Art lab uses innovative technology to print 3D modules
Contact: Elise Doster
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(1) Edward Morin, Southeastern assistant professor of visual arts, gives sophomore animation major Justan Hood of Baton Rouge some tips for designing a 3D animation model. The New Media and Animation Lab in the Department of Visual Arts features a 3D rapid prototyping printer and a ShopBot material-cutting machine.
(2) Once a model has been created in a software program, the design data is uploaded to the 3D printer to begin the modeling process. Two objects are printed; a white plastic material (seen here) and a brown, removeable support material that holds the model together during prototyping. Pictured is a 3D model by visual arts student Aaron Williams.
HAMMOND – Visual arts students at Southeastern Louisiana University are transforming design into real-life modules using the New Media and Animation Lab’s 3D printer.
Purchased with a portion of a $73,094 Louisiana Board of Regents grant awarded to the Department of Visual Arts, instruction on the Dimension SST 1200es printer has been implemented in the new media and animation concentration curriculum.
Housing the printer, the New Media and Animation Lab also features a ShopBot material-cutting machine and over 20 Apple computers loaded with top-notch graphic design and animation software. The concentration is one of 10 areas where art students can place their focus.
Through the curriculum, new media and animation professor Edward Morin said students who specialize in the concentration have an opportunity to do a year and a half in 3D technologies, including 3D modeling, animation, interactive multimedia and working with the 3D printer.
Morin said that although the majority of academic digital arts and animation programs seem to focus on a single industry pipeline, Southeastern’s program is incorporating as many different media formats into the course offerings as possible. The 3D rapid prototyping printer is one way Southeastern’s visual arts department is introducing students to new concepts and technologies.
Once a student has created a digital module through a sophisticated computer design program, the data is transferred to the 3D printer where the prototyping process begins. The machine works from the bottom up, printing small, hundredth’s-of-an-inch segments that, depending on the size, can take up to 14 hours to print a single module.
Two objects are then formed ¬- the module shaped out of a spool of white plastic resembling a weedeater line and a brown support material that is removed after printing. The final product is a realistic plastic prototype that many art, manufacturing, forensics and pathology industries are using as a visualization tool.
“The (new media and animation) concentration enables students to cover a broad range of experiences, but they are also able to concentrate within a specific platform or genre,” Morin said. “That’s really important in their senior year but also when they go out to be interviewed and they are trying to get employed.”
Though interactive media is most often associated with video games, Morin said the gaming industry is just a small component of the field that has also found popularity in employee orientation and training, museums and cultural centers, Web sites and movies.
Before coming to Southeastern in 2008, Morin was a senior multimedia developer for Omega Training Group, Inc. in Columbus, Ga., where he worked on training and simulation applications for the U.S. military.
“There are a lot of dollars in gaming, but if you were to look at the entire industry, there are probably more opportunities outside of gaming that are well-paying opportunities,” Morin said.
For more information on the New Media and Animation Lab or the 3D printer, call 985-549-2193 or contact Morin at Edward.Morin@selu.edu.