“Many people, who are not familiar with CNC tools or even 3D printing, have a perception that these tools function in such a way that all one needs to do is simply hit a button, and out pops a perfectly fabricated work of art,” Chris Bathgate says. For artists and craftspeople, these are critical and captivating unknowns.įor those already intimately involved with making, perspectives are nuanced. It seems possible, inevitable even, that this technology will change how we make – and how we think about making. But digital fabrication already has captured something more valuable than market share: our imaginations. How big and meaningful will the impact be? Only time will tell. Commentators, columnists, and CEOs alike envision the tech disrupting the mass-production model, upending the economy as we know it. In a recent editor’s letter, Martha Stewart could be found crowing over her new printer and showing off a tiny replica of a piece of cast-iron cookware. “The whole process is almost magical to watch,” Chris Anderson, author of Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, wrote for Wired. And the technology is exciting – it’s dazzling. (Haven’t been there? Think of it like an Etsy, with individual shops – except all of the works are printed on demand, and you can also upload your own designs for printing and/or sale.)ģD printing is not the whole of digital fabrication, not nearly, though it is certainly grabbing the most attention right now.
PATH IS TOO COMPLEX PHOTOSHOP 3D SOFTWARE
The software supports industry-leader MakerBot’s desktop printers and also syncs up with Shapeways, an online 3D printing community and marketplace. The barriers to entry are lower than ever before.Ī prime example: Earlier this year, Adobe released a version of Photoshop with integrated 3D printing within the familiar application, users can now build, edit, preview, and print 3D models. And, alongside our endlessly growing computer savvy, software is becoming more intuitive and easier to use. The price of equipment has fallen, making investment in digital fabrication technology more accessible and commonplace. Patents have expired, notably on 3D printing processes, spurring rapid development. What they are, however, is big news.Ī potent mix of factors has recently propelled digital fabrication into the limelight. Laser cutting? Rapid prototyping? Not new either. Computer numerical control (CNC) machining first appeared in the 1950s various 3D printing technologies began to take shape in the 1980s. Computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) have been around for decades. And craft artists, for whom making is central, have so much to contribute.ĭigital fabrication encompasses a lot of different tools and techniques – and as futuristic as many of them seem, few, if any, of them are actually new. With significant change, excitement and anxiety seem to come in equal doses there’s so much to discuss, so much to imagine, so much to do. If there were any doubt that it represents a momentous technological and cultural shift, the sheer amount of conversation surrounding it should settle that question. Digital fabrication technology is evolving at a blinding speed these days – and there are those who argue it is only going to move faster.
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