We received a note from Alex Levchenko at CGTrader to let us know about a new partnership between the online 3D models marketplace and Sculpteo. And no, before you think it, it is not a design challenge, which both of them are very good at organizing!
The two firms have cooperated to integrate a direct 3D printing service on CGTrader, which, in theory, means that all “Print-Ready” models published on CGTrader can be printed by Sculpteo and sent to the customer “by clicking one button” to then receive the 3D printed model in the mail. That’s the theory, and as ideas go, it’s a good one working towards simplicity for the consumer and a faster, user-friendly service by uniting extensive 3D content options with experienced 3D printing.
However (you knew that was coming, right?) in practice it is not quite that straightforward. For a start, not all of the models in the “Print Ready” category, have the ‘Have model 3D printed by Sculpteo’ icon available. I did spy some ear-rings that appealed to me and that did sport the icon when I went in to test this out, so I clicked my one click. I was then presented with options — to customize the design (if desired) and to select my material.
No customization necessary, but I thought I would flick through the material options — coloured plastic could be fun; mirror polished silver would be delightful but out of my price range this close to Christmas; painted resin or alumide were also options but not really materials I want through my ears. But why was I constantly getting an alert to say this wouldn’t fit in the build envelope? It’s only a pair of ear-rings! It took a minute or two to figure out that the default setting for the size of the ear-rings was in centimeters! Not sure even Lady GaGa would go for ear-rings with dimensions of 36 x 20 x 32 cm. I converted to mm and it all worked like a charm.
It is a friendly interface and easy enough to navigate and find your way around — it’s just not one click yet. In polished red plastic the ear decorations would cost me €12 and be shipped in 9 days. In sterling silver that would be €120 and shipped in 16 days.
So if CGTrader and Sculpteo drop the 1-click claim, then they have got this spot on and are offering designers and engineers who have their models on CGTrader more visibility by also offering them on Sculpteo. But for the consumer, and ultimately they’re the end goal, it opens up a greater choice of desirable printable 3D models that are published on CGTrader, which they can get sent directly to their home via a reputable 3D printing service.
