GOAL!!! - NO OVERTIME, NO PENALTIES: 3DMTP and Stratasys Hit Landmark 3D Printing Goal.

3DMTP, the “automated CAD-to-3D print" company, is pleased to announce that its patented automatic correction and preparation solution was successfully used by Stratasys Corporation to accomplish the recent landmark 3D-print of Brazil’s World Cup Estádio do Maracanã.

Stratasys printed the unusually challenging 50 cm X 40 cm X 6 cm finely detailed print on the Objet 500 Connex Multi-material 3D Printer using rigid opaque (VeroWhitePlus) material in honor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The fully automated print of such an ultra-complex structure marks a major first for the 3D printing industry.  The Maracanã, with its renowned “floating” Teflon roof and other unique architectural and engineering features, is a “championship” challenge from a 3D printing perspective.  

The CAD (computer aided design) model of the stadium comprises millions of individual features, many of them unprintable.  Typically, such a project would require technicians to spend many days painstakingly inspecting and modifying each detail for print ability.  But not in this case - the breakthrough 3D MTP solution totally replaced this manual work with its patented automatic algorithms.  The whole process, from raw CAD file to a fully printable Maracanã was performed fully automatically, without any technician work required.  

As 3DMTP co-founder and CTO Ilan Sidi explains, “CAD models are designed for viewing on the screen, not for printing.  So they usually have to be manually pre-processed in order to make them printable.  This works fine when the model is simple.  But when the model is complex, for example a building, manual processing becomes time consuming and costly.  And when the model is as complex as the Maracanã, manual pre-processing becomes virtually unfeasible.  This is the main reason that 3D printing is relatively under-used in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) market today.  The automated Maracanã print shows that the industry has entered a new era – AEC customers can now print any model, regardless of how complex, quickly and cost-effectively and without the traditional manual bottlenecks and file correction headaches”.  

3DMTP, Ltd. is an Israeli technology start-up focused on bridging the gap between the world of CAD and the world of 3D printing.    3DMTP ‘s patented algorithms remove the need for costly and time-consuming manual correction, instead automatically inspecting and correcting CAD Models to make them guaranteed 3D printable.  3DMTP’s core strength is its multi-disciplinary R&D team which comprises veterans of the Israeli 3D printing industry, experts in algorithm theory, computational geometry, software visualization, and lead user requirements. More information on 3DMTP and its solution is available at: www.3dmtpusa.com. For more information please contact: Phil Magenheim, (410) 998-0880, Phil@3DMTP.com

Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq:SSYS), headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel, is a leading global provider of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions. The company's patented FDM®, PolyJet™, and WDM™ 3D Printing technologies produce prototypes and manufactured goods directly from 3D CAD files or other 3D content. Systems include 3D printers for idea development, prototyping and direct digital manufacturing. Stratasys subsidiaries include MakerBot and Solidscape, and the company operates the RedEye digital-manufacturing service. Stratasys has more than 1900 employees, holds over 550 granted or pending additive manufacturing patents globally, and has received more than 25 awards for its technology and leadership. Online at: www.stratasys.com or blog.stratasys.com

Stratasys and Objet are registered trademarks, and Objet500, Connex, Connex 3, PolyJet, Digital Materials, VeroCyan, VeroMagenta, VeroYellow, TangoBlack, and TangoBlackPlus are trademarks of Stratasys Ltd. and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates.

3DMTP, a Breakthrough New Technology for Making Architectural CAD 3D printable, Introduced During RAPID 2014 Conference Sessions

Trials of the innovative “3DMTP” solution demonstrated average time and cost savings of over 70% in making architectural CAD and BIM files 3D printable. 

Brookfield Residential Home’s 3D modeling presented as example case study. 

June 24, 2014 Baltimore, MD – Direct Dimensions, Inc., is pleased to announce the introduction of 3D MODEL-TO-PRINT (3DMTP) - a breakthrough solution that automatically bridges the gap between CAD systems and 3D printers. 3DMTP was introduced in the Innovative Application Education Sessions held during the RAPID 2014 Conference on Additive Manufacturing at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan. 

Phil Magenheim, General Manager of 3DMTP USA (a division of Direct Dimensions, Inc.) presented the results of an initial series of pilot trials that were conducted on unusually challenging 3D architectural models and scaled prototypes. Phil’s Innovative Application presentation focused on how 3DMTP was able to effectively address the many challenges of making architectural CAD and BIM files 3D printable. The trials demonstrated an average cost and time savings of more than 70% when compared with traditional solutions. 
In many cases, 3DMTP enabled the 3D-printing of models that would not otherwise have been feasible at all.

Two Brookfield Residential projects were presented as case studies. These used Revit and SketchUp to design and render their multifamily home units, and then used 3DMTP to provide an uncomplicated method to section the file at individual floors levels. The approach allowed for the display of both interior and exterior details. Since the project was being modeled at a scale of 1” = 6’ its size was large requiring many sections to be printed and the ability to control details was critical. 3DMTP was also used to help manage the color texture maps applied to the print files which was critical since Brookfield wanted to highlight the architectural color details as well as display options for the different types of units based on color coding.

 Louis Navarrete, the BIM Manager with Brookfield Residential, who was responsible for managing the creating of 3D printed models of Brookfield properties stated that “Prior to 3DMTP technology the time and complexity to manually prepare architectural 3D CAD and BIM for 3D printing has been too cost and time prohibitive for our projects. 3DMTP’s technology enabled Brookfield to 3D print two major projects, The Camden and The Domain communities, that otherwise would not have been 3D printed.”

To view videos  presentations visit 3DMTP RAPID 2014 on YouTube

3DMTP, Ltd. is an Israeli technology startup focused on bridging the gap between the world of CAD and the world of 3D printing. 3DMTP’s core strength is its multi-disciplinary R&D team which comprises veterans of the Israeli 3D printing industry, experts in algorithm theory, computational geometry, software visualization, and lead user requirements.

Direct Dimensions provides the most comprehensive 3D imaging, laser scanning, digitizing, and digital modeling services, products, training, and support for solutions of 3D related applications and is well suited to represent 3DMTP product and solution in Direct Dimensions’ markets. In 2013 3DMTP, LTD and Direct Dimensions, Inc. entered an agreement by which Direct Dimensions conducts marketing and sales activities, provides first line technical support, and works with resellers of 3D printers and 3D print service providers in North and South America. More information on the companies and the products are available on their website: www.3dmtpusa.com.

For more information about working with Direct Dimensions and 3DMTP please contact: Phil Magenheim, (410) 998-0880, Phil@3DMTP.com

PREPARING AUTODESK REVIT TOPOLOGY SURFACES FOR 3D PRINTING WITH 3D MODEL TO PRINT (3DMTP)

Recently I had the pleasure of collaborating with Jeff Tiddy, AIA LEED AP, with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architects in Greenville, SC.  Jeff is working on a site master plan using Autodesk Revit and was looking to present different scenarios to their client. The project had a variety of options and required many days working with Revit topology surfaces and massing forms to design alternatives for the development of the land and the building placement possibilities.  Manually preparing Revit data for 3D printing can be as time consuming as creating the A/E designs in the first place. The idea of allocating additional time and limited budget resources to make the same Revit files ready for modeling through 3D printing was daunting.

“We’re always looking for new and better ways to help our clients visualize our ideas.  3D printing is a resource that’s becoming more and more practical and affordable,” says Jeff Tiddy.  “Intermediaries, like 3DMTP, help us outsource the time consuming and mundane aspects of the process, allowing us to focus on the design.”

 

In providing a service to prepare Jeff’s data for 3D printing, 3DMTP allowed me to quickly offer a time-saving and cost effective method for modeling the land development options using his original Revit designs.  Since introducing 3DMTP I have developed a list of 3D printing service bureaus to which I refer clients. This helped Jeff find the right 3D printing solution and a company that could deliver his models on schedule.

Jeff presented me with the Revit data and a sketch showing the need to create a three section model from a combination of topology-surfaces and building masses all created in Revit. The middle section was to be used to demonstrate alternatives for the master plan, while the side sections were to illustrate the environment that was to remain unchanged.

Problem: When exporting the topology-surfaces from Revit using the STL exporter, it was discovered that the topology had no defined thickness and only the building masses were exported. Additionally, the ground surface designs and contours line definitions, which resided on a different layer within Revit, could be exported in a separate file but not mapped to the surface to be physically modeled.


Solution: Using 3DMTP I opened the three Revit alternative topology surfaces and the building masses, scaled and sectioned the model according to the client’s specification and defined a thickness to the surface so the contours became discernible plus they met the minimum 3D print requirements of the 3D printer. The ground surface patterns and contours line exported from Revit  as a PNG texture file were mapped to the surface. 3DMTP added a ½ inch platform to allow the topology surface model to sit flat on a table.

All during the design and modeling process, Jeff’s client meeting was looming. The challenge was to find a service bureau with the right equipment to print the base model and the three alternatives plus meet the deadline. Jeff worked with The Print Machine, Inc. (TPM) who used their 3DSystems ZPrinter 450 to commit to and successfully meet the deadline.  Matt Luther, General Manager of TPM’s Columbia, SC office adds, “We strive to help our customers leverage technology to differentiate them in an extremely competitive landscape.  We were thrilled to leverage our in house 3D printing technology to help Jeff execute on his customer presentation.”

Jeff was extremely pleased with both the process of creating the model files by 3DMTP and the results of the 3D printed models. The client meeting was successful and Jeff said he would recommend and use 3DMTP and TPM again on future projects.  See more pictures and a video by clicking on the following link:
3DMTP LAND DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES

Phil Magenheim – @3DMTP

EMAIL ME:
3DMTPUSA@gmail.com

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