Voovo Crowdsourcing Site Launches for 3D Printing, modelling and Makers

[truly_bent]

This "auction to print" idea is an interesting and creative concept. I see a few issues though.

The biggest problem, from a designer's perspective, is that the STL file has to be released to all the print shop owners. I read nothing on their website about protecting intellectual property rights. This is the same problem when dealing with 3DHubs or makexyz, but with those you're only releasing to a single party of your own choosing, and therefore still retain some measure of control. I've only seen NovoMaker address this issue of property rights seriously.

Another couple of minor issues crop up when a buyer posts a job for auction:

- In the description under print resolution it states, "Print resolution describes the layer thickness and is measured in dots-per-inch. Traditional DPI is 250, while more advanced printers can print as high as 1,600 DPI". First off, layer thickness (Z axis) is never measured in DPI. Two dimensional (X and Y axes) photographic images are measured that way, but that's not what we're dealing with here. Also, the guy with the printer is going to have to do a little math to convert DPI into the micron resolutions he's used to. I would think that most customers are also going to think of resolution in terms of microns (0.001mm) or thou (0.001") and are going to have to convert to this DPI. These back and forth conversions are not difficult but, i can see more than a little confusion being introduced into the process.

- "Job Type dictates the infill for your print job...". Then why not just call it Infill? It makes so much more sense. Here's a chance to educate the consumer.


My two cents...