Fun with MakerBot

This is the first print I made.

All of the prints, showing scale.

We have this http://www.makerbot.com/ printer at work.

Many years ago I made a 3D figure in Maya that I thought would make interesting print. I sculpted it using a technique called subdivision-surface modeling, where you start with a cube, subdivide, move points around, subdivide further, and so on.

I created a DXF file from the model, creating a bust by chopping off all the polygons below the neck. (This would later cause glitches during the printing process, since MakerBot desires really clean surfaces.)

This video shows the entire process from model to print, and was made with a spectacularly simple and useful app called TimeLapse for iPhone.

More 3D printing stuff:

Beyond basic art projects, 3D printing is pretty exciting. I was at dinner with my buddies a few weeks ago and @jonahweiner was telling about how Jay Leno, who's obsessed with cars, was restoring obsolete parts with 3D printing. With chemical soluble thermoplastic, you can actually print mechanical parts in-place -- to me, that's simply mind-blowing.