TEDxLeuven – Wilfried Vancraen
On March 29th, Wilfried Vancraen (CEO Materialise), took the stage at TEDxLeuven. He showed how 3D printing is not only reshaping how things are made, but also our way of life. In this video, this 3D printing pioneer shares his insights on how this rapidly expanding technology has the power, not to become a future form of mass consumption, but to create a better quality of life on a grand scale. Enjoy the movie!
3DTin design challenge
Okay, we’re running a design challenge with 3DTin during the following 4 weeks. Before we get started and to get everyone up to speed, here’s a small recap on 3DTin:
3DTin lets anyone make anything simply because it’s easy and intuitive to use. It simply runs in the browser (though it has to be up to date, as it uses something called Web GL), is free to use and requires no experience in 3D design. All you need is the will and imagination to explore the 3D world. 3DTin lets you save and share the designs (which are called ‘sketches’) you make. The tool also lets you export your files for 3D printing.
“We are running out of excuses to not build something.” – Jayesh Salvi (Founder 3DTin)
So, how does the challenge work? Easy, design as many awesome models on 3DTin as possible during the month of May. Everyone who makes sketches during this time automatically enters the challenge. Both 3DTin and i.materialise will rate your sketches. The total ratings of all your sketches
Sources of inspiration pt.2
According to the Oxford dictionary, inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. A few months ago I was wondering where (product) designers, artists and inventors get their inspiration. And now I thought it would be nice to see if I could find some more examples. As for now, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.
3D print your mom something special
Mother’s Day is just around the corner in a great numbers of countries. How cool would it be to get your mom a customizable 3D printed Lamp or some nice 3D printed jewelry? We’ve made a list of polyamide based 3D printed gifts that you might want to look at as a starting point. Alternatively you might want to tell your mother a special something through our Appear Lamp? I’d say, have a browse through our options and make sure to select that perfect gift for that special mother of yours. Below you’ll find two examples from our Mother’s Day Selection.
The Top 20 from the Hats off to 3D Printing in all their glory
Last week we brought you our pictures, stories and a wonderful interview with Mark Bloomfield from the Materialise World Conference. Today, we proudly bring you the video of the actual Top 20 Designs on the runway. Enjoy!
Of course you can also view the video in 720p on our Vimeo account.
Our lasers are cutting your prices in half
Are you the type of designer that likes to work in small sizes and large numbers? Or maybe a student that wants to try out 3D printing on a smaller scale? Then you’re at the right place, at the right time because we’ve just launched a new temporary pricing model for pieces that undergo laser sintering (This affects the polyamide and alumide materials).
So what are the facts?
- For any design that fits within a bounding box of 125cm3, you will always pay a standard price of 12 euros
- If you decide to 3D print multiples of that same design, you simply add 4 euros per copy on top of the start-up price of 12 euros (this means that if you want your design 3D printed four times, you’ll pay the following: 12+4+4+4=24 euros for 4 copies)
- This is a temporary action that lasts until the end of May
- All of the above does NOT include VAT
What’s the difference with before?
Well with the traditional laser sintering pricing model a bounding box of 125cm3 would have cost you around 24 e
Meet Mark Bloomfield – A Man with a Winning Spirit
As promised yesterday, we present you with the winner of the Hats off to 3D Printing Design Challenge… Mr. Mark Bloomfield. Below you’ll find the interview we took with him after the 3D printed fashion show of the Materialise World Conference.
And for those of you that like pictures… here are some of Mark Bloomfield’s winning masterpiece: Daisy.
Stories from the Materialise World Conference
The Materialise World Conference has kicked off with a bang and we’re here to tell you our stories. As you might have seen on our constant tweets, yesterday on April 18th, the Materialise World Conference finally opened the doors to its many guests. Amongst them were European President Herman Van Rompuy, countless world famous 3D printing companies and fashion icons like the master milliner Elvis Pompilio himself.
Together with its many successful clients, Materialise CEO Wilfried Vancraen showcased the current state of 3D Printing technology and did this through an extensive program that touches many different industries.
Of course we at i.materialise were also present and had the wonderful opportunity to be accompanied by some of our most dearest friends and designers. Amongst them were also some of the participants of the Hats off to 3D Printing Design Challenge. It was a grand pleasure to see them arrive from places as far as Australia as was the case for design c
Because we love to touch fluffy things
Recently we gave you the possibility to add some color to your polyamide designs. We loved the results and saw it was good. Today we bring you something that looks just as great and feels even better. It’s the ability to turn your polyamide designs into colorful fluffy works of art by adding colored fibers onto your model (we call it adding velvet fur). We tried it out, took some pictures and again… we saw it was good. Considering this will be offered as a trial during a period of about two months, we look forward to your feedback to turn our good results into great ones.
So, how can you add fluffiness to your polyamide you might ask? By simply selecting it in the finishing tab in the 3D print lab as shown below.
Ok… so now that you know how that works, let’s take a look at some of the facts about adding velvet fur at i.materialise:
- The ability to fur up your polyamide designs will be launched as a trial that ends on June 17th
- The minimum bounding
Getting Ready for the Materialise World Conference
As mentioned on our blog before… this year will see the rise of another Materialise World Conference. As it’s just around the corner we thought it would be a great idea to remind you guys of the awesomeness that it will bring. Are you curious to know who will win the Hats off to 3D Printing Design Challenge? Then definitely stay tuned on our twitter account on Wednesday April 18th as we will be announcing it through there as soon as it’s revealed to us. We also plan to tweet some pictures of the event as the day progresses to keep you up to date on the latest 3D Printing news.
The following day we’ll finally showcase all the Top 20 3D printed hats on our blog and on our flickr account + if possible provide you guys with inside information from some of the participants who will be present at the event themselves.
We’ll keep you updated so stay tuned!
