Mimaki, the leading manufacturer of industrial inkjet printers, cutting plotters, and 3D printers, will participate in 3D print exhibitions across the world in May and June 2023. With Autodesk, Inc, the leading provider of design software, Mimaki will present how to bring 3D data from the design, engineering, and entertainment industries to life by utilising Autodesk software and Mimaki’s full-colour 3D technology.
Autodesk provides design software for the Media & Entertainment, Product Design & Manufacturing, and Architecture, Engineering, & Construction industries. By combining Autodesk’s widely used software with Mimaki’s 3D printers, the 3DUJ-553 and 3DUJ-2207, which are capable of producing full-colour models in more than 10 million colours using the UV-cured inkjet method, 3D data can be brought to the real world in full colour.
At this year’s exhibitions, Mimaki will present a full-colour world created with Autodesk software and Mimaki 3D printers through a variety of applications, including:
1. Media & Entertainment
Character design for games and animations by Nilian Studios (Canada), using Autodesk software with Mimaki’s 3DUJ-553 and 3DUJ-2207 for the production and presentation of original figures. The company uses Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max in every stage of the production process, from early animatics to 3D modelling, texture mapping, rigging, animation, and final rendering. For the first time, Nilian utilised the 3DUJ-553 to create full-colour 3D prints of characters taken directly from their games and animations. The Mimaki 3DUJ can reproduce complex features and highly detailed colours from 3D data, allowing small-lot production at a reasonable cost and short delivery time, a difficult task to achieve with other production methods.
“I’m so excited to see our characters come to life! A full colour 3D print gives us a better vision of the merchandising possibilities of our product by bringing our digital assets into the real world,” comments Ali Chenari, Creative Director and Founder of Nilian Studios. “It will also help us showcase our characters to our clients, making it possible for us to send them actual models when it comes to pitching an idea.”
2. Product Design & Manufacturing
Product design by Autodesk’s Boston Technology Center (USA). Visualisation of the internal structure of a generative designed brake pedal for Stewart-Haas Racing, an American stock car racing team, 3D printed using Mimaki’s 3DUJ-553. As automotive racing teams are constantly looking for new design and production techniques to improve the safety, performance, and weight reduction of their cars in order to win more races. Stewart-Haas Racing partnered with Autodesk to reduce the weight of their brake pedal, one of the most important components of top driver Cole Custer’s Ford Mustang, using Fusion360’s ‘generative design’ feature.
As a result, the brake pedal’s new design reduced weight by 32% and increased stiffness by 50%, provided that it could withstand braking actions equivalent to 3,000 laps of a driving course.
3. Architecture, Engineering, & Construction
Civil engineering design models by Fukken Co., Ltd (Japan), promoting solutions to issues faced by the construction industry through integrated 3D data management using Autodesk’s BIM/CIM software and promotion of digital transformation. This system allows for the sharing and management of information through 3D data among all parties involved in each stage of the process, including planning, surveying, designing, constructing, managing, and maintaining. Civil engineering models are printed on Mimaki’s 3DUJ-553 to build consensus with residents and other stakeholders. The company uses Autodesk’s AEC Collection as its BIM/CIM software. It also utilises the Mimaki 3DUJ-553 full-colour 3D printer to produce models from the 3D data it has designed.
A representative of Fukken commented, “In 2021, we invested in the Mimaki 3DUJ-553, satisfied with its ability to express small details, which had been difficult with the plaster-based full-colour 3D printer we had been using. On the 3DUJ-553, we can also cover small parts with clear ink to prevent them from breaking.”
Mimaki is committed to being a forward-thinking, development-oriented organisation with a management vision centred on delivering “something new, something different”. Consistently pursuing new technological breakthroughs and generating fresh value for its customers, you can find Mimaki presenting the Autodesk x Mimaki Full-Colour World at the following exhibitions in May and June:
・Rapid Tech 3D (Erfurt, Germany) May 9th – 11th
・EDIX Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan) May 10th – 12th
・TCT 3SIXTY 2023 (Birmingham, England) June 6th – 8th
・Next Generation 3D Printer Exhibition/Japan Manufacturing World (Tokyo, Japan) June 22nd – 24th