RE: Siggraph 99 Report

From: KDenton@williams-int.com
Date: Mon Aug 16 1999 - 15:10:03 EEST


Michael,

Well Done!

Karl Denton
Lead Engineer
Williams International

        -----Original Message-----
        From: Michael Rees [SMTP:rees@michaelrees.com]
        Sent: Monday, August 16, 1999 1:28 AM
        To: rp-ml@ltk.hut.fi
        Subject: Siggraph 99 Report

        Hello rp-ml

        I have just returned from Siggaph 99. Anshuman Razdan, Dan Collins,
        myself and others put together a wonderful venue within Siggraph
called
        the Studio. This is a place where attendees of siggrpah can use over
100
        workstations and 9 2D high end printers and 5 rapid prototyping
machines
        to try out software hardware and output. Intergraph, SGI, Apple,
Hewlett
        Packard, Alias Wavefront, AutoDesSys, Softimage and many many other
        hardware and sofware companies generously donated their equipment to
        this venue.

        For the first time ever, this year we had 5 rapid prototyping
machines
        generously loaned from 3D Systems Thermojet(2), Stratasys Genisys
(2),
        and Z Corp (1). My brief report follows.

        This was one of the most exciting events that I have ever attended.
The
        Studio was the buzz of Siggraph and from my perspective, it had
        everything to do with the presence of 5 rapid prototyping machines.
We
        built 153 models over 6 days. We returned these models for free to
the
        designers. Can you say LIGHT BULBS GOING OFF? At the risk of
sounding
        hyperbolic, people were awestruck and amazed. We worked hard to get
as
        many models as possible to the users. I received the nickname "24/7"
        because I insisted that the machines run at every possible moment.
(I
        lost a lot of sleep last week!) Users ranged from people who had
never
        worked in cad, to world class animators, to scientists wanting to
print
        their molecular models or space craft forms.

        In the planning of the event, we wanted to be conservative. We
projected
        that we might be able to build 12 models a day. We worried about
network
        problems, bad STL's, and the fact that most of us were novice at
using
        these machines. In all, we had 1 build failure(bad stl), and the
only
        times we were not printing was when our network was down and we
couldn't
        access user's files. The machines ran flawlessly. I am proud of our
        industry because on the 2D printing side, they had nothing but
problems.
        Funny huh? I am proud that the rp machines out performed the 2D
printers
        and their software. The rp industry is making reliable machines.

        Now, while I was gone, it seems that there's been a debate about
whether
        rp has any future or not. I've got to ask, whats all the whining
about?
        Certainly, time will tell if the arts and entertainment industry
will
        adopt the technology. But from what I saw and heard, I'm placing my
bet
        that they will. I suspect that there are so many uses for rp at its
        current precision and look that we have just begun to scratch the
        surface. Events like Siggraph 99 and the generousness of 3D systems,
        Stratasys, and Z corp goes a long way towards helping the rp
industry
        bump into some new customers.

        We saw old RP friends there too. Marshall Burns and Terry Wohlers
        stopped in for a visit. I'm just wondering when the rp industry
moves
        from the SME to Siggrpah as its main yearly venue.

        One last thing. Color was a hot topic at the conference. People
asked
        again and again if full res color was available. The standard
response
        was "when there is a file format available". Hopefully, soon, this
issue
        will be moot. I've heard from one accomplished Computer Scientist
that
        he and his university are working hard on a color file format.

        My only hope is that you all sell some machines as a result of this
        venue. From the standpoint of publicity, there are a several
thousand
        more users educated to the possibilities of Rapid Prototyping. They
may
        not be purchasing agents but they are definitely potential bureau
        customers.

        best,
        --
        michael rees effective immediately
        suite Number 301 www.michaelrees.com
        1015 Washington Ave 314 494 7393
        St. Louis Mo 63101 msr@michaelrees.com

        For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/

For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/



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