Review: Spore Sculptor 3D Printing Service

by Joseph Flaherty on January 10, 2009

I recently tested the Spore Creature Creator/Sculptor Service which takes your game character and prints it using ZCorp 3D Printers. This was my creature from the game:

Here it is in physical form:

The final product is better than most beta launches. The manufacturing complexity makes it even more impressive, but there is a lot of room for improvement. For 3D printer nerds it is a great progress marker. If you are interested in Mass Customization/Personal Fabrication or are a big fan of your Spore character I would HIGHLY recommend you spend the $75 to have your little monster immortalized in ink sublimated plaster. I’ve been using 3D printers for a long time and this was still an awesome thing to get in the mail. If you are not one of those things I would suggest you wait for a couple key aspects of the service to be improved.

1. 3D Printing Quality

The major problem with 3D printing is the resolution. These Spore models are printed using the latest, top of the line technology that offers the highest resolution and the texture is still pronounced. Compare this to any plastic object in your house and you will see how much further the technology has to go. If you are passionate about 3D printing technology it is easy to overlook, but it disappoints a lot of people.

3D printing dust in the nooks and crannies

These models are made by depositing a mixture of ink and glue onto a white powder. When the printing process is finished a technician has to clean the part. Excess powder can stick in tight spaces permanently, leading to 3D printer toe jam.

3D printing is still awesome

While there is room for improvement, the technology is still REALLY impressive. The ribbing on the creatures horns, and the spikes on the tail are fine details that are superbly executed. Kudos to ZCorp and EA for making sure the little things translated well. Also, the “ears” are about 1.5mm thick and completely hollow, yet still sturdy. It is a small thing, but highlights the capabilities of the 3D printer.

Zcorp: Masters of Color and Detail


2. Ordering experience

The service was fast, I received my character in 4 business days. Other than that it was kind of lackluster. You can’t choose a pose for your character like the similar service FigurePrints allows. Shipping costs are high with all options over $20. The out of the box experience was lame, the character was affixed to a foam pad with two large rubber bands, again paling in comparison to the nice display dome you get from FigurePrints. Not deal breakers, but for $75 you expect a nicer experience.

The marriage of video games and 3D printing/mass customization is going to be huge and this is a great step forward, but a little early for the mass market. As an illustration I brought it into my office and all the engineers said “whoah, cool!” and everyone else said “why is it so dusty?”. If you are on the fence, buy one just so they keep improving the service.


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Tagged as: 3d printing, Custom Manufacturing, Electronic Arts, Spore, Video game

  • jfmenna
    The above is only poor quality because zcorp prints are low resolution. Perfactory printing's level of detail is ultra fine and the way to go.
  • This printer seems very useful to me. Can I know its price please. Really inteested to buy.
  • Astro_Blade
    Joseph,

    Do you think spraying them with a certain lubricant, cleaner, or just compressed air, will touch up the final result? I ask you this because I am thinking about purchasing one of these :3

    Thanks, Astro, A.K.A, Woe
  • I don't think so Astro, it is a matter of the glue holding onto the powder. It is an unfortunate side effect of the process. Again I would recommend it. The coolness factor makes up for any lack of finish.
  • norman chan
    dear sir :

    i live hong kong, i have some model to make, i use sketchup, can make model ?? and you ship to hong kong, how much the fee? and minimum charge of model ? and minimun size ??

    pls reply.

    thanks

    norman
  • Norman,

    I don't do 3D printing ,but you might want to try www.shapeways.com or http://www.quickarc.com/zcorp/zprints.aspx (ZPrints)

    Good Luck!
  • Pat
    Are you Canadian? It's only $49.99 in $US
  • Pat, What are you talking aboot? $49.99 is the list price, but the shipping and handling options all start at $20+ making the effective price ~$75.

    More reason for a 3D printer in every home, we can all cut down on shipping costs.
  • turen


    not to shure if this would help or not with the model as you sed its a nix of glue ink etc. but i would give it a light spray of clear varnish just to take out the grit look. and make it a little more polished. but the big thing is what varnish and would you want to take a risk having the ink to run and the model to melt. lol. or overspray it. if i had a 3d printer. i would be playing about with the models to find the best look.
  • Turen,

    Thanks for the idea. I'm actually really happy with the model. I am impressed with the technology and see it as an amazing development. A lot of people don't care as much about that aspect and just compare it to the shiny plastic things they are familiar with. It is not there yet, but will be one day and it is fun to see the progression. Thanks for posting!
  • turen
    hehe agread

    when i first heard about 3d printing. i was like omg i want one so much etc. i do a lot of 3d modeling and a lot of celtic work and to have one of them printers to print out my work. would be so nice. but will be a long time before i can afford one. and by then yes i imagine thay will have improved a huge amounts. tbh if i had one them printers i would have would contacted maxis so i could get something set up for the uk and europe players.

    and the model you show here is perfect and can only get better. as the printers advance. to think in maybe 10 years time loads of people will have one. ie we will know someone who had one. if not own are own hehe
  • turen
    me again :)

    i just watched the movie of how the models are made at figureprints. there is a huge amount of work put into making the models. well worth watching. and tbh i had no idea so much went into making a final model. so yes i think well worth the money to get your own custom made spore creation. but agrea with you that spore models should also get that cool plastic dome.
  • 10superman3
    This looks really neat. I can't imagine what progess could be made with the expense costs. The cost is high I say, but it may improve really fast and get superiorly good.
  • For sure, the quality will improve. While it may seem like I am a little critical I am amazed at how cool the end product is. Sure it has imperfections, but so did the First PC. The first Apple computer carved from wood looks terrible and they have certainly improved.
  • sai
    That looks great. How much do these printers cost? Zcorp's website needs you to ask for a quote to find out.
  • Sai,

    The ZCorp 650 costs approximately $60,000 so it isn't cheap. You can get 3D printers much cheaper, around $30,000 (www.stratasys.com) and there is a new one coming out for $5,000 (www.desktopfactory.com).
  • Thank you for the review...I've been wanting to hear people's opinions on the Spore Sculpture offer. I'd love to get one myself but $75 is a little steep and the creature that I want is very tiny to begin with...

    But regardless I'll post this on my Spore site for others to consider!
  • Speaking of which, my avatar is the one I want to get sculptured. Didn't realize my avatar carries over from my site :P
  • Haha, Thats a cool character, kind of like a cross between a bunny and a horse. Are you warlike, Religious, or trade focused? BTW, where did you get that cool Spore widget on your site?
  • It's a miniaturized version of my mule (baby of a horse and a donkey) that I own. :P I set the little guy's to be religious. Although I don't play much of the Civ stage anymore...usually the Space stage :)

    As for the widget, on your Spore Page Profile (http://www.spore.com) you should see a widget there. Just click "Show Widget Source" for the code to embed it on your website!
  • Very cool, thanks for the tip, and If you do get your"Horkey" printed I'd love to show off some pictures.
  • These are the pack man days of 3D printing. ZCorp has gone a long way in the last few years maturing this technology. It will certainly keep improving. The resolution of this model is impressive. Cant believe the ears ! - that is tough to print.

    We are using the same technology for printing 3d frames at www.jujups.com and customer response has so far been positive.

    Sivam
  • Sivam,

    Absolutely, it is at the point now where anything is interesting since the technology is so new and interesting. I hope in the next 20 years we see improvements along the lines we've seen in the video game industry.

    Great work on JuJups, seems like a great product and market for the technology.
  • Looks pretty sweet still though!
  • Tim,

    For sure, it is a very cool product. As soon as I got the first one I had 10 more ideas to try and test out the system. I am excitedly watching the development of this technology. When the price comes down and quality goes up it will be a major shakeup in the industry.
  • Definitely, that makes two of us!
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