Professional Additive Manufacturing
By “professional additive manufacturing”, we intend all those categories of 3D printing adoption that relate to the creative and artistic spheres. These include applications in architecture, construction, design, arts & crafts as well as entertainment (movies and animation) and designer consumer products such as furniture and jewelry.
This category of adopters has grown enormously in recent years as the cost of professional level AM systems has decreased from over $100,000 to between $20,000 and $5,000. This enormous paradigm shift has opened up 3D printing to a wide demographic of users that have innovated and imagined new application possibilities for AM. The process is still very much ongoing as the abundance of news and articles in this section clearly indicate.
Several artists and creatives have embraced plastic and in many cases ceramics based technologies to explore new possibilities in both end-use products and their supply to the final user. 3D printing is seen as the key technology that will enable the production of mass customized items, produced on-demand, on location, by professionals in any part of the world.
Global professional and B2C additive manufacturing services such as Shapeways, iMaterialise and Sculpteo have also contributed to expanding this area of AM by making high-end 3D printing technologies easily accessible and affordable for more people all over the world.
Latest professional AM news:
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Bridges have become a popular way for research groups and additive manufacturing companies to demonstrate their technologies. It makes sense. Bridges combine architecture and performance while also engaging directly with people. While not every person may recognize the ingenious nature of a topologically optimized engine component, a state-of-the art bridge…
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The Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford houses a stunning collection of historical musical instruments from around the world. Unlike many types of artefact, which can simply be looked at and understood, having a collection of instruments presents a unique challenge, as hearing them is part of the…
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Precious metals and precious metal 3D printing provider Cooksongold is partnering with 3D LAB on the AtoNoble, a compact powder atomization machine that will help revolutionize powder production and parameter development for precious metals. The machine uses a patented process, known as ultrasonic plasma atomization, to melt non-reactive precious metals…
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Anouk Wipprecht, one of the best-known tech-fashion designers making intensive use of 3D printing technologies, has worked with “bionic” singer Viktoria Modesta on the latest Rolls Royce Campaign. Anouk has collaborated with Viktoria on several projects in the past, transforming the singer’s prosthetic leg in a stylish augmentation. This time…
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One Piece manga fans had a chance to get interactive with their favorite One Piece characters 3D printed in huge sizes for the publication’s 20th Anniversary celebrations. Fans used the event app’s augmented reality videos to film themselves together with the 24 giant 3D printed props and to customize the…
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Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate Renaissance man, was not only a famous painter but a prolific inventor. Today, he is credited with inventing an instrument that measures the speed of wind, proto-flying machines, scuba gear and more. It turns out, the Italian Renaissance polymath was also an apt architect—something which…
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Architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, founders of the Emerging Objects studio, are not known for shying away from ambitious work. Their most recent project proves that once again. The partners have 3D printed four structures made from a mud-based material which are inspired by the historical Rio Grande…
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Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) is reportedly preparing to introduce 3D printed landscape furniture and architectural elements to new estates being built in Tengah and Bidadari. The announcement, reported by The Straits Times, suggests that Singapore’s Housing Board is interested in exploring the potential of 3D printing not just for…
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One of the moments that will likely stand out when we look back at the history of construction 3D printing is the construction of Europe’s first 3D printed building in 2017 by 3D Printhuset (now COBOD). As a call back to this original structure, which still stands in Copenhagen, and…
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Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in the field of visual communications is the adoption of large-format 3D printing. The power of this technology to wow audiences and draw them in is immense. I mean, what could be cooler than an 8-foot baseball player mannequin in a sporting goods…
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