Once just a novelty, 3D printing is now at our fingertips. With just a few clicks, we can bring almost any idea to multidimensional life. Whether it's an art work, a toy for the kid, or a miniature of mom, these four Bay Area print shops have the tools we need to make our dreams reality.
3D printed avatars(Courtesy of Moddler)
Moddler
Artists, architects, and creatives handy with digital design may already know of Moddler, the Dogpatch shop that employs Stratasys Objet printers—known by the industry to be among the most detail-oriented machines on the market—to bring prototypes to life. Bring in your finished design and the folks at Moddler will render them into the physical world in just two days. // 2325 3rd St., Ste. 208 (Dogpatch), moddler.com
A 3D printed vase(Courtesy of Honeypoint3D)
HoneyPoint3D
Founders Nick and Liza Kloski hail from the tech and fashion sectors respectively (check out the jewels of LizaSonia Designs across the bridge in Montclair), so it's little surprise to see a blend of technology and style in HoneyPoint3D. The Concord showroom is open to the public by appointment only, and is equipped to provide all kind of services from prototyping to printing and, especially, education. Their motto: If you don't know how to do it, we'll show you. Last year, the duo launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their course on Autodesk's Meshmixer software. // 3018 Willow Pass Road, #201 and #206 (Concord), honeypoint3d.com
A 3D printed cake topper(Courtesy of Pocketme)
PocketMe
You may never have imagined needing a 3D printed miniature of you and your spouse, but once you set eyes on PocketMe's tiny treasures, you'll be ordering Mini Me's of the whole fam. Just schedule an appointment to do your thing inside PocketMe's 3D Photobooth, where 92 cameras are synchronized to capture your image from all angles at once. A 3D scan takes just a tenth of a second, and then all the puzzle pieces will come together in a cute little 3D model, made perfect by an in-house digital artist. Pricing varies depening on the number of people in the picture and whether you're after a bust or full-body mini. Check the site for more infomation. // 77 Jefferson St. (Fisherman's Wharf), pocketme.com
Blu-Bin
With two locations in the South Bay (San Jose and Redwood City), a third set to open at San Francisco's Stonestown Mall this month, and a Milpitas store due to reopen in the fall, Blu-Bin is officially among the first 3D print shop chains. With clients including Apple, Google, and Cirque du Soleil, Blu-Bin has all the high technology you'd expect of a tech giant, but it's also accessible to regular ole humans who haven't a clue about CAD. Blu-Bin's designers can help you bring your projects to fruition using cutting-edge 3D printing technology. Purchase pre-made gifts or custom-order new objets to be made right before your very eyes. // Multiple locations, blu-bin.com
