Former Shapeways intern Mathijs van Beers noticed that you could not save to STL using the Solidworks Student Edition (Solidworks Student Design Kit). This meant that students who use the Solidworks SDK could not use this cheaper version of Solidworks to 3D print. The STL file format is the standard for the 3D printing industry so if you have your own 3D printer, if you use a 3D printing service or if your school has a 3D printer in house this keep you from 3D printing. Mathijs found out how he could solve this and described it in this little mini-tutorial/hack showing you how to go from SLDPRT to STL here. If you have Solidworks and need additional tips we also have an additional tutorial showing you how to optimize your Solidworks design for 3D printing here. Thank you so much Mathijs!

Janne Kyttanen is one of the very first people to seize upon the opportunity to make designs for consumers using 3D printing. Janne is the founder of Freedom of Creation. FOC is a groundbreaking and inspiring design label that is ahead of the pack with regards to 3D printing & design. We were happy to interview him to find out what Freedom of Creation is all about and how Janne views the future of design and 3D printing.  

Joris Peels: What is Freedom of Creation?

Janne Kyttanen:A pioneering design company busy with a new industrial revolution

Joris Peels: How did you get into 3D printing?

Janne Kyttanen:I saw it on some fair in the mid 90’s. I had my first computer when I was 8 years old and have been pretty much counting polygons ever since. When I saw the first 3D printer, I immediately saw every object around me in wireframe and realized where this whole thing was going to go. I got quite obsessed with it quite early on and skipped making products by other means. For me it was so clear, that I didn’t see any point making anything by hand anymore. 

The RepRap project has long been a groundbreaking project to create an affordable open source 3D printer that can print itself. Many RepRap parts have already been uploaded to Shapeways. We've always been very proud of that and love the idea of our technology being used to make another complimentary one. Now the RepRapWiki site has a tutorial showing you how to take a part 3D printed by Shapeways, make a mold of it and use it to build a RepRap mendel 3D printer. This could make it very inexpensive to create the plastic parts for the RepRap and will hopefully speed up the spread of the RepRaps to all the corners of the earth.

Many thanks to Shapeways community member Hannu Kotipalo! 

The molding tutorial using polymorph and Shapeways to create RepRap parts is here.

Image used under Creative Commons, Attribution by Ben_onthemove. 

White Detail, Transparent Detail and Black Detail are some of the most detailed 3D printing materials we have on Shapeways. They are made by hardening an  Acrylic-based photopolymer using UV light. The machines used are from 3D printing company Objet Geometries. We just made a movie showing you how Objet 3d printing works. We show you how the model is built up layer by layer by the machine and how Objet support material is removed. Enjoy. 

We recently made a huge improvements to our renderings. To do this we used Blender. If you want to read all about how we used Blender you can check out a great article on the BlenderNation blog here.

We love Blender and we're giving you the Blender files so that you can do the scenes at home and play with them at your leisure. We're releasing the files under a Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license. You can download them below.

Shapeways-Renderer-V1.0.zip

We're also holding a special contest for all you Blender Ninja's out there. The "Have I seen the best scene" contest. Can you use the files above to create the most realistic scene? Can you take Suzanne and put her in the kitchen, the garden, anywhere? To enter the contest just post your scenes here on the forum.

The winner wins $150 in 3D printing from Shapeways!

Bill Cournoyer just made something wonderful with Shapeways. It is the Steam Punk Scout 3D printed neckerchief. For $20 you can now get the perfect accessory to go with your steam powered ballooning merit badge. The Stainless Steel variant would require some serious pocket money saving however at $95.   

Bart made a movie showcasing the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing process. SLS is the 3D printing process behind White, Strong & Flexible. In the movie you can see how your models are made. You can see our EOS Formiga P100 SLS 3D printers and also how your models are cleaned. The cleaning step is all manual labor and will probably be the biggest surprise for those of you who think that we just press a button and walk away (if only).

Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg form the Boston based design duo Nervous System. The inspiring creative duo are currently one of the front runners in computational, algorithmic and generative design. With MIT degrees in Architecture, Mathematics and biology between them their outlook on design and forms was bound to be different. And it is, from releasing the tools they've made to create their designs for free  to being inspired by ice formations, leaves and radiolarians, their exciting new design is squarely rooted in technology as well as the natural world. You can visit their website here and their Shapeways Shop is here.

Joris Peels: how did the two of you meet?

Jessica Rosenkrantz: We both were undergraduates at MIT and we met because we lived in the same dorm.

Joris Peels: Are the two of you 'designers'?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Yes.

Jessica Rosenkrantz: I like the word designer because it's so difficult to pin down...what we do is actually pretty strange and it would be hard to categorize it as anything except maybe design.  On the one had, we're making (primarily) jewelry and doing in a serious way where we're selling to stores all over the world and through our own website in enough volume to support both of us.  On the other hand, I really view it as an intellectual project about using generative design to create all unique consumer products.

Joris Peels: How do a Biology, Architecture and Mathematics degree help you in your design work? Do those backgrounds still inspire you?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Not much at all.  Except for the occasional need to do hours of tedious work.  I cannot say I put much stake in institutional education.  I do use calculus once and a while, but that does not really come from my math degree either since I took calculus in high school.

The things that inspired us to pursue those fields still inspire us today.  We both have active interests in science and research.  Jessica has textbooks she reads on the molecular biology and books on slime molds, microbiology, etc.  I often look for interesting papers on topics of simulation of natural phenomenon.  That is not exactly math, but math was never my primary interest.

Joris Peels: Explain generative design to us...

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Generative design (or computational design, algorithmic design, etc) is not all that well defined.  Most basically you could say it is writing computer programs that make designs.  A more nuanced explanation would be that you design a process for creation instead of a finished product.  That process can then be used to generate an infinite variety of designs.  Sometimes it can involve interactivity, either with a user or some source of information, sometimes it just works on its own.

Joris Peels: Why choose generative design?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: It is not really a choice for me.  It is just what I do.  I did not start out wanting to be a designer and then chose the medium of generative design.  I started out experimenting with programs, and then decided to make products.

Jessica Rosenkrantz: I never really considered being a designer....up until I decided to go to grad school I guess.  Originally I was studying Biology, but while at MIT I was exposed to the sort of things they were working on at the Media Lab and I took a class with John Maeda just to check it out.  I got pretty excited about the possibilities of generative art and I felt like it was something that I (someone with no traditional artistic ability whatsoever) could use to create some interesting artworks.  Eventually that developed into me getting a second major in Architecture where I was further exposed to a lot of interesting generative work.  Anyways, basically what I'm saying is I probably would have never have gotten involved in design period if it weren't for the possibility of doing generative work.

Joris Peels: Do you think you'll always use generative? Always develop families of products?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: No.  We already have a couple products that are not generative.  We are interested in process, but it does not always have to be a generative design process.  It could be a construction or manufacturing process that is interesting.  A system does not have to be computational in nature.  Though we will most likely always use computational tools to aid our designs even if they are not "generative".

Joris Peels: Are you designers in the sense that you develop products? Or are you perhaps interaction designers because you develop software that makes products?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: I do not consider myself an interaction designer.  Interaction is not the main focus of our work.  It is a necessary component, but creation is our ultimate goal.  Our programs are primarily developed for our own use, so I would not say we are designing an interaction to be consumed.

Joris Peels: Are you going to get into co-creation?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Yes that is something that we would like to be more involved in.  We do already have some co-creation systems at n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com .  We have two applets online where people can use programs we created to design their own pieces.  We also have versions of the code for our 3D printed pieces that could be used to generate and price those, but we haven't had a chance to put that system online yet.

Joris Peels: What type of software do you guys write?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: We primarily use Processing which is a derivative of Java that is geared towards designers.  Each line of products we make has an interactive program (or suite of programs) that we use to generate all the pieces.  We also do scripting in various 3D modeling programs, though we do not use that for production work, we use it mostly for sketching.

Joris Peels: You will actually release the source code of the applications? So how will you make money then?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: The source code for most of our applications is online already and the rest will be eventually once they are cleaned up.  We have not had any and I do not anticipate any problems by having our work open source.  We probably have more legal protection to our designs that most other designers.  As a rule most designs get ripped off, and there is not really any protection.  We can at least say that no one can use our software for commercial purposes.

Also, the intersection of people we want to steal experimental design products, and people who want to mess around with code tends to be pretty small.

Joris Peels: What other tools do you use to create?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: We use Rhinoceros to sketch our ideas sometimes. That is mostly it for computer tools.  We also use tools like pliers, hammers, wire cutters, etc to finish pieces.  We built a CNC router which we have used to prototype some furniture.

Joris Peels: You seem to create a lot of accessories and jewelery, is this the goal or will you branch out into other things?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Jewelry was something we started out making primarily by accident.  The great thing about it is that the scale is very manageable (cost and space wise) and allows a lot of freedom with form.  We also have made some furniture and are working on some housewares and lighting as well.  Ultimately, we hope to design at an architectural scale, but we like to be able to control all the aspects of our projects.  As we accumulate resources and experience, we're trying to take on larger and more complex projects.

Joris Peels: How did you guys get started as designers?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Our business stemmed from work we were doing for Jessica's graduate architecture projects.  It turns out the scale of architectural models is very similar to the scale of jewelry.  One day Jessica decided a piece of her model looked like it could be a bracelet.  It became our first piece of our jewelry line, the Radiolaria bracelet.

Joris Peels: How did you 'sell' and market yourselves?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: When we first started, we posted our pieces on etsy on a bit of a whim.  We also posted pictures to some flickr pools.  It got picked up by some blogs and just took off on its own.  We did not push it or even the concept behind it.  A little while later, we decided to take it more seriously  by opening our own website and participating in craft and design shows.  We've been lucky to be featured in a host of physical and digital publications ranging from Metropolis Magazine to the Washington Post and Gizmodo and even an flight travel magazine. We've been quite lucky with that considering that neither of us enjoys marketing and publicity and hence we don't work on those aspects of the business.

Blogs do a lot of our marketing for us.  Otherwise, the only marketing we do is participating in shows.  The shows are primarily selling events but you also meet press there.

Joris Peels: Do you have any advice for people getting started as designers?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Just make stuff.  Do not stop at prototypes.  There are enough manufacturing processes out there that do not require a lot of overhead, you can find ways of making affordable, small runs and get products out there on your own.  Also, there can be a fine line between conceptual and gimmicky.  The worth of what you design is ultimately what you make not your ideas.

Joris Peels: Why use 3D printing?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Everything we do is tied to the computer, design and manufacturing.  Every manufacturing process we use is computer controlled.  It makes for an easy work flow and gives us a lot of flexibility.  The quality and price of 3D printing has gotten to the point it is suitable for products a lot of people can afford, so it was a natural choice.

Joris Peels: How do you use Shapeways?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: As a manufacturer.  There are not many manufacturers out there that can match the ease and usability of Shapeways.  I am not sure how necessary or appropriate it is for manufacturers to also act as a market place.  There are other places on the web that do it much better.  And when I'm looking to buy something my first thought is not that I want a product made by a specific service.

Joris Peels: Any feedback, what do we need to improve about Shapeways?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: The main thing I could ask for is for Shapeways to be in the US.  Otherwise, just keep adding new materials and staying on top of new technology.

Jessica Rosenkrantz: And please bring back the vapor smoothed ABS! (the White Glaze material) 

We usually make incremental continual improvements to Shapeways. Mesh Medic represents something much more revolutionary. Mesh Medic is an automated 3D printing file repair system that will deal with many issues people have when trying to design for 3D printing. From now on when you upload files to Shapeways Mesh Medic will be there to help you. He will repair holes, invert your inverted normals so they're normal, repair manifolds and generally make life a lot easier for you. 

While Mesh Medic will not work for everyone and not work all the time, this is the most significant improvement to Shapeways so far. Please tell us what you think give us feedback on how to improve Mesh Medic on the Forum. It has never been easier for a designer to take a design that is your head and get it made into a physical object than today and every day after today.  You can try Mesh Medic out right now by uploading your STL, x3D or Collada file here.

For Rhino users it will take away an extra step in checking and converting their models and everyone else shouldbenefit significantly also by having their workflow from file to 3D printed item reduced. Please do always check the uploaded model in the 3D view on Shapeways to make sure that the automatic repair filters didn't repair something they should not have. Mesh Medic currently does work for VRML files but not for the color VRML files with textures and we will enable this as soon as we can. 

You can now use the Sandstone 3D printing material. This material is exactly the same material as the Full Color Sandstone just with the color bit removed. 

The model depicted is MadebyDan's Square platter. The platter would cost $74. Now you can now use this (our cheapest) material without having to convert or upload your model into VRML. Please do take into account that the material is fragile and does need to adhere to the design rules for the material.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ivo Beckers' Alumide 3D printed Playmobil Jacuzzi. 

You have until the 14th to order your models in Alumide. We were very happy with your enthusiasm for the material! However we have sad news, we can not offer the material permanently at this moment. At a later date we want to bring it back though but we can not yet say when. The reason for that is that we have been able to consistently fill an entire machine with the Alumide material orders. The turnaround time between White, Strong & Flexible and Alumide is also a bit longer than we would have liked. This means that the machine we have been using for Alumide would be better served in pushing your White, Strong & Flexible orders out the door quicker. In order to keep offering the lowest possible prices optimal machine utilization is very important to us. We have already started looking at lots of different ways in which we can optmize the Alumide production and we hope that we will be able to offer it once again in a few months. 

From today until the 11th of April we will be holding the Co-Creator Creativity in Co-Design Contest. We are looking for the most interesting & inspiring co-creators that you can come up with. The winner will be a fun, interesting, beautiful interaction concept (and or final product) that at the same time results in a great gift (for oneself or someone else). The winning co-creator will win $100 in 3D printing. The top ten finalists will get a 3D print of their co-creator competition entry sent to them free of charge! 

Thinking about and designing co-creators is very different from making a model or designing a product, we think this is real cutting edge stuff and want to see what you guys can do to push the envelope in co-creation.

We hope a lot of you to participate in this contest because we do think that the co-creators are a real step forward in designers working with customers in order to develop unique customized things. We believe that your creativity and 3D printing technology could result in some boundlessly interesting co-creation concepts and products. Furthermore you can still be "the first" to do something with regards to co-design. Name something else you can be first in?

For some inspiration there are several really interesting examples of generative design in this blog post. Over at FOC they've come up with customized headphones that will be designed according to the owners taste. Fluid Forms is also trying to get a concept off the ground on Kickstarter whereby a street grid is turned into earrings. But, you could use DNA, fingerprints, a quiz, a person's favorite books, shapes, their "social graph on Facebook", their family history, the countries they've visited..anything really.  We were very excited when we saw VirtualV's concept to turn children's drawings into 3D models. Terracotta's "your face and initials here" is also a great concept. Magic's event beads are a new way to commemorate events using 3D printing in color.

Sometimes the co-design concept is not the central innovation but the product itself is. Take Designerica's Double Moonball ring pictured above. Mathijs' Snowman is a character with a message. Dimmulain reimagines the letter opener. Whystler's doorplate points to a myriad of labeling things you could try out. Aeron203's Halberd for a pencil is totally fun. Youknowwho4eva is tackling the huge class ring market all by himself. Our very own emascipater made a wallet replacement that could be a new way of looking at an everyday object. For the more engineering oriented Ashers Ipod buddy is a good marriage of tech and customization. Rawkstar320 has an Ipod touch stand that makes it easier to watch video. But Mcad's rotary knob is one of my favorites. You need a knob? Any knob? Any knob what so ever? Mcad will make it for you.  

So what can you do?

• To enter submit your model with the tag "co-design"before the 11th of April.
• Entry must have a cost of between $25-50(so excluding the mark up you want to add to it, does not have to include VAT)
• We will announce the winners by the 15th of April after having studied the entries and compared them with the above criteria. We will take into account community votes but they will not be final.
• The entry must be uploaded to Shapeways, be public and a co-creator.
• You can not be a Shapeways employee or relative of a Shapeways employee.

Combinatory manufacturing is the combination between the unique and the mass produced. 3D printing for example can deliver unique shapes and functionality for a relatively low per unit cost. Mass produced items with millions of copies will be much cheaper per unit but will not be unique in their shape or functionality. But, by being standardized they can pack a lot of functionality into a cheap package. By combining the best of both worlds you can come up with great products.

As a technology platform the cell phone is hard to beat. They are inexpensive, ranging from $25 and up, and within the mobile phone's suite of applications a myriad of technologies are packed. Messaging, speech, speakers, screen, microphones, calling, geolocation and an OS can now be found on the simplest of devices. I believe that a cell phone would be very exciting and powerful technology technology platform for Makers and Designers to build around. Not only straightforward things such as interchangeable personalized covers but also things such as hacking a standard phone so it becomes a tracking device for your car or automatically sends out messages if leaves the county.

This is why I was so happy to see a post on Make about an inexpensive robot that uses a cell phone as its brain. The Android based phone Truckbot is also easy to programme.  As much as I love the Arduino these kind of developments really make me think that for the Make community cell phones could lead to a lot of exciting products. Arduino's are great and also really pack a punch but they don't go over the counter in their millions. Check out the Truckbot video below.

The Hurt Locker was not the only big winner at the Oscars this year. 3D printing won big with 3 Oscars and four nominations. Avatar won the Academy Awards for Cinematography, Art Direction & Visual Effects. Detailed models created with 3D printing firm Objet Geometries 3D printing process were used to simulate all the lighting in the movie. This detailed and high impact use of a physical 3D printed model to "engineer" a movie. Objet 3D printing was used even more extensively in Coraline. Coraline (a fantastic and very scary movie by the way, the  noise of the scissors kept me up at night) used 3D printed Objet models throughout the film. Coraline was stop motion and many of the things you see in the movie were 3D printed on Objet machines. At Shapeways we use Objet for our White Detail, Black Detail and Transparent Detail materials.The movie below shows you how 3D printing was used in Coraline.