Sculpteo’s Avant-Garde Innovation Will Have You Saying "Oh Là Là!"
Your Design Is Born Here
French 3D printing service Sculpteo is third in a string of red hot tech startups from consumer electronics wiz, Eric Careel. Like most consumer-oriented 3D printer services, it features a community page where you can browse, upload, share or sell custom 3D designs, but what really makes Sculpteo stand out is its almost relentless approach to innovation. Their website is chock-full of novel bells and whistles, like tutorials, template-based project wizards, a real-time pricing tool and integration with 3D modeling applications SketchUp and Blender. They even have a Wordpress plugin so you can showcase your 3D design gallery on your blog, as well as a Sculpteo app for iOS.
The service offers 10 color and material options, ranging from resin and colored plastics, to silvered-coated plastic. A very recent addition to its materials lineup is Alumide, a composite of aluminum and polyamide, which combines structural strength with an attractive appearance. Prices range from $42.00 per 5cm of white plastic at the low end, up to $80.00/5cm for silver. They even offer a set of swatches for $30.00 (which includes a $25.00 voucher toward Sculpteo services), so you can get a feel for the different materials.
A Brief History
Sculpteo was founded in June 2009 by CEO Clement Moreau and the co-founders of Inventel, Jacques Lewiner and the aforementioned Eric Carreel. Carreel also founded French consumer electronics startup Withings and recently won a Digital Technology Award at Prix des Technologies Numériques 2012, hosted by Telecom ParisTech. Sculpteo launched publicly in January 2011, and they’ve since expanded into the professional market with the launch of Sculpteo Professional in March 2011. The company unveiled its 3D printing Cloud Engine and Sculpteo app at CES 2012 back in January 2012.
Why Should You Go With Sculpteo?
With its helpful tutorials and wizards, and SketchUp integration, Sculpteo is quite friendly to those new to the whole 3D modeling thing, and Sculpteo Professional packs a little more punch for the commercial crowd. But, where Sculpteo really shines is in its innovation, as you’d expect considering its prestigious management team. In addition, this company prides itself on social responsibility, and by sourcing local 3D printer facilities, it helps maintain a greener carbon footprint. If there’s a downside to Sculpteo, it would be in the availability of service which, for the moment, is limited to Europe and North America. Whether you’re ready to sign up and start 3D modeling now, or you just want to learn more about it, it’s worth having a look at Sculpteo’s website.
What Else Is Out There?
Sculpteo is but one of a growing number of 3D printer services which cater to clienteles ranging from engineers and inventors to designers and artists, even to hobbyists and enthusiasts. See our comparison grid for a detailed look at the web’s top 3D printing services.
