3D printing, and hand-painting your design!
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3D Printing With SketchUp: An Easy Introduction
SketchUp is a free beginner-friendly Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software that can create highly detailed, 3D printable architecture (i.e. houses), furniture (i.e. cabinets), and mechanical parts (i.e. drone propeller blades). Formerly owned by Google, SketchUp can cause some troubles when it comes to 3D printing, however. That’s why we put together with 3D printing manual featuring beginner-friendly tips on how to use SketchUp for preparing printable 3D models.
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