6 replies to this topic

[Exilyth]

How do prints from the company mentioned compare to prints from other 3D printing services like e.g. http://www.shapeways.com, http://i.materialise.com/ or http://www.sculpteo.com/en/?

Also, Iron Wind Metals is the official producer of battletech miniatures.

Edited by Exilyth, 31 August 2012 - 11:34 AM.

[Morashtak]

Exilyth, on 31 August 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

How do prints from the company mentioned compare to prints from other 3D printing services like e.g. http://www.shapeways.com, http://i.materialise.com/ or http://www.sculpteo.com/en/?

Also, Iron Wind Metals is the official producer of battletech miniatures.

I have a model of my dwarf paladin in his lvl 60 "golden pally" set posed over a floor covered in gold coins and ready to defend it to the death. I would pay the big bucks to have my C-1 in DHB parade colors posed with it's missile pod doors open and ready to fire while slightly twisted to one side. DHB unit and Company/Lance decals would be a big bonus.

FigurePrints works with Blizzard to use the official model from the game. These other sites ask that you upload your own 3D model - Thinking PGI is not going to be all that generous in sharing this type of data.

Re: Miniatures. FigurePrints are a collectible figurine. Okay, not much of a difference in terminology but there is in execution.

• A player outfits his character in the outfit that is either available to them in game or chooses a standard set from a list.
  
• He equips his weapons and offhand item (if any). He may also choose from a small selection as well.
  
• He can choose whether or not to have his helm and/or cloak modeled.
  
• He then chooses a base and picks a pose.

If we were to apply that to a 'mech in MWO

• A player chooses his 'mech.
  
• He "paints" it in game and chooses decals. There could also be a limited set of paint jobs and decals available to choose from.
  
• He would then choose a base and a pose. The poses would be very limited as opposed to WoW poses but a torso twist or extended arm would not be out of the realm of possible poses.

This also could apply to poster which would be custom designed by the player to a somewhat limited degree.

Would Smith & Tinker, IGP, and a bunch of lawyers be involved? You betcha' but it would bring in a bit of cash for PGI if done correctly.

Gaming miniatures would be one type of contract while entertainment/collectible figurines could be another.

[Exilyth]

Morashtak, on 31 August 2012 - 04:04 PM, said:

FigurePrints works with Blizzard to use the official model from the game. These other sites ask that you upload your own 3D model - Thinking PGI is not going to be all that generous in sharing this type of data.

Some of the pages mentioned also offer the ability for people to allow other people to buy prints of models uploaded by them. Ofc, the printing company needs a model, but models do not need to be shared between users to allow other users to print the same model.

[Exilyth]

slighty off topic... If you want to know more about 3D printing, I'd suggest taking a look at the RepRap project, which is an open source 3D printer. The project is great because it's not only an instruction for building a 3D printer, but also goes into details about the background and how the process works, from 3D Model to object.

Mopar, on 01 September 2012 - 12:58 PM, said:

The model BTW is just taken from the game. In essence the MWO team would have to give a system within the game that Figureprints could access to pull the 3D image data for them to make the print.

Actually, the devs could just use whatever program they used to create the models and save the models in a standardized format like .stl or whatever the print service supports. Once they've been created, exchanging textures is trivial. Poses could be exported as a model for each pose. No need to touch the game code at all.

Afaik, the MW:DA figures where 3D printed, and they had movable limbs. While models with movable parts might require some tinkering with the 3D models (e.g. adding functioning joints), there would no longer be a need for different poses.

As long as the model is saved in a standardized format, any 3D printing service could print it. So it basically boild down to price and quality.

Mopar, on 01 September 2012 - 12:58 PM, said:

I am not sure why this would be a big deal legally as I am sure Figureprints would be under strict legal restrictions to the use.

Afaik, PGI only has the rights to produce a mechwarrior game. To produce models, they'd need to get the rights to produce models.

Edited by Exilyth, 01 September 2012 - 01:34 PM.