Keith and I are on the road again, finding ourselves in the middle of Orlando, Florida at MegaCon, a comics/science fiction/horror/fantasy/games/anime fandom convention said to be second only to ComicCon for costumes, massive crowds, and enthusiasm. I have been hugged, knighted, threatened with tree-claws (to the best of my understanding), and danced at by such a wild panoply of characters, and that was during the lighter attended first day. How have I been responding to this? By blowing minds, one zombie-witch-soldier-Sailor-Moon-droid-monster at a time with The MakerBot Replicator.
It must date me to admit that I recognize the Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy, and classic Marvel and DC characters, but get a bit hazy re: the fine distictions among a slew of girls-with-cat-ears and blue-mohawk-massive-sword anime costumes. (Co-worker Ben would definitely recognize all of the anime characters, and I’m tempted to send him pictures for his consultation.) But the level of creativity and ingenuity on display with costumes, props, and fan-collectables is considerably impressive. Part of the reason is that Stan Lee is here, and people have traveled thousands of miles for the chance to meet him and get his autograph. (Because he ain’t a young whipper-snapper.)
In honor of Stan Lee we have been printing and giving away tiny Thor’s Hammers that I created as a keychain derivative of Skimbal’s version. And we are also taking request for a huge variety of comics and fandom related elements from Thingiverse.com.
If you are nearby, press through the throngs of 300k people to come to Booth #529 to visit us. We have a secret show special that is for in-person visitors only!
But there remains a public debut that we at MakerBot are even more excited about: the shipping launch of pre-sale MakerBots out to our most eager and enthusiastic MakerBot Operators so far. A sprinkle of hundreds and hundreds of new and veteran Operators across six continents1 who have seen what our new machines can do and are eager to invite The Replicator into their homes, schools, and businesses.
To make this tremendous boost of productivity possible, the entire MakerBot team has been leveling up. We’ve been adding staff, training and encouraging each other, and turning our Brooklyn facilities inside out to accomodate all of the new moving parts necessary to make our Replicator launch the smoothest MakerBot BotLaunch of all time.
I’d like to introduce you to a team of real heroes — the men and women working full-tilt to make the launch of The MakerBot Replicator as a fully-assembled kit a reality. A team that germinated from Colin’s one-man Fully-Assembled Thing-O-Matic operation a year ago into a deeply-integrated Productor/BotBuilder/Tester commando task force today. A task force laboring deep in the belly of the BotCave like a team of tough-as-nails sandhogs moving the earth under Manhattan.
Our machines have the word “Brooklyn” laser-etched into the back left corner, just above the unique MakerBot serial number: a real point of pride for our Brooklyn-based company. If you have ever had any question as to why that word is there, here’s your answer: our robots are assembled, tested, and shipped by a crew of remarkable humans, right here in Brooklyn, New York.
Last night at Jefferson Market in Manhattan, a lucky New York Fashion Week crowd caught a glimpse of the upcoming Fall/Winter 2012 collection of MakerBot’s latest artist-in-residency collaborator, fashion designer Asher Levine.
Levine — known for his designs for Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, and Bruno Mars — has been working with MakerBot to create custom-made sunglasses to be printed on the MakerBot Replicator, and models were wearing these unique fabrications at the event. This collaboration marks the first time that a designer will be offering a piece from a collection to the public via an open-source download through Thingiverse.com. Look for the sunglasses on Thingiverse.com early this week!
What’s more, this also marks the first time in history that a MakerBot Replicator has itself participated as a runway model. Three of our most svelte Replicator prototypes printed away, broody and glamorous, at the feet of the other fashion models while tightly-packed guests and media snapped photos and clamored for interviews with Asher Levine and Bre Pettis. MakerBots also played a role in the music played at the venue — DJ Jet Black built beats from MakerBot Sound Library #001 into a distinctive all-MakerBot soundtrack for the evening (Check out the track here).
Thanks to Annelise for great shots of the MakerBotted glasses in action. Special shout-out also to MakerBot’s Elliot Cohen for creating the digital model for the glasses and Art Evangelist Michelle Zatta for putting several weeks into fabricating them.
If you have never participated in Thing-A-Day before, here’s the quick summary: this is an opportunity to join a vocal crowd of Makers who are seizing the day, each day for a month, as an opportunity to make something new and then share it (or evidence of it) as part of their community posting effort. Several of us at MakerBot are planning to participate on our own time with a wide range of tools — and encourage you all to not only consider signing up and sticking with the challenge, but also posting your creations to Thingiverse for all of our community to savor.
A few tips. Aim … um … simple. Like 45min from idea-to-thing kind of simple. And push a bit ahead towards the next day whenever a little extra time falls your way. Oh, and take those things that you have to do anyway and twist them into opportunities to share something that, frankly, people really will appreciate anyway.
Inspire all of us and help populate Thingiverse with new and exciting things that have never been shared there before!
And don’t forget, the Thingiverse tag you should use for your posts is: “thing-a-day”
The Atlantic just posted a piece pointing to MakerBot and Thingiverse as a trend setter that tech innovation giants such as Apple should be following closely — and threaded throughout the piece is an excellent profile of Thingiverse maker Brendan Dawes that really does a good job of giving a glimpse of how many of us are using MakerBots in our everyday lives:
I asked Dawes if the MakerBot had changed him; if it had altered his perspective in some unexpected way. “What’s exciting to me is the opportunity to look at industrial design –a very difficult, very sophisticated craft– with fresh eyes. I’m able to approach these problems from crazy angles, because I haven’t spent twenty years immersed in the culture of industrial design,” he said.
“That and it’s sort of magical to have this thing sitting at home, this thing that makes physical objects out of nothing,” he said. “It’s just amazing.” (link)
Following a lead established by past MakerBot Artist-in-Residence Marius Watz, Ganske has just now released several of his projects on Thingiverse with a Creative Commons license that permits MakerBot Operators all over the world to make his sculptures for themselves. Like Watz, Ganske sees no difficulty offering both supervised and signed pieces of his work in a limited edition for a collectors/gallery setting and also offering a version for download for those with 3D printers who wish to execute their own non-commercial replicas of his work.
The collaboration with Ganske — himself now quite an accomplished, enthusiastic MakerBot Operator — didn’t stop with his first pieces: he was commissioned by MakerBot to create illustrations, including what MAKE described as that “awesome poster annoucing the launch of The Replicator 3D printer“!
This is a sculpture from my recent solo show, "Tomorrow Land"! You can read all about the meaning of the work here: rhgallery.com/site/exhibitions/tomorrowland/tomorrowland_pressrelease.pdf
What's important is this sculpture features the silhouette of William Shatner cut out of a landscape.
It's art so it's not "for" anything other than to impress your friends with your well-developed cultural palette.
This is a sculpture from my recent solo show, "Tomorrow Land"! You can read all about the meaning of the work here: rhgallery.com/site/exhibitions/tomorrowland/tomorrowland_pressrelease.pdf
This is a variation on the first sculpture (also on Thingiverse). What's important is this sculpture features the silhouette of William Shatner cut out of a landscape.
It's art so it's not "for" anything other than to impress your friends with your well-developed cultural palette.
This is a sculpture from my recent solo show, "Tomorrow Land"! You can read all about the meaning of the work here: rhgallery.com/site/exhibitions/tomorrowland/tomorrowland_pressrelease.pdf
This sculpture commemorates the end of the shuttle program. The shuttle silhouette is cut out of a cemetery. Pour one out for this retired work-horse!
It's art so it's not "for" anything other than to impress your friends with your well-developed cultural palette.
We are looking forward to seeing Micah’s work appearing in homes and other settings around the world, and you might catch a glimpse of Micah’s posters in a city near you….
If you are in the Greater Los Angeles Area, stop by the Affordable Art Fair this weekend to catch Keith and myself as we introduce the brand new MakerBot Replicator to the West Coast!1 The remaining hours are today until 8pm and tomorrow (Sunday) from 11am until 6pm.
We have been visiting with AAF neighbors and presenters such as ArtStar.com, the filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and the LA-based Toy Art Gallery. We are even making 3D printed versions of vinyl art toys by awesome Art Toy heroes Luke Chueh and Dave Bondi for the Toy Art Gallery staff, work the gallery hasn’t yet had the opportunity to produce.
Quite a few MakerBot Operators such as Miles Lightwood (TeamTeamUSA), Theron Trowbridge and the crew at CRASHspace, and MakerBot’s Taylor Goodman (based in LA) have spent a lot of time with us at the booth, sharing things for us to print and generally introducing us to the wonderful design and DIY community here. We are hoping that Cliff who designed Chess Set I (that we are making giant) and other Thingiverse superstars will stop in also.
At night, we have been running all over town, introducing the machine to CRASHspace, UCLA’s engineering students, galleries and museums, and other hackerspaces. We have also been printing “Keith it!” busts of a cleaned up Beethoven model at night and placing them on the Thomas Organ in the lobby of The Standard – Downtown. To date, these custom 3D printed sculptures have been either stolen or disposed of by the hotel staff within a couple of hours of appearing. But we have photos to document.
Wanna visit for free? drop a request to griffin at makerbot dot com by 11am on Sunday and he’ll see about adding you to the list with a comp’d ticket! [↩]
The software engineers working on revisions of ReplicatorG for our new machines created a button called “Keith It” to created maximum-sized objects to suit the new three-times-Thing-O-Matic build volume by Keith’s request. This name will only persist if you request it… [↩]
We believe that this Thingiverse should commit itself to achieving the goal before the month is out of landing MakerBot People on the moon, and housing these daring adventurers there safely and productively in sight of the distant Earth, their home….
So stated President R.Maker in a recent address to the Congressional Assembly of Benevolent Moderators and the Citizens of Thingiverse… and we have breaking news to report. There has been touch down on the moon. I repeat, the MakerBot mission to the moon has now landed, and the MakerBot People are having a great time.
Yesterday, we introduced Michael “Skimbal” Curry’s MakerBot Fairytale Castle Playset. Now, we transport you thousands and thousands of miles away — to the MakerBot Moonbase Playset! Michael has clearly outdone himself with this lovely Flash Gordon / Buck Rogers / Tintin-inspired 1950s rocket playset centerpiece. Gizmodo declared this playset: “The Best Use of New MakerBot“!1
Forward Brave Astronauts!
Journey into the farthest reaches of the Cosmos and be among the first humans to see the wonders of our Thingiverse.
Your daring MakerBot crew risks all for science, adventure, and our distributed-manufacturing future!Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
Greetings Bold Adventurers!
I know you must be pretty excited right now, but please try to contain yourselves while we get thought this final pre-flight briefing....
Your rocket is just coming out of the Replicator now. And let me be the first to say, she’s a beauty. This new model you’ll be flying has that stunning red-and-white color scheme, and a much lower risk of sudden occupant liquefaction.
We’ll be sending you on a daring voyage of exploration and discovery. You're going out into the furthest reaches of the known Thingiverse, with only your wits and those little helmets for protection. We have no idea whats out there... or if it's friendly. But here at MakerBot Space Exploration our engineers have decided its best to just say positive.
Remember, it's the dream of every spool of filament to one day be printed into an astronaut, and you are the lucky few who get to live that dream. Go forth my brave astronauts and see all there is to be seen! Discover all that can be discovered! Meet new prints and learn their ways! Yours is the greatest adventure of our time!
And be sure to take lots of pictures, you know we love a good slide show. Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
As a special treat for CES this year, MakerBot posed a set of provocative questions:
Remember the playsets, dollhouses, action figures, army figurines, and plastic ponies you played with so passionately in your youth? Dreaming up secret worlds — or creating narratives with friends, neighbors, classmates, and siblings?
Well, what if you could produce these tools of imagination with the push of a button? And what if you could roll up your sleeves and invent your own characters, furnishings, and buildings — and share them not only with your children, nieces, nephews, neighbors, or friends, but also, and instantly, with the rest of the world?
Handcrafted dollhouses are nothing new to the serious Maker, but MakerBot is taking steps to make this practice easier and more widely adopted than ever before. For the rest of January, MakerBot and a squadron of Makers will be introducing the MakerBot Playsets to the Thingiverse: 1:18 scale dollhouses as full of imagination and mischief as craft, modeling techniques, and cleverness.
MakerBot’s own design superstar Michael “Skimbal” Curry, creator of such Thingiverse megahits as the Turtle Shell Racers and Gothic Cathedral playset, starts the ball rolling by architecting a pair of MakerBot Playset buildings. Introducing two new Thingiverse superstars: Cushwa and PrettySmallThings are doing a tremendous job furnishing these playsets with their imaginations.1
Long Long ago in a land far away, there was a little castle surrounded by an industrious town. The townspeople loved their little castle and wanted it to be perfect. But the little castle was empty. Its owner had left long ago, taking all the fine things with him and locking them away.
The Townspeople resolved to re-furnish there castle. They learned to craft and create. Making chest and chairs, tables and beds, gadgets and gizmo's, they filled the castle with things that reflected themselves and their experiences. They created so many things that at the end of each day it looked like little castle couldn't hold any more.
But the castle had a secret. Every night, it grew. Sprouting new towers, chambers, and cellars. The town's people would awaken and rejoice, ready for another day of crafting and creating. The town was proud of its magical castle, and everyone wanted to fill it with the best that they could offer.
But wasn't a magical castle, it was a MakerBot Castle.
Each night the daring Damsels deftly deployed their wondrous Replicator, creating new rooms to extend the structure. Floor by floor they built up into the sky. Until one day the little castle had become the tallest and grandest in all the Thingiverse.
And the small town around the castle had grown into a great city, filled with the incredible things and spectacular ideas. The Makers, Crafters, and Hackers had learned from furnishing the castle. They had perfected their crafts and honed their skills. When they looked out on the world from the tallest tower, and saw that it too was a place they could rebuild. And they spread across the land, sharing their knowledge and teaching others how to improve the world around them.Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
The daring MakerBot Damsels are in no manner of distress -- they deftly define their own world of wondrous wizardry. Making, Creating, and Crafting, they dexterously develop designs for castles, creatures, and contraptions.
Deploying Cupcakes, Thing-O-Matics, and Replicators, dozens of Damsels distribute production precisely for punctual perfection.
Dastardly deed doers and nefarious ninja gnomes beware, the Damsels don’t take kindly to klepto capers and would-be kidnappers.Created by Thingiverse user Skimbal, designer of the Turtle Shell Racers, MakerBot Botmobile and the Gothic Cathedral Playset.
