The free CADspan plugin for Google SketchUp and 3D print thickness calculator turn your model into a 3D print-ready STL file.

 

The CADspan engine uses your geometry to perform a virtual 'shrink-wrap' and outputs an entirely new STL file that describes the exterior of your CAD file. This new STL file is a single, solid object, ready to 3D print. This may of course lead to very expensive models, but it may just work perfectly in some instances, I would love to hear of anyones experiences with it.

Monday the 30th of August (not the 16th, sorry) is your last chance 2 weeks to order models with free included earrings or necklaces (or 'Combinatory Manufacturing' as we call it). You'll find more info on this on the Shapeways Blog.  Shapeways ran the option as a test to see it's popularity to offer silver plated earring hooks to the produced earrings and a rubber necklace of 60 cm long with a simple bayonet lock to any hanger.  Be sure to let us know if this is something you are interested in keeping as an option?

Thanks Stijn

Check out this first of a 6 part tutorial on the ZBrush YouTube page by character artist Jeff Feligno takes you through the steps needed for creating a model in ZBrush and preparing it for 3D printing.

Any ZBrush users please let us know if this tutorial is helpful to you? 

Big thanks to Jeff Feligno for putting these online and to @wusashi for pointing this out on twitter.

We now have over 1000 friends on the Shapeways 3D printing community Facebook page and are having a little promotion to celebrate, this weekend only.  Become a friend to find out more and if Facebook is not your thing, follow @shapeways on twitter for similar short term promotions, news and informal discussions.

A big thanks to all who are helping the Shapeways community grow..

So many amazing designs coming in every week to the 'It Arrived!' forum and following are a few of the impressively diverse objects of such thoroughly considered, and excellently realized designs. 

Nervous System's and the reaction lamp 7" diameter pendant lamp.

Hopefully you will be able to see it in the flesh at their stand at 100% Design in London.

James White from our previous post has been generous enough to share some of his vast expertise with a tutorial for LightWave 3D. For the purpose of the blog post I have included all of the text but reduced some of the screenshots to thumbnails.  For the tutorial and full size images visit the tutorial page.

By James White aka Smart Art Studios

I am going to go over how to create a basic object and prep it for 3D printing using LightWave 3D. For this tutorial I am creating an animated style penguin. The majority of the object will be made using the drag, smooth shift and stretch tools. You may want to take a few minutes familiarizing yourself with these tools if you are new to LightWave 3D.

Interview with James White & his 3D Printed, Voyager Inspired Characters

Many of you have seen and been blown away by the 3D printed Voyager Inspired Characters that James (Smart Art Studios) posted on the Shapeways 'it arrived!' forum.  Impressive images from his first models produced using Shapeways inspired us to ask James a few questions about his background, his day job, and his experiences modeling with LightWave 3D and having his characters 3D printed with Shapeways.Following is a transcript of our Skype chat:

Introducing the Shapeways Materials Sample Kit. Finally you can have a sample of each of the materials Shapeways offers in your hands to touch, scratch, bend and burn (do not inhale).  The prefect way to chose the right material for your next 3D printed application, also a great tool to take to client meetings or trade shows to show potential clients the material range you can offer your/their designs in?  Send it as a gift to a maker friend and see how quickly they too become addicted to realizing their designs.... Buy it now for $30 (but includes a $25 voucher)......




This sample kit includes the following items:

1) Samples of the following materials:
- Full Color Sandstone
- Grey Robust
- Transparent Detail
- White Detail
- Black Detail
- Alumide
- White Strong and Flexible
- Stainless Steel

2) The Shapeways Materials Booklet providing a clear overview of the main material properties
3) A discount coupon of $25 for your next order

A 3D printed spatial object by Drzach & Suchy, based on shadow clouds.

A shadow cloud is a three-dimensional object, consisting of multiple shadow-casting elements semi-randomly arranged in three dimensions. A shadow cloud can be viewed as a generalization of shadow casting panels, but of course the basic idea is already present in the so called GEB-triples.

Found via Fastcodesign

And the winner is............................................

With the Draw Your Own Earrings Sweepstakes EVERYONE is a winner, but some people won a little more than others.

Especially Neda Hajnomeni who will get their design 3D printed in Silver, along with a $100 Shapeways making voucher.

Congratulations Neda who was picked at random with a really lovely, simple asymmetrical design..

Of course anyone can now purchase the earrings in their choice of materials from the Shapeways Earring Gallery for as little as $7.50. And you can still Draw your own earrings at any time.

All runners up will now be notified via email to claim their prize, be it Gold Plated, Dyed Strong and Flexible, Alumide or a 20% discount on purchasing their own earring design.

We also just launched the Draw your own ring available from just $6.00. So if you, your friends or family are interested in designing your own jewelry but do not know how to use 3D software, this is the perfect way to start.

The winners of the Gold Plated earrings are:

Heap GoodsDoiDoi

Cryptonomic System

Shell

After the great success of last years Co-Create Christmas Contest we have to decided to launch it a little earlier this year so you will have more of an opportunity to order and sell your designs once the contest is over.

Once again we are looking for new designs that embrace co-creation by allowing consumers to personalize the design whether for themselves, or as a gift for others. Take a look at the Christmas Page to see some of the creative Christmas designs the Shapeways community have already produced. 

To enter you need to upload a New Co-Creator with the tag: 'Xmas2010' and add your model to the Christmas gallery.

New Simplicity showcased the work of both established and emerging international product designers, presenting classic simple design, with many of the new objects produced using Rapid Manufacturing technologies. New Simplicity ran in London until 8 August. Lets hope it tours....

Pictured above is the Key set by Oscar Diaz (check out his version of the lightpoem), The design allows keys to be clipped together (kinda like the Split Ring Key), stored with existing keys on a key ring or attached directly to accessories such as wristbands when performing activities.

Industrial Designer Scott Summit of SummitID gives an incredibly informative and entertaining presentation at Singularity University on The Future of 3D Printing. 

Cool clip for all the Twisty Puzzle fans.