NOVEDGE blog

The Edge: Matus Nedecky's Flying Architecture

We are proud sponsors of FlyignArchitecture's new contest, Architecture Unchained. To participate, you have to upload your work in progress of an architectural structure free from the constraint of gravity. Franco Folini, Novedge's President and Co Founder, is one of the judges and we are keeping a close eye on the competition. 

So, why not start by learning a bit more about FlyingArchitecture's founder, Matus Nedecky?

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do

Matus Nedecky: Hi all! So first of all, let me thank Aurora Meneghello for giving me this opportunity to be interviewed by Novedge. It's an honor!
My name is Matus Nedecky, I am originally from the small Slovak village of Zelenec. When I finished my high school in a nearby city, I started to attend the BUT - Faculty of Architecture in the Czech Republic. After gaining experience in three architecture firms (full-time during my studies), I decided to go my own way and become an architectural visualizer. There's still a long way to go, even if I have reached some milestones already, which can be seen on our studio's website.

 

Forest house - project postproduction breakdowns from FlyingArchitecture on Vimeo.

Novedge: How did Flying Architecture start? And how has it evolved?

Matus Nedecky: FlyingArchitecture started as a simple blog back in summer 2009. As I started to work in Rhinoceros 4, and I was working on some basic commercial visualizations, I needed to use the same 3D assets over and over again. Unfortunately, there was no website dedicated to Rhino assets at that time, the only package you could get was McNeel's Savanna3D... and I thought I could do better. So I started producing my work. First I created fifty 3D models in Rhinoceros and then I published the website on social media. Leo Bonilla, a great guy from Colombia, and Rendy Himawan, a designer from Jakarta, contacted me right away. These two (and many others afterwards) gave me great support, they shared my passion for this project and they also shared some of their 3D models. And this is where it all started :)

Then many people from all over the world started to share their own 3D models, and FlyingArchitecture grew rapidly.

I believe if one does something with passion, he will undoubtedly do a great job. And I can proudly say I loved doing this! It was and still is such a great feeling seeing all our own models and our fan's in visualizations all over the world (I have seen some models in visualizations by BIG)... it's an honor to serve thousands of people and to offer them something they need.

 

Well, free 3D models were just the beginning... since 2009 I also added other features, like the forum, materials and tutorials. Besides the website itself, I also work on architectural visualizations for commercial clients.

 

Then on December 28, 2009 everything changed. That's when I first talked to Veronika Nedecka, when she was an interior design student (now my wife and the mother of our child) - since we knew each other, we also started to work together, so our professional services went much more pro! Thanks to our images, which were getting better and better, we were offered to teach a workshop on architectural visualization in Barcelona, Spain, and we accepted. Since then, we led workshops in Barcelona, Vienna, Rome and some personal courses in Bratislava. Now we're are planning some more events, so if you are interested... stay tuned! :)

 

Advanced Vienna workshop 2013 from FlyingArchitecture on Vimeo.

I can't forget to mention that our new online store with 3D models is the first marketplace where Rhinoceros users can get truly realistic, high quality, 3D models ready for use in their 3D scenes. Take a look here.

Novedge: What are the rewards and challenges of having your own business?

Matus Nedecky: It's not really a walk in the park.... But of course it has many more pros than cons. However you are responsible for everything - you have to care of PR, marketing, the job itself, bookkeeping, etc. There is so much to think about, that it may sometimes seem unbearable. Just don't give up! Even if you think it's not worthwhile and sometimes it is a struggle, there are always better days coming :) For me, better days came with Veronika and my co-workers, Lukas [Filip, interviewed here] and Fabio.

 

The biggest challenge is time management: it's extremely hard to balance it all - work, family, free time, eventually school and also other projects.

The biggest reward for me since I started to work alone has been the lack of stress. I have to admit, I work longer hours than before, but I do not have someone standing behind my back checking what I am doing. Oh and also as an artist I have the opportunity to express myself, my own style and feelings, not just the opinions and style of my team leader... That's the biggest satisfaction!

  

Novedge: What surprised you the most?

Matus Nedecky: Well, I'd say it's the positive feedback! I started working on the FlyingArchitecture website just for fun, and to create something that I needed. You should see the mass of positive feedback I received, it's such a great feeling to receive hundreds of emails that say "Thank you"... That was the best award I could ever get :) So Thank You all, who supported me and who said Thank You... You gave me new energy to continue.

 

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Recently at the FlyingArchitecture studio we are working on tens of residential/commercial buildings for our clients... mostly new buildings for commerce or flat units. From time to time we also have a great opportunity to work on something very specific, like museum designs, firemen stations, hotels and so on.

What I appreciate the most are personal projects. At the moment, I am running about 5 of them, but I can show you some I finished recently. It is very important for me to take a break from commercial work (for most of them we sign an NDA, so they cannot be published) and to create something in my own style with a touch of artistic feeling.

This is the Norwegian house, design and visualizations by FlyingArchitecture:

 

Aluminium house, some romantic idea of where I'd love to live:

 

FlyingArchitecture, our future office design. We jut have to wait a bit for the technology to catch up :)

 

Novedge: What software do you use?

Matus Nedecky: Haha, that's a long and painful story... At university, they taught us how to use 3ds Max, but I gave a try to Cinema 4D, Blender, Modo, SketchUp and Rhino. I have to say that polygons just aren't my blood type. That's why I was so amazed by the NURBS technology in Rhinoceros, which I chose as my primary 3D software.
Since then, I use it on a daily basis. It worked great in college for all architectural drawings and also for 3D modeling and rendering. Its stability and extraordinary user-friendliness just amaze me. And that's why I stick with it :)

 

Besides Rhinoceros, I use V-Ray for Rhino and Photoshop. The combination of these software solutions give us extreme flexibility to finish all daily tasks in a very effective way and within reasonable time.

Novedge: What makes a good render extraordinary?

Matus Nedecky: The most important thing is to be original. That's why I try to keep Rhino as our primary 3D software in FlyingArchitecture. The worst thing that can happen is that  somebody starts to take shortcuts and just mindlessly copy and paste assets to their 3D scenes. There are tons of CGI artists working like this these days... So the direction we are taking is to use custom 3D models and our own photos for exterior postproduction, so we stay original all the time.

Generally speaking, it's always up to the artist, everybody has a different point of view. There is an artist in all of us, we just have to release him :) Don't just copy... create!

 

Novedge: What are your plans for the future?

Matus Nedecky: I always have big plans! I would need several lifetimes to accomplish them all... Of course, there are some particular plans for FlyingArchitecture, mostly regarding the website itself, so we can get bigger and better with our free 3D models database. I'll have more news soon, so stay tuned! And of course, we are doing our best to offer better visualizations to our clients every day. You can check our current visualization portfolio here.

Want to see more? Check out FlyingArchitecture's website.

Ready to share your Architecture Unchained? Read all about the contest here.

And don't forget to get in touch with us on Twitter and Facebook!

Novedge Webinar #70: Q&A with Maia Merav Holtzman - Rhino 5 - Better, Bigger, Faster!

One of our most popular webinars ever, last week's episode on Rhino left us with lots of unanswered questions once time ran out. Here Maia Merav Holtzman, from Design Rhino, and Pascal Golay, from McNeel, pick up exactly from where they left off.

 

Q: Can you render with a clipping plane so you just render what you see with the clipping plane?

A: Yes, with Rhino's renderer and some others, like Brazil. Flamingo nXt now recognizes clipping planes as well.

Q: Is there a way to quantify the angle when you create a taper (by scaling a sub object) like that?

A: Not with the gumball, ExtrudeCrvTapered for an exact angle.

Q: Can you position the gumball in a specific location on an object - like the end of a curve or corner of an object?

A: RelocateGumball command is the easy way. This is a command you can type at the command line, or put on a button etc. This allows the location as well as the orientation to be set. In addition, you can adjust the gumball by first holding Alt and then changing the gumball control (its center point) location or scale handles, rotation handles or axis handles. With Alt down first, these changes will affect the gumball widget only and not the geometry the gumball is attached to. Object snaps are allowed.

Q: Will we ever get stones to work with in V5 for those of us in the jewelry industry? Gemstones like in Matrix?

A: It’s possible that Matrix hasn’t released a version that’s fully compatible with V5 yet. I imagine that they will soon, but in the interim I’d be happy to send you stones, and there is a downloadable library of them available at here.

Q: Will a V-Ray 2.0 ever be released for Rhino 5? If not I'll be forced to leave Rhino and I do not want to do that.

A: Presumably yes, but Chaos Group will have the definitive answer to that.

Q: Can you scale at all with the gumball? I don't see how?

A: The small squares on the gumball are scale handles. You can click and drag to scale in one axis, hold Shift while doing this to scale 3d and click on a handle and type a scale factor as well (1D only).

Q: Can you add your own environment in the V5 library? Like having our own library within Rhino?

A: Yes, you can create environments from the Environments panel, and save these as files to disk to make them available in any Rhino file. See also the Libraries panel.

Q: Is it possible to scale with the gumball to a specific height or length?

A: No. Only proportion can be entered by typing, not desired size. Use the traditional scaling commands with distance constraints to scale to a dimension.

Q: Patch command seems to have changed a bit in V5.

A: We would need more info to answer this question.

Q: I'm having a weird thing happen that may be related to the clipping plane ... occasionally a shaded model disappears along a moving plane when I am using the mouse ... seemingly moving away and towards me ... that must be some function I am not familiar with. I have to save the model and reopen to get it to stop ... help?

A: Not sure I understand, but please send a model and details to: tech@mcneel.com.

Q: I think when you lift control points it can look harsh, [what if] you want to elevate a point slightly?

A: Use the Gumball and set GumballDragStrength to say, 50%.

Q: What are her settings to get the updates [to a polysurface being edited using sub object selection] to happen. Or how would you disable those updates to the sub objects

A: If the object being edited is a sub object then the rest of the object updates- no history involved.

Q: On the TweenCrvs command is there a way to get it to make multiple curves based on
distance between curves rather than a set number of curves?

A: Sorry, no, only the number, evenly distributed between the inputs.

Q: Where can I find a tutorial on making complex surfaces with 5 edge curves (I've seen a car
fender tutorial somewhere??)

A: I'll need to hunt around but this might help. If you’re still interested.

Q: When using the display options, e.g. tech or chalkboard, may the resolution be set for higher dpi printing over screen resolution? Thanks

A: Use -ViewCaptureToFile, with a dash in front, like this _-ViewCapturetoFile. You'll see that you can set the resolution as needed.

Q: When using the clipping plain can the plain be made invisible to make a screen capture without seeing the plain?

A: The plane is infinite, so you can move the 'widget' out of the way, or just hide it.

Q: You mentioned easily converting meshes to NURBS - can you explain further.

A: This, as an automatic process, is only practical for relatively simple and planar-ish objects using MeshToNURBS. Otherwise, a full reverse engineering process is needed, using the mesh as a reference for new curves and surfaces. There are plug-ins that can help on the Rhino resources page - look for "reverse engineering".

Q: What are your favorite work flows for jewelry design in Rhino?

A: I always work with a caliper for measuring, and like to have my dimensions sketched out in advance. Generally, I will draw my design by hand and import that or an image that I want to work with using the PictureFrame command. Then I will start to build, using that image as a reference point. I do a lot of surfacing commands: sweeps and revolves and lofts, and a lot of reductive modeling using BooleanDifference. Filleting is part of every single piece I’ve ever created. I am always careful to create a watertight model, checking edges as I go even when I plan only to render the model, because I consider it important to build a piece that is cleanly and carefully made, no matter the final use. For more on this, check out our 3D Jewelry Design Google Hangout.

Q: Which do you prefer to use for jewelry design Rhino or Rhino Gold?

A: I prefer Rhino.

Q: Is Rhino 5 capable of 3D printing or casting machines for jewelry, and if yes how easy can it be set up in Rhino 5. Thanks

A: Rhino can export to 3D printing formats. It does require careful modeling to get good, closed, printable objects.

Q: Can the clipping plane be a curved or complex surface, i.e. not a plane?

A: No. AsuniCAD's Dynamic Display plug-in may be useful.

Q: Is there a way of changing the background in the Artistic Display mode?

A: You need to make a copy of the mode- the built-in one is hard coded.

Q: The back of a surface does not have a different color when I am in shaded mode.

A: You need to set that up in the display mode controls- it is not on by default. Go to Tools>Options>View>Display Modes, choose whichever display mode you'd like, and look
for Backface Settings.

Q: Can clipping plane also cut a cross section if wanted?

A: No, not by itself- SectionTools can help, see here.

Q: Will RhinoGold 4 work with Rhino 5?

A. I have heard that it will.

Q: Can you extract cross sections with the clipping plane?

A: Not directly, but this is possible with a script. Look here for ClippingPlaneCurves. Instructions for installing and running the scripts are at the top of the page. IntersectPlane may also be of interest.

Q: Will clipping plane work with the intersect command?

A: Not directly but a script can help: see above. Also, you can always snap to an end of the clipping plane to create a planar surface at the exact same height that can be used for Intersect.

Q: Does the clipping plane work with mesh surfaces?

A: Meshes are clipped, yes.

Q: Do we have smooth options with control points? If we move one we can influence on other
points.

A: SoftMove is the best we have for this currently.

Q: Is there a way to print with hidden lines (not as bitmap or screen grab). The Make2d option is
way too slow for very complex scenes.

A: Use the Technical display mode
 
Q: Thanks but using the print command and in vector mode doesn't show the object in technical
display mode, only as raster mode.

A: Set up a Layout with a detail in technical.

Q: Yes but how do you print not just display it ... Hidden lines can be hidden

A: You can turn off hidden lines in the technical mode. Also see the Pen mode

Q: Thanks I'll experiment using a layout

Q: Can she give the url for her site? Some people may not know.

A: To learn more about Maia's work, visit her website at Design Rhino.

 

Would you like to learn more about Jewelry Design and 3D printing? Join us for our upcoming Google Hangout on Air!

In the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas? Contact Maia directly to learn more about her classes!

Curious about our upcoming webinars? Check out the list here!

The Edge: Ryan Swanson and The Urban Conga

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do.

Ryan Swanson: My life began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where I went to high school for architecture. I then moved to Tampa about 7 years ago to attend The University of South Florida School of Architecture and Community Design where I will soon receive my Masters in Architecture.  I'm an aspiring architect, designer and creator. I like to make things and make things for a reason.  I hate making something that has no back story or reasoning for its existence. I try to live by this quote from Jim Henson - "When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.” It's kind of cliché but I believe if I'm alive I might as well make it worth it.

What do I do... Well I try to dip my hand in just about anything I find interesting. I coach and play volleyball, dj on my spare time, and pretty much just try to live life as much as possible.  Which is a hard task to do while in Architecture School. I recently have really gotten into emergent technologies and how they can be used in a large scale realm to push urban activation. So I spend a lot of time learning and designing. I never want to stop learning.

Novedge: How did you become interested in architecture and the public space?

Ryan Swanson: I think my interest in architecture kind of came about when I was young and asked my mom what I could do that involved math and art and she was like "architecture." That started me down this crazy wild path to where I am today. I didn't really get into public spaces until I went to Europe about two years ago. Me and some friends backpacked around for 5 weeks going to about 7 different countries. I began to see what a real public space was and actually be a part of their activeness. It's one thing to read about how a space is in a book than to actually experience it. I saw how people began to come together and interact with one another through the space. It was something that I never really saw in Fort Lauderdale or Tampa in the urban environment.

When I came back to the States I had just actually moved close to downtown Tampa and began to ride my bike there quite often into downtown. Before I never had a reason to drive the 20 min to downtown because there was never anything going on.  I began to ask myself why Tampa was unsuccessful when it came to public spaces.  It had some of the same parks, spaces, and open areas that I experienced in Europe. I began to realize people just either didn't know that the spaces existed or that it was ok to hangout in an empty grass lot. Or, it was just that there was nothing going on for them to want to hang out there. If you look at any big city you can walk down a street and feel like you are alive. Something is always happening or about to happen. I wanted to make this happen in downtown Tampa. I felt it had the potential and wanted to begin to create a change in the social interaction downtown.  Public spaces are a way for people to escape and with the way our world is looking these days people need any way they can get to escape the harsh realities of life and come together.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Ryan Swanson: I'm actually working on a couple of different projects right now. One is this interactive projection installation I call Projecting Fun. The idea for the projection installation is that it is something that can be easy to transport and it can be as big as you want it. The installation is done using the xbox kinect and processing, an open source code driven software.  Right now I have a simple script that reads movements of the body and allows one to dance and play and see themselves projected at a large scale doing it. The idea of this installation is to promote interactive activity in inactive spaces. It draws people in but also makes people begin to appreciate and notice the space they are occupying. My goal is to give people a good time and break up their typical route, but also make them appreciate the space they are in. I have done this installation in two locations, one on the side of an old facade and the other under an overpass. So this is something I have done but I am still working on making it different and more playful.  

The next thing is a prototype for this thing I call the Space Manipulator. The idea is that it's this cube that is placed within an inactive space and it can be broken down to a multitude of spatial arrangements for people to interact with. The idea is to get people to begin to play and work together on something and to create this idea of public interaction. The whole concept is to get people to come together in a space that isn't regularly used but is an interesting public space that should be activated. So when bringing this installation in I hope to not only give people something they can hang out on and move, but something they can begin to discuss and figure out. Public spaces are about bringing people together and creating a place for people to be interactive and become a part of the space. It's about creating a conversation between the human body and the space around them.
The Urban Conga is working on a bunch of different projects right now and they can be seen on our website. But something that has recently fell into our arms is helping design, create, and run a Fab Lab in South Tampa. Essentially we are working to create a place for learning and collaboration. The idea is that the house is always developing projects done by people coming to the Lab to learn and create. We hope to set up a studio in the Lab and begin to collaborate on a lot more public installations with creators from the Tampa area.  

Novedge: What software do you use?

Ryan Swanson: Software is something I told myself I want to have a vast knowledge in. It's like being a painter; you don't want to paint with just one color. Through architecture school and 3d modeling I have become really familiar with 3ds Max, SketchUp, V-Ray, AutoCAD, and Photoshop. I use these programs for prototyping ideas and mostly for rendering and setting up files to be laser cut or CNC routed. 3ds Max is also good for animations for showing how interactive installations work or for getting accurate prototypes to pitch ideas.  When showing people what you plan to do it's all about making it as pretty as possible and 3ds Max can do that for you. Rhino, with the Grasshopper plug-in, is probably the program I use the most for modeling and designing ideas.  Rhino is great for parametric modeling and also it has an endless supply of plug-ins and can do a multitude of functions. Grasshopper is a generative modeling tool for Rhino that uses algorithms to create form. It also can be interconnected to Arduino which is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. The two can be used together to create real world interactions and create a digital model from that interaction.  Another program I use for interactive projection installations is Processing. It is another interactive open-source software that runs off of Java. The great thing about Arduino and Processing is that everything is open source, so everyone is willing to share ideas, code, and help. The idea is to keep pushing the limits and for an idea to keep growing. So if you make something maybe someone else can make something cooler with the thing you created and then so on. I believe technology is important to keep up with the ever growing society we are in. So I keep trying to find new software that I can learn to make things better and bigger with.

 

Novedge: What is the Urban Conga?

Ryan Swanson: The Urban Conga is a collective group of creators activating urban spaces through interactive installations.  We stimulate urban spaces through exploration, activation, and above all interaction. The objective is to spark a conversation between the public realm and the human body through interactive installations. Our mission is to start The Conga Line!  We want to collaborate with other creators and begin to start a movement in inactive areas.

 

We are not a group of artists that create static public art to make a dollar. Our philosophy is to inject care into local communities by accentuating and enhancing the beauty of the current urban conditions! With like-minded passions to better communities, we are turning unused and overlooked urban spaces into interactive places to live, learn, and love your city. The Conga started in September 2012 when I and a couple of other students at the University of South Florida School of Architecture realized we were interested in solving the problem that our downtown is having with activation. So in doing my thesis I tried to incorporate my research into The Urban Conga in how to interact with people and what they best respond to in order to begin to activate these unused spaces. Our goal is to start a movement! We hope there will begin to be an Urban Conga group everywhere just giving people something to do and interact with and have fun. Our whole motto is "Come out and play!"

Novedge: What are the rewards and challenges of being part of a collective, such as the Urban Conga?

Ryan Swanson: Everyone works in groups in school and hate it. I feel this gives a false reputation on collaborations or working in a collective effort.  In the working world this is something a majority of people have to learn to accept and deal with. I think working with other people is how to make something better. If you lock yourself in a room you are only getting one perspective on the thing you are doing and that is your own. When you put together a bunch of people that have different skill sets something amazing happens. IDEO is a design consulting firm that solely believes on creations through a collaborative effort. They are one of the top design consulting firms in the nation due to this mind set.  If you look at any online open sourced software, people collaborate everywhere. Someone puts up some code that does a basic function and someone else takes that basic function and makes it fly a rocket ship.  Maybe that's a bit extreme but my point is that things grow from a collective effort, every time being pushed to be better and different. At the same time you do run into problems with communication and people not being on the same page,  but I feel in the end the rewards out way the some time bickering and arguments over how things should happen.  The way the Urban Conga is set up is anyone can come to us with an idea and the motivation to make the idea happen.  What we want to do is make that idea for an interactive installation happen. Either through helping that person with funding or just helping them build and design it. Ever since we started this collaborative group so many artists, performers and creators have reached out to us to make stuff happen. People need something that is actually out, doing stuff that they can sort of latch onto. Collaborating with these people just helps me learn more of their specific skill set.

 

Novedge: What advice would you give to people looking into going to college to study architecture?

Ryan Swanson: If you want to study architecture in college make sure it is something you are truly passionate about because it takes over your life!!! Keep your mindset open when it comes to what design and architecture are when starting. You will realize that the knowledge you learn in architecture school can be used in so many different ways of design not just in building buildings.  Also architecture school is all about teaching the art side of things and not the real side of architecture so make sure you study how things functionally work and about coding and all that jazz as well as the fun stuff. Architecture school becomes a part of your life you kind of begin to realize no one outside of architecture school really understands what you are going through. It makes you feel sort of like an elitist in the college world but also excluded. Learn to love the studio and make it your home. Working in the studio is the most important part of architecture school. It goes back to the whole idea of putting different skill sets into one room and learning from one another. The main thing is just to hold on for the wild ride architecture school will bring you!

Want to see more of Ryan's work? Check out his website and Vimeo channel.

And here's a link to The Urban Conga's website.

The Edge: Kelly Nedderman, Forging Community

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do.
Kelly Nedderman: Well, I do quite a lot of things. I am a surface/textile designer (mostly commercial work in fashion and home), artist, jewelry designer, and I teach metalsmithing at The Crucible and Academy of Art University. My work has been included in a handful of publications and I have exhibited nationally. I came to the San Francisco Bay Area over a decade ago for school and never left. For the last several years I have been self-employed and really thrive on the multitude of possibilities that it offers with regards to projects and people.

Novedge: What are some of the rewards and challenges of owning your own business?
Kelly Nedderman: Some of the best parts of owning your own business are also the most challenging parts. Schedule flexibility is a huge plus for me. It is also a huge challenge to hold yourself accountable and stay on track. The ability to choose projects is wonderful, but when you are in between things and the paychecks are not rolling in, it can also be nerve racking.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?
Kelly Nedderman: One of my current projects is a collaboration with a local wallpaper company. The pieces will be for commercial interiors such as restaurants and hotels. While I create repeating imagery every day, this project is a bit different. The patterns will end up being 52” across with no vertical limits, so I can design something to float in the center of the wall or something that is 15 ft tall. It’s exciting.

Novedge: What software do you use?
Kelly Nedderman: In my line of work, I primarily use Photoshop, Illustrator, and Nedgraphics. Nedgraphics is a CAD program specific to textile design that facilitates the development of repeats, wovens and knits. These programs allow me to draw and develop repeating patterns ready to be printed by clients onto thousands of yards of fabric or wallpaper. I also do hand illustrated artwork for graphic t-shirts.
Recently, I took two great courses in Rhino, and am learning to model jewelry designs that would be very difficult to execute in metal, mainly because of their crazy shape and size. I have also been playing around in Hex Fiend, GIMP and Audacity and using them to “break” tiff and jpg files in interesting ways to produce new imagery for my designs.

Novedge: Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Kelly Nedderman: Just about everywhere. Magazines, blogs, photos… even just walking around, but the more offbeat the better. I have a soft spot for silhouettes, textures and magazines from the UK.

Novedge: You are the Co Director of Programs at the San Francisco Bay Area Metal Arts Guild. What is the Guild and what does it do?
Kelly Nedderman: The Metal Arts Guild of The Bay Area is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting the recognition of metalwork as an art form and offering Bay Area jewelers and metal artists a network of information, education and support. That’s the official answer, but it is so much more than that. It’s a community, support group, and network of friends. We organize artist lectures, museum tours, exhibits and workshops all aimed at inspiring the group. We have around 250 members of all ages and backgrounds. From the student to the retiree and the hobbyist to the large business owner… The guild provides a common ground for all of those who love making and exchanging ideas.

Novedge: How important is it for professionals to be involved with their community?
Kelly Nedderman: I think it’s incredibly important. We were all beginners once. I was very lucky to be able to work with and learn from people making their living doing what their passion was. It had a huge impact on me. I try very hard to encourage students and professionals to get involved. Another great benefit of community is feedback and interaction. Our lives and creativity do not happen in a vacuum... I think people forget that even just being in an office environment is still a community. The office community is the one most people are familiar with, but we need to branch out past that. I have had some amazing brainstorming sessions with new people whom I have met at events and many of my clients have found me through word of mouth and my network. Take the time to get outside of your bubble!

Novedge: How are new technologies changing jewelry design?
Kelly Nedderman: One of the most obvious ways is that a fine jewelry store can have most of its inventory exist digitally now. They will have some great samples that customers can touch and try on, but without having so much money invested up front.
For someone who is more into the sculptural aspect of jewelry, like myself, 3D printing and laser cutting allow for an amazing level of experimentation. Forms that are extremely challenging or maybe impossible to create in metal, can be worked out with relative ease and then manufactured in a huge variety of materials. This grey area where traditional skills and new technologies meet is very exciting right now.

 

See more of Kelly's work on Flickr and don't forget to join our Rhino Jungle community, if you are a Rhino user.

 

The Edge: Lukas Filip's Fairy Tale Houses

Today we talk to Lukas Filip, a member of our online community, Rhino Jungle. The dreamy quality of his renderings caught my eye and I asked him to share a bit more about what he does.

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do

Lukas Filip: First of all, I’d like to thank you for choosing me for this interview and for giving me this opportunity. My name is Lukas Filip, and on the forums I am known as “Yosi”.  I’m from Slovakia, and I am 27 years old and live in my hometown Kosice. After finishing Secondary Technical School of transport I decided to get a degree at Technical University of Kosice in Civil Engineering, which is where I found out all about CG.  As for what I do, I am currently at the end of my part time job as seller and designer at a kitchen studio, and beginning official cooperation with Matus and Veronika Nedecky’s at Flying Architecture visualisation as a CG artist.

Novedge: Your work has a certain "dreamy" quality: can you talk about how you approach your images to create this effect?

Lukas Filip: I’ve never thought about it that way, this is kind of hard to explain... Generally, I follow no strict rules.  I usually go with my feelings, instead of relying on exact repeatable steps. My melancholic nature might be the cause of this "dreamy" quality. I’m a lover of cold weather, frosty days, dense fog, and mountains half-clad in heavy clouds and so on. Not that I dislike sun or anything.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Lukas Filip: That would be Traditional Housing in Slovakia. After visiting one of these houses I got enchanted by the simplicity of this project, use of raw rood, this so-called "return to our roots." I am starting to feel a bit fed up with glossy and flashy looks in architecture, and prefer simplicity over complexity, use of neutral-coloured matte materials and so on. 
My main objective was to create something that would make you feel you are part of the nature and give it certain fairy-tale feel (what is better suited for a fairy-tale scene than a lovely wooden cottage at the edge of a forest?). The moment I decided to work on this I knew what the scenes should be about, colours, composition and all.

The early morning scene is my personal favourite; it has everything I love – the time is just before sunrise (I am an early riser), it has my favourite colour tones - shades of blue/cyan with rich green grass, dense fog engulfing the valley and so on...  The day scene is more traditional, lots of light and a little girl chasing a deer. Who wouldn’t want to live in such environment?
I have to be careful though, for this could backfire just as well; some people might actually imagine a lonely wolf instead of a lovely deer, with the chase thing being the other way round, that would be a big no-sell material!

Novedge: What software do you use? Why?

Lukas Filip: Some six years ago I made my first render using Archicad. Continuing to Artlantis Studio 2.0 I tried to gain more knowledge and enhance my work. Experimenting led to passion and I found myself craving for more, constantly unsatisfied with my results. During this time I learned most of the basic stuff, the need for good lighting and the basics of texture mapping.
I eventually ended up using Rhinoceros 4 and V-Ray. Why? It is very user friendly, it doesn’t require a NASA-built power station, it is stable enough, and when a new version comes out, it actually is a new version, not a bunch of service packs packed into a prettier coat.  With a V-Ray plugin for rendering and Photoshop for post processing it gives me everything I need.

Novedge: Where do you find inspiration for your work?

Lukas Filip: I’d say everywhere: just observing life around me. While shopping, sitting at cafeteria, trekking, reading books... And of course in works of famous CG artists, like matte painter and concept artist Raphael Lacoste, or Viktor Fretyán  (MIR).

Novedge: Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming projects?

Lukas Filip: As I mentioned before, I’ve never been satisfied with anything I created in my CG portfolio, some I even dislike.  There are several personal projects in my mind right now. Some I hope to finish by the end of this year, maybe even a re-mastered version of one of my older projects ;-). Then there are one or two much more complex projects, in terms of time, research and skill needed that will require several years of mere preparation.  The theme itself is very famous and if actually finished, it would not be part of my usual architectural portfolio.

If you want to see more of Lukas's work, check out his online portfolio and connect with him on Rhino Jungle.

Learn more about Artlantis, V-Ray and Rhino on our website.

The Edge: Michiel Cornelissen's 3D Printed Happy Birds

Michiel Cornelissen is an independent designer who "combines work for clients with the creation of his own range of products, such as jewelry, housewares, and electronics accessories." His work has been featured in Gizmodo, Wired, Designboom, Core77 and more. And the Museum of Modern Art in New York has even bought some of his products.

 

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do

Michiel Cornelissen: I am a designer. Sometimes I design whatever pops into my mind and seems like a good idea, sometimes I help clients with products they’re working on. Sometimes the two meet halfway.

Novedge: On your website you mention learning in school and then while working for Philips Design. Can you talk about learning in school vs. learning on the job? What advice would you give to young people who want to follow in your footsteps?

Michiel Cornelissen: My education in Industrial Design Engineering at Delft Technical University was a very general one: I know very few people from my year that are actually still in design. Some are in engineering, or are project managers, or researchers, you name it. I came away from it with a general idea of how to approach almost any problem, but with very little classical design skills. I mean, I hardly knew what a fillet was, let alone how big I should choose it in any give project. Fate somehow placed me in Philips Design, where I met all these "real" designers, from all kinds of backgrounds and often with wonderful insights in how to create and detail designs. So yes, it feels like a post-doc education to me. Something similar is happening now since entering the 3D-printing community;  a whole world is opening up to me. It’s just great to be able to keep on learning and growing in your profession.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Michiel Cornelissen: The dilemma is always that there’s so much I can’t talk about yet, as much as I’d love to. Just recently a health care product I worked on was introduced in Asia, which I’m very happy with (unfortunately, I don’t have good images of that yet).

Of course the Mesh Matryoshkas were introduced in the beginning of the year and I’m really happy with Zesch too, although manufacturing it in larger quantities is a challenge.

Novedge: What software do you use?

Michiel Cornelissen: When it comes to designing, I do almost everything in Rhino. I started using it when 1.0 was still in beta, and I still haven’t found a compelling reason to switch to something else. I still think it’s a Godsend, I’m not even sure I would still be in design if it wasn’t for Rhino…  And since about a year, I’m exploring the Grasshopper plug for generative modeling in Rhino – that’s the future! Both Zesch and the Mesh Matryoshkas were almost completely defined in it. I’m not saying it’s the only way, but I might have given both projects up without Grasshopper. For rendering, I now love Keyshot – it’s just so much fun, and the results can be great. Oh – and don’t forget pen and paper! I don’t see myself scribbling on tablets anytime soon, I love the simplicity of a white sheet of paper and a nice fat Pentel sign pen.

Novedge: You have embraced 3D printing. What are some of the benefits and challenges of using this technology?

Michiel Cornelissen: One of the main benefits of 3D printing is that anyone with some modeling skills and an idea can make a product available anywhere in the world. One of the main challenges of 3D printing is that anyone with some modeling skills and an idea can make a product available anywhere in the world… What I mean is, that there is an inevitable explosion of 3D printed content in the works, and one of the difficulties will be to find the few useful, qualitative items in that outburst. Other than that, I’m still intrigued by the geometric possibilities that are opening up through 3d-printing, some of which I’ve tried to highlight in products such as Happy and Merry Bird, The ExChange collection and the Mesh Matryoshkas.

Novedge: What's in the future for you?

Michiel Cornelissen: I really enjoy working with clients, also when it has nothing to do with 3D-printing, by the way. That’s some of that stuff I can’t talk about… Just recently, I visited a manufacturing facility in Switzerland where men and women were creating beautiful items from wood and metal and other materials, in ways that haven’t changed much over 100 years. It was awe-inspiring, and it’s one of the things I sincerely hope won’t disappear with developments such as globalization and 3d-printing. Crossing my fingers that the project I’m planning with them will happen!

 

You can learn more about Michiel's work on his website. And don't forget to follow him on Twitter!

To buy Rhino and Keyshot, visit Novedge. And send us your questions and feedback in 140 characters or less at @Novedge. Grasshopper can be downloaded here.

The Edge: Dave Schultze and the Retro-Inspired Computer

Novedge: Tell us about what you do.
 

Dave Schultze: I am an industrial designer focusing on a dynamic range of products, most of which have a technology component. In the last few years, I have designed robots, computers, cell phones, science and educational products, housewares, furniture, and lighting. I even designed a musical tooth brush for Hasbro called “Tooth Tunes”, which became the number one-selling toothbrush on the market when it launched in 2007.

Novedge: You have a Design Manifesto. What is it and how did it come about?
 

Dave Schultze: Funny story! The manifesto is not even complete yet, but somehow people have noticed it on my website and starting asking about it. It was initially inspired when I tried to build my own 3D workstation computer. I never found a PC case that was even remotely attractive as an Apple product, which really surprised me, since so many companies are prolific copycats of Apple. Out of this frustration, I started sketching a retro-inspired computer that ended up becoming the Philco PC. The goal of the design was to create something that was both new and familiar, but above all, had a unique and compelling personality with a touch of humor.

By contrast, if you look at the current lineup of smart phones; they are all black, shiny slabs that are indistinguishable from each other! I wanted my design to have more of an emotional connection and allow easy upgrades for sustainability purposes. Above all, I wanted to make a commodity computer less of a commodity and inspire people to hang on to it long term. As the Philco PC design neared completion, a competition came up from V-Ray, makers of the popular rendering plug-in. I entered the computer renderings and won Top Three honors. I then decided to share the news and wrote a press release, sent it to a few of my favorite websites and that is when the coverage exploded. The design was featured in the New York Times, on the front page of Engadget and Gizmodo, and ultimately in 25 magazines, including one cover.

Philco PC from Dave Schultze on Vimeo.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Dave Schultze: A recent project that is just hitting the shelves is Nancy B’s Science Club. It is a line of educational / science products aimed at younger girls and designed for Educational Insights of California.

The force behind the line is Nancy Balter, a former science teacher with an MA in Education whose mission is to spread the joys of science to kids everywhere. For this line, she observed that both boys and girls have equal aptitude for science at a younger age, but somehow the girls end up getting pink microscopes and they deserved better. Five products later, we have a full line and the sales are going great!

Novedge: What software do you use?

Dave Schultze: My primary 3D & design software is Rhino and I’m loving the new version 5.0 that just came out. Since compelling visuals can make or break selling you design, we couldn’t work without the V-Ray plug-in for rendering. The other mandatory plug-in is T-Splines, a brilliant set of tools that handles organic modeling beautifully. Of course, we have the entire Master Collection of the Adobe products to prepare and present the work. My favorite is After Effects, which we use to create all of our videos. I found After Effects so incredibly useful and just plain FUN, that I added it to the curriculum where I teach at Otis College of Art and Design. In the series of 3DVisualization classes that I teach, it’s the students favorite thing to do.

Novedge: What keeps you inspired?

Dave Schultze: Fortunately (or unfortunately), I am inspired by almost anything that captures my attention, which can get very distracting. I love great design of any kind, but I’m also inspired by architecture, movies, books, photography, museums, and now my latest hobby, paragliding.

Novedge: What are some of the rewards and challenges of owning your own business?

Dave Schultze: The reward is having total freedom with my schedule, but that is also a challenge since I frequently have the ‘freedom’ to work seven days a week. But, the freedom does allow me to work on one design research project or competition per year. Our most publicized design research project was the Philco PC, but the first one was a cell phone I designed for an LG Design Competition in 2008. My ‘Roto Retro’ cell phone design came in first place amongst a total submission of over 500 entries. It was extremely cool to win, but it also told me I was on to something with a re-thinking of current design aesthetics.

Novedge: If you could go back in time, what would you say to your younger self before embarking in your current career?

Dave Schultze: I might suggest not working so hard, but then again, I enjoy what I do too much to slow down. So, to answer the question, “nothing different.”

 

See more of Dave's work on his website and on his Vimeo channel. And read more about V-Ray, Rhino  and Adobe After Effects at Novedge: Tools to Design the Future.

Novedge Webinar #66: Q&A with Michael Günther-Geffer

Did you watch this week's Novedge Webinar? Michael Gunther-Geffer introduced us to high-end surface modeling in Rhino with VSR Shape Modeling. You can watch the entire live recording on our YouTube and Vimeo Channels.

A few of your questions went unanswered because of time constraints, so we sent them to Michael, who provided us with the answers. 

Q: Can you do curvature analysis on the mesh? In Alias I use this to layout my primary surfaces.

A: We have e.g. a section command with curvature analysis on top, but the result is not smoothed, and therefore probably useless on meshes.

Q: Is there a function similar to the detach command in Alias?

A: As far as we can judge, the Rhino Split function covers this functionality, therefore we don't see a need for a VSR function doing that.

Q: Can you work with meshes resp. scan data?

A: We have several functions allowing the creation of curves and surfaces on top of meshes. You
can sketch curves on meshes, modify curves or surfaces on top of a mesh, create surfaces on a
mesh and so on. We can also select areas of a mesh (curvature based), and trim, split or create a new mesh from this area.

Q: These values are indicative of the level of tangent or curvature different from CATIA values or
Alias. In other words, the curvature of the value of 0.1 in the VSR, corresponds to 0.1 in the Alias
and CATIA?

A: For Position and Tangency we use the same result values as you know from ICEM or
ALIAS. For curvature we use a bit of a different numerical result display. You can have a look
into our online manual coming with the plug-in, there you will find a detailed explanation. In general you can say, 0.0 is perfect, other values are showing the relation of the curvature on both sides to each
other. But we have also other analysis for this, e.g. you can cut radial sections with a curvature
graph on top between both edges.

Q: Is it appropriate to discuss the use of the "Adopt" option in the "Surface Align" tool?

A: The "Adopt" option takes over the parametrization from the reference surface on this edge.
It therefore aligns the control point distribution of the surface to match to the control point distribution of the reference, often leading to a better matching result.

Q: And is there some way to change color of section on mesh and surface ? I use very often in icem. And smooth?

A: Smooth command is already developed, and will be in the next Shape Modeling major release (3.0) in Q4 this year. We created an enhancement request for different colors for sections on meshes and other geometry. Meanwhile you could create two section analysis, selecting the meshes for one, and the rest of the geometry for the other analysis, defining two different colors for them.

Q: Is there in VSR something to extrapolate?
A: Yes, in the control point modeling there is an option "Extrapolate", allowing dynamic extrapolation of a curve or surface.

Q: Hello there, which is the "best" density of triangles for a scanned mesh from a 3D scanner, in
order to work later creating surfaces? I am using a NextEngine scanner.
A: Sorry, unfortunately there is no general answer for this question. It depends on the shape of the object, and the needed quality for the reverse engineering.

Q: Can you get a color map of the deviation between the surface and the mesh vs section lines?
A: Color mapped deviation will come with Shape Modeling 3.0 in Q4/2013.

Q: Can you make a surface from points only?
A: No, we need a triangulated mesh. But for Rhino 5 there are some free plugins available to
triangulate a point cloud to a mesh.

Q: Can we become a beta user of the new release?
A: Of course, customers and people giving valuable feedback on our plug-ins are always welcome as beta testers.

Q: I need smooth surface from the points but as close to the points as possible.
A: This is exactly what our smooth function will do. It is always a compromise, though, and depends heavily on the quality of the points. If the quality of the points is poor the surface may not become smooth, when the deviation is very low.

Q: In Catia you can match a surface projected on top of another without trimming. Basic matching
on top of a surface instead of the edges. The question is are you guys planning a tool like that?
A: This is already implemented and will be available in Shape Modeling 3.0 in Q4 2013.

 

Do you love webinars? Check the upcoming webinars in the Novedge Webinar Series here.

To order your copy of VSR Shape Modeling, click here. 

Learn more about Virtual Shape, the makers of VSR Shape Modeling on their website.

To connect with other VSR and Rhino users, join our Rhino Jungle community

Samantha Gratz: "My current work explores how mutated creatures would interact or inhabit the human body."

Today I have the pleasure to talk to Samantha Gratz, a graduate student and member of our Rhino Jungle community. Her jewelry design is quite unique, so I invited her to share with us a little bit more about her interests and inspiration.

Novedge: Tell us about yourself and what you do.

Samantha Gratz: I am drawn to the wild and strange. Anything that has an unexpected form or startling color combinations excites me. My current work explores how mutated creatures would interact or inhabit the human body. This work is the thesis topic for my Master’s Degree in CAD/CAM at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.

Before moving East, I lived in the 7,200 foot altitude of Flagstaff, Arizona where I earned a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing at Northern Arizona University (NAU). It was at NAU where I developed my chops fabricating jewelry by hand.

Novedge: Where do you find inspiration?

Samantha Gratz: I admire the colors of the gem-encrusted pieces by Dior’s jewelry designer, Victoria de Castellenne, even though my current work does not relate to conventional jewelry. I’m also inspired by the illustrations of Dougal Dixon and Ernst Haeckel.

Technologically, I love how I can develop forms and mechanisms with ease using CAD and rapid prototyping processes. The work I’m currently producing would be a prodigious task using traditional bench techniques. With CAD software, I can quickly and easily produce tangible objects of intricate complexity.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on? 

Samantha Gratz: The recent explorations of deep ocean depths and the sea creatures inhabiting those dark, deep seas set me on a path to create my own denizens of the deep. For example:

This Snail project was designed to envelope the ear. The challenge was to first consider size and shape and then determine where the piece best fits on the body. I printed the shell portion of the snail in Durus White then dyed it. I chose Durus White for its durability and translucent nature. The back of the shell has an opening that slides over the ear. The soft body of the snail is printed in the flexible material of Tango Plus in order to mimic the actual feeling of a snail touching the face.

The piece entitled Tremor is a companion bracelet for the Shell earpiece. This bracelet is a conglomeration of deep sea creature forms and coral reef plant life. The head and body portions are printed in Durus White because I wanted translucent material to be present in both pieces. It’s also easy to dye.

Novedge: What software do you use?

Samantha Gratz: I use Rhinoceros to model objects, then switch over to ZBrush to texturize them. Rhinoceros and Zbrush provide design aesthetics I need through modeling commands. Rhinoceros is also the industry standard.

Novedge: What innovations do you see in your field?

Samantha Gratz: New design features in CAD and rapid prototyping married to the rising popularity of generative modeling and multi material printing are exciting in of themselves. But when these technologies are used with Objet’s Connex printers, the results are akin to the emulators in science fiction. I envision the Connex printer becoming more popular and opening up a range of potential material capabilities that will jump-start many ingenious projects.

 

Do you want to see more of Samantha's work? Take a look at her website and at her profile page on Rhino Jungle.

Do you love Rhino? Join Rhino Jungle to connect and share your work.

 

Interview with Saad Alayyoubi, Founder of SaGa Design: "This industry is still in its infancy, but the road ahead looks incredibly exciting for all of us"

Remember this incredible 3D printed Siri case for the iPhone? We asked Saad Alayyoubi, the designer behind it, to tell us a bit about his work and his company SaGa Design.

Novedge: Tell us about yourself and your company.

Saad Alayyoubi: I am a designer trained in architecture, and I’ve always been interested in creating inspiring work that crosses disciplinary boundaries. When I was a teenager I spent most of my days working on drawings and oil paintings, and ever since I can remember I have always had a passion for aesthetic beauty, both in the natural world and in our human artifacts and constructions.

After college I worked for several years as an architect for a large firm called KPF, where I was a member of project teams tasked with creating massive cultural centers, hotels and office skyscrapers. I enjoyed the work, but felt somewhat frustrated at the time that most of the key design decisions were made, understandably, by the experienced senior partners. Young designers, including myself, were mainly assigned to the technical execution of the partners’ vision, and would have to spend decades working our way up the corporate ladder before we had any real creative freedom.

At the time, 3D printing was still a relatively unknown technique used for prototyping architectural models, but all of us making these prototypes sensed that imminent change was on the horizon, as the technology continued to rapidly improve. I loved the creative expression the technology enabled, as I watched the intricate, digital architecture models I had created come to life in powder form inside the 3D printer. All the years I had spent honing my digital skills in college could now be translated outside the computer screen and into the physical world.

I waited for the day when commercial 3D printing would become viable as a means to create my own physical products: the technology had to both be capable of producing a high-quality material finish, and also relatively affordable for mass market consumption. As soon as I started to see this happening, I began experimenting with the various material offerings and formed my own studio, SaGa Design, dedicated to building beautiful 3D printed products and concepts. I have since expanded the scope of SaGa to include all artistic endeavors that I embark on, and it is now essentially a portal for the expression of all my thoughts and ideas. I would like to also create a blog someday soon associated with the website, to engage with other designers and thinkers on the problems and ideas of our time.

Novedge: What inspires you? 

Saad Alayyoubi: The sources are almost infinite. In terms of my worldview, a big part of my thinking was shaped by the writing and ideas of the late Carl Sagan. He was a brilliant scientist and philosopher, expert at articulating who we are as a species, and how we could begin to understand our place in the universe and the meaning of our existence.

In terms of artistic creativity my sources of inspiration continue to evolve every day, but in terms of classical art I have always been deeply inspired by Caspar David Friedrich, Frederick Church, and William Turner. In terms of more contemporary artists, there are so many it’s actually impossible to even condense the list to a reasonable format…The information age has really enabled us to recognize incredible artistic talent from all corners of the globe, and from people of all ages. I’ve seen astounding works of creative photography and digital art from kids as young as 16.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Saad Alayyoubi: I’m currently working for a multi-disciplinary design firm in midtown Manhattan, Experion Design Group, where I do everything from architectural renderings to website design and even user-interface design for mobile software apps. I spend most of my non-office hours continuing to expand my design portfolio of creative work, and most recently have been interested in improving my abilities as a digital matte-painter.

I start with a quick 15 minute sketch in Photoshop, to capture a certain mood using color and light. I then create a rough 3D model of the scene, to get an understanding of depth and some reflection layers which I can use to overlay on the base sketch. In the case of the project below, the 3D model also incorporated an idea for some floating architectural elements, which I scrapped in the final painting in favor of a pure landscape scene. I love working on dreamscapes such as this, creating an evocative scene from pure imagination; in my next few digital paintings I’ll be looking to implement more 3D elements that lend a more surreal, other-worldly atmosphere to the scene.

I am also still working on several new 3D-printing concepts, but many of these are still work in progress and will be revealed in the near future. I’m waiting for the next technological leap in the manufacturing process, when we can create 3D-printed objects at much larger scales (e.g., for use as furniture pieces) with multiple embedded materials and integrated electronics. These technological capabilities are inevitable, it’s only a matter of time, and I’m designing concepts now to pre-empt their arrival and try to envision how they can potentially be used to create physical objects that were never before possible.

Novedge: What software do you use?

Saad Alayyoubi: I use many of the same digital tools that other architects and designers of our generation use, including 3ds Max, Rhino, ZBrush, Sculptris and Photoshop. I really enjoyed experimenting with ZBrush on some of my iPhone case designs, and I will be looking to use it more extensively for future 3D work that involves highly organic, detailed and intricate forms. In terms of 3D printing materials, I really like the smooth, polished finish of glazed ceramics. To be quite honest, I’m eagerly awaiting the day when it will be viable for us individual designers to create entire, full-fledged 3D-printed custom body panels for cars and motorcycles. Many of the designs I’m working on at the moment are custom vehicle shells, and it will be amazing to one day have the material finish of such 3D prints rival the creations of the major exotic car manufacturers.

Novedge: What innovations do you see in your field, now or in the future?

Saad Alayyoubi: Besides some of the aforementioned ideas, I have been speaking with a lot of designers recently about where the technology might evolve in the near-term future. One of the ideas I am most excited about is the notion of complete democratization of physical products. It may be possible that 3d-printing will enable anyone to have almost any physical object they can imagine, irrespective of any notion of “price” beyond the pure commodity cost of the physical material. If 3D-scanning technology improves to enable flawless 3D capture of a physical object, and 3D printing simultaneously enables an almost exact replication of that object, imagine what the disruption this would cause the retail sector, and the idea of a "luxury product".

Besides this, I also have some friends working on 3D printing technology in the context of aerospace engineering, seeking, for example, to use 3D printing to enable the on-demand production of materials by a robotic rover on the moon or mars. This industry is still in its infancy, but the road ahead looks incredibly exciting for all of us.

 

Read more about Saad Alayyoubi and SaGa Design on his website and find his 3D printed designs on Shapeways.

And if you are interested in 3D printing, don't forget to read our interview with Chris Anderson.