Forget the industrial revolution, 3D printing is outright turning the world upside down: not so long ago you would go to a physical school to learn how to make digital effects for Hollywood movies. Now you can go to a digital school to learn how to make physical effects, courtesy of the Stan Winston School of Character Arts.
The online course is called “How to Make an Eye Mechanism – Design, 3D Printing & Assembly”: by purchasing the DVD ($39,99) or streaming video ($19,99) you will have Hollywood FX master David Covarrubias,who worked on blockbusters famous for their 3D printing use such as Avatar and Iron Man, show you how to build a working Eye mechanism, just like the one form the Terminator only, by using 3D printing, it will cost you close to nothing to do.
The course will begin with the basics: 3D modelling. Covarrubias will show his “students” how to model, minding the possibilities offered by 3D printing, by using Autodesk 123D Beta 9 software, which is the software that developed into the 123D Suite of Apps from Autodesk.
Check out the preview video: even if you are not planning on becoming a Hollywood FX artist, this is definitely one of the coolest 3D printing DIY projects you will find IMHO.
In a little less then five hours (without including the time you will need to pause and rewind), the digital modelling will then lead you to “grow” – as David appropriately describes it – the parts on a consumer 3D printer: first the eyeball, swash plate and eyelids, then the mechanical parts such as the servo block, pulley brackets, Ebar and pulleys. Finally you will be shown how to assemble all the parts with nuts, bolts, cables and servos to then finalize it by programming and tuning the remote control unit.
We said it before, and we’ll say it again: animatronics is definitely back to stay!
