[Fwd: Re: Confused]

From: michael rees (zedand00@sound.net)
Date: Tue May 04 1999 - 01:37:59 EEST


hello

-- 
michael rees SCULPTOR 		http://www.sound.net/~zedand00/
1212 w 8th St. Bldg B #2, 	816 753 3020 voice    zedand00@sound.net
KC, Mo 64101			816 753 1542 fax

attached mail follows:


Foamcaster@aol.com wrote:
>
> << An engineer uses his creative spirit to solve problems. An artist uses
> his creative spirit just because
> he feels like it.
>
> Xerox built serious copy machines to enable business. Hewlett Packard
> builds $300 color printers so people can make their own $1 greeting cards. >>
>
> Steven,
>
> Xerox, Hewlett Packard, etc. do not [design] and build equipment to "enable
> business" or "so people can make their own $1 greeting cards", etc. They
> design, build, and sell new equipment to make MONEY. The bottom line purpose
> of any [survivable] business is to make money [read PROFIT]. The product(s)
> they choose to design, build and sell are not chosen "because they feel like
> it". They are chosen because their development will make PROFITS for the
> company's owners.
>
> CAD tools are developed for the exact same reason. When it becomes
> PROFITABLE for the CAD program developer(s) to develop CAD programs for the
> artist, then artistic based CAD systems will become readily available.

Dear Ken,

You are correct. But the point is $300 dollar printers making $1
greeting cards makes a lot more profit than 1/2 million Dollar machines
making $3000 prototypes. The music industry is facing a similar crisis.
They have lived so long making enormous profit margins on selling discs
they are having a hard time adapting to getting a penny a download. Will
RP run into the same problems?

About creativity. Everyone is creative. Period. From a traditional
background in the arts, I have mastered all of the conceptual issues of
automatic construction and been able to employ most of them.
One of the most brilliant artists I know comes from a background in
genetic research. The buzzword "Cross Discipline".

The only constraints have been cost. Could I get together $10K or $20K
to buy a machine for my purposes as an artist--you bet. You bet if the
machine can produce models that I can use out of the box. There is only
one machine out there right now that can accomplish this. The others
must rely on secondary processes to make finished works of art. So this
$10-20K machine must be able to produce robust parts that can be shipped
and handled.

Anything more than $20K means I have to start a business to sell models
to pay for the machine so that I can use it. That's going south to get
north.

A word to those who wish to develop the more "creative" markets for RP.
Most sculptors do not work in CAD. They will sculpt a model in clay or
wax and then seek ways to realize it permanently or in a larger scale.
In the first case, realizing it permanently, it makes no sense at all to
scan that sculpture and build it with RP. The results are less than
satisfying when compared with traditional casting processes especially
in terms of cost. For scaling the same model larger, It does make sense
to employ scanning processes and then realize the sculpture with other
automatic processes, notably CNC 3-5 axis machines. In both of these
scenarios, NO RP is employed.

So, how does it make sense to use RP for sculpture? Only when the
sculptor works directly in CAD. How many sculptors work in CAD? Not
many. How much can we expect this market to grow? If you could get
sculptors to give you this kind of quantitive data, you would be a
superlative market researcher. If, on the other hand, one took a longer
view that as the few sculptors in the world begin to excite others about
using rp through exhibition and education. And on the other hand CAD
became more accesible. And the cost of access to RP were affordable.
Well its a no brainer. I think this is happening slowly.

Right now, the cost of entry for a typical sculptor on the lowest end
would be the following:
PC with at least 128 mb of ram, monitor, scanner, etc.,.
                                $5K
Rhino $795
Time to learn all of that intangible
Total $6000

Typical model cost $1000 per for relatively small part

Pretty expensive. It takes someone with an incredible passion to committ
to this.

I guess I'm trying to make a point of sorts. It is this. Education and
CAD will make the sculpture/hobby market grow. RP companies are not in
the business of education or CAD. Why not? If not education, then at
least CAD. Or how about Education and CAd in the form of toys? Or

Lets try this. A rp company assembles a small team-a sculptor and an
engineer. They create a mobile rp facility. They travel around to
schools, universities, art schools, and hobby type events all over the
country for one year. Places where computer labs are in place. No
equipment rental etc.,. There is ofcourse a PR marketing machine that
announces and places articles in every newspaper in every town, city,
school, art school, hobby group etc.,. Typically they run 3 day
workshops in which interested people use rhino or Form Z to build their
first models. Software is available at a discount. Buying software
includes one free model. blah blah blah blah blah. Is this too much of
an investment?

2cents.

Best,

-- 
michael rees SCULPTOR 		http://www.sound.net/~zedand00/
1212 w 8th St. Bldg B #2, 	816 753 3020 voice    zedand00@sound.net
KC, Mo 64101			816 753 1542 fax

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