3D Scan Case Study - Imagine Factory

[Brady Watson]

Here's a little project I worked on during the later part of 2014. A good customer of mine is also a Mummer, which is a local 'Philly thing' for those who don't know.

He sent me a hand-sculpted soft clay maquette which was laser scanned on all sides and then saved as a full 3D mesh. This mesh data was then pulled into software and digitally sculpted to add details and remove certain features. It was then machined in foam by ImagineFactory.com, painted and used by the "Gangs of Gotham" in the 2015 Philadelphia Mummers Parade.

You can see a video of the process & performance here. The grand finale was really well done!

(There's a link to the full performance with better quality in the vid description)

I am bringing some new technologies and capabilities into the fold to better serve my customers. I'll be giving a talk in April at McGrew's Aspire Camp about some of these things. I'm looking forward to seeing all my old friends and making new ones! 2015 is going to be a GREAT year!

-B

[scottp55]

NICE Brady!!
Didn't really realize the size of it until the finale
Nice to see some of your work that you can post!
scott

[Brady Watson]

Thanks Scott. Yes - I will be showcasing many things this year. Lots of exciting stuff and many things nobody has ever seen before. In some cases, I don't show my work because of exclusivity/privacy for the customer - but in many cases it's just because I've had other things going on & just haven't had the time to update.

Thanks!
-B

[angel and the bear]

That is huge! In creativity, aspect as well as scope, do you happen to know how many pieces were cut to assemble the final piece?

[ssflyer]

That's incredible, Brady! Looks like the Mummer's have a lot of fun!

[Brady Watson]

Hey guys - thanks. I'm not 100% but I think about 10 or so 12x48x96 foam blocks went into the creation of this piece. These guys do a lot of large scale theme type projects. Most of the time they just send me a soft clay model mounted on a board and then I scan if for them. In fact...I've been getting a lot of clay artwork from customers lately, which is fine because the scanners never touch the clay so the original surface quality is retained. If you pack it properly, the clay transports well. I get clay models from a customer in Hawaii on a regular basis.

It's always cool to observe people's reaction when they get their scan data and they get to see it on the screen in 3D and then scale it up or down and modify it using the sculpting tools. I always try to get across the idea that customers aren't so much buying a 'scan' as they are a dynamic digital mold that never wears out & can be 'remixed' into other derivative works forever.

I've done a lot of scans for new to CNC guys who realized that you just can't make a living carving things by hand...but need to get their hand-carved or sculpted ideas into a digital format. Lots of them owned their new machine for at least a year just sitting there frustrated and paralyzed because they weren't able to produce their own 3D stuff. The real joy for me is hooking people up with their own artwork in a format they can use to get a ROI on their CNC and to a greater extent, helping people to make their dreams come true. Frustration sucks. You don't have to figure it all out yourself. I can give you the file you need & push you in the right direction about how to use it.

-B