ThingLab Supply Exeter University for Innovative Science and Engineering Projects 10 September 2009 Exeter University has recently discovered the versatility of 3D Printing on several innovative science and engineering projects thanks to their recently-acquired 3D Systems ProJet HD 3000 3-D printer supplied by ThingLab. Researchers in its School of Physics are using the technology to investigate microwave ‘cloaking’, and its School of Engineering is offering high-resolution printing services to technology and manufacturing companies across the country. Dr. Alastair Hibbins commented: “Although we’ve only had the machine since May we quickly got up to speed. Thinglab have been on-hand to answer any questions... Thinglab sent us some sample components from different machines, and we could see straight away that the ProJet 3D printed components provided the best quality, detail and resolution. In fact, the ratio of cost to resolution is what differentiates the machine. To get equal definition from another machine type, then the investment would have been significantly higher.” Read the full story here (pdf format). Related Products ... 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 A next-generation 3D printer delivering unmatched part quality. Ideal for long and high-volume production runs.
	ThingLab Prints Sculpture Part for Art Show 10 August 2009 London-based artist Alison Moffett approached ThingLab to make a real-life model of a computer designed plumbing connector. Used as a replacement for a traditional fitting in a sculpture by the artist, the 3D design was produced on the Projet HD 3000 and then copper plated to produce a strong, realistic pipe fitting. This fitting did not already exist in the plumbing world, thereby necessitating the creation of a custom CAD design and then prototype on the 3D printer. Alison's objective was to create a hexagon shape using common copper piping. She has been working with the repetition of hexagons to represent the molecular structure of bonded carbons which make graphite. For this project, Alison simplifies the molecular form, stacks and then mirrors to make 6 hexagons in all. The finished piece, "C36", was exhibited as part of a show of Alison's work in Paris. www.alisonmoffett.co.uk. Related Products ... 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 A next-generation 3D printer delivering unmatched part quality. Ideal for long and high-volume production runs.
	ThingLab’s Service Bureau Endorsed by Leading Model Maker 29 June 2009 ThingLab's 3D printing service bureau received a hearty endorsement from Troublemaker Games, after proving that 3D Systems' Projet 3D printers offer the highest-definition within their class: "Any company working with small-scale miniature model kits that doesn't move over to CAD for their sculpting is missing out on something big. "Compared with traditional sculpting and model-making techniques, the quality achievable through the use of Rapid Prototyping technology is noticeably superior, both in an increased level of accuracy and a finer level of detail. I truly believe that the future of small scale model making is in the almost exclusive use of this exciting technology. "We have been testing out the quality of several companies, and when we tried ThingLab we were assured that their quality was second-to-none, and indeed this turned out to be true. Where other Rapid Prototyping companies had managed to print details down to the level of around 0.2mm, anything below that level was hit-or-miss as to whether it would be printed. Not so with ThingLab, which reliably printed details down to 0.05mm wide! No other Rapid Prototyping company has impressed us so much with their level of quality. From now on we intend to have all of our sales-intended 3D Printing done by ThingLab." Benjamin Skinner, Troublemaker Games. Related Products ... 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 A next-generation 3D printer delivering unmatched part quality. Ideal for long and high-volume production runs.
	Wrightson & Platt use ThingLab’s Projet to create a bronze cast of a pregnant torso. 29 April 2009 Wrightson & Platt specialise in fine life cast sculpture and use both traditional and new techniques. They created an accurate, life-sized, plaster torso cast directly from a customer’s body. The finished plaster torso was scanned using a Mephisto Scanning System from 4D Dynamics to create a 3D virtual model that could be modified. Using Rapidform XOR from Inustech, the scans were quickly aligned and the model was rescaled down to 250mm in height and offset to a thickness of 5mm. Support brackets were created to strengthen the hollow shape for further handling. Related Products ... 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 A next-generation 3D printer delivering unmatched part quality. Ideal for long and high-volume production runs.  Mephisto 3D Scanning Engine A powerful and flexible structured light 3D scanner. Suitable for object and human capture.  rapidformXO Redesign Parametric CAD models from 3D scan data
	ThingLab helps rescue Christmas 12 December 2008 When a "Secret Santa" approached ThingLab with a nearly impossible task to reverse engineer a broken porcelain figurine by 5pm the same day, we rose to the challenge! ThingLab scanning specialist Sam Jackson hastily reassembled the broken figurine and performed a 360 degree scan using the in-house optical scanning system, Mephisto Extreme from 4Ddynamics. Numerous scans were quickly aligned and stitched with Rapidform XOR2 to create a watertight mesh, which was then handed to 3D printing specialist Anatol Just for geometry verification, using Magics 13 from Materialise. The newly created 3D model was produced by the in-house Z450 3D printer in less than 3 hours and post-finished just in time to be taken away at 5pm. Mission accomplished, Christmas saved Related Products ... Mephisto 3D Scanning Engine A powerful and flexible structured light 3D scanner. Suitable for object and human capture.  Materialise Magics 11 Complete software solution tuned entirely to the needs and characteristics of Rapid Prototyping for STL manipulation.  Z Corp ZPrinter 450 The world's fastest 3D Printer. Produce full colour 3D models from your design data. Fast, quiet, clean operation.
	ThingLab Scan John Cleese on Dave's 'Batteries Not Included' 19 November 2008 ThingLab were approached by Liberty Bell Productions to scan the head of comedy legend John Cleese, and to produce a 3D model, for gadget show 'Batteries Not Included', now being broadcast on Dave. Said Figs Jackman of Liberty Bell: 'ThingLab project-managed the whole process, from visiting the live shoot with John Cleese and carrying out the scans in between other shoots, stitching and finalising the scan data, printing the head and post processing to our requirements. They also gave us permission to film the process so that we could televise it. Given the time constraints and the limited information that ThingLab were given, I am very impressed with the end result'. The whole process has been filmed and will be broadcast on Dave at 10pm, Thursday November 20th 2008. Watch out for the show. This is fascinating technology and well worth seeing.
	Free Beer! And fast scanning. 28 October 2008 When ThingLab Australia first heard about Boags piping beer from Tasmania to Melbourne via the Great Tasmanian Beer Pipeline, we thought.... great! When we discovered that the whole idea was a in fact a promotion, ThingLab was equally excited to be involved in scanning a sculpture of the Boags logo for Mother’s Art. We scanned the sculpture using our Mephisto Extreme 3D scanning system and turned the job around in less than a week. The data was fed into a CNC machine which then milled the full scale 3D logo from craftwood. The final pipe was constructed from wood, but looked for all the world like a solid steel monster. Bring on the beer! Related Products ... Mephisto 3D Scanning Engine A powerful and flexible structured light 3D scanner. Suitable for object and human capture.
	Inition helps EPICS preserve the past 06 August 2008 When the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) project were looking to scan artefacts for the Auckland war memorial museum, they came to Inition’s Thinglab for the latest in 3D scanning technology. The group aims to digitise artefacts “for the purpose of digital archiving, cultural and historical preservation and public education”. Using an MVT scanner and Rapidform combination, the EPICS team came up with a novel way of squeezing even more out the system. By coupling the scanner head to a KUKA industrial robot arm, the team were able to improve further the quality of the meshes produced by the system. “Moulage's auto-alignment eliminates most position errors between scans. The scans from the sweeps are also finely aligned in Rapidform. Markers such as rulers are placed under or around the artefact to help with this alignment. The KUKA scanning process is repeated for each position the artefact has to be in for all its surfaces to be scanned”. Using this method, EPICS have scanned a number of objects, some of which are available on their website where the meshes can be viewed online in an interactive 3D model. Related Products ... Micrometric Vision Technologies - Colour Hand held real-time colour 3D laser sensors  rapidformXO Scan Next generation 3D scan data processing software. Scan data processing.
	Inition’s new baby, Thinglab Australia gives birth to a Lungfish! 23 July 2008 The inauguration of Thinglab Australia was cemented by the 3D scanning of a prehistoric lungfish for Dr. John Long, Head of Science Museum Victoria. The discovery of these fossils has turned the science world on its head as it is the earliest known example of any creature giving birth to live young (no eggs!), 150 million years before the dinosaurs. To support the announcement of the discovery, Museum Victoria needed a video of the lungfish giving birth - but how to get video footage of a 375 million year old fish? Melbourne based Reel Pictures turned to Thinglab to create a mesh from a sculpted model (or maquette). The delicate polymer clay sculpt was scanned by Thinglab’s Australian branch with great results using a Mephisto Complete / Rapidform pipeline. The resulting mesh was then textured and animated at Reel Pictures to create the finished clip for the media release. The completed animation can be viewed here. Related Products ... Mephisto 3D Scanning Engine A powerful and flexible structured light 3D scanner. Suitable for object and human capture.  rapidformXO Scan Next generation 3D scan data processing software. Scan data processing.
	Luxology taps Thinglab for modo 3D 'hardcopy' 11 July 2008 When software-maker Luxology of San Mateo, CA. wanted to create a video tutorial on rapid prototyping, they turned to Thinglab for 3D printing. First, Andy Brown of Luxology used the subdivision surface modeling features in their modo(r) software to create a portable MP3 player. This "watertight" file was then brought to Thinglab and a scale version of the MP3 player was produced. The resulting video tutorials from Luxology offer insight into how this modern 3D software can be used for conceptual design. View Luxology's video tutorial here. Related Products ... Z Corp ZPrinter 450 The world's fastest 3D Printer. Produce full colour 3D models from your design data. Fast, quiet, clean operation.
	Thinglab Australia Now Open! 09 July 2008 The Australian branch of Inition’s premier 3D scanning and 3D printing service is open for business and is already a busy hub of activity. With some of the most powerful and flexible scanning solutions available in-house, Thinglab can scan objects ranging in size from a coin to a car, from a fingerprint to an entire person. The finished meshes are of the highest quality, very detailed, clean and even. See www.thinglab.com.au for more details, or visit our gallery for some example models. To find out more please contact us at thinglab@inition.com.au.
	ThingLab Help Redefine 'Printing' for the 21st Century! 02 July 2008 London-based designer Karsten Schmidt approached ThingLab to make a real-life model of letterform code using a Z Corp Zprinter 450 for the August 2008 front cover of visual culture and design magazine PRINT. "ThingLab were amazingly experienced and helpful", says Schmidt, adding that the process will give readers "a glimpse of the upcoming meaning of the word 'print' in the 21st century". Read the full article here. Related Products ... Z Corp ZPrinter 450 The world's fastest 3D Printer. Produce full colour 3D models from your design data. Fast, quiet, clean operation.
	New Projet HD 3000 3D printer extends ThingLab's bureau service offering 24 June 2008 ThingLab, based in Old Street, London, has recently taken delivery of a new 3D printer from 3D Systems to extend their bureau service offering. The Projet HD 3000 is a next-generation ultra high-definition 3D printer that delivers unmatched quality with largely unattended operation, ideal for long and high volume production runs where high accuracy and high detail is a prerequisite. The Z Corp 450 machine already in operation is ideal for rapid prints (in colour if necessary) where high detail is not necessarily as important as speed. ThingLab now offer two different ranges of 3D printer for supply as well as running the same models in our model building studio. This enables us to offer impartial advice that ultimately enables customers to select the correct solution for their needs. We are experts in all aspects of prototype builds and the supply of the Z Corp and 3D Systems range of 3D printers, so why not check us out? All you need to do is send us your STL or VRML files and we will supply you with a quote. If you have interest in this service, then please fill out the form on this site and we will get back to you. Related Products ... 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 A next-generation 3D printer delivering unmatched part quality. Ideal for long and high-volume production runs.
	The Sky's the limit for 3DPrinting at ThingLab 24 June 2008 The brief was to design and 3D print a lightweight but strong articulated rig capable of holding a camera for taking panormaic images while flying hundreds of metres up on a kite! Simple: use a ProJet 3000 3D printer from 3D Systems to 'print' the prototype in 3D. The camera would have to be held securely to the kite line while allowing it to be pointed in any direction and take hundreds of pictures fully automatically. Related Products ... 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 A next-generation 3D printer delivering unmatched part quality. Ideal for long and high-volume production runs.
	United Visual Artists - Charles Darwin Exhibition 03 June 2008 United Visual Artists approached us to help visualise and construct their "Darwin Canopy" sculptural ceiling at the Natural History Museum. The design for the Darwin Canopy covers the entire existing ceiling with an abstracted ecosystem composed of panels of plant-like forms, which appear to grow from the surface of the building, competing for the available light. Balancing the complexity of the design with the available budget they chose to create molded panels interspersed with three-dimensional forms printed on ThingLab's 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 rapid prototyping machine. Sections needing finer detail were bonded to the relief boards to create added complexity, with the entire boards then being coated and treated. This hybrid manufacturing process allowed United Visual Artists to balance the complexity of the design with the budget. Related Products ... 3D Systems Projet HD 3000 A next-generation 3D printer delivering unmatched part quality. Ideal for long and high-volume production runs.
	3D Printing Open Day: Friday 28th March 2008 25 March 2008 Inition / ThingLab are to host a 3D printing open day at our London demo studio on Friday 28th March 2008. We will be demonstrating such cutting-edge solutions as the Mephisto 3D scanning engine, the InVision XT 3D Printer and Z Corporation's Zprinter 450. 3D printing technology enables 3D CAD designs to be ‘printed’ into physical 3-dimensional models. You can see examples of printed models here. If you would like to attend, please contact us to book a place. We are keeping the day informal, and as flexible as possible; you can come and leave as you like, but please let us know how many people will be attending.
	Robin Thomas Joins ThingLab as Sales Director 20 March 2008 We are pleased to announce: Robin Thomas has joined the Inition Ltd team to head up the Thinglab business unit. He is a qualified mechanical and production engineer although over the past few years has worked in the mobile telecoms arena. Robin’s main area of expertise centres around sales strategy, business development and business unit start ups; this makes him very strong for developing the ThingLab brand. Robin's comments on joining with ThingLab were: “With my engineering skills I can relate very well to the techniques used in 3D printing and 3D scanning; with my commercial skills I can also build the team to provide service and support to our customers. I am fascinated by 3D printing technology; there are so many markets which are not even aware that this technology exists and would really benefit enormously from its implementation. That means exciting times for the ThingLab team in the future.”
	ThingLab Reviewed in 3D World Article 07 January 2008 Inition's 3D printing and scanning service - ThingLab - was reviewed in issue #97 of 3D World magazine (December 2007). We were challenged to produce a 85mm high figure from a character file, fix blemishes and return the model within a strict deadline. The end result was described as 'superbly crafted'. Related Products ... Z Corp ZPrinter 450 The world's fastest 3D Printer. Produce full colour 3D models from your design data. Fast, quiet, clean operation.
	Inition display new technologies at TCT 2007 06 August 2007 Inition's 3D printing and scanning department, ThingLab, showed off the Mephisto 3D Scanning Engine and the Z Corp Zprinter 450, as well as the Philips 3DWOW screen and Inition's MagicSymbol technology, at TCT 2007. TCT 2007 was a major rapid product development & manufacturing event focused on providing solutions for accelerating products to market. This event showcased over 100 of the latest solutions from this sector backed up with real world examples of the benefits of adopting the technologies, and took place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, on September 26th and 27th 2007. Related Products ... Z Corp ZPrinter 450 The world's fastest 3D Printer. Produce full colour 3D models from your design data. Fast, quiet, clean operation.  Mephisto 3D Scanning Engine A powerful and flexible structured light 3D scanner. Suitable for object and human capture.
	ThingLab customer wins award at New Designers Exhibition 17 August 2006 Jayne Potter, a recent graduate from Goldsmiths College, has won the prestigious 'New Designers Metropolitan Works Award'. Jayne was awarded for 'highly creative use of digital and rapid proto-typing technology in the realisation of a conceptual design solution'. Jayne came to us with a digital 3d model which was 3d printed and delivered in 3 days, ready for her degree show.
	Inition team up with 3D World in 3D printing competition 26 April 2006 Inition's specialist 3D Printing department, Thinglab, has joined forces with 3D World Magazine to bring you an exciting competition with a first prize of a high-quality 20cm electroplated 3D print of your favourite model to hold in your own two hands. Working with 3D Systems’ superb range of InVision printers, we are able to offer the very latest in rapid prototyping and solid imaging technology. Visit the link below to find out how to enter; the competition closes on May 31st 2006. Win 3D prints from your models
	3D World rate Inition's 3D printing service as 'light years ahead of the competition' 26 January 2006 Inition's new 3D printing service was included in issue 75 of 3D World magazine, one of the 3D community's most widely read and respected magazines. The article 'must-have kit for 2006' lists a range of ground-breaking or prototype technologies sure to be a big hit in the coming year. To find out why 3D printing will change your 3D world, visit the links below. Visit ThingLab: our 3D Printing and 3D Scanning website
	3D Printing technology showcased in contemporary art exhibitions 26 September 2005 Chris Cornish, Inition's 3D Artist and Scanning Specialist, has utilised the latest 3D printing technology for two art exhibitions due to open in October. With the support of 3D systems, a series of sculptures depicting highly detailed landscapes and architecture will be shown at the exhibitions in London and Paris. chriscornish.co.uk Related Products ...
	Inition Launch 3D Scanning and 3D Printing Service 26 July 2005 Inition are pleased to announce the official launch of our 3D Scanning and 3D Printing Bureau Service. Based upon the latest 3D digitising and solid imaging technology, our experienced technicians provide an efficient and affordable service. 3D Scanning - Whatever your application, our wide range of solutions - including high resolution laser scanners, optical digitizers and photogrammetry - will deliver the results you need. 3D Printing - Produce superior quality, durable physical models from your 3-D design data - or if you do not have a 3D model of your 2D design, no problem, we can create this for you too. To receive a quotation for either 3D Scanning or 3D Printing services please e-mail us, or use the links below. ThingLab: 3D Printing and Scanning Service Bureau Related Products ...
	Inition 3D Scanning and 3D Printing Open Day 2005 25 May 2005 Inition are pleased to invite you to our central London demo studio on July 12th for a day showcasing the latest in 3D scanning, 3D printing and stereoscopic display technology. For more info click here If you are interested in attending this event on July 12th please take a moment to send us a confirmation e-mail. For directions click here More information Related Products ...
	Inition Copy National Trust Paving 01 April 2005 Paving specialists Marshalls are producing – for the first time ever - perfect replicas of historic National Trust flagstones, thanks to 3D scanning technology provided by Inition. The scans are to be used to create unique moulds for specially coloured concrete. Inition have supplied and installed a bespoke 3D scanning system to capture the unique pitted and ridged surface of protected flagstones, in some of the National Trust's finest properties. Read press release here Click here for press release Related Products ... Konica Minolta Vivid 910 3D Laser scanner with colour capture and three interchangable lenses.  rapidform2006 Industry standard 3D scan data software.