Stratasys Ltd. has announced it has collaborated with the Stan Winston School of Character Arts, Legacy Effects, Condé Nast Entertainment and WIRED to create a 14-foot tall giant creature which will be showcased at the Comic-Con International 2014 conference. The conference takes place July 24-27 in San Diego, California.
View: Photos of the Day: Giant Robotic Creature Is 14-Feet Tall
The giant creature was designed by artists at the Stan Winston School. Engineers and technicians at Legacy Effects — the studio that brought to life Iron Man, Avatar, Pacific Rim and RoboCop characters — worked closely with Stratasys to build dozens of 3D-printed parts to create the character.
“Everything about the giant creature project was ambitious, including size, weight, delivery schedule and performance requirements,” said Matt Winston, co-founder of the Stan Winston School. “Without the close involvement of our partners at Stratasys, whose 3D printing technologies are, in our view, revolutionizing not only the manufacturing industry but the entertainment industry as well, none of it would have been possible.”
More than one third of the giant creature was 3D printed, including the chest armor, shoulders, arms and fingers. A variety of Stratasys 3D Printers were employed in the build process, including the Fortus 900mc which uses FDM 3D printing technology to build durable parts as large as 36 x 24 x 36 inches.
The parts were created using ABS-M30 thermoplastic material, which has excellent mechanical properties suitable for functional prototypes, jigs and fixtures and production parts.
In addition to 3D printed parts, the creature integrates a variety of video and sensor technologies to offer attendees at the event, as well as fans online, a unique interactive experience with the character.
“The main advantage to 3D printing was going directly from a concept design to an end use, physical part, helping avoid any interpretation by hand or casting in a different material,” said Jason Lopes, lead systems engineer at Legacy Effects. “There is a reason why Legacy Effects has always been a Stratasys house, and this giant creature build shows why.”
Visit Stratasys’ Facebook page for updates on the Giant Creature’s schedule of events during Comic-Con. In addition, WIRED recently premiered the new digital season of How to Make a Giant Creature on thescene.com/WIRED. The series will give an insider’s look into the making of the nearly 14-foot-tall creature, leading into Comic-Con where it will be unveiled to the public.
“We are excited to debut the series, How to Make a Giant Creature on The Scene with our partners. With last year’s success, we are eager to provide audiences with something bigger and better, which this new creation definitely is,” said Michael Klein, Executive Vice President, Programming and Content Strategy, Condé Nast Entertainment.
During last year’s Comic-Con International, the Stan Winston School and Legacy Effects also collaborated with Stratasys, WIRED and YouTube to introduce an interactive robot suit, which incorporated several 3D printed parts primarily for the robot’s facial structure.
“3D printing is opening up an entirely new world of possibilities in nearly every industry, including entertainment,” said Gilad Gans, President, Stratasys North America. “The giant creature represents the perfect marriage of technology and art coming together in an innovative way.”
Visit Stratasys’ Facebook, Twitter, and company blog for multimedia and other content before and during Comic-Con International 2014. To learn more about the art and technology of character creation, visit the Stan Winston School of Character Arts Website, Facebook page and YouTube channel. For more about character creation studio Legacy Effects, visit their website, YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Filed Under: Materials • advanced