3D Printing Start-Up For Games

[Aion]

So, after endless contemplation I finally put together a career idea in my head. When I was younger I had a natural talent for creating 3D models and originally I had been interested in video games but as time went on I found that I was less interested and was more wishing for some way to make my skills more tangible. 3D Printing has now made that possible as I will be able to print out in full tangible form the digital models that I create. My intention is to get in to the niche of table-top gaming and the like, I think it is quite a lucrative avenue to take!

With that said, I cannot afford it at all at the moment and the price is set to go up, but since this is not simply a desire for fun and rather is a serious move towards a change of career I have decided to try crowdfunding to raise the funds sooner to get myself started. The added urgency is that the Micro 3D Printer I am looking at is set to go up in price so it would be much easier to get it soon rather than later!

In that, I ask for your assistance if you are at all able to offer it and in the future once I have my printing abilities I will open a new thread to offer said printing services! (I have all sorts of ideas for custom design geometries, statues, etc)

Here is the link: http://gofundme.com/22ebkjys



Thank you in advance if you are able to help and thank you anyways for reading and supporting! Many blessings to you!

[Spaced]

I like the idea! I'll toss you sum bux later.

That said you aren't the first to come up with this idea https://www.heroforge.com/ just fyi

[Aion]

Oh I know, Hero Forge is where I got the idea from.

While I do want to do custom characters and the like I am actually working on a concept of constructable environments so you can easily build awesome, fully 3D maps for your adventures. Hero Forge is awesome, but it is also limited and in some ways generic, which is great for most standard games, but I am more hoping to cater to the custom and personalized crowd.

That being said, beyond games I have some other ideas as well.

[Spaced]

Very cool :thumbsup:

[Aion]

Thanks for the support!

[AnthroHeart]

I'll buy a Red XIII figure if you make one, depending on the quality.

[Aion]

That wouldn't be too hard to pull off aha the printer is accurate to 15 microns so it can do some pretty decent details.

[Jade]

Hey Aion! If I had more than $6 in my checking account at the moment I'd throw you something, hopefully that changes soon. If I can maybe make a suggestion, do you have any renderings/mockups/any sort of 3D digital art that you could post as samples on your Gofundme page? That might help encourage people more, just a thought. Good luck!

[Aion]

That is a good plan that I have already been working on, actually, I just have to spend some time getting to know the program I am going to be using as it is not my native program.

[Aion]

Thanks for getting the snowball started, Jade! The printer is actually on sale over the summer so this is my prime chance!

[Jade]

Excellent!!! I did see you post about that on Facebook, which reminded me that I had money in my bank account again! For those who are spending their burly USDs, Tanner's asking for CAN so you can get off pretty cheap with a donation.

Best of luck!

[Spaced]

I wanted to toss you some buxx but gofundme only takes credit card and I haven't got one of those :-/

[Aion]

I wanted to toss you some buxx but gofundme only takes credit card and I haven't got one of those :-/

Yeah, that's one of downsides of using a crowdfunding website is it needs a credit card or debit visa usually and it's not really convenient to get a prepaid just for a donation. All good, your support and energy shall help power the snowball!

Got some more help in today, getting close to the first 100 hurdle aha

[Aion]

Excellent!!! I did see you post about that on Facebook, which reminded me that I had money in my bank account again! For those who are spending their burly USDs, Tanner's asking for CAN so you can get off pretty cheap with a donation.

Best of luck!

Aha Feel good for less! I'm glad my updated have been effectual as I don't like to spam but I'm pretty set on this, I see my whole future career in this venture.

[Night Owl]

I am intrigued by your project. What is the potential of 3d printers as of now?

[Aion]

I am intrigued by your project. What is the potential of 3d printers as of now?

The potential is pretty massive, I think it's going to change the nature of industry and will be a key to freeing ourselves from massive over-production and mass-producing. With 3D printers things can be created to order rather than building a ton of something and then having to market it to try and sell it. Thus, they are a step towards better resource management and more meaningful product creating. On top of that there are inks that are becoming available which are biodegradable so I believe in time 'temporary' tools will become common which can then simply be recycled.

Not only that but it takes the power of the commodity away from the huge corporations that run through mass production as specialized objects will no longer be only found through buying power but will become more common in communities.

They have printed so many things now, from full blown houses to limb prosthetics to candy. I think we are a ways off still from true 'replication' but we are able to produce things now in a way that we never could before, without having to depend on mass production. Thus, I think it is a big step towards "decluttering" the world of the billions of objects that have been created and become obsolete through mass production.

Eventually what I hope is that they will develop recyclable inks so that you can 'melt' or reduce any printed object back to its base ink form so it can be reprinted. This would be the biggest boon towards managing resources as you would no longer have to buy things over and over, instead simply reprinting them when they need to be replenished or upgraded.

As for the actual set up and what it's capable - the Micro 3D which is what I am investing in is one of the first truly "home built and sized" 3D printers that has become available on the market. 3D printing actually started quite a few years ago and has gone through a fair amount of development and it is now reaching beyond the "cool science" field and is slowly entering in to the realm of regular household commodities. The price and availability of the Micro 3D is a milestone in that field and I can expect we are only going to see more growth in this area!

So yeah, I'm big in to 3D printing... it is the first chance for communities to take back power over how they get and maintain their commodities. No longer needing to wait for huge companies to give you want or to market to you. The implications have also been huge for inventors as before custom parts were very expensive and more difficult to come by.

[Night Owl]

Pretty cool. I like the idea of giving back the power to the people. I've read an article about people who print new prothesis for broken beaks of toucans. It seems really promising. Do you think that 3D modeling is something in the reach of most people to deal with like it has been with computers for the last 30 years or is it way too complex for most people to come up with decent results? I might get interested in trying that if I get a chance someday.

If I was rich I'd throw you a couple hundreds just because you deserve it.

[Aion]

Pretty cool. I like the idea of giving back the power to the people. I've read an article about people who print new prothesis for broken beaks of toucans. It seems really promising. Do you think that 3D modeling is something in the reach of most people to deal with like it has been with computers for the last 30 years or is it way too complex for most people to come up with decent results? I might get interested in trying that if I get a chance someday.

Well, it has the same challenges to it as other art forms except with the added flexibility of being able to "undo" if you mess up, which makes it much more accessible, imo. So naturally there is still an artistic aspect of being able to understand how to design something, but it could be used just for pure art I'm sure.

While 3D modeling programs as it is are probably a little more complex than necessary due to the fact that they are often meant for animation, graphics and all sorts of things I think there are some simpler options coming out. For example one is Google Sketchup which is a quite simple modeler without all the fancy bells and whistles (and the Micro 3D can actually print models created on it). The free software Blender is also nearly as powerful as commercial software like 3D Studio Max or Maya but is open source.

I think it's at the point where it is getting pretty accessible. Anyone with a half decent computer can download Blender or use SketchUp and do some tutorials and have a sense of how to build things in 3D. A lot of it is even already in the program like cubes, spheres and other shapes so there is usually a lot to work with already.

[Night Owl]

Really nice. I'm surprised since google and android are so close that they didn't called their program Ketchup like android do with their OS lol

[AnthroHeart]

Does your printer use liquid ink?

I saw one from Disney that uses liquid ink to make their Infinity figurines.

[Aion]

Well, it starts solid and then is heated to the right temperature so sort of?

http://www.printm3d.com/3d-printer-filaments

I will be using mostly the ABS-R filament to begin with as it is the engineering grade and thus seems the most sturdy for extended use, as the things I intend to create will be. I may purchase and experiment with other filaments as I go along though, obviously I have a lot to learn.

[Aion]

Thanks, Jim Kent!

For everyone who might be curious I am off to a good start, 1.25/8 of the way there!

[earth_spirit]

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[Aion]

Glorious, the horde grows!

[Aion]

For those who might be curious I am well on my way - sitting at about 160$ - and I have also lowered my goal as I realized it would be more attainable if I dropped some of the extra filaments I was going to get. I can always buy more filaments later as they are not that expensive.

[AnthroHeart]

I tried but it seems that you have to be in Canada for it to work. It said my credit card info was invalid, and there was no place for state but only Canadian provinces.

[Aion]

Hmm, other Americans have been able to do it, not sure what's up with that. Thank you for the consideration though!

[Jim Kent +]

I tried but it seems that you have to be in Canada for it to work. It said my credit card info was invalid, and there was no place for state but only Canadian provinces.

Greetings Gemini, 

I donated from Britain using my credit-card so I don't think you have to be a Canadian to participate. 

[Aion]

I tried but it seems that you have to be in Canada for it to work. It said my credit card info was invalid, and there was no place for state but only Canadian provinces.

Hmm, I did a test donation to see and it allowed me to choose a country. Are you able to change the country from Canada to US?

[AnthroHeart]

There was only a dropdown that said Prov. and listed some 2 letter abbreviations.