3D Prints Cheap+Good (Free Print Game is ON P.3!)

[desmoda]

hehe.. thx man. that was actually a rush job a did in one night. cause they were having an art gallery showing and wanted it painted in like 12 hrs and overnight fedex. felt like the metal parts, i didn't do it enough justice. It's gonna be replaced with a new BETTER version soon ;D

[desmoda]

I guess i better post something. haha.. starting to feel like a curator at a museum or something. Hard to pick things that are public domain and also good looking.

Ok.. this week.. this is one I painted like 5-6 months ago. It was a tough one to paint cause all the snake patterning and other stuff on the skin was really kinda abstract. Not clear at all what to do. So basically I just did some mottling with the airbrush.. and transparent glazes with some enamels. Then scumbled some acrylics here and there~ The base I mixed up some crackle glaze with acrylics. And then did a basecoat of artist oils. coated with acrylics. b/c the oil dries slower than acrylics.. it causes the acrylics up top to crack and you get the nice veining as a result. go figure. :lol:

probably could paint this one better if i had another go at it. but it looks gorgeous in person. the pictures suck (i need some new lenses and lighting). I :think: the zbrusher is Enrique Pina. Correct me if I'm wrong. Awesome work from the zbrusher whoever it is!

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I think in the future I should start talking about mass production in china~ It might interest you guys. Anyhow.. thats all for now.

[MASTERSHOKHAN]

Hey, Desmoda. So you can do busts now?

[desmoda]

Mm.. it really depends on my schedule and stuff. We will do most things that are figure or collectible related. Been doing some prop replicas recently and vehicles.. as well as busts and all that. But schedule is getting really full.. but happy that we're still finding the time to do stuff for indie artists.. like people's birthday gifts for friends.. or little one-offs. As well as industry stuff~ And still finding time to work on startup stuff. R&D~

This week's print share was done for Zbrush artist Kristijan Petrovic who works for a company called Luminus Studio. Was a unique piece.. and was a pleasure working with Kristijian cause he was patient and coached us thru what he wanted exactly. Although yah.. I didn't paint this one.. one of my employees did. She has an art deco painting background. Whereas my background is you guys, so its more of a saturated, digital look. My work is the the guitar and two guns for instance~ although thats more an example of technological skills than actual artistic skill :p

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i was good this week.. and posted.. so will probably be bad next week and not post :lol:

[grassetti]

This one is awesome man!
Painting job is perfect! Congrats!

[The Namek]

Amazing as always, very impressed by the high quality of your prints and paints.

[magicmodel]

Desmoda, the scarf on this print has come out really well considering it looks like quite a tricky part of the model to get the thickness just right to hold the shape, especially at the bottom where it kind of feathers away. These touches are extra special and really bring the character to life.

Looking forward to seeing more.
Respect to Kristijan for an awsome sculpt (nice work on the jeans)

[doco]

Hi guys,

Great thread, so much info and its grown since last time I checked it.

One thing I've been wanting to know is, what if you wanted to make a vinyl toy with moving arms and legs?

Is there any method in ZBrush that allows you to cut a model up? add ball and socket joints or something similar? Would you have to plan all this first in Maya? Then with tolerances, if you plan to Zbrush your model, how do you know the fit will be the same in Z as it is in Maya? The smoothing algorithms aren't exactly alike.

This may not be the right thread to ask this in, it probably applies more to production manufacturing, but I'm curious if anyone has tackled it yet?

Cheers for any feedback.

[mhy01]

Hi guys,

Great thread, so much info and its grown since last time I checked it.

One thing I've been wanting to know is, what if you wanted to make a vinyl toy with moving arms and legs?

Is there any method in ZBrush that allows you to cut a model up? add ball and socket joints or something similar? Would you have to plan all this first in Maya? Then with tolerances, if you plan to Zbrush your model, how do you know the fit will be the same in Z as it is in Maya? The smoothing algorithms aren't exactly alike.

This may not be the right thread to ask this in, it probably applies more to production manufacturing, but I'm curious if anyone has tackled it yet?

Cheers for any feedback.

One solution would be to break up the whole model in a frozen hires state and rebuild the fit parts from there. That way you would just deal with real final geometry, and not with subd algorithms.

[desmoda]

Sorry, out of the country doing some meetings right now. Generally you don't have to model the articulated joints themselves because we typically won't 3d print them. We model them in Pro-E and then CNC them out of ABS because 3d printed joints aren't as durable or are lacking color (which needs to be embedded in the plastic.. paint rubs off).

The actual fitting of the joints in joint holes is done by us right before print and also manually fitted by a toy sculptor after print is done if it needs additional tweaks to have that "pop right in" feeling.

The important thing is to leave space at the elbows and back of knees where the joints are gonna be. Also when the arm is bent fully, leaving enough space in the sculpt where the geometry won't self-intersect.

[Gordon Robb]

I'm a little confused by your website and your offer here. Can I try to confirm what I think you're saying.

If I model something in Zbrush (a humanoid figure), you'll print it at around 200mm for a fixed price. I think I'm clear on that, but...

If I wanted to take the model, and finish it in say Magics, already cut into various pieces that I could assemble myself to complete, or use to create molds then you wont do that? Am I reading your website right?

Gordon

[desmoda]

Yeah.. the website hasn't been touched for close to 2 years now. Right now pricing is based on size of your model. Not a flat price like it used to be~

We do all the chopping up for casting for you for free. So no real reason to do that magics stuff. Just grab a screenshot and draw some lines in photoshop where you want the cuts and we'll make puttyless joints for you if possible.

Hmm.. should update~

Here's one that's been sitting on my desk forever (months)~ Pretty cool. My coworkers tell me its Warhammer.. but I haven't actually played the game (yet). Zbrushed by Stefano Bernardi. Lol... dude... collect your stuff.

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[Gordon Robb]

Nice piece, and thanks for the info, but this I still have a question about this.

Please, new people, to save time, we only make production finished pieces (figures and statues) that can be collected (make just one) or go into mass production (make copies).

Does that mean you wouldn't print of, and send me the individual pieces, only the assembled, completed, maquette?

[desmoda]

We'll make unpainted kit parts if you want. As long as its a sane amount. Like nothing more than a couple hundred copies.

[Sergio Santos]

Holy S***!!!

I need one of those

[newscctv]

It would also be good to mention how big you can actually make, and provide unpainted pics as well as the finished painted ones.

I know many people are looking for a good hard copy source.

[3mm]

Omg,i find your Thread by the chance here ,and the qualiy of your prints and paint is amazing,looking forward for more updates of prints:D

[Pride]

I have been trying to email you (at ownage) regarding a figure I want to print.
My emails keep bouncing back......are you still taking orders? :)

[desmoda]

Hi, we're on break until Feb 11th~ And there looks to be a pretty sizeable queue building up. :cry: But yah.. I think (well.. I hope) I fixed the email problem. So you can PM me here or email support@ownage.com if my personal email ain't working.

Someone at pixologic was telling me the same thing the other day about the email. Weird! (sorry paul!).

hard to post stuff lately because most people have aspirations to make copies and sell. but here's a cool one-off done by artist Toby Whiting. great sculpt!

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[dominicqwek]

Are they still making prints? This thread is really old...

[desmoda]

oh hey guys.. yup we're still kickin' it! just figure that everyone knows how to contact us so let the website go a little. haha. need to get it back into shape! redesigning the entire thing!

should we start posting updates on this thread again? ok will try to! just hit me with a golf club if i forget. I'll try to use this thread to highlight the work of you amazing artists. None of this would be possible without you guys! Will try to show off an industry print and a indie print to balance things out.

GOOOO ZB4R2. Amazing update, pixologic!

Here's a piece I did for CG Artist Andrew Hickenbottom named Trixie. Was fun doing this pinup girl (we did a limited edition production for him) and he might still have a few left if u want one (http://andrewhickinbottom.blogspot.com/).
I think its 6 or 8 inches tall. I forget.

first picture is the render and second is a picture of a painted SLS/shapeways piece he did by himself, the third is a production piece we made:

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shapeways and handpaint he did himself (pretty awesome job tho!)
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final production piece (multiple copies)
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wow.. industry piece.. which one. can only show pics of released items guys.. but have hundreds to go through. lets start with a safe one. here's a piece we did 2 years ago for Kloroform, Dreamworks that never got produced.. 8 inches tall. dunno the artist =(.

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[desmoda]

ok.. trying to update once a monday. quickie update

indie print: this is a 1/6th scale topological reference model made by Blizzard Artist, Pior Oberson.. he made a bunch of copies for his friends too. magnetic removable head and arms.

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industry print: these are some 1/4th scale statues i made for ARH Studios (run by concept artist, trad sculptor, painter one man army Arahom Radjah). These 3d were sculpted by the Alex Pereira, an amazing 3d artist from Brazil! You can buy them from Sideshow Collectibles. Medusa pics were at SDCC 2011. Paint by Jim Rowell was pretty badass.

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ok im done. peace out

[desmoda]

oops. i'm a little late this week. time really flies when u HAVE to post every week. no wonder people keep sketchbooks. it really keeps you on your toes.

i guess to make up for it.. will post a little more than usual today. so lets make it a HULK SMASH post. done a ton of hulks over the last few years. here's a couple of the better ones.

ok.. indie.. this is a RULK by avinash hedge. not exactly hulk but hulk related. this was way way back. back when i had no idea what i was doing paintwise. Wow before Dr Root even. That would put it more than 2 years back.

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industry print(s)..

planet hulk minibust for Randy. also a long time ago. 3d sculpted by Carlo Pagulayan wow.. who seems to be a 2d comic artist in the phillipines. Didn't realize that about him til I googled him just now.

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painted prototype by Dan Cope (danno). this thing is probably sold out =(. oh well.

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err.. i painted one for fun that i keep on my desk to this day.. its not as clean as Danno's paint tho. haha hopefully Randy doesn't mind. one of the perks of my job i guess.
i rarely paint anymore. it sucks. too busy putting out fires every day. =( Not implying anything about Obama by dressing him like that. just thought it was funny.

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Okay and another for being late~

A Savage Hulk, by Khurram Alavi.. also for Bowen Designs.. this one is gonna be pretty hawt once Danno paints it and it hits the stores. Hulks always move fast =P get one before u have to ebay =P

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thanks for looking. go zbrush!

[squidinc]

ace stuff as usual!

just get that website sorted :D

[desmoda]

Hey squidzzz, thx dude. long time no talk~ yah im kinda of a tyrant when it comes to these design things so right now coding+designing the website design myself from the ground up. =( my pride is writing checks my ability and free time can't cash.

quickie this week... obligations (haha don't know how long I can keep this up.. a lot of things are unreleased or other privacy concerns so can only post a few things).

industry print :: Left 4 Dead Tank :: Gaming Heads :: dunno the artist err.. i guess there's no reason plugging this one b/c its already sold out! hheh X-D gaming heads is awesome!

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This is a one-off paint i did for fun for them. i think this was like the fifth figure I painted fully by myself. lil'sister's cyborg head being the first. grassetti's hellboy being second. that hulk being third. dr root being fourth. i was kinda in love with this one. didn't want to give it to the client. hahaha.. wanted to keep it for myself. oh well. the production paint is different, truer to the real game colors i think. im actually red green colorblind so painting blue things is more my forte X-D. nowadays i just leave it to the pros here at the office.

[carliman56]

AMAZING WORK!! will print mine when possible.

[3mm]

great works As Always Des,love to see more of your output every time

[desmoda]

Thanks carliman. Hey Mo, thanks guys~

Ok.. quick post. Customer's on my ass to finish stuff every day late is $$$ in this industry. Plus I feel like the community forum doesn't update very often so it makes it look like I keep bumping my own thread. not good etiquette. Maybe I'll post once every 2 weeks then.

Also.. I feel I need to clarify pricing. We're running about double the cost as we were when we first started. That promotional price was too crazy to keep running like that (one person company basically). Right now 8 inchers run avg around $500-650+ (including base and stuff) 12 inchers run avg $700-1200+ (depending on detail, cape, accessories, and base) the bigger ones more than that. Sry.. I'm working to bring the price back down but having to feed yourself cup ramen is different from having to feed multiple dozens of employees. Honestly I don't run a sweatshop tho. I know I joke about it because it seems funny to poke fun at yourself. But we run the company like family and I'm the only one that actually sleeps on the floor at the office =P. I know some of u guys have been making world domination plans based on our old pricing.. the thing I recommend is you make some mass produced copies 1...2..10..100.. 1000.. etc to bring down the per copy cost of the thing. Do a groupon with your friends or sell some~ For small runs, we do worldwide distribution, customer service, replacements everything for u if u need it (hence the many employees to keep alive). Anyway.. I'm here to help you guys out.. just email me before u start/finish ur artwork and we can brainstorm together. That way there's no surprises.

indie print :: zombie dog chow 6 incher :: by spacemonkey.. CG Artist Tim Appleby. check out his website if u get the chance. he's got a lot of really awesome sculpts! i dunno if spacemonkey ever finished painting this one.

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industry print :: shaman from dust :: by ZBC super vet Cedric Seaut (ced66) :: ubisoft

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ubisoft was kinda mad at me because we charged them super super super cheap the first time around (was like.. hey.. wow this is a cool piece.. lets see how badass it looks if we make it into a real statue.. its like 12 inch total height bending down so 1/5th or 1/4th scale). Then a year or two later they wanted me to make it again and i had to quote double the original cost. yeah.. they were kinda pissed. Sorry Ubi! its my bad =( not trying to rip you off or anything.. (plz see above). I really love this piece that cedric made... man.. so dynamic. pain in the ass to ship internationally overnight fedex w/o breaking tho.. but it shipped no breaks.. thankfully.

[Kupo]

super nice outputs you did....I am looking forward to print out my sculpts in the near future
keep up the great work!!

[davidness]

Hi Desmoda!

These are all really looking so cool! Hopefully I'll get more than one of my sculpts done with you and sell them hehe!:)

[luka1222]

hey, just like to say real good job!! everything look great!
im an industrial model maker and we have an SLA machine and an objet, just wondered what machine are you useing to print these? very good definition!
keep it up.

[desmoda]

thanks guys (kupo, davidness)! really fortunate to work with u guys. you guys make the pretty digital art. nowadays.. im just an administrator at best. sigh.. its the only way to get stuff out the door. sad panda.

thanks for getting my name right btw! hehe. ive seen some pretty weird mess ups. Desmonda, desmond, desmomo, deathmoda, desdamoda, desmopedia. its Des or Desmoda. ;)

hi luka~ are u affiliated with industria mechanika/fichtenfoo in any way? haha.. trying to pin down which luka u are :lol:. at this point we're running almost one of everything. its not really the machine~ its the post work you have to do to make the figures production-ready. hehe.. as a model maker u probably know alllll about this and more. we who are about to die.. salute you! brothers in arms! :tu:

ok quicky.. my two week egg timer is up~ at least now it doesn't look like i sticky my own thread. sry!

indie print :: engineer, welding girl :: man... who was the artist on this one.. Jose Alva da Silva (ZBC: Zeoyn.. killer sketchbook somewhere on here) :: for Bob Steiner & I think being picked up by Industrial Mechanika~ On sale soon!

Hm.. its strange that i can remember all of your guys names and aliases and artwork. If u multiplex it.. it really numbers up in the thousands. i have no life =/ did 2 versions.. a 1/10th scale 18cm and a 1/35 scale 54mm. Ehh.. generally I dont enjoy doing miniatures. Even though we can.. just too busy to mess around with miniatures at the moment so its not something we take on unless I know u~

1/10th scale - 18cm

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a sexy sweet paintup they did (much better than the paintup we did.. hehe.. so i wont attach ours). btw.. this is a good point. if u want a certain look to the paint.. you have to communicate this with concept art, pictures, etc. Otherwise I'm not physically close enough to you to do Vulcan Mind Meld.

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54mm scale miniature. tiny tiny. see the dust on the top of my display base and the can of soup next to it? ugh tiny. i dont like doing tiny stuff. my eyes are bad~

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industry print :: thor, cap & irons :: tag team awesomeness of one of my fav trad sculptors Erick Sosa (zkulptor on ZBC) & Alex Pereira (he did those ARH pieces a few posts back) :: for Kotobukiya

again.. very lucky to work with Erick & Alex.. they are both sooo good. Erick is learning to ZBrush~ It's interesting seeing traditional guys make the move to ZBrush. I try to help the best I can but I'm not exactly a sculptor myself so not much I can do. Painted by Erick and team. Pics from SDCC. erick did a lot of postwork on these so if u have props to give.. give it to him (and Alex! haha.. lotsa luv man).

Hehe.. i love the color choices on thor the most. the yellow boots are so drool worthy.

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If i wore yellow shoes around.. people would call me a FOB or Lady Gaga. Thor can pull it off tho. He doesn't need a boat. He can fly with hammer!

[desmoda]

Happy Holidays guys! Yup.. it was tough but made it thru another holiday season here at Santa's workshop X-D.

Looking forward to seeing more of your guys' great art in 2012! I guess this is the late update of 2011. Have some cool stuff to show you guys in 2012 ;)

Indie work :: CGHub Frakenstein (11.5inch 1/8th scale) :: Concept Art by Adrian Smith :: ZBrush Sculpting by Rishi Nandlaskar :: Being retailed as a kit in 2012 by Industrial Mechanika

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industry :: Popocultureshock Judge Dredd (huge 1/4th scale) :: Zbrush Sculpting by Alterton

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[Pride]

Hope you have had a chance to enjoy at least a small break over the Xmas period. I successfully assembled the "Problem job" you helped me with.
The two figures you posted look great. Next year I will talk to you about printing some of the 18 inch figures I have.

|-|/-\ppy n3\/\/ y3/-\r. n0 |\/|0r3 7IR35 I PR0|\/|I$3.

[denni5]

So I was wondering about the busts and other statues that I see at comic shops. Are they all prints, or do they create one print and then use that to create a cast? Also, I was wondering if you guys do toy lines and how that works exactly. I'm very curious about what the process is to start a toy line, or even multiple runs on a statue or bust. Your thread has been very interesting, and I can't wait to see more of your work. Keep up the great job!!!

[desmoda]

You are a necromancer man. Raising the dead. :D Good to be back.

Well.. back when we started this.. what is it.. 3-4 years ago now? I'd say not very many of the retail figures you saw in the shop were digital and 3d printed. I'd say less than 5% back then. Of the digital things you'd mostly saw robotic stuff (gundam) or a few of those designer Vinyl models that might have been made on CNC. Or stuff from Gentle Giant (they were really pushing the envelope back then and still are! :lol:). Just naming a few. I know Adam and Joe and everyone did a lot of pioneering work with 3d printing in sculpture and toys as it relates to Zbrush.

And as zbrush got better and better, I'd say roughly 15% of the statue/toy retail products you see now are digitally made and 3d printed. With the trend fast moving towards more and more digital + 3d print. I'm guessing it'll hit 40% in the next 2-5 years. It's a little scary for the traditional guys because it means they have to learn new things, but its also exciting all the possibilities that ZBrush and digital sculpting opens up. The cool thing about digital sculpting and 3d printing is that it really lowers the barrier to entry for producers. It's not just the big guys putting stuff out now, but hundreds of smaller producers who all have new ideas and new visions. It's kinda cool. That's what innovation and technology does in this new age, it brings producers and consumers closer together. The super consumers themselves eventually becomes producers. I always use as an example how those street girls in Shibuya are super consumers of fashion.. but they're also producers in the sense they produce a look and set the new trend. Sites like kickstarter are pushing this new model of business forward even faster. It's pretty cool.. circle of life! haha..

Ok.. back to your question. Mm.. some of those in the shop are 3d printed, but only the first master copy. The rest are all moulded and cast in resin. No one would sell the 3d print in retail. Because the thing is worth it's weight in gold haha. You might see a painted 3d print in a museum or gallery though. Generally you make the 3d print, then cast copies from the 3d print to mock up the Paint Master (colored prototype). Then you give the thumbs up and more copies are made from the 3d print and painted as part of the limited/mass production. Although sometimes we are commissioned to do one-off painted 3d prints for a collector or movie studio. I generally don't recommend painting the 3d print because it closes a lot of doors for copies later. You'll likely mess up the paint job if you try to mould over it later.

Yah we do statue lines and toy lines (we don't say yes to everything tho, we're a lil' picky). Mm.. it really depends on what you want to do and what vision and skills you have. If you're a 3d artist.. then typically the concepting and sculpting phase is easy to get done without outside help (unless it involved articulation). The rest is the "business stuff." Can you move/sell X amount of product? How much is the 3d print, production, shipping going to cost you? How much will you have to sell the final product for? Who's going to buy it and how you plan on retailing? For smaller productions, Ownage does the worldwide individual shipping and customer service to your buyers for you. But for larger amounts, you'll have to think about large-scale distribution. Whether to go through a channel distributor like Sideshow, Diamond, PBM, DKE. Or through a distribution service like Shipwire, Amazon Fulfillments, and stuff like that. Or maybe just set up sales at your local comic shop. Sometimes thats all it takes X-D. Kinda like how Newbury Comics started small in the UK 20 years ago. Nowadays, more and more people get their stuff presold thru Kickstarter. This also helps to pay for the actual production~ You see what Josh Harker did with his Crania Anatomica thingee? $70-80k in sales, although that was entirely 3d printed and produced by Shapeways.. not us. Feel free to email us at support@ownage.com if you need consulting. Happy to chat with anyone. Haha, I should really update the website so you guys can help yourselves. But soo busy.... X-D. It's turned into this damned if we do, damned if we don't kinda thing. :evil: haha.. its gonna get updated. just want the update to be a functional update, not a marketing one. which means i have to do a lot of it. i know.. excuses!!! :lol:

Ok.. I guess I have to post a pic or something before running away. Since this post is about busts.. here's a cool bust!

Indie Print :: Blizzard Artist Dominic Qwek :: Cornelius Alien Bust :: He'll be selling a kit version of this soon.. for those interested you should hit him up about it (http://www.dominicqwek.com/)! Support your fellow 3d artists!

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[desmoda]

Feel like I owe it to you guys to keep posting stuff. Sry people who are waiting on your stuff!

Anyhow.. being that it's monday and I got permission from Aaron to share this with you guys. Here's a small production that we finished a couple weeks back for The Aaron Sims Company. Thanks also to Jaime from Pixo! :)

Industry:: RL7 Archetype Robot :: The Aaron Sims Company :: Zbrushed by PSTCHOART (Tsvetomir Georgiev?)

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Also shipped some casts for Dominic.. grab them now from him while you can (previous post). not ur run of the mill smooth-on resins ;)

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[3mm]

Insane New works Des,the last Mech Print is Crazy...

[mmarch]

i have been lurking reading this post for awhile now ...close to a year, finally decided to post..
anyway i am looking to get a 3dprint for a toy concept i have done..so basically
the reason for this post is to find talented zbrush artist i can commission to develop
my idea into a zbrush model..so i can get ownage to make a 3dprint of it...so i can shop my
idea for feasibilty..desmoda if you able to help give a shout as well but i will definately contact
you once i get my zbrush model done.

if you interested please pm
i have just joined the forum so as to get this idea of the ground

[desmoda]

No worries. Man.. I can't even count on 2 dozen hands how many great people and artists are in this community. I'm sure someone will jump to your aid. It's just nuts. As a commissioner, I can say that if you have something really really specific you want to get made, that is good (but it helps to have concept art for sculptor to follow). If you leave the project open ended.. its also very good, lets the sculptor show his talent and not get wrapped up in revisions. The worst is probably being picky, but not really knowing what you want. Haha. It's hard to help then because its like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Here's another cool piece done by Dominic Qwek~ I'll try to show more industry work later. I just dont like posting that kinda work when we are so backlogged. People want me to finish stuff!

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[denni5]

So I've been planning on doing a toy line one day for a book I wanna do one day, but I'm not sure what route I should take. If I only wanted to do small runs of action figures or action figure sized statues who would you go about starting? I want to make these statues affordable to everyone so if I could keep the price point as low as possible that would be great. I'm really not sure where I should go after the 3d model is created, so I figure I ask an expert in this field. All the info you have related to his would be very much appreciated. Thank you so much!

[desmoda]

Hey Dennis, we can do the low run manufacturing for you.. just tell us how many u want, painted or unpainted, etc.

As for low run numbers. Statues tend to sell based on size and intricacy. There tends to be a different market price for busts, statues, anime figures, plastic action figures, etc. Another big factor is how many you plan on selling in total. If you market something as "only 3 will ever be made".. then you can fetch a much higher price for them. But if you plan to keep producing them over time (we call this open edition).. then people expect you to charge a fair market price based on size, quality, desirability and rarity.

I think, one bad thing to do is having the mindset that you must make money on every piece right from the get-go. Development costs for a real life product are high.. concept art, 3d sculpting, 3d printing, paint design, production, packaging, etc. If you go about planning on making it big or quitting your job on selling 10 copies, lol.. its not impossible, although it would be really hard. I think if you have a book/comic/video game. The sales from statues are much less than 1% of your total income. But the statues are really a fan-base/brand multiplier. It's something that your diehard fans will want to get a hold of.. to have something physical, possibly tasteful to declare their love for your work. And that in itself, while it may not be pure hard cash, is a type of glue that holds your universe together.. and is probably worth much more than 1%. So its a factor you have to take into account when setting retail prices and estimating the lifespan of the product line.

And yeah, it costs less to make more, costs more to make less. Assembly line -> Affordable. Custom oneoffs -> Expensive. It's a fact of life :lol:

[denni5]

Hey Desmoda, thanks so much for the quick response! That's very useful information! That definitely helps me figure out exactly how I wanna go about making these figures. Do you have a email address where I can speak with you directly? I would love to give you more details and see what you suggest. Thanks again for the help! :D

[desmoda]

lol, yah.. email us at support@ownage.com. I tend to answer all emails anyway, just prefer not to give my non-screened email out on a public forum.

[jorgea]

Thanks for your generous offer.


































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[Medicinehorse7]

I'm just wondering are you still printing?

If so, what are the costs?

If not, where else can I get something printed?

[desmoda]

I'm just wondering are you still printing?

If so, what are the costs?

If not, where else can I get something printed?


Still printing, just not actively advertising or doing promotion at the moment. Hit us up at support@ownage.com and can see if we can help you make physical art from Zbrush. Or just chat.

[vinnypolston]

Hope you're still printing! I just sent you an email regarding an Ironman mask!!:tu:

[desmoda]

Hope you're still printing! I just sent you an email regarding an Ironman mask!!:tu:

Yah do that one on a makerbot replicator or something. It's too expensive for a halloween oneoff to do it as a fineart piece. Printing on makerbot wouldn't cost u more than a couple hundred bucks or so if u did it on someone elses machines. Then sand it flat and do a little bit of fiberglass and resin brushing and sanding to smooth it down. Gesso/bondo the surface if u want (unnecessary really.. u might wind up with hairline fractures later). Then paint it up. This thing has no detail so its doable on a makerbot. Shapeways would be too expensive tho. We're probably in line with shapeways or slightly more but yeah.. makerbot first. A lot of people just melt PLA/styrene sheets. Or coat cardboard with fiberglass to pull off these ironman suits. Its not worth the like.. $30k+ it would cost to prototype the entire suit when u can make it out of $20 of cardboard and $100 in resin and fiberglass to just craft it by hand.

cheers


Oh yah.. u guys can buy this limited edition from Eat3D. Sculpted by Michael Pavlovich I think. I dont think there are many of the cold cast bronze though. Only made a few of those.

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[shereef]

just wanted to say that dealing with ownage and Desmoda is a treat and the quality is simply unmatched !

[desmoda]

just wanted to say that dealing with ownage and Desmoda is a treat and the quality is simply unmatched !

Thanks man! I should really update this thread more. Ok.. thanks for kicking me in the butt some. Just so much ZBrush art to make.. so little time to do it.

Aite.. lemme show these people your art first. I've been trying to clear the order queue before I start posting stuff but it looks like I can never catch the tail end.. Keep em coming guys. I'll show more and try my best to handle it~

Frank Miller Batman (1:5 scale) :: For Shereef :: 3D Art by Jason Mark

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[desmoda]

Dystopic (1/6th scale) :: Kit produced and sold by Industria Mechanika :: Concept Derek Stenning :: 3D Sculpting by Gene Campbell

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[desmoda]

Magneto (1/4 scale) :: MadXCollector :: 3D Art by Khurram Alavi

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[dillster]

This is very impressive work.

[dillster]

Do you need to use special plastic primer before you paint the models? The reason I ask is because I airbrush model cars that my Dad and I collect. We use an etch primer on the plastic and aluminium parts before painting, which makes the paint adhere better. Not using etch primer meant the paint always eventually flaked off. Normal grey primer or 2 pack primer was no good, it had to be etch primer on the bare plastic first. I'm just curious how you overcome this with plastic printed models.

[desmoda]

Do you need to use special plastic primer before you paint the models? The reason I ask is because I airbrush model cars that my Dad and I collect. We use an etch primer on the plastic and aluminium parts before painting, which makes the paint adhere better. Not using etch primer meant the paint always eventually flaked off. Normal grey primer or 2 pack primer was no good, it had to be etch primer on the bare plastic first. I'm just curious how you overcome this with plastic printed models.

Lacquers. We use a combination of Lacquers, Enamel, Acrylic, Oil, Pastel, Electroplate, Foil.. you name it .. we will use on a piece/production. But, lacquers are extremely durable and require no primer on non-polished surfaces. I know there are a lot of wise, super experienced artists on this forum so dont want to preach to the choir, but the way lacquers work is much like plastic. Once the lacquer thinner evaporates, the remaining lacquer binder and pigment harden (crosslink) into a extremely durable film... essentially plastic. This plastic is the color layer that we think of when we think of paint on a figure/canvas. The way enamels work and acrylics work are similar, but their performance don't have the same durability as lacquers. Enamels behave like hard sugar candy. Acrylics behave like colored mud.


The main problem when dealing with lacquers are that synthetic lacquers for hobby markets like Mr Color and Testors dont have the bite of industrial lacquers that people use in production. So they will sometimes scratch off on unprimered plastic. But industrial lacquers/lacquer thinners are really toxic (is your art worth your health?). So the modern way of painting pushes people around a lot of water based acrylic paints and then sealed in with transparent lacquer topcoats. But this sacrifices a lot of techniques for the sake of non-toxicity. Its a tricky choice based on the artist involved and the environment you work in. Just a question of how far you want to go and the regulations of your country regarding clean-air and public health.

Happy Holidays Guys!

Here's a Flash piece with a cool plasma, lightning base. Too bad Martian isn't painted and we can lock down that Red And Green Christmas colors. :lol:

Flash (1/5 scale) :: AYSculpture/Alkusyl :: 3D Art by Avinash Hegde

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[desmoda]

As an addendum.. I dont do scale model kits a lot, but a lot of those cars are made in polycarbonate and lexan. The surfaces are really really smooth. Also the car bodies flex. You use the etch primer to score the surface of the plastic. Normally paint dries into a smooth layer on top of a surface. The problem with flexible surfaces and rigid paint is that when the surface flexes, the paint isn't really bound to the surface.. its just sticking to itself, so it just chips off when the car gets hit or handled. The etching makes microscopic teeth on the surface so the paint sitting on top of the surface sticks to the surface more like velcro.

For resin figures and plaster statues.. its different, cause those already have microscopic teeth on the surface. Unlike mass produced car kits which are injection moulded/diecast out of polished metal injection moulds. The closer you get to mirror finish surface, the harder it is for that velcro effect.

Tamiya makes some can-based Polycarbonate paint for basecoating. But so far as I know, no one sells Polycarbonate paint + thinner to be airbrushed at home. I'm sure there's some one-off stuff from Alclad or other small names, but it's not something I'm exposed to a lot. Perhaps b/c if that stuff dries in your $400 airbrush.. you sure aint getting it out =P Or maybe the thinner is the same chemical used to vapor polish, and that stuff is super super super toxic.

Unpainted batman image from above got broken. reattaching for reference's sake:

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[desmoda]

A body building piece for your weight loss New Year's Resolutions :tu:

Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr Universe (1/4 scale) :: Matthew Smith Designs :: Clay sculpted/3D Scanned/Resculpted in ZBrush by Matthew Smith

SSS skin in natural light (went for hot toys style)

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Getting better at this real Bronze Powder thing ;)

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[KonginChains]

Those are some great sculptures! So clean the transition from digital sculpt to 3d print, would love to have some of mine printed too someday.

[desmoda]

Thanks Kong =) I've got some way cooler pieces to show off but have to wait till items become public.

Get asked about miniatures a bunch. Here is an example 32mm scale miniature. We do 32mm to 1/24 (74-79mm scale) typically. Here you can see the detail comparison of zbrush to 3d print along with finger in picture to show scale.

Dark Elf (32mm) :: Kaushik Designs :: 3D Art by David Richardson

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More updates soon~

[desmoda]

Responding to PM publicly for people new to ZBrush:


Desmoda,
Thank you for supplying such great information about 3D printing.
It has been very interesting seeing the progression of Ownage and your wonderful work.

I am a lost-wax bronze figurative sculptor, & have been researching opportunities to develop my product line through customized 3D Prints. I know that this is not new, but I feel that I have established myself in a niche market where I would like to test some prints. Currently I customize my original realistic human wax sculptures, re-mold, & then cast in bronze.
This involves reposing similar dance figures, replacing costumes, modifying hair, faces and patina. It is a fulfilling and challenging which I plan to continue in various sizes from 1/6th to larger than life life. However, the process is expensive in time, materials, and foundry labor. In addition, as I age it is becoming more difficult to sculpt accurate faces for my smallest commissions.

I have had larger sculptures scanned, scaled, molded, lost-wax cast to provide different price points, so I am somewhat familiar with my technology options. However, I plan to move my 5" - 8" figures toward a digital sculpted / posed / customized approach. While I may use them as protos for molds, I would prefer to import skin texture maps from client's face photos & produce 1 or 2 custom 3D prints specifically for my clients. I know that the business model for low run work requires a high price tag, but I am already operating in that model, and struggling with time constraints.

I have a few questions that I hope you can assist with prior to me investing more time and money.

- Can you suggest a combination of SW that would most likely get me started into testing this approach? Preferably, one package would do it all :)
I can't spend more than a few months getting familiar with combinations of packages for my Mac.
Although I am not very good with it, I've used Poser for years as a guide for my designs. I am good with Photoshop, but a newbie with DAZ, Blender, and Sculptris.
However, the integration of steps and files across products, prepping for clean printing, mapping skin textures from photos, commercial licensing of character or clothing meshes, etc all are concerns for me regarding integrating those various packages into a quick and efficient work flow from customer order, "minor" customization to my base models, through a high quality finished product.

- Before I purchase ZBrush, do you think it or something else might best fit my needs for creating a few realistic child / teen / adult base sculpts, easily and repeatedly posing and reclothing them, using Projection Master (or something like Facegen Modeler?) to import the face map, and still provide you with a clean file?

- In a 5" tall figure, should I plan on a solid print, or another tool (Wings3D, Netfabb, other?) to hollow the model?

- Do you have suggestions of 3D Print trade shows or conventions I should attend, or additional forums that I should follow?
I am considering visiting SIGGRAPH, ComicCon, or a Maker Faire to continue this research into any other areas I may be missing.

Sincerely,

Tim King
King Sculpture Studios



Hey Tim,

Weird that google bounced the email~ Your question is best answered by someone who works in the film industry as an FX artist. But I think that movies like Avatar, Benjamin Button, etc use the Lightstage approach to capture high detail scans (But is probably out of your price range to get all those skin textures and pores, etc)


http://gl.ict.usc.edu/Research/DigitalEmily/DigitalEmily-IEEECGA-2010.pdf


The typical @home version of this is to use a structured light scanner at home with a projector (lightstage also does this). The free version of this is the David LaserScanner http://www.david-laserscanner.com/?section=Gallery


You would take the scan data (typicallly point cloud), clean it up to remove holes and make it a solid, watertight mesh (David scanner might provide this software for free... if not here is a comparison of commercial packages (http://www.deskeng.com/articles/aaaypa.htm). Traditionally, you would take the cleaned up triangle mesh and import into ZBrush to retopologize (turn the triangle mesh into a quad mesh by manually creating guidepoints of edgeloops on top of the old mesh to create a new cage and efficient polygon structure to aid in proper distribution of polygons when subdividing for further detail enhancements). But nowadays you can just use dynamesh (one-click) and save yourself a bunch of headache. Then you would just use zbrush's normal sculpting function to smooth out the holes/jaggies left over from scanning, as well as use sculpting brushes and alpha project to fix fine details such as smile lines and skin texturing.

As for posing and that kind of stuff... without learning how to rig a model for animation (so that they can be posed with bones in Maya/Poser), the easiest way... yeah.. is to learn how to transpose figures in zbrush. This essentially defining a temporary pivot point on top of a ZBrush sculpture.. then like in photoshop.. creating a mask to define what areas of the sculpt are editable... then using a 3d transform tool to rotate/scale/skew etc.

If you're planning to 3d print with us, then you don't have to hollow the model because our prices are only based on surface area. Hollowing the model increases the total surface area. But to hollow the model for your own 3d printing, ZBrush provides this feature for free. But you can use other software packages like Netfabb or Materialise Magics to do this as well.

As for tradeshows or forums. I think your best bet is to keep an eye on the top row posts on ZBrush Central as these posts typically highlight both outstanding work and process used create the work and span a range of disciplines such as Video Games/Film/Traditional Sculpture/Jewelry Making. Then after u get the broad spectrum from ZBC, you probably are best served by film industry oriented articles in CG Film specific websites. Sorry, I dont work in that industry so I can only point you in a general direction.


99% of people on here are more experienced at CG art than me, so feel free to find someone such as Scott Patton (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?79195-Avatar) or Brandon Lawless (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?58729-The-Black-Pearl) and dig into their genius.

hope that helps!


Des

Heavy Metal Cybercop (1:4 scale) & Heavy Metal Medusa (1:4 Scale) :: Hollywood Collectibles Group :: 3D Art by Steve Jubinville

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[timking]

Des,
As always, you provided wonderful and extremely fast information.
Again, I am probably stating the obvious, but one of my greatest pleasures in the art industry is in how most artists are genuinely excited to teach and share.
I look forward to purchasing ZBrush and creating my first digital projects!

Tim

[Meadowknight]

That's awesome you can do that! :)

I'm currently still learning z-brush...but I'm a traditional sculptor and taking to z-brush pretty fast. I do some traditional mold making and casting as well, and I have a werewolf piece I sell for around $400.00. I can't really charge less due to the time it takes, and how pricey the resin is! If I didn't have to deal with so many airbubbles though, I would decrease my price greatly. Believe me, I can empathize with the work load and cost. My problem is, I don't have any injection capabilities, so I have to deal with airbubble HELL on everything, lol.

I mean no disrespect, but is there any way to get a character or creature printed for less $$, unpainted? I have a character I'm working on currently that I would love to get printed, but I prefer to paint my own stuff (painting is sorta the fun/easy reward for me and I feel possessive about my own artwork....I want to be the one painting my own piece, lol). Or has the price gone down at all since you posted this thread? I keep hearing 3D printing is going down a bit in price, but I'm having trouble finding places. from what i can tell, the ZTL files in most places need to be converted to a different format to be printer ready.

Since I know how to mold and cast...is there a cheaper material to print a 3D model in, that still retains detail? I could probably (depending on undercuts and narrow parts) do a traditional mold and cast to have them in polyurethane resin...but it's still a big limiting problem not having injection capabilities. Thanks for your time! :). I'm attaching a pic of my traditional werewolf pieces I cast from my originals. The pose is simple and so are the undercuts, so I did these from a simple two piece block mold. I'll consider paying you for a 3D print at some point, but a few artists I know said to get a 6 inch figure, it might cost around $100.00 (more within my price range), though I know you said you only do 9 inches. Very cool you offer this at all though...plastic is the way to go if it's durable enough! I've loved the strength of the polyurethane resin I cast in.

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[desmoda]

Hey meadowknight! Hmm.. this thread has been going on for years. Right now we do every scale from 30mm miniatures up to 1:1 fullsize props. Haven't done any 1:1 people yet b/c its cheaper to mill those out of foam and we dont do any 5-axis CNC yet. Have done some 1:2 scale busts and stuff though and 1:1 heads and helmets for Starwars stuff and cosplay game weaponry.

Ok, so back to ur stuff, we can make kits for you if you want. But normally we don't do production work for non-digital artwork (and production that we do is still kinda underground). The cheapest way to make unpainted figures is to silicone mould from the initial clay sculpt or 3d print. The reason you're having airbubble problems is your casting setup. You need to both vacuum and pressure when u cast each piece. U vacuum first to suck up all the larger airbubbles from the resin in the mould. Air typically gets trapped in those upwards facing fingers and horns and toes if you dont gate them properly with air vents. Using a vacuum chamber all this air gets sucked up towards the pouring sprue and u will see the resin kinda boil and froth (this is air leaving the mould). Then u need to quickly throw it into a very very high PSI pressure pot. What this does is vaporize the remaining tiny <1mm airbubbles in the resin so that what you get is a flawless piece out. There are ways to do it both these processes manually or automatically... depending on how much money u have to spend on machinery. Ugh, I'm probably preaching to an expert :lol:. For all the rest of the people reading this.. be careful with pressure pot at home, b/c non-industrial equipment thrown together for hobby-work can explode and cause major injury.

Very awesome werewolf though! :D Looks to be roughly a 10-12 incher? Nice design though, can be cast from a single mould with no assembly other than the base.. Would need a pretty big pressure pot to fit the thing as one piece. Thats a lot of PSI... Lol, you put your fishoil capsules and your eyedrops next to all your painting stuff! But I guess its all acrylic so its ok. I dunno.. how are your acrylics? Are they durable? I can never get them to work well for production pieces that need to be handled a lot. I guess you could topcoat like mad, but i feel like its a whole bunch of extra work.

Ok.. hmm.. I guess I have to post an artpiece for each post. Uh... ok hmm.. maybe something celshady. I photographed it on a white background cause they needed it for the marketing photos. Sry

Banana Girl 1/8th scale :: Digital Banana Studio :: Pixar Artist Bill Pressing in collab with 3D Artist Anders Ehrenbourg

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Made a couple hundred of these. I think they're mostly sold out! Eek. Maybe a few skirt left according to inventory.

[desmoda]

As an addendum, yeah.. 3d prints are expensive compared to clay. There's no getting around that. But the reason there's a massive shift to ZBrush and digital is the whole convergence effect. It's simply faster to do most things in ZBrush than it is to do it traditionally. You have more control (other than for perspective camera problems). And are around 2-5 times faster. I can't speak for 3d printing companies.. but the reason we have to charge what we do is because we have to labouriously prep, fix, finish and ship completed production artwork to people... not raw 3d prints. So you're essentially taking the nitty gritty part out of artwork design and letting us take care of that part while you focus mainly on the concepting and idea part. The physical/technical aspect is consolidated into the factory/foundry side. It's just a shifting of the bang for buck line. Digital tools empower people up and down the chain. But it also raises the bar for everyone by letting people reach new levels of productivity and sophistication with the time/mental energy saved.

[nickz]

I so appreciate this thread and all the knowledge you share here. It is truly inspiring to see all the work being down with 3D digital printing. The resolution you are getting is amazing. How much longer do you think it will be before we see this type of print resolution in the 2,000 - 5,000 dollar range (printer wise)?

Thanks again for all the contributions!

[Meadowknight]

desmoda- I think you misunderstood my post :). Sorry if I wasn't clear, I'm new to this forum and rarely go on forums in general (currently this is the only site I'm even posting on because I'm so busy with stuff). I didn't realize how old this thread was, I just saw "Ooow they do 3D printing!" and I posted.

I'm not asking anyone here to help me with traditional mold making a traditional piece, this is a site for digital art and that's what I'm getting into....I was simply sharing my work to prove I know how to sculpt & duplicate traditionally since I don't have anything like that done digitally yet. And yes I am already aware about why air bubbles happen, lol. I worked in special FX briefly, and we used those machines all the time for our molding and casting process. I cannot afford $500.00 for a pressure pot (well I can probably save up now that my computer is bought). The reason I brought up traditional mold making and casting, is I'm hoping to be able to reproduce some digital prints once I have digital work done. And reproduce them with traditional casting methods since it's probably more simple/cheap. So; Sculpt something in Z-brush, pay you guys for one print, reproduce/paint them on my own. I sometimes sell artwork at Renaissance fair, and I sell these fantasy pendants I make in clay and then cast in resin...but I sometimes sell larger pieces than the pendants, or figures, and I know I could do so many new designs faster digitally. For example; If I was to (in z-brush) sculpt a flat backed dragon head wall hanging piece that's only about 6 inches, then get it 3D printed...I could take that 3D print made in plastic or whatever printed material, and make a silicone mold, and make my own duplicates in resin....assuming that's cheaper for me to do, just make ten on my own instead of paying to have ten 3D printed and shipped. If I'm conveying that clearly? This is just all stuff I do on the side because I don't make very much money at the studio I work at currently.

BUT, I also want to have personal projects printed...so I can have my own characters stood up on my desk. I'm used to having a figure I can hold being a traditional artist, so I'll definitely want to end up printing my digital 3D work. I hope I'm articulating myself more clearly now :S.

Knowing you guys now do all different scales...can you link me to a price guide if you have one? I will definitely be wanting to get some original characters and creatures printed out if I can afford it, but may not be able to if it's around $200.00 just for one little figure to put on my desk. In that case I would at least really need to pick and choose. Z-brush is definitely a heck of a lot faster than traditional sculpting. I'm trying to get away from traditional sculpting for the most part since I need digital for my career, and in some ways it's just more fun and free I'm finding.

To answer your question about my paints (were you having a go at me having vitamins on my art table? What's up with that? lol). I do not keep food items on my art table WHILE working :P. I don't run my own shop, I work at a video game studio full time and sell artwork on the side now and then. I don't have a big professional thing going like you guys, and don't intend to unless I decide to become freelance and leave studio work one day. It's just me in my room, at my art table, doing art, on my own. I am also self taught at just about everything I do. I cast in polyurethane resin, and after all the post casting work I spray them with a primer made for plastic. After that I do all my painting with acrylics (just regular ones you can get cheap at craft stores). Then when the paint job is done, I apply flat and gloss (for eyes etc.) varnish to help seal the paint job. I really do need to break down and buy and airbrush, lol. I know how to use one but don't own one. I have a handful of figures on my computer desk I made and have painted this way, and none of them have chipped...even being jostled around, so I must be doing something right. I have had nothing but praise from custoimers too about my paint work. Unfortunately the werewolf photo i attached is crappy and blurry and does not do them justice. If you can recommend a paint that's better suited for plastic/resin,or even a specific airbrush to buy, I'm all ears! I have stuck with acrylics because it's what I've known, and when I've tried to find out what others use I can't seem to dig out any clear info. I learned what I could at the special FX shop I was in years ago, but being a Christian girl surrounded by disgruntled (pissed they had to learn digital or become extinct, lol), middle aged death metal heads...my learning process was stunted, lol. You know...I like Rob Zombie and Ramstein! But I don't think they believed me since I didn't look and act like them, lol :P. I think I made them uncomfortable and sculpting werewolves wasn't dark enough, LOL. I guess what I'm trying to say, is there are holes in my knowledge on how to make things traditionally in the most professional manner possible.

This is an original little creature I'm currently working on in z-brush....I am NEW to z-brush though, so I realize it has a lot of flaws, and it still has more work I need to do. I'm doing semi cartoony stuff until I'm more at home in Z-brush, then will do some more detailed or realistic pieces. When he's done I'd love to have him printed at about 6 inches tall (it doesn't have to be an exact 6 inches...just around that), but would prefer to paint him on my own. I'll probably do a few figures first and get better before I pay for any prints though (it depends on how expensive it all is). Do you guys print in unpainted plastic? I'm still not sure if you answered me on that...sorry! I apologize if you have an obvious link posted somewhere to your shop....but I figure it's better just to ask in case any links or info is outdated by now. 346937

[desmoda]

To answer your question about my paints (were you having a go at me having vitamins on my art table? What's up with that? lol).

Haha.. its just my weird way of showing I like you~ Just bonding stuff. Not enough of us hands-on people on the forum so its kinda warm fuzzy to see the human element on here once in awhile. I got like alcohol and cereal boxes all over my table. And its a mess. Your work is fabulous! I'm not good with acrylics and trying to pick up some pointers from you. I've tried! I just broke down and went the lacquer route. Haha.

But yah, hrmmmmm.. if ur having problems with airbubbles still, and can't buy a pressure pot right now cause you're not doing enough volume. Then you should first brush the mould with liquid resin carefully and try to get all the little bubbles out and get all the resin into the nooks and crannies. then tie the 2 halves together and pour the rest of the resin after u got a good initial layer down. This might help with airbubbles but is more time consuming when compared to pour and pull [figures out].

So yah, maybe mix the resin very very carefully so that no additional air bubbles are introduced.. then do a first brush layer to get the skin down. Then pour the inside before the skin has set and ur pretty confident that u got all the bubbles out. The downside is the parting line might be more more noticeable, but you'll have less waves/distortion on the piece due to resin shrinkage since the outside is partially cured?

Edit: Hrm yeah.. 3d printing is expensive. If you want a tiny figure.. lets say the caterpillar guy.. at 3-4 inches tall. Shapeways you can do that in WSF for like less than $35. If you did it in frosted detail, then it would be less than $75-100 I think. If we did it... 3-4 inches tall.. would be roughly $100 I feel like. One-off, if detail is not a big thing, then WSF on shapeways is probably the best bet. What you do is you get it done cheap.. like $10-20 on shapeways on WSF.. then cast that initial print to resin.. then sand the resin and cast again. Then u can get a perfectly smooth piece. If you want a direct high res print, then you'd have to move towards the direction of Nick's post. Those @home printers for $2500-5000. Both the Formlabs printer and the B9Creator look promising. As for when those printers will reach the detail level of existing printers? Hrmm.. 5-10 years maybe. Its both a mechanical issue and material issue. Formlabs is using bluray diodes. But the cheaper laser setups have larger diameter spot sizes due to a combination of laser wavelength and optics. On the B9 side, some parts shaking due to the separation method and lightbleed due to combination of consumer projector (lack of wobulation). For those things to become consumer grade? Hrmm.. 5-10 years? Or now... if u have the money and time to spend on modifying the vanilla packages. It's not simple! Some people can pull it off though but is it worth it to get away from the packaged commercial systems? Dunno! The reason would only be to save on consumables in the long run. Still.. if you factor in time and money.. its probably only 5% of your actual costs when time and labor is taken into account if you could knock off 50-70% on material fees. It's hard to separate the whole for fun and for work part of the "is it worth it" monetary side of 3d printing. Otherwise, you could go with the ZCorp ful color printing and the LOM paper cutting and gluing method from MCOR.. I've been wondering if we should introduce a cheaper... one-off service for mockups using one of these tech. But its definitely exciting to see all the stuff going on (both the pro and consumer)! :tu:



feel free to email at support@ownage.com if you have more detailed questions or personal stuff that you want to get more detailed feedback on

[Meadowknight]

As an addendum, yeah.. 3d prints are expensive compared to clay. There's no getting around that. But the reason there's a massive shift to ZBrush and digital is the whole convergence effect. It's simply faster to do most things in ZBrush than it is to do it traditionally. You have more control (other than for perspective camera problems). And are around 2-5 times faster. I can't speak for 3d printing companies.. but the reason we have to charge what we do is because we have to labouriously prep, fix, finish and ship completed production artwork to people... not raw 3d prints. So you're essentially taking the nitty gritty part out of artwork design and letting us take care of that part while you focus mainly on the concepting and idea part. The physical/technical aspect is consolidated into the factory/foundry side. It's just a shifting of the bang for buck line. Digital tools empower people up and down the chain. But it also raises the bar for everyone by letting people reach new levels of productivity and sophistication with the time/mental energy saved.

Absolutely! Yeah I have been doing mold making and casting from my own figures I sculpt traditionally for the past few years. I'm 30 but still living at home, and had a huge span of time between studio jobs where I had to bring in some money, but couldn't bring myself to getting a retail job after working in FX! It was VERY hard doing all of the steps on my own...mold making and casting is such messy and toxic work, and takes so much time away from the actual creating process of sculpting a figure. I would have SO many more pieces actually sculpted/created if I didn't spend so much blood, sweat and tears in reproducing my stuff. The main thing I ended up making were small pendants with flat backs. I would sculpt them traditionally and then do the whole silicone molding, and resin casting, then paint them, and cord them...and I sell them for around $30.00. So the finished piece would be a finished, paint washed, light weight resin piece. It would definitely be great to quickly make something in z-brush...and have all the reproduction work out of my hands. I'll definitely be looking into this for both pendants and my figures. I prefer doing figures, but the pendants are easier to make and sell, or have been any way! For now I mainly just want some personal artwork/characters printed out when I get some done :). This digital stuff is all pretty new to me, but vital as I need it for my career to progress in the game studio I'm at, and beyond.

[Meadowknight]

Haha.. its just my weird way of showing I like you~ Just bonding stuff. Not enough of us hands-on people on the forum so its kinda warm fuzzy to see the human element on here once in awhile. I got like alcohol and cereal boxes all over my table. And its a mess. Your work is fabulous! I'm not good with acrylics and trying to pick up some pointers from you. I've tried! I just broke down and went the lacquer route. Haha.

But yah, hrmmmmm.. if ur having problems with airbubbles still, and can't buy a pressure pot right now cause you're not doing enough volume. Then you should first brush the mould with liquid resin carefully and try to get all the little bubbles out and get all the resin into the nooks and crannies. then tie the 2 halves together and pour the rest of the resin after u got a good initial layer down. This might help with airbubbles but is more time consuming when compared to pour and pull [figures out].

So yah, maybe mix the resin very very carefully so that no additional air bubbles are introduced.. then do a first brush layer to get the skin down. Then pour the inside before the skin has set and ur pretty confident that u got all the bubbles out. The downside is the parting line might be more more noticeable, but you'll have less waves/distortion on the piece due to resin shrinkage since the outside is partially cured?

Okay cool, lol..thanks for being friendly XD!! I've had a rather bad weekend so I'm kinda in a defensive mode, lol. Yeah I am 100% a hands on artist trying to learn all this digital stuff...I love it, but it's definitely a different planet! I've been getting sooo excited sculpting my stupid little Caterpillar red panda though in z-brush!! I'll get all "YAAAAAAAAAAY SYMMETRY MAKES IT ALL GO SO FAST!!!"...then hit a brick wall not knowing how to do one thing or another since I'm a newbie and get all angry/sad, lol. I can tell z-brush is going to end up being my main art tool, but I've hit a memory snag (even though I'm on a beefy computer!)...so I now need to stop all the fun sculpting and hit tutorials again :cry:! His name is Crumpet Crawler btw...lol. He's a sidekick to a British character in a original project I'm working on (a British character based on my significant other in England...his fave animal is the red panda! there's a handful of characters in my project who I'm basing off friends and family). But anyways, lol...

Thank you for the casting tips! I actually already do that though, everything you just suggested. I have been mold making and casting for about 4 or 5 years. Another thing I do (it works worse NOT doing this)...is I dust each mold with baby powder before pouring. With my werewolf pieces, there's so much detail in the fur, I dust with baby power, half fill each piece of the block mold (and poke the resin in with a brush or toothpick to places like where the fang tips and fingernails are) ...I let that set up, then rubber band and brace each piece together, and pour the rest in. And yep! This makes the seam much more thick sometimes, but once in a while I get lucky if I'm super careful and get a clean seamline. The main problems are because I don't have anything to compress the air out of the silicone OR resin before pouring...so I get air bubbles from the mold (so these create the same issues every time I cast sicne they are part of the mold), which are little beads on the piece that have to be scraped....AND, air in the resin, which results in small holes that need to be patched. As far as I know, without a pressure pot I'm doing all I can. I have asked someone I've remained friends with from the FX place, and other artists, and done online research for it for years now. I know to thoroughly (and not too quickly ) stir the materials before pouring..and pour in a thin even stream...but there's just no avoiding it. I also don't own a scale or really know how to use one (numbers...AHHHHH!!!) ...so I use material that does not require one. I may eventually break down and take the time to learn, but I really hate mold making and casting, so if I can afford just to have someone else do it, I may go with that from now on! :D lol I am thankful I took the time to learn it...because it's a nice thing to be able to do after spending hours sculpting something (to in a sense immortalize it and cast it in a sturdy material! and share with friends and sell sometimes!)...but I definitely view it as a messy and expensive chore. Now that I have a fairly steady job with a paycheck, I don't need to do it as much though, so it's not so bad.

That's funny about your art table! Mine is sort of the same...but I hate it when I start to feel like I'm living in a pantry, so if it becomes a pile I'll twitch and then clean it, lol. It always LOOKS messy though, because it's covered in resin, and paint, and different glues...and it becomes sort of an everything pile throughout the week. So I'll have everything from exercise DVDs, videogames, capri suns, vitamins, Hot Wheels toys, paint cups/brushes, plates with clay pieces everywhere....it's a chaos pile, lol. It gets REAL messy whenever I'm doing resin work, and sometimes I'll be alternating between resin work, sculpting, and painting...so it turns into a project/supply pile. Digital is so clean...lol.

Would it be possible to get Crumpet Crawler printed out unpainted...at any size? What would be the cost? I'm sorry, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to ask you that or not...I just bumbled onto this forum without knowing jack! XD Thanks for the kind reply.

[Meadowknight]

And I JUUUUUST saw your e-mail link! Thanks! I'll probably e-mail you over the week, I appreciate it :).

[desmoda]

Skyrim Dovahkiin (1:6 scale) :: Gamingheads :: 3D art by Alex Pereira

Did this one last year.. but I think it just went pre-order. Haha been wanting to post this one. Can scratch that itch now. :tu:

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[davidness]

Des that looks amazing!!!

[desmoda]

Hehe, thanks man! Yah I think the original approved 3d was rendered using Fiber Mesh. So I couldn't really print it. Ended up using real rabbits fur for the skirt. And synthetic fur for the arms. Real fur is really hard to work with because its darker at the roots and white/lighter at the tips. So you can't really cut it. So you gotta really look through your pelts and find the exact length of hair that you need with the exact right pattern and with exactly the right grain. And then tailor around it to get it all going the right direction. Pain! The way the LED's work is that its powered through the base. And there are metal connectors between base and foot, foot and body, body and arm socket. to allow for switch out with the non-LED arm. But yah.. it was a fun project to work on cause at the time, Skyrim was really big. So I'd have the game blasting the Dovahkiin music to get me in the mood. Funny thing is that the original concept art/renders that I based the coloring/photography on was done by Steve Jubinville. So when I was talking to him about it.. was a total *derp* what a small world, "im talking to the creator" type of moment. :lol:

Okay, hope you dont mind, will post one of yours

Nazuwraith minibust (3 inch) :: David Richardson :: InspiredPogi.com (http://cargocollective.com/InspiredPogi)

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I really like the detailing and character in this piece

[soulty666]

Skyrim came out awesome. Lovin the hair

[davidness]

Thanks Des!! I am very pleased with the results! Definitely want to do another personal one soon!