Comprehensive Guide & Walkthrough of 3D Printing

There will always be products that can be improved and problems with no current solutions. And there will always be new ways of doing things. (Example: DJI PHANTOM) This is where the convenience, customization and speed of 3D printing are so important. If you want a special part for your GPS, cellphone, car, remote-controlled helicopter, or whatever else, you can get it, right here and right now. 3D printing provides an immediate solution to a multitude of problems.

Once you have chosen your niche market, start brainstorming ideas for product add-ons or ways to improve processes in that market.

Take the DJI Phantom quadcopter as an example. You can find numerous ideas for potential upgrades:

- landing gear
- video transmitter mount
- battery door
- pitch control lever
- GPS mount
- pontoon landing gear for water

Start thinking about what you're passionate about and how you can make that product better, e.g. cooking, skateboarding, jewellery, etc.

Here we'll tell you about our experience with our first design: the pitch control lever, a simple 3D design that offers an even simpler solution to a long-standing problem that most DJI Phantom owners have when operating and controlling their quadcopters. We'll tell you exactly what it is, how it works and how we came up with the design. And it all starts with recognizing a need in the market.

This is a time lapse of 3d print of pitch control lever for DJI Phantom. It takes 8 minutes to print.

DJI Phantom transmitter has a hidden 7th channel which can be manipulated to control the pitch of the gimbal with 3d printable pitch control lever. Now you can comfortably adjust pitch position of your camera while flying your Phantom. This empowers you to do amazing aerial shots!

In this video you will learn how to install 3d printed Pitch Control Lever for DJI Phantom.

Having a logical and systematic workflow is essential to producing quality designs. In this lesson, we'll share with you the steps we here at 3Dprintler follow to ensure that we end up with a design that not only looks good but that also works!

If you’re not a 3D designer, but you have an idea and know it will sell, you can still make it happen by hiring a freelance 3D designer. You can do so relatively cheap if you search reliable marketplaces such as Odesk, Guru.com, taskarmy, mediabistro, and elance.com.

In this lesson, we'll show you a couple of different websites where you can find 3D designers and discuss the pros and cons of each.

Note: Be wary of too-good-to-be-true candidates from countries like India as this tends to lead to miscommunication, missed deadlines and overall sub-par quality.

The future is all about 3D design, 3D printing and 3D scanning, so engineers and 3D designers will be some of the most sought-after professions in the next few years.

As such, it's worth your time and energy to learn how to design in 3D using some of today's most popular 3D design software (e.g. AutoCAD, SolidWorks, SketchUp).

If you want to learn 3D design or your existing 3D design skills are not where you want them to be, you can use the methods covered in this lecture to hone them. We will not try to teach you every last detail of the design process, rather we are going to give you a quick overview of the essential steps. The key is to be persistent (i.e. practise and experiment every day) and patient.

Introduction to "Selecting 3D Software"

SketchUp is a 3D modelling software that's free and easy to use. If you're new to 3D design, this is a great place to start because it teaches you the basics. However, once you get to a more advanced stage of your learning, you might want to consider other software, which have more features and flexibility.

In this lecture, we will guide you through the download and installation process of SketchUp so that you can start designing objects immediately. We'll tell you about any additional programs you need to facilitate your use of SketchUp, and we'll discuss where you can find SketchUp tutorials in case you need help and guidance along the way.

SolidWorks is a paid 3D CAD design software; however, there is a free trial version that you can download from their website. If you're planning to make a business out of your 3D designs and prints, SolidWorks is a worthy investment as it is much more advanced than SketchUp or any other free software. Basically, it's an industry standard, and in this lesson, we'll go over all of the advantages that it offers.

Design software is a 3D designer’s best friend. And while there’s no need to learn all of them, you should have a firm understanding of the main ones. This is a general overview of the most popular 3D design software available on the market today, such as Blender, Rhino, 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, Wings 3D (free), Autocad Inventor, Autocad Fusion (free), and Creo.

Our 3D printing expert, Luka Matijasevic, will also tell you which software we use as well as the pros and cons of each one, helping you choose the software that's right for you. When you find one you like, learn it well. It will open up many design possibilities for you and it will make the design stage so much faster.

Introduction to "Cloud 3D Printing"

Shapeways is a popular online 3D printing service and marketplace. If you have a 3D design, you simply upload it to the website, and Shapeways prints and ships it to order. If you choose to take this route with your designs, this lecture will show you how to upload files to Shapeways quickly and easily.

Sculpteo is another cloud 3D-printing service where you can list and sell your 3D designs while they take care of the actual printing and shipping. Similar to Shapeways, using a marketplace like this comes with pros and cons. Watch this video to see if Sculpteo is right for you.

Watch this video to learn more about i.Materialise, a smaller 3D-printing platform that allows you to share and sell your 3D designs online. Much like the other 3D-printing services, i.Materialise will print and ship your designs to order so all you have to do is upload your designs.

Coming soon is ProductShapers.com, an online 3D-printing marketplace that is different from the ones listed above. ProductShapers.com connects people with ideas with 3D designers, 3D printers, and 3D marketers because not everyone has a 3D printer or knows how to create a CAD file.

This lesson will discuss the unique services offered by ProductShapers.com and how they can benefit you. It will also allow you to sign up to try the beta version.

Introduction to "Selecting a 3D Printer"

The Makerbot Replicator 2 is actually what inspired us to start 3Dprintler. It's relatively affordable and easy to use, and when we started, it fulfilled our needs fully. In this lesson, we'll talk about things to consider when buying your 3D printer like price, features and capabilities, size, ease of use, your needs, tech support, etc.

The Makerbot Replicator 2x is a self-proclaimed experimental machine with dual extrusion capability. It's great for 3D printing experts who like to push the boundaries with their prints. However, as we'll discuss in the lesson, the Replicator 2x comes with some drawbacks that you should consider when deciding which 3D printer to purchase.

Here, we'll talk about MakerWare, the 3D slicing, scanning and printing software that ensures quality scans and prints. You'll learn where to get it as well as the benefits and drawbacks of using it.

It's Christmas at 3Dprintler! Watch and learn as we open and set up a brand new Makerbot Replicator 2! You want to be careful how you handle it so you don't damage any components. Our 3D printing guru, Aitor Molina Encabo, will give you some awesome tips so that your set up process goes smoothly and you can start printing immediately!

Know what to expect if you're ordering a 3D printer by watching Aitor unpack and set up the Makerbot Replicator 2X. He'll also show you what to do to get it ready for printing with two extruders, i.e. two filaments.

Know what to expect if you're ordering a 3D printer by watching Aitor unpack and set up the Makerbot Replicator 2X. He'll also show you what to do to get it ready for printing with two extruders, i.e. two filaments.

The Cube 3D printer is a great machine, especially if you're new to 3D printing, as it is very easy to use and very affordable. This lesson will cover some of the Cube's features and capabilities as well as some of its drawbacks, the main one being that it uses proprietary filaments that are more expensive than other standard filaments. This is something you should keep in mind if you're considering experimenting with your 3D printer.

Everyday is very exciting at 3Dprintler. There is always something new going on. In this video we show you how to unbox and setup a Cube 3D Printer by 3D Systems.

The CubeX is a more advanced version of the Cube that allows you to print in multiple colours and create unique objects. Like the Cube, it's relatively affordable and uses proprietary filament, but unlike the Cube, it has a much bigger build plate. Watch this lesson to learn more about the CubeX 3D printer.

Introduction to selecting a "3D Scanner"

In this lecture, you'll find out about the unique features, benefits and drawbacks of NextEngine scanners. Also, we'll discuss the criteria you need to consider when selecting your device, from price and user-friendliness to any extra expenses such as add-on software purchases.

Learn what to expect if you are ordering NextEngine 3D Scanner. Aitor explains all the details of unboxing and setting the scanner up.

In this lesson, we'll briefly go over the price, size and features of the Makerbot Digitizer 3D scanner as well as what it can be used for so that you can make a more informed decision regarding your purchase.

In this video, we will discuss the 3D scanner offered by Toronto-based company Matterform. We thought this device deserves attention as it is competitively priced and considerably cheaper than the previous two 3D scanners. However, price is not the only criteria, so watch this video to see if the Matterform scanner is right for you.

Introduction to "Internet Marketing"

Watch this lecture to learn how to register a domain name with some of today's best and most affordable domain name registrars: Go Daddy and Namespro.ca. We'll also show you how to use coupon codes to buy cheaper domain names at Go Daddy.

Here, we'll explain what web hosting is, how to set up a web hosting account, and why it's important to have your hosting closer to where your clients are. We'll also list some of today's best hosting services such as godaddy.com, namespro.com, and netelligent.ca as well as how and where to save money by getting cheaper hosting and special deals.

Thingiverse is a website where users can share digital design files for physical objects for FREE. It's an extremely important tool for your 3D-printing business because it increases brand awareness and drives traffic to your website.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to sign up and upload your files on Thingiverse as well as how to implement simple tricks that will help with your marketing efforts. We'll also let you in on a little secret (hint: it involves having two versions of your product--one free and one paid)!

Cubify is an interesting alternative to Thingiverse that allows you to create designs, customize existing designs, print objects, and sell your .stl files on their platform. While it's hard to compete with Thingiverse, where everything is free, Cubify does offer some interesting features. Learn what they are in this lesson.

Introduction to "Social Media"

Social media plays in important role in marketing promoting your product/business, so it is important to create an appealing profile and company page. In this lesson, we'll show you how to register a Facebook account and set up an effective company page that will bring you customers.

Twitter is another social media channel that plays a huge role in the success of your marketing efforts. Here you'll see how to register and account and set up a company page on Twitter.

While most people may not consider LinkedIn a valuable tool for social media marketing, we here at 3Dprintler beg to differ. Watch this video to learn how to open a LinkedIn account and set up a company page properly so that you can build brand awareness and increase the likelihood of success of your marketing campaign.

Instagram is great because it allows you to display your designs and products visually and share them instantly with millions of users. This lesson will show you how to set up an account and company page on Instagram as well as how to drive traffic to your website with a few simple tricks.

Vimeo is a great tool as users these days prefer videos and pictures over plain text. If you can come up with interesting video content, you can reach a big audience and potential customers.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to register a Vimeo account and set up your company page to promote your product or 3D design via video sharing. We'll also discuss how to engage with people, analyze trends, and track how people are responding to your posts.

Introduction to "Search Engine Optimization and Marketing" (SEO and SEM)

What is SEO? Found out from Brock Murray

In this section Brock Murray (from seo+) introduces you to the concept of "keyword research"

In this lecture Brock Murray from seo+ introduces "seo concepts"