Will 3D printers kill off pepakura?

[rgriesbeck]

I dont think you'll get anywhere near the quality you do form shapeways from a makerbot...

anyone care to chime in on that?

We're getting there, my Samaritan (http://www.therpf.com/f9/my-latest-hellboy-prop-completely-3d-printed-samaritan-196171/ ) was printed at 150 microns, a med-high setting on a Makerbot 2x, could have gone to 100 (or some say even higher), but there is a diminishing return. With very little cleanup, this gun looks good. And I agree that both will be around, we actually used the pep files to help us design the gun in 3D. And I also agree that they aren't that expensive. About 2K gets you in, and the Makerbots are VERY cheap to run. I figure our Samaritan cost MAYBE 20 bucks in plastic...

 

[rgriesbeck]

But i will NEVER print a full Prop and i will NEVER give someone respect for a prop that is made by a machine... (Thats the reason i hate NECA Props)

Really? That's a bit harsh. The talent is in modelling something in 3D. Our Samaritan took over 40 hours of modelling time, time that a traditional prop maker might spend with a saw, wood, bondo, etc. It's not easier, it's not cheating, it's another tool. It also take a lot of time to figure out how to print something. It's not just load model, click the "go" button and come back in an hour to a finished prop, take a look at our build, there are a lot of similar processes to "traditional" prop making - http://www.therpf.com/f9/my-latest-hellboy-prop-completely-3d-printed-samaritan-196171/ .

 

[Rebo]

I see them as just another tool on the belt.
They also open up whole new possibilities on what can now be built by the semi average joe.
Imagine 3D scanning a rare long out production kit spure ( I think that's what they are called) and being able to offer up 3d printed set to the kit bashers.

Ps you can help me win a 3d Printer by downloading my model here:-
Flat pack christmas baubles

 

[mikey123mushukl]

In my experience Pepakura is an inexpensive starting point, that i can customize the scale and tailor to my clients / my specifications before hardening the paper model with fiberglass and bondo.

 

[AxiomUltra]

I think some people don't realize how much work goes into making a model. I pretty much spend the same amount of time if not longer planning out and constructing my 3D builds as I do actually building them. So for the same project that most people would take on there are digital artists that create their own work and have to essentially build it twice. Unfortunately, many people just think that you can "find a file and hit a button"

ZBrush sculpt I made (10 hr)

Model "retopo'd" and prepped for printing (6 hr)

Cleaned up render (>1hr)

Print each part, individually smooth/sand/wrap/prime/paint "22 parts" (+/- 20hr)
by the way, these are printed on the same machine model that msleeper wrote her article on - the 3D Touch

It just seems like a lot of times if you're any type of graphic artist people automatically downplay what you do for a living. And saying that 3D printing means you do less work is just plain untrue. Also, I believe these machines (even with their flaws) are very useful and you can do a lot with them if you put in the effort to learn from them. They're expensive because they're new. The price of the machines will drop, but you will always be dumping more money than you'd like to if you do not have the right skill sets to justify owning a machine. To me, it makes no sense paying so much money for a tool that you can't use without relying on other people (3d artists)

 

[Captain April]

I am a graphic artist with a point of purchase display company and I build my 3d models in both SolidWorks and 3D Studio Max. Many of the comments I am reading here remind me of some of our customers who think that we just wave our hands over the keyboard and it just happens like magic. I have been building real models and 3d models for years and I have found that the 3d models many times take three times longer to build than a real one, the main and most important reason to build in 3d is the ability to make major changes quickly, which in my business is a given. I have had my model produced by 3d printers and I feel that it's still not up to production standards, that's why they are only used for proof of concept then given to real model builders for a prototype. What you guys do with paper and bondo is amazing and will never be replaced by a machine.

 

[13doctorwho]

This argument has been going on for centuries, in variations. When the camera was invented, everybody thought it would be the death of painting. When the movie theater was invented people thought that Stage Theaters would disappear. When VHS tapes were invented (and Beta) everyone thought the movie theatres would disappear. There will always be people that do Pepakura. When 3d printing is superceded by something better, it won't go away either.

 

[teragon]

Ripping out a model from pep you didn't make to 3D print it, I would agree that it is indeed not a practice to praise, but it would give bad results anyway and the same amount of work to finish it as a hand made pep. Creating a high poly model 3D printer ready in the other hand would be the same as sculpting the model in clay, except you get to correct your mistakes easier, but I'm pretty sure you would take the same amount of time to sculpt it by hand or by computer.
Regarding the cleaning process, I just bought a Form 1 (Stereolithography technology, laser solidifying liquid resin, instead of plastic extrusion) that seems to require less cleaning if any at its highest resolution, but I'm betting there will still be some work to do before getting a piece ready to be cast.
It's a their way to go actually, you can sculpt your piece in clay, which is harder than peping it IMO, pep it or 3D model it and print it. Each way has its perks and its disadvantages, with different set of skills required. I, for one, don't enjoy burning my fingers trying to glue bazillion paper pieces together, so 3D printing is my way to go, and I got pretty good results with it so far !

BTW, AxiomUltra, that armor and helmet look absolutely fantastic !

 

[HermesBlackstar]

I agree with Chris!
3D printing now gives us new cool capabilities--if we can afford it.
Paper is cheap. Time consuming? Yes, but it will still be a common staple for quite some time.

Some people still listen to vinyl...ya know....lol

 

[Nwerke]

Sure 3D printing is much easier and faster, then the whole Pepakura progress, but where is the skill? Where is the work? And where is the fun, when a machine does your work?

See it that way:
You can buy a ready-mix-cake package and only put it in the oven
OR
you make the whole cake yourself!

I think I will use Pepakura as long as I make Props, because then i get respect for that what I have done and have fun.

Wow. You make paper models that other people have designed, then fibreglass them. Woop de doo.

Let's see you wet-clay-sculpt a Chitauri helmet or something. Mould and cast it. Do a good job. THEN you'll get respect. This newfangled Pepakura computerised garbage takes all the skill out of the process.

(The above is said in jest; I do *not* actually feel this way at all. I'm just making the rhetorical point - that is the same attitude you are displaying here.)