IDEAL.com, a leading U.S. distributor of large-format scanners and printers for the AEC market, is now selling a rebranded Z Corporation 3D color printer, the DESIGNmate 3D.
I got a close-up look at this printer earlier this year at COFES 2005, as demonstrated by Z Corporation. I think this printer (and others like it that will eventually come to market) will revolutionize the architectural process, as designers can more easily create physical models from their ideas. 3D printers have been available for several years (you may know them as stereolithographic printers), but until recently did not offer features of interest to AEC. The ability to do color, the low cost of materials, and the price point means that color 3D printing is more accessible to the industry. Some manufacturing firms are already using these printers as 3D fax machines, by sending the CAD model file to a remote location where one of the printers is installed.
"The IDEAL / Contex DESIGNmate 3D printer is cutting-edge technology that gives our customers a fast, low-cost way to bring their drawings to life," says Jay Magenheim, president of IDEAL. "IDEAL was on the forefront in the digital revolution, enabling our customers to take paper drawings to digital with large format scanners, and, once again, IDEAL is on the forefront of a new revolution…the 3D revolution. The DESIGNmate 3D printer will revolutionize the way architects present drawings to their customers, it will revolutionize GIS topographic printing and it will revolutionize and energize the reprographic service bureaus that provide AEC/CAD and GIS printing services. Realistic 3D models are now available to those who couldn't afford the technology before."
In addition to providing high-fidelity, 24-bit color, the DESIGNmate supports 600 X 540 dpi (dots per inch) print-head resolution, large build sizes (254 mm X 356 mm X 203 mm, 10 in. X 14 in. X 8 in), smooth surface finish, small feature resolution, and low operating costs. Color capabilities allow for better representation of buildings and terrains, enhanced texture mapping, and full model coloring. The system's software also enables labeling for improved communication.
Most popular CAD products already support the printer, including AutoCAD, Autodesk Architectural Desktop, Revit, Autodesk Civil 3D, MicroStation, Form-Z, SketchUp, Rhino 3D, ArchiCAD, CATIA, and others. Optional software is available to help users apply color graphic images to 3D models, such as signs on a building, or to annotate items in color to highlight building design changes or topographic anomalies.
The DESIGNmate Cx, the color model, retails from IDEAL.com for $49,000. A monochrome version, the DESIGNmate Mx, is $25,000.
--RSN