Boccioni -- 2D Image to 3D Print

After first distorting an Umberto Boccioni sculpture in 2020, I uploaded the simpliest 2D view of it to an "image-to-3D program" -- Point-E text-to-3D Demo --then 3D printed the result at Quelab:

Point-E text-to-3D Demo

From the original 3D Boccioni masterpiece (left) --

 to a 2D view of the altered sculpture (center),

to an ugly AI, 3D print (right)

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Point-E -- "2D image-to-3D" -- 3D print

The dynamic attitude of the Boccioni sculpture survived in the 3D print, in spite of all the transformations, maintaining somewhat of the original Futurism style:

Point-E text-to-3D Demo

The one inch high 3D print

of a distorted Boccioni sculpture 

created in 3D artificial intelligence program

Previously I had abused and stretched out Umberto Boccioni's sculpture -- Unique Forms of Continuity in Space  -- and posted the results of the digital distortion in a blog post, captured by the animated GIF below:

PNG to 3D

Animated GIF 

showing off the distortions in 3D

I took a 2D still from that animated GIF and uploaded it to the Point-E demo program.  Adam was right, that uploading a simple silhouette would  result is a better 3D file result:

PNG to 3D

I uploaded this still image

to the Point-E demo program 

The Point-E text-to-3D Demo first generates a point cloud, and then allows one to download an OBJ file:

•  download Boccioni_cleaned-up.STL  (224 KB):

 

Point-E text-to-3D Demo

I downloaded the OBJ file,

generated from a mere 2D image

After downloading the OBJ file, I eliminated three small floating pieces in Blender (in Edit mode):

Cleaned up in Blender

We then uploaded the OBJ file to Cura to slice the object, and added support material before 3D printing:

Using Cura to slice the object(red)

and add support material (blue)

Tim at Quelab really did all the printing for me on an Orion Delta 3D printer:

Tim setting up the Orion Delta 3D printer

at Quelab

The figure was one inch high and took 12 minutes to print:

The final print

still on the heated base

of the Delta 3D printer

Before clean up

This was all inspired by  the 3D printed lost Boccioni sculptures by Matt Smith and Anders Råden, based on 2D photos:

Umberto Boccioni: Recreating the Lost Sculptures

***

Just for fun, I recycled the photo of the final 3D print back into the AI program Midjourney, which creates 2D results:

Midjourney prompt:  "in the art style of futurism"

The result could be an album cover

for the band Journey

---

We also uploaded the OBJ file to the PrusaSlicer, but this program adds too much support material automatically:

PrusaSlicer

When I first tried the Point-E program last December, most of the resulting OBJ files were ugly and impossible to 3D print:

Text-to-3D 

The Point-E demo

created really ugly files,

not fit for 3D printing

Other GOOD 3D RESULTS

I took Adam's advice and uploaded simpler images to the Point-E demo, and they yielded a better 3D OBJ files.

Origami Jaguar

The AI origami Jaguar was simple enough to generate a decent 3D OBJ file:

• download Jaguar_fixed.STL (622 KB)

AI Origami Animals

Point-E text-to-3D Demo

UPDATE (January 18):

At Quelab we 3D printed the Jaguar_fixed.STL file.

• I repaired the holes in the original 3D the Point-E demo generated with Blender.  
• Then to make it watertight for printing I ran it through the Free online STL repair tool

Tim imported the 3D jaguar file into PrusaSlicer, flipped it on it's back, and added the columns of support material:

We imported the file in PrusaSlicer

Fake Henry Moore

Last year I used Midjourney AI to transform my drawings in to fake Henry Moore sculptures.  The 3D result from Point-E was nice, but very different from the 2D still image I uploaded:

Fake Henry Moores

AI transformed my figure drawing

into a fake Henry Moore sculpture

• download Henry_Moore_AI.OBJ (685 KB)

Point-E text-to-3D Demo

Most of the other 2D images I uploaded did not work so well in the Point-E demo.  However the artificial intelligence 2D-to-3D programs are only going to get better, and perhaps sooner in 2023 than later.  

Considering that they are already 3D printing rocket ships, imagine what kind of improvements could  be made with AI 3D engineering:

3D printing rocket ships