(upbeat music) justine: the 3d-printing revolution is here. it's saving designers time and money and fast tracking innovation across various industries.
3d printing service new york, by providing access to these high-tech tools the possibilities are endless. (tech music) justine: do you hear that?
(machine whirring) that's the sound of magic. now in the same way that a 2d printer takes a virtual document and turns it into a physical document on paper, ^a 3d printer takes a virtual 3d model ^and makes it a physical 3d model and it does that by building up layers of plastic until your model is done.
^bre: makerbot is an innovation company. ^we innovate so others can innovate. we create 3d printers and all the eco-system around them to make it really easy for you to have an idea and make it real. justine: i can't believe all of the different things they have printed here. there are figurines, model houses, and furniture,
and even mechanical hands. they have a 3d photo booth scanner that will scan your head right here in the store and you can have it printed in any size you want. when you look at the pieces after they've been printed you can see the build lines on it. 3d printing works thanks to a process called fused deposition modeling,
which is basically like a fancy, robotically controlled, hot-glue gun. ^the printers feed this ple filament ^through the hot tip on the printer, ^drawing the object one thin layer at a time. so the more detail you want, the longer it's gonna take to print. the price point of makerbot printer products is often more affordable
than traditional manufacturing. for example, the prosthetic hands created in the robo-hand project cost $5. it's inspiring to think of all of the things that people are creating with 3d printing. i've seen people print prosthetic's, shoes, chocolate, and even other kinds of food as well. ^bre: thingiverse is a website where
^people share amazing digital designs and then download and make them on your makerbot. justine: makerbot recently partnered with fashion designer francis bitonti. he's an artist who's vision is truly at the forefront of fashion and 3d printing. ^he first gained notoriety for ^a couture 3d printed dress for dita von teese
and right here is the bristle dress that's on display at the store. not only are these pieces beautiful, but i'm really into the idea of the cloud collection. i really want to go meet francis in his brooklyn studio to find out more about how all this came to be. francis: it's a completely different way of working.
^if you think about it, ^it's created by language, right? ^it's created by code and to see ^language materialize itself in plastic is usually a pretty mind-blowing experience. justine: so what was your inspiration behind the cloud collection? francis: the longer i've been working with 3d printing, i realized that
objects and products were not really physical things anymore. the projects at digital asset, ^you can either purchase the file ^and print it at home ^or you can print through a network. i think we have 75 print locations globally. justine: so, can you walk me through some of the pieces in your collection?
francis: we have these decorative serving bowls. justine: put some chips in here. francis: this is the vase from the cloud collection. the idea is that you'd be able to reprint this many, many times in your life if something ever happens to it. you own the file, so you can keep manufacturing it. justine: francis, thank you so much for letting me come to your studio.
francis: thank you for coming. it was a pleasure. justine: and most importantly, for letting me print one of the cloud collection pieces here where it was designed. francis: yes, enjoy it. justine: when designers have access to new tools anything can happen.
now i imagine that 3d printing will continue to grow in popularity and hopefully will be available the way that printers work to my generation growing up.
from fashion to medicals, even food and everything in between, 3d printing is here to stay and i can't wait to see where it takes us.
