/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

What's the going price on those these days? And the plastic probably costs an arm and a leg.

>>7326405
agreed
i wont buy it until its mainstream, too expensive.

>>7326405
Someone made a 100$ 3d printer or you can make your own, it's not that hard.
It's not too expensive as a hobby depending on the material you use

>>7326409
But it is mainstream. Every 5th product at CES 2014 was 3D printer related. Way to be behind.

Office Depot is already stocking 3D printer refills.

I don't know anything about 3D printers, though it is tempting to look into. Wouldn't the patterns for it be hard to make? I'm assuming you'd use patterns.

>>7326493
lots of Makerbot owners say its easier than it looks

I have a 3D printer. Costs about 2k, which I split with my brother. And the plastic can be cheap depending on where you get it, and how efficient your machine is. For instance, this batarang I printed costs about 25-30 cents worth of plastic and is just under 9 inches long.

>>7326480
Just because a bunch of faggots like something doesnt mean it is in any way mainstream. Fuck off

>>7326506
What are your future plans for it?

>>7326515
Actually, that's the definition of mainstream.

>>7326517
Since I am still quite new with 3d modelling, my immediate plans are small things like fancy buckles and clasps for a coat I will be working on soon, along with the hilt for a sword. After that, I am not sure. I have a few friends who will be printing some stuff for their costumes as well.
The main reason we got it though was for my brother who is using it for some mechanical engineering stuff that goes way over my head.

Emma Stone wears 3D printed nails now

Do you think 3D printed cosplay pieces will be looked down upon? What about Cosplay Judges? Don't you think they would see it as being unfair to enter with such pieces?

Do you think 3D printing is cheating or doesn't count as making your own? I don't have a 3D printer but I know a friend who does and he built full armor using one and I found it borderline unfair.

>>7326546
If no rules have been stated that outlaw its use, I say it is fair game.

I think a cosplayer should be familiar with all types of craftsmanship, 3D printing included.

>>7326547
Wouldn't it be considered cheating though? I mean, a machine is making their cosplay, not themselves.

>>7326547
I also believe there's still a level of skill necessary to make that 3D print of yours look nice. You're not going to find every prop ready for download. More often than not you'll have to make it yourself in Rhino or a similar program. It's definitely tedious work if you're making something really complex.

>>7326547
You still have to render the model, and if your skill with that is bad, then the print will be bad. 3D printers are just a tool, they are not magic wishing boxes.
people have used CNC machines for props for a long time now and no one claims that those are a cheat.

>>7326549
As >>7326552 said you still do have to make your cosplay digitally first and then finish it once it's printed. It's not cheating.

>>7326559
But if you can get the model, print it and you're done! No hard work at all compared to someone actually making it by hand. I would feel cheated if I entered a contest and someone who just printed their shit out won.

Sorry I am just trying to see how 3D printing is a good thing and fair. Not everyone can afford one.

>>7326549
The machine doesn't just spit out perfect props. You have to make the model, sand, paint etc.

>>7326566
yeah no, there is still finishing, sealing, painting that has to be done. The cheaper plastics used come out very bumpy/grainy.

>>7326560
this Kain's armor is 100% 3D printed, but no way in HELL did it come out looking like it does in that picture. A lot of time went into the finishing and painting. Just like any other prop.

I don't currently have the money to drop on a 3D-printer, or the plastic for it. I don't see myself having the money for such a thing for a long time. I would love to have one, though, I already have access to programs that work for it. My boyfriend is well-versed in designing.

I've always hated the way 3D printed things look. They always seem so cheap looking. I have a 3D printer at work and have complete access to it for cosplay, but I'd much rather handmake props.

>>7326595
you think >>7326560 looks cheap?

I keep thinking about buying one and just churning out anime trinkets like Sailor Scout accessories to sell and stuff to pay it off but I'm just terrible at online designs and shit so I know anything I make would look wonky as fuck.

>>7326617
They have the talent for it. I don't. I'd be an amateur at 3D printing, where as I feel confident in my hand made crafts.

>>7326632
oh ok, I guess I misread your original comment since you said you just hate the way 3D printed things look since they always look cheap. I didn't realize you meant just your own items you've tried to print.

>>7326568
This. You've got a lot of finishing to do. Pic related.

But I do. It's not too detailed but there's another one I have going which can do better.

I'm considering making some 3DMG entirely from the printer, might be fun to do.

>>7326549
>>7326546
>>7326552
>>7326559

That's like saying that someone using a sewing machine instead of handsewing is cheating
Or that photographer are just wannabe painters

But I'd say the hand sewing comparison is more accurate though, since the end result is the same. If I was exclusively a handsewer and sewing machines just came out, I'd feel like it wasn't fair and people weren't appreciating how much painstakingly tedious work that goes into it. But that's not to say that sewing machines aren't something that you have to have skill for, yeah?

>>7326652
You could also use the comparison of hand embroidery vs machine embroidery

As someone who knows how to use a 3D printer, laser cutter and CNC router I feel I need to clear some things up.

3D printers are NOT a magical prop printing machine. First generating files is tough unless you're a decent 3D modeler. Yes you can download models off the interwebs but then you need to know how to prep the file for printing in the software. Second not a lot of things are structurally sound as they are and you have to model in little support beams and structures that have to be cut and sanded later. Third the texture is kind of terrible. Unless you are shitting enough gold to have shapeways printing your stuff it will always come out with a vinyl record texture.

I tried 3D printing briefly and about about 2 hours of tweaking I finally managed to churn out one Tardis ring.I then tried to make one of those crazy geometric bracelets and failed miserably.

tldr; It's still a lot of work to use these machines for both prep work and finishing.

>>7326546
I talked it over with a friend who is a cosplay judge and she says that all most judges care about is how good the finished product looks and you can explain how you made it.

>>7326566
It's not that easy.

I don't think anyone's taking into account what 3D modelling entails. Creating a model requires figuring out the correct scale, the most efficient way of modelling it and most importantly, compatibility with the printer. The model can't be fractured or filled with errors or else the machine won't even start. I worked with 3D printing in school and some for cosplay, the logistical problems of just making the model work mean that it's not something a novice can just pick up and do.
Even if you find a model online of the prop, guaranteed you'll have to fix it and troubleshoot it before it'll print properly. That means knowing the modelling program pretty well as well as the tolerances of the printer.

However, if you know what you're doing, it can yield decent results, pic related. I did have to model this in 2 pieces so it would fit on the printing bed, but aside from the little silver dude on top, it was completely designed and modeled by me.

etsy is going to buuurn when everybody has one of these.

And i dont even cosplay....

If I remember right some patents are expiring that will make using plastic pellets (which are DIRT CHEAP because they are used in conventional plastic manufacturing) affordable. So getting a filament based printer is kinda dumb.

As a bonus a pellet based printer lets you recycle fuckups

>all these people with 3D printers
wat
I need to get me one.

> 3d printed nails
> the colors is dull

gross. At least they could have coated them so they were shiny like regular fake nails.

>>7326894
Matte colors are gaining popularity now. My little sister is crazy into nail art and has a bunch of mattes and liquid sand polishes.

>>7326841
WHOOPS I'M DUMB.
the patents were related to Selective Laser Sintering which isnt really suitable for hobbyists anyway.

will drop the price of getting some shit done professionally though

>>7326900
The ones in these pictures look really gross, though. A good matte nail polish can look really nice, but these look odd and have really bad colors.

>>7326735
Scale is fuck easy if you make your model with real-world measurements in your 3D program. But you're right on the fast that it does require some more thinking behind it instead of "hurr let's throw it in and it'll work"

>>7326735
looks good, anon

>>7327034
yeah, usually that's easiest to figure out, but it honestly depends on the program you use and what the printer requires

>>7326637
That's from a badly calibrated makerbot - the finished products are a lot better than that on a machine that is built properly.

>>7326595
They will only improve over time. Have a 3D printed pizza

>>7326646
Someone posted 3D files for the DMG handles in the Attack on Titan thread a while ago. I can give you a link if you want.

There's a 3D printer at the school next to mine but I have no idea what program to use to open the files, so I guess I'll have to make them by hand...

>>7327273
*3DMG
What the fuck happened to my sentence

>>7327273
Yeah, or you could just tell us (or google) the file format and we help.

>>7326480
Popular on a tech site which im sure most people dont frequent

Wait...These exist?

>>7327856
Welcome back.

>>7326576
I thought it was Cecil as a Dark Knight...

>>7327856
Google it

I could see it being useful to people who make lots of armor. Its super light, and you can make it into a life-sized jigsaw puzzle that isn't as fucking tedious as pepakura

>Implying anyone on /cgl/ has the 3d rendering skills needed to make their own shit with a 3d printer
>Implying it wouldn't take MORE time and cost MORE money with all the trial and error trying to get something right and fit your body perfectly, etc.
>Implying 3d printers produce perfect results and don't have shitty textured surfaces you have to deal with

>>7327273
Yeah I saw them on Thingiverse, it looks good.

>>7327273
masterCamX3

just scale it, if it's an autocad DWG extrude it to the width you want and wait

protip: takes 14 hours to print a file

back when i was in school, i would just weld up rapid prototypes before the printer even warmed up

>>7329637
1: i do
2: it's expensive and makerbot is just a piece of shit marketed to death it's the apple computers of 3d printing tech. however if you niggas give me a million dollars and get me a USED 3 axis HAAS CNC and about another couple hndred thousand of billet 6061 i'll make you all the shit you want

while making ar-15 lower reciver knock offs for any russian with $2500

>>7329637
zip zop boopity bop hey there son imma need you to stop

>Implying anyone on /cgl/ has the 3d rendering skills needed to make their own shit with a 3d printer
Maybe! But like any other skill, anyone can learn to do it.

>Implying it wouldn't take MORE time and cost MORE money with all the trial and error trying to get something right and fit your body perfectly, etc.
Unless the person doing the modeling can't comprehend numbers or doesn't know how to use a measuring tape or a ruler, there's not a lot of trial and error involved when getting something to the right size.

3D printing is expensive, yeah. You either buy a printer or pay a company to print your models for you. If you do a lot of printing, it might be in your best interest to invest in a printer. Like the Anon above said with the Batarang. It cost them a few cents to print that themselves.

>Implying 3d printers produce perfect results and don't have shitty textured surfaces you have to deal with
Take a gander. http://i.materialise.com/materials/paintable-resin

It takes time and money just like anything else.

>>7329637
There are places called Hackspaces that exist, you know

>>7329840
ummm a handful of the plastic pellets we put into the machine ran about $25

it takes about 6 handfuls of pellets to print something that size, give or take

the machine was worth more the a brand new Lamborghini mucieaglo, the cluster we were using, would buy you a lotus exige S...cash

few cents? who ever told you that is a liar

and you use the example of an injection molded abs piece as rigidity

thats like taking carbon sheets dipping them in resin and laying them out in the sun

vs

a true pre-preg dry carbon vacumn formed mold

one is as fragile as paper mache and the other is a usuable part

i dropped my final project and it shattered....i had to print it out again..an expensive project...

>>7329843
I feel like you missed the part where I specified the anon who printed the batarang.

>>7329637
I don't know, I actually know quite a few people who cosplay or are a lolita and do 3D modelling for a living (what has rendering to do with that, anyway?). Me included.

Concerning the measuring: On the one hand you can just take the right measurements and then work in real life scale, or you can even scan your body with a xbox kinect. The data you get might be pretty shitty, but it's enough to model around that. At least I think so, never tried it, but we did scan people with akinect in class.

Overall I think it's maybe not the best thing for armor, but I'm pretty sure it can be nice for making props. I'm not a cosplayer, though, but if friends asked me, I would model everything they want in 3D for them.

>>7329840
That machine uses liquid resin, right? The results would be smooth, but isn't that the much more expensive material to print in?

>>7329916
Armour pieces would take forever and be more effort than they're worth, IMO. Small shit like jewelry and handheld props are where 3D printers make sense.