Sci-Fi Meets The 3D Printing World

Sci-Fi Meets The 3D Printing WorldNow, this is an example of science fiction meeting the wonders of 3D printing like you’ve never seen.

The fans of the real time strategy game aka RTS from the Grey Box company named Grey Goo, has had a life sized replica of their robot character done with 3D printing. The 7 foot tall statue with moving parts was created with the combination of the talents of such companies as Six Foot, Petroglyph, Weta Workshop, Powerhouse Animation, Axis Animation and of course Gentle Giant Studios. Everyone teamed up to recreate the character of the game, Singleton.

The robot, is a killer type character with conflicts of soul and emotion. Those subtleties had to be translated from the digital model into the giant life sized replica using the best in 3D printing software and hardware. Meticulously compiling and modeling the parts, they team ended up with 70 individual pieces that then had to be constructed. The team did texture map fine tuning. The team had two projects in one. Making the life sized statue and the quarter scale statuettes/maquettes for the collectibles market.

The models were printed via SLA. Two 3D printers were used. The ProX 800 and the Projet 6000. Both pieces of hardware are the state of the art and produce highly detailed products. With the software and hardware, the team came off with flying colors.

This application of the 3D printing technology shows that the arts, entertainment, gaming industry can produce new products of astonishing measure. Fans love the life sized manifestations of their favorite characters and this allows companies to send such models and statues to various locations for promotion.

The further applications of what Gentle Giant and their team has done will make the rest of the entertainment industry take note. Already 3D printing has been used with other popular games and movies such as the Marvel Universe line of characters, Star Wars, Star Trek, and more. Just imagine, if they can make a life sized, realistic robot from a digital design, then scanning props from classic movies and television shows can bring to reality more merchandise and promotional material like never before.

Examples are the famous two robots Robby the Robot from the classic film “Forbidden Planet”, the Lost In Space Robot, and even Gort, the giant 8 foot cyclops laser beamed robot from the masterpiece, “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. With the digital tools available to day, long lost models of classic television and movies can be gleaned from the film and video. From there the replicas can be printed in no time. Fans who’ve waited decades for their own toys and statues will be thrilled to get them. This will bring massive revenue to the companies that hold the rights and make manufacturing cost effective which means a win win situation for all.

Even props fro the westerns, horror movies, and more can be duplicated and printed. The sky’s the limit regarding the growing 3D printing industry and Gentle Giant has proven this to be true.

Image credit: 3D Systems