The Brief
The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge approached Feathercast to produce Jesmonite replicas of ten priceless objects from their collection, to be sold to the public from their museum shop. Given the delicate nature of these objects, handling them was out of the question so Feathercast approached Inition for help.
Solution
Inition put together a proposal using white-light 3D scanning and powder-based 3D printing technologies and worked closely with Feathercast to develop an approach that best suited their requirements for casting.
Our 3D scanning team accompanied Feathercast on visits to the Fitzwilliam Museum to advise them on which objects were best suited to the scanning process. Amongst the objects chosen were artifacts from ancient Rome and Egypt, a 2000 year old Han Dynasty dog and a Renaissance sculpture of Bacchus (circa. 1780-1825).
Using our Mephisto EX scanning engine these complex objects were scanned on site at the museum. Back at Inition, the scans were post-processed and printed on our ZPrinter 450. The 3D prints were then sent to a classical sculptor who finished the detail before sending them on to Feathercast.
Feathercast used the 3D prints to cast silicon moulds, each of which could be used to create hundreds of Jesmonite replicas of the original objects. The Jesmonite replicas were then sent to the Fitzwilliam Museum where they are now available for purchase in the museum shop.
Results
Feathercast were delighted with the outcome of this project and as a result are keen to provide 3D scanning and printing services to other clients in the future.
Emma Pearson from Feathercast said of the final products: “They look stunning and we were really pleased with the initial impact we’ve had on the museum’s sales.”
Camay Chapman-Cameron, Managing Director of the Company Fitzwilliam Museum Enterprises Ltd. said: “We believe our product development work in this area is a game-changer, not just for us, but for our sector, in terms of the ability of museums to manufacture replicas at low risk, cost and volume.”
New Art Installation Powered by 3D Scanning Data
David Cotterrell, an installation artist has launched a new exhibition entitled 'Monsters of the
Nick Clegg visits Inition & Holition
We welcomed Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to our studio in East London today, where he was on
Nissan JUKE “Built to Thrill Wingsuit Experience”
As part of an action packed presence at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Nissan is launch
River Monsters in 3D
For our friends in the US - see what our very own Peter, Campbell and 3D cameras got up to in Bo
'Permission to Explode' 3D Scan and Print for ATYP
The Brief
Inition was approached by creative design agency ATYP to provide a 3D scan and 3D print of musician Si Begg’s head for the launch of his new album on Addictech Records. The resulting work was turned into album artwork and an experimental stop motion video entitled, ‘Permission to Explode’, to coincide with the launch.
Si Begg: Permission To Explode from ATYP Limited on Vimeo.
Solution
Because of the high levels of detail that have to be captured in order to accurately reconstruct facial expressions and textures such as hair, 3D scanning faces can be a complex business.
In order to produce the high quality print that ATYP required for the video, Inition’s 3D scanning team selected the Mephisto 3D Scanner for Si Begg’s head. This scanner is capable of capturing high detail incredibly quickly and enabled our team to scan Si’s head from all angles in less than half a day.
Once we had completed the scan and cleaned the data in post-processing, it was sent back to ATYP, allowing them to manipulate the file to fit their creative brief. When Inition received the newly edited version, Si’s head was no longer a solid 3D mesh but had been sliced into 17 equally-sized sections.
Inition decided to 3D print two heads, one solid and one sliced up. Our ZPrinter 450 took just one day to print out both heads in-house at our Shoreditch studios.
To view more about the making of the film watch this video:
Si Begg: Permission To Explode Making Of from ATYP Limited on Vimeo.
Results
ATYP created a 30 second stop-motion animation using coloured rods which moved around a grid in waveforms, with the seventeen 3D slices of Si’s head coming together to form segments.
This animation was then united with work in other media including projection, scripting, live action and CGI to create a final piece which embraces the concept of hyper-creativity that inspired Si Begg’s album.
The short film was published online and emailed out to Si Begg’s fans to promote the new album.
Merlin Nation, co-founder of ATYP stated:
“The 3D scanning and printing work we did with Inition was a crucial element in the success of this project. Their expertise, professionalism and willingness to help us experiment ensured that we got the results we needed.”
3D-Printed Breakfast for The Times
The Brief
The Times approached Inition for a glimpse into the future of how 3D printing might be used in the home. The piece was to be photographic-led and feature on a double-page spread in their monthly magazine Eureka.
Solution
Inition worked with the editorial staff to develop an idea based on a 3D-printed breakfast table setting. Inition's 3D artists then started work on each of the pieces.
The Times article - 'Breakfast in 3-D: All the gear and no Ikea'
The Times - Behind-the-scenes video
Inition's 3D-printing Service
Future of 3D #3 : Design, Print, Fly!
The Brief
Co-founder and director of Intion Stuart Cupit, also keen photographer and kite-flyer, decided to set himself a challenge to build a rig capable of taking panoramic aeriel photos from his parafoil kite...
The rig needed moving parts, had to be light-weight but strong enough to hold servos and a digital camera and withstand the odd crash landing.
Solution
Stuart designed the rig using 3D Studio Max and included 5 independent moveable stages, a complete gear system, fittings for 4 servos, a microcontroller, batteries and, most importantly, a digital camera.
The final design was printed out in one go (yes, no assembly!) using our Invision-XT 3D printer. The various joints and gears were designed in place with the 0.1mm clearance between any two parts required to allow them to move independently. The VisiJet SR200 build material used is strong enough to be for functional finished products.
The gears, axels and sleeves freely revolve and the fleixble nature of the material, when printed in thin sections, allowed the servos to be held in place by sprung hinged latches. The servos follow a pre-recorded set of moves using a Milinst Wizard board.
Results
- A Picavet suspension allowed the camera rig to self-level and prevents twisting. A geared mechanism reduced the speed of one of the servos by 20 to 1 to allow the rig to be rotated. The gears were printed in place and once support material is removed just work with no assembly!
- The Flight: The whole rig was attached to a Sutton Flowform 16 kite using a pair wire hangups on 200m of cord. The kite needed a 25mph wind to get the 1kg rig into the air. Flown from Hamstead Heath, the rig took 50 blurry photos the first time! The second flight got some great shots looking south across London, and some bemused looks from on-lookers!
Check out our 3D Printing Service and our Future of 3D blog at fo3d.posterous.com for our latest experiments in 3D.
About our 'Future of 3D' series
The 'Future of 3D' series is about exploring the boundaries of future 3D technology through non-commercial creative projects. Supporting this type of work is core to Inition's core values of developing new uses of 3D technology, supporting creativity and nurturing the passion of it's staff and collaborators. If you have an idea for a 'Future of 3D' project, we'd love to hear from you.
Future of 3D: #2 - Sketch, Sculpt, Print!
Future of 3D
Inition’s “Future of 3D” series encourages work on non-commercial projects which help to push the boundaries of current 3D creative and technology. This was the first time we had seen a project go from sketched concept, through haptic modelling to a physical 3D printed model. Organic designs are not usually immediately associated with computers but with Claytools strength in creating organic shapes and our 3D printer's ability to print them, we see a great future for this combination of technologies in product design.
The Brief
As part of Inition’s “Future of 3D” series, our 3D printing team agreed to work with BA design student Kristin Katzer from the London College of Communication to realise a packaging design for fruits.
Solution
Concept- The concept for Kristin's organic design was based on structures of nature, in particular her research into “tafoni structures” produced during the calcification of porous sandstone.
Freeform Design- Designing these organic structures using a typical 3D CAD package would have proved very difficult, however with Inition's guidance Kristin realised the design through the intuitive interface of the Sensable Phantom Omni in conjunction with the Claytools software. Claytools is a design package specially tailored towards haptic modelling, allowing the user to directly sculpt, manipulate and feel the surface of a model through a pen-line interface attached to a motorised force-feedback arm.
3D Print- After adding colour to the CAD model, the complex design was prepared for print Paul Armand, one of Inition's 3D printing specialists. Our full colour 3D ZPrinter 450 printed out the model over-night including two end caps with extruded lettering.
Results
The final design forms part of Kristin’s degree and was shown at the BA Design Show at the London College of Communication in June 2011.
Thanks to Kristin for creating a great piece; the first thing we've 3D printed that has been created on a haptic device.
The kit we used: ZPrinter 450, Phantom Omni with Claytools software
Check out our Future of 3D blog at fo3d.posterous.com for our latest experiments.