3D printing your characters/bridge crew also your Starships too..is it possible?

emilywasson · March 2013

Heya Dev's and eveyone.

I wonder if it?s possible that you could download your characters, your bridge crew plus your Starships that you detailly customised and Print them out on a 3D printer on what scale you desire to have them in. also when doing screenshot could there be another command hotkey where it remembers the positions of your characters movement in 3D Screenshot then later you could 3D print it.

But it?s going to be awesome if cryptic does it first, with 3D printer companies.

It make?s playing online even more immensely enjoyable.

regards

Emily Wasson

cmdrskyfaller · March 2013

problem: patent/copyright violation.

Printing them at home means you're not paying royalties to whoever owns the trek franchise.

But I guess that by the time the 3D printing really gets going there's going to be plenty of templates available anyway so no need to worry.

There's already a program that converts 2D images into 3D models of it. So you could probably just screenshot your game, convert it and print it.

tuskin67 · March 2013

I doubt they'd sue you if you printed them at home. As long as you're not selling them you should be fine.

Printing the model would be no different from printing a 2D picture.

sumghai · March 2013

By itself, 3D printed models of player ships and toons are a great idea - it was suggested in a past Ask Cryptic that tangible goods could be available from the C-store in the future.

A possible workflow could be:

Player chooses asset(s) to be 3D printed (e.g. ship, Captain with pose, BOff with pose)
Player pays for 3D printing service via C-store
Game software packages the model(s) into Stereolithography (STL) files or whatever format 3D printing companies use
Files are sent to companies such as Shapeways for production.
Shapeways directly mails printed models to player.

Profits will be split between CBS (IP holder), PWE (for offering the service) and Shapeways (actual production).

Obviously issues such as surface finish, durability and support materials would need to be considered - but that's how I see it could possibly be realised.

cmdrskyfaller wrote: »

Printing them at home means you're not paying royalties to whoever owns the trek franchise.

But I guess that by the time the 3D printing really gets going there's going to be plenty of templates available anyway so no need to worry.

There's already a program that converts 2D images into 3D models of it. So you could probably just screenshot your game, convert it and print it.

3D printers aren't commonplace enough for most people to models print at home. Yes, there are hobbyist models like MakerBot and RepRap, but for most users it takes months of tweaking to properly setup/calibrate/maintain what are essentially temperamental beasts.

Also, I believe the OP was thinking along the lines of figurines rather than flat bas relief patterns - even with the software you speak of, users are still going have difficulty converting colored screenshots into useable bump maps.

idrona · March 2013

Was gonna post some youtube clips, but then I found this site that seems to know it all.

http://www.3ders.org/3d-printing-basics.html

This is another thing that I think Cryptic/PWE should act on asap.

emilywasson · March 2013

Liking Sumghai idea, it helps to keep the legal side down, where the profits, goes to Cryptic and CBS for offering the service to 3D print them to any scale and maybe paint them realisitcaly as part of the service as form of art. also that should provide to give extra income to provide more content to sto, and other MMO's that Cryptic has.

Hope that they consider this it'll provide them with a unqiue game store, that no MMO studios have.

maxvitor · March 2013

Cryptic/PWE could make money from selling collectibles, but giving or even selling downloadable game assets would end up being a dead loss for them. There are way too many shady operators out there that would jump at the chance to get the designs to make bootleg copies, killing Cryptics/PWEs profits in lost revenue and legal fees.

emilywasson · March 2013

unless it's done in house, setting up a production studio, where Cryptic/ PWE get to control, the processes, from order to delivery.

bberge1701 · March 2013

There is a company called FigurePrints that does exactly this for WoW and Minecraft. I have no idea what level of effort would be required to get the player data to FigurePrints in an appropriate format, but I would think it's certainly possible.

It would probably be easier to manufacture captains and bridge crews than ships. I can foresee issues with strange ship geometries resulting in very fragile pieces.

sumghai · March 2013

bberge1701 wrote: »

There is a company called FigurePrints that does exactly this for WoW and Minecraft. I have no idea what level of effort would be required to get the player data to FigurePrints in an appropriate format, but I would think it's certainly possible.

I just went to have a look - very interesting indeed! I presume FP would have had permission from both Blizzard and Mojang in order to use their game assets/

bberge1701 wrote: »

It would probably be easier to manufacture captains and bridge crews than ships. I can foresee issues with strange ship geometries resulting in very fragile pieces.

You're most likely correct - certain ship classes with very thin pylons or Borg modifications enabled come to mind.

maxvitor · March 2013

Well ships aren't really that customizable so they go a step beyond 3d printing to mass produce small fragile parts cast in a studier material, and there are ways to build the model that would include some scenery element that gives both a diorama look as well as physically supporting weaker components. This is of course assuming that the collectible is meant as an art piece to be looked at rather than a toy to play with.

sumghai · March 2013

maxvitor wrote: »

Well ships aren't really that customizable so they go a step beyond 3d printing to mass produce small fragile parts cast in a studier material,

I would beg to differ.

Each major class in-game has primary/secondary/pylon/nacelle variants, different hull materials, paint schemes and window options, all of which can be mixed and matched. Not to mention things like names and registry numbers

Mass production would only work if Cryptic took away all of those modifications AND omitted the names/registries and simply reproduced "stock" NX/Constitution/Miranda/Intrepid/Defiant/Galaxy - which is contrary to the OP's original intention of having a "customized model".

maxvitor wrote: »

and there are ways to build the model that would include some scenery element that gives both a diorama look as well as physically supporting weaker components.

Toons and BOffs can be easily printed unto a stand/base.

Ships in theory can also be printed on a stand (like many models out there), but in order to support fragile assemblies, you would need additional support material, which may detract from the "clean" outline of the ship.

I'll admit that a limitation of 3D printing is the inability to print 100% optically clear plastic, such as those that could potentially be used for "invisible" supports.

maxvitor · March 2013

You've missed the point, the ship itself is not mass produced it's a one off 3D print but the stl could be designed to include spaces for the later insertion of re-enforcing rods to support weak components and even with ship components being interchangeable there is only a limited number of parts per ship. Unlike characters you can't change the size and shape of those components, so even with all of the various customizations its still within a fixed template of object files. Any really fragile addon parts like Borg bits could be cast in metal in bulk for use with ships that have it. The ship would be printed in pieces to be assembled with any needed re-enforcement. It would mean that there would be a hand labor component to the assembly and detailing of these models but it is doable.
Since we've got on the subject, I've been doing a bit of research and the materials used nowadays seems more than adequately durable enough to 3d print a 6-12" long ship figurine without any worries about breakage, especially if the designs make use of voids in larger components to minimize weight.

rjewkes · March 2013

Just imagine the day, when a company like walmart, Hobby Lobby or micheals and so on. Can sell the package with 3D printing file and the materials needed for the items, such as a lunchbox, model kit ...... using less space and less workers, then you go home or wait for it to arrive via ups/Dsl becuase lets face it fedex is getting old and slow and has fed in the name, and print it out.

This may be 10-50 years off before the tech is reliable and cheap enough. But could essentialy be considered the first Replicator of sorts.

alternatively what if CBS/PWE/Cryptic Licensed Galoob or a one off type company to make micro machines versions of of your ship and character and b.o.s as well as some miniature enemies to fight off?

wraithshadow13 · March 2013

I've been advocating this almost since launch, and now that 3d printing is becoming more well known i hope that Cryptic at least looks into it or opens up some way to allow this. I would love a GI Joe style Action figure of my character as well as a few items ingame that i can equip him with. A Custom model of my Prometheus escort that actually separates? Yes Please!. They should have entered a deal with HASBRO at launch if not before hand since they make Star Wars and GI Joes (both very well done 3 3/4 figures). With the figures from the Star Trek line usually being terrible (JJ Trek especially) this would be a big seller if it allowed custom modeling.

sumghai · March 2013

maxvitor wrote: »

You've missed the point, the ship itself is not mass produced it's a one off 3D print but the stl could be designed to include spaces for the later insertion of re-enforcing rods to support weak components and even with ship components being interchangeable there is only a limited number of parts per ship. Unlike characters you can't change the size and shape of those components, so even with all of the various customizations its still within a fixed template of object files. Any really fragile addon parts like Borg bits could be cast in metal in bulk for use with ships that have it. The ship would be printed in pieces to be assembled with any needed re-enforcement. It would mean that there would be a hand labor component to the assembly and detailing of these models but it is doable.

You only mentioned this just now. How am I supposed to know what you were thinking when you made your first reply?

Whilst it's technically possible for hollow support spaces to be printed as part of the model, you'd also need to consider the additional labor cost of washing away the (soluble) support material and inserting the little metal rods where needed - that's fine if it is a one-off hobby piece you made yourself privately, but considering the potentially high volume of players who'd like their own custom ship models, that's still a labour-intensive process.

Borg components varying in size and shape depending on the ship class, and so a one-size-fits-all isn't necessarily valid.

You still haven't yet addressed things different paint schemes and hull colors due to Romulan/Reman shields.

Generally speaking, the fewer processing steps required during manufacturing, the cheaper the final product is. Printing them in one single go in full color is the most straightforward option, as it is already within the services Shapeways provide (the company is NOT responsible for assembling your model / sourcing additional parts)

maxvitor wrote: »

Since we've got on the subject, I've been doing a bit of research and the materials used nowadays seems more than adequately durable enough to 3d print a 6-12" long ship figurine without any worries about breakage, especially if the designs make use of voids in larger components to minimize weight.

From personal experience with 3D printers at my workplace, that seems to be the case as well.

Guess that automatically makes our arguments regarding supporting rods completely moot.

Unknown · March 2013

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emilywasson · March 2013

heya

there is also this company naming http://www.figureprints.com/wow/ which can print of color aswell, to another as to another startup on Computer Development Conference 2013 (CDG 2013) which is named also http://www.sandboxr.com/ Hoping that Cryptic could collaborated with them to do customised character, brigde crew/ starship 3D printing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw82KSzvkAs&feature=player_embedded

as for ships I don't mind if they're not lighted, but later in the process that will be nice though.

maxvitor · March 2013

sumghai wrote: »

You only mentioned this just now. How am I supposed to know what you were thinking when you made your first reply?

We were talking about color 3D printing right, I was only talking about mass producing smaller fragile components.

sumghai wrote: »

Whilst it's technically possible for hollow support spaces to be printed as part of the model, you'd also need to consider the additional labor cost of washing away the (soluble) support material and inserting the little metal rods where needed - that's fine if it is a one-off hobby piece you made yourself privately, but considering the potentially high volume of players who'd like their own custom ship models, that's still a labour-intensive process.

Well we have to give those Chinese prison slaves something to do. Ya I know how that sounds but we both know that if they do need a labor element it isn't going to be coming from the highest bidder.

sumghai wrote: »

Borg components varying in size and shape depending on the ship class, and so a one-size-fits-all isn't necessarily valid.

You're point being? the parts are cast in different sizes and used where needed.

sumghai wrote: »

You still haven't yet addressed things different paint schemes and hull colors due to Romulan/Reman shields.

We're still talking about Color 3D printing right.

sumghai wrote: »

Generally speaking, the fewer processing steps required during manufacturing, the cheaper the final product is. Printing them in one single go in full color is the most straightforward option, as it is already within the services Shapeways provide (the company is NOT responsible for assembling your model / sourcing additional parts)

From what I've seen 3D printing might be beneficial for prototyping but would probably be too slow for mass distribution so I hardly think it's going to come cheap.
Which brings up the issue of a stock design hand customized (ie using printed custom decals) to an end user's specs vs a 3D printed one-off and which would be cheaper to produce.

loading159 · March 2013

maybe mass producing could be possible with this.
for example:

take any ship say the galaxy, this ship has 4 variants itself along with 2 variants for the galaxy x.

1) print general shape of the ship with notches to fit the diffierent variant pieces
2) print the actual outer hull pieces seperatly with tabs that fit the notches
3) choose the variant pieces you want and attach them to the basic shape via notches / tabs

like a custom car
you get a frame for the basic shape of the car
you pick the material, paint, body panels etc for the look
then you attach the finished body panels on the car

the full assembly cannot be mass prodecued, but the sperate parts can be.

maxvitor · April 2013

The pitfall we come up against for mass production is that with the components, color schemes and stenciling there are potentially hundreds if not thousands of variants to a single ship which would not be practical to mass produce. Mass production would offer a basic design, ie a Borg assimilated Intrepid that would have the basic coloring and addons of that class but it would not be an exact replica of you customized version in game.
Any kind of customizing needed to make the ship an exact duplicate would require a skilled labor element to assemble and detail the ship.
This is why we are talking about 3D printing, which would allow the customized version to be produced from the outset without the need of extensive labor. What we are hanging up on is whether the materials used for 3D printing would be durable enough to produce finer detailed components like the thin tentacle elements of Borg assimilated gear, if it is, then there is no problem, but if it is too brittle then we would need some means of producing these more fragile components, which would require post print assembly, necessitating a labor component that will add to the expense of the finished product.

sollvax · April 2013

What worries me is people wanting to print Female Boffs life size to stand in their rooms

I can see it coming

maxvitor · April 2013

sollvax wrote: »

What worries me is people wanting to print Female Boffs life size to stand in their rooms

I can see it coming

Brr Scarey. Those types could just dress up a mannequin.
Thanks soll, now I'm going to have the image of some loser with a vulcan sex doll in my head for the rest of the day.

3D printing your characters/bridge crew also your Starships too..is it possible?

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