Ornamental Bonsai Sculpture

[benny350]

Hey Guys,

I thought I would share this here. I'm a 3d Artist when I'm not playing with my trees but recently I mixed them together and this is the result. I've uploaded it to Shapeways which is a 3d printing service where the model can be printed and bought. It stands 15cm tall and is printed in a high strength plastic material, these pics are only renders of the sculpture but I will update with actual photos once my one arrives.

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/bennysbonsai

Cheers, Benny

 

[daygan]

looks cool. If it's a 3D model, wouldn't it be "produced" as opposed to "printed", as "printing", to me, means putting ink on paper...?

 

[FrankP999]

This is a new type of printer that does "print" in 3 dimensions. They use a thermoplastic material as the "ink" and builds up the plastic on sucessive pases of the print head. They used to cost tens of thousands$$$ but smaller versions are appearing for the home market. I read recently of a surgeon using this type of printer to print a new jawbone for implantation in humans.

 

[daygan]

Thats just... wow. amazing ... what will they come up with next? Ha.

 

[JudyB]

very cool.

 

[raydomz]

This is a new type of printer that does "print" in 3 dimensions. They use a thermoplastic material as the "ink" and builds up the plastic on sucessive pases of the print head. They used to cost tens of thousands$$$ but smaller versions are appearing for the home market. I read recently of a surgeon using this type of printer to print a new jawbone for implantation in humans.

Just heard this on the radio! Belgium I believe..
This is great though. Very cool idea. Being an illustrator myself I've always wondered about 3D and the infinite possibilities.
Are you using cinema 4d or rhino or what?


Great!

 

[benny350]

I use Maya for the base and then take it to Zbrush to do some sculpting

 

[benny350]

It finally arrived today. I'm really happy with how well it turned out. It needed a few tweaks as many of the finer branches were too small to print so the most of the tree was thickened. Let me know what you think.

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/bennysbonsai

 

[JudyB]

I like it, it almost looks like coral in texture. very artistic, better than the stamps!

 

[Kitsune]

Very, very cool!

 

[mat]

neat stuff. i'd recommend letting it grow out a little, then pruning/pinching to build more ramification.

seriously, seems like a pretty cool tool. hopefully "they're" working on a 3d scanner, so we can scan our trees and upload for others to make real 3d digital suggestions for us.

 

[edprocoat]

The branches looked like coral to me too, I would not have mentioned it but it was already brought up. I bet in a few years, another generation or two of the equipment and they will be able to print the finest of details. It is an amazing technology with seemingly endless possibilities. My first thought was of fire victims who have had their ears and noses burned off, this being plastic it would seem they could rebuild the prosthetic replacement and graft skin over it.

ed