This week the folks at MakerBot have begun shipping the new Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner while – at the same time – they’re introducing new filaments and an update to MakerWare. This Desktop 3D Scanner is the first working with the brand with the ability to capture 3D objects from a user’s desk, then transforming […]
The Makerbot Digitizer looked too good to be true. It was a solid, compact 3D scanner that could replicate a solid object without much fuss and had a level of detail unparalleled in the home scanning market. Now it’s clear that this is much more than a compelling idea.
I saw the Makerbot in action yesterday and spoke with Makerbot CEO Bre Pettis about his experience building the entire system – from PCBs to case – in America and how it felt to be a manufacturer in the heart of Brooklyn. “It feels great,” he said.
The whole system is surprisingly light and uses Class 1 lasers and a special camera to gather a point cloud based on the object you’re scanning. You tell the system how light or dark the object is and then click a button. A few minutes later you have a complete object that you can modify, edit, or augment digitally and then print using almost any printer. It also exports files into Makerbot compatible .thing files.
A turntable rotates the object slowly so every surface is scanned.
The Digitizer will ship in October and sell for $1,400. Pettis promised that they would have enough on hand to meet demand and that his factory was working overtime to get the devices ready.
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“We get to set the standard in desktop 3D scanning,” Bre Pettis says, beaming. “When we looked out at the world and saw what 3D scanners could do, we wanted to make something that could make really high quality models that you could create on your MakerBot.” The CEO can’t stop smiling at the close of the Digitizer’s official press launch. It’s the smile of a man who has just shown off a major piece of the puzzle — an object that helps answer the question of just how, precisely, average consumers can create products to 3D print.
“We’re really building out an ecosystem,” he says of the scanner, which joins the Replicator 2, MakerWare software and the Thingiverse online database in the MakerBot portfolio. “The game is on, we’re building a nice suite of products that work really well together.” It’s a pricey piece, of course, coming in at $1,400, but Pettis insists that it’ll give users a much fuller experience than hacked Kinect-type solutions, thanks in large part to the Digitizer’s software solution. “There are DIY options out there, but we’ve spent the time and energy on the software to make this a really seamless experience.”
And as for a potential Replicator / Digitizer bundle deal, well, Pettis is only saying, “stay tuned.”
Filed under: Peripherals
This ain’t the same Digitizer we saw back at South by Southwest. The prototype that was unveiled in Austin back in March looked an awful lot like those early generation MakerBot printers, borrowing heavily from the plywood aesthetic that seemed to imply that its creators had built the thing with their own hands. The version the company showed off at SXSW was in keeping with the company’s mission statement of building things themselves, featuring a laser-cut wood frame and 3D printed parts. But the Brooklyn company’s come a long way since those simpler RepRap days, growing into the leading light in the world of consumer-facing 3D printers.
The Replicator 2 really drove the point home with a solidly constructed black frame that eschewed its predecessors’ wood finish, and the Digitizer can easily be viewed as part of a matching set. “The MakerBot Digitizer started because I really wanted a 3D scanner to go with our 3D printer,” said CEO Bre Pettis at today’s event at the company’s office in Brooklyn, “and they were all too expensive.” The 3D scanner joins the Replicator, MakerWare and the online community Thingiverse as the major missing piece of the MakerBot ecosystem puzzle, an attempt to create the most user-friendly 3D-printing ecosystem available. Now you can download, create and scan your way into the 3D-printing world, from the comfort of your own (admittedly sizable) desktop.%Gallery-slideshow89888%
Filed under: Peripherals
Is the 3D modeling space big enough for multiple competitors? Martijn Elserman, Siert Wijnia and Erik de Bruijn sure think so. They’re the founders of a new 3D object sharing site called YouMagine and were the creators of the Ultimaker, a $1,500 3D printer that comes in kit form and is a favorite with the DIY set.
The Ultimaker system is open-source and self-funded and some of the profits have been rolled back into R&D and for the creation of YouMagine.
“We invested in YouMagine because we believe in a sharing platform that is about more than just files,” said de Bruijn. “Its audience will grow as designs are there, designers are attracted when there’s an audience. While this seems like a chicken and egg situation, in the Ultimaker community there are thousands of passionate 3D printer users, many of which are designers. We told our friends in the community that we were developing YouMagine and they have just started seeding the site with amazing designs.”
He sees his site as something a bit different and an opportunity for a fresh start. “One of the biggest criticisms to Thingiverse is that it’s full of nearly identical iPhone cases,” he said. “There are more and more 3D design sites popping up. Lots of them show gears and RepRap parts, which in my opinion are awesome, but just aren’t for everybody. Our site is much more diverse in terms of its content, because contributors are often Ultimaker owners who don’t need to be tech people to use their printer.”
While 3D printing is still in its infancy, it’s also interestingly entrenched. There are a few major players – Makerbot and RepRap being the two names most often mentioned – but few have cracked the 3D model sharing business like Makerbot. However, because Thingiverse is a Makerbot property, the assumption is that the models there print best on a Replicator. While not true, perception is often the rule here.
To that end, the folks at Ultimaker have added a number of features which encourage the use of their own printer. Most interesting is their effort to add “wireless printing” to the website.
“We’re developing the site for the community, so we listen to their feedback to make it cater to the community’s needs. And we release an update with new functionality every other week. Also, we’re working on single-click, wireless 3D printing capabilities which are already working in the lab with the Ultimaker² and is even backwards compatible with the Ultimaker Original. All the complicated stuff happens in the cloud, you don’t need to worry about that or understand it. You don’t need to download or open a design, just hit print on YouMagine,” said de Bruijn.
They’ve seen 400 designs uploaded so far and the site sees itself as a clearinghouse for all 3D modelers, not just Ultimaker or Makerbot fanatics. There aren’t many compelling things up there just yet – except this – but the plan is to offer a full range of 3D modeling tools as well as support multi-material prints and other cool tweaks that will make the YouMagine experience superior. Some creators are even making their models YouMagine-exclusive, an interesting choice. Will it take off? Well, Thingiverse hit 100,000 items in June so they have a bit of a hike.
“We believe sharing is fun, and at the same time it created the RepRap project to which Ultimaker founders were core contributors. RepRap, in turn, has created the whole desktop 3D printing revolution of Makerbot, Printrbot and Ultimaker. While some have thrown open source over board, we prefer to do the opposite by investing more in the community. YouMagine is an example of this commitment,” said de Bruijn.
The Digitizer is about the size of a portable 45 rpm record player — with a laser-shooting accessory attached to the back.
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The Ubuntu Edge may have been the most successful crowdfunding campaign in history, but that doesn’t mean it made its goal. Meanwhile, yet another smartwatch joined the fray this week, coaxing John’s money out of his wallet by being just a tad “smarter” than the rest. Makerbot released a scanner this week called the Digitizer, which lets you scan objects to then print them, but we’re not sure we’re down with the high price tag. And last, but certainly not least, we all pretty much agree that a gold iPhone will make its way into the world come September 10.
We discuss all this and more on the latest episode of the TC Gadgets podcast, featuring John Biggs, Matt Burns, Jordan Crook, Darrell Etherington, Natasha Lomas and Romain Dillet.
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MakerBot is best known for its 3D printers, turning virtual products into real ones, but the company’s latest hardware to go on sale, the MakerBot Digitizer, takes things in the opposite direction. Announced back in March, and on sale from today for $1,400, the Digitizer takes a real-world object and, by spinning it on a […]
Today MakerBot introduced what’s basically a Xerox machine for physical items: the Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner. It’ll make 3D-printing at home a lot easier, but that doesn’t mean it’ll make it cheaper.
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