Figures and objects are printed for animated movies, video games and board games. The process is used, for example, in the entertainment industry.
The dithering process does not require additional computing time either.” Alan Brunton, a member of the three-person author team, explains: “The printing time remains the same, regardless of the process. This leads to a distribution of quantization errors to high frequencies, which are then later removed by the function of the human eye and multiple printing processes. To achieve the desired effect, the surface of the object is modulated with a high-frequency signal, such as blue noise. This results in objects with a smoother and more uniform surface.Įntertainment industry benefits from high-quality print results It minimizes quantization errors so that stair-step artifacts are no longer noticeable in actual printing and are at a level far below the physical effects of the printing process. To generate more accurate surfaces, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD have developed a new process for polyjet printers. They are visually disturbing and can even be structurally detrimental to the print. Stair-step artifacts are unavoidable in conventional 3D printing processes. The research team have set down their findings in a paper – Shape Dithering for 3D Printing – which will be published to coincide with SIGGRAPH, the premier conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques. This results in geometrically accurate and color-true surfaces. To avoid quantization errors, the surface of the object is modulated with a high-frequency signal. Scientists at Fraunhofer IGD have devised a purely geometric and algorithmic method for the elimination of stair-step artifacts in multi-material 3D printing.