No Epic Scanner :(

My teacher was a bit worried that I was going to give up if the scanner didn't go through. I mean come on, do I look like some lazy guy from UAT? Anyway, I checked with Derric immediately after my talk with Ron and found out that the scanner is slated for being bought in the Summer. GIANT bummer! Since I graduate after summer is over and well... summer is not this semester. So I asked him if it would be possible to get the PS3 camera for the make-shift 3D scanner. I have some doubts this will work honestly. But I'll start printing the pieces tomorrow.

I also wrote the "Innovation" part of my Innovation Brief. Here's what it has got to say. Oh wait before that, let me comment that its hard to not write in first person when the directions say to write what I want to happen in my innovation or w/e.


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As a child, the movie, Jurassic Park, kept me in awe for many years. This single movie spurred many of my past career dreams of being a paleontologist, a creative writer, sculptor, animatrionics creator, geologist, actor, veterinarian, modeler, and animator. In 2010, my inspiration still continued to flow from Jurassic Park and simular to it and in which lead me to the Character Make-Up and Special Effects class lead by Professor Sharon Bolman. It was during this time that I had taken a break from my previous SIP in order to find a much more suitable choice for myself. The idea had not come to me until after I had modeled and 3D printed a replica of a metal jaw belonging to a dragon from a video game. As Sharon and I discussed the problems of the printed jaw, we diverted our conversation into latex masks. Suddenly, an innovation sprang to my mind particularly when we discussed the claustrophobic effect on actors when they are casted. Have the people of the entertainment business ever thought of 3D printing a life-cast of an actor by simply scanning them digitally? I asked Sharon and later I searched the web and found no such happenstance.
The original process of creating a latex mask works as such: an actor would first be completely covered in alginate, a thick liquid substance that later hardens. The first step alone brings up a particular problem. Many who are life-casted feel the process as claustrophobic as this thick liquid covers your entire head save for breathing holes at the nose or mouth. Once this is done, the actor wiggles their head and face free of the cast and the next stage begins. The artist would first need to make a positive mold of the alginate cast from a plaster. Unfortunately, the negative cast of alginate will no longer be useful so if another positive plaster cast is needed, the actor would once more need to be covered in alginate. Each of these substances can be picky at times on their hardness and easily broken if not careful. Once this is done, the artist begins to create the look of the mask by adding clay to the positive plaster cast. Continuing on, the clay on the positive plaster cast is then covered in another coat of plaster in order to create a negative cast of the mask. Once dry, both plaster molds are pulled apart in which at this point, the clay design is ruined a good percentage of the time. Latex is then poured into the negative plaster mold which is imprinted with the mask details. Finally, the latex mask is wiggle free of the negative plaster cast and you've got your mask.
The steps to making a mask the original way are very time consuming and if the artist messes up one step, the process will need to start over. With this innovation, I plan to remove almost all of these steps. The process will be less messy and quite possibly save money in the long run. What is proposed is that the actor is digitally scanned and a 3D model of their head is brought into a software such as Maya or ZBrush. Unlike the original method, this process never requires the actor to be scanned again unless major facial changes have occurred. Plaster casts are not timeless and will eventually deteriorate with use. Using the 3D model in the computer, the artist can change the facial designs according to their idea of the mask. Once the new 3D model is made, it will be reverted so that when printed using a 3D printer, it will essentially be a negative cast. There may be problems in which the 3D printer is not large enough and the cast will have to be made in segments in order to be printed in 3D. Pieces can take from 2-12 hours depending on complexity and size. As soon as the pieces are glued together and the negative cast is whole, the artist can now make multiple latex masks from the mold many times over as the 3D material never deteriorates as plaster would.