Hey guys! Our team is working hard on the 1.8.9 update for MinecraftEdu and getting the classroom version of the game up to date with regular Minecraft. On other fronts, we are working on something completely new with our very first own IP title plus we are putting together a strong line-up of new games to bring to schools later this year.
Meanwhile, we wanted to tackle another trendy education topic besides games: 3D printing. With affordable printers making their way to schools, libraries and museums, it’s time we took a look at how Minecraft and 3D printing might benefit from each other. To do that, we brought together two pioneers to discuss the topic: Stephen “Elfie” Elford and Eric Haines.
Eric Haines: I’m Eric Haines, a 57-year-old 3D graphics programmer for Autodesk, Inc., living near Boston, a hotbed for 3D printing companies. I’ve been fascinated by 3D printing for a long while, and once I saw Shapeways offer colored sandstone prints I was inspired to write Mineways, a free open-source program for exporting and 3D print Minecraft models. Nowadays I use Mineways as a way for kids to learn about 3D printing, and for art projects such as T2Z, which turns simple animations into 3D prints.
Stephen Elford: I am Stephen Elford, aka EduElfie, a secondary school teacher in Australia. At a technology conference where I was sharing how MinecraftEdu had impacted on my classroom, I saw a 3D printer in action. My first question to the sales rep was “Does it work with Minecaft?” His response was yes, and he showed me a 3D printed creeper. From there I started my own 3D design journey in Minecraft, designing the educational DNA model and the Braille Periodic Table
Photo: 3D printer in action, Wikimedia.
For us newbies, could you explain what 3D printing is all about?
Eric: In my view, “3D printing” is a clever marketing term for “additive manufacturing”. The idea is that a machine adds some material bit by bit, layer by layer, and so form an object. This is quite different than “subtractive manufacturing”, where you carve, drill, saw, or otherwise remove material to form an object. For 3D printing you usually design some object in a 3D modeling program, send it to the 3D printer, and some hours later the real-world object now exists.
There are lots of different processes used to make the object, and about a hundred-odd different materials you can use for prints, ranging from plastic to gold, glass to chocolate. The process is not yet as easy as 2D printing, as you often have to do some work making the print usable, such as cutting off support structures. This situation is similar to how letter writers long ago had to spread sand after writing with a quill pen. Happily, 3D printers have improved considerably in the past few years in terms of speed and ease of use.
Stephen: At its basest level, 3D printing is layers upon layers of 2D ‘images’, this allows people to 3D print objects that are not easily produced by traditional manufacturing methods. I personally see 3D printing as an opportunity! It is a different way of manufacturing, from the home user perspective (industry perspective is not my strong point) it allows people to model and create their own items. These could be children’s toys or even replacement parts for broken items or perhaps just something they want to ‘see’ in real life. People can also download and print designs created by others or tweak them to suit their needs and then print off a custom version. I also see 3D printing also as a relatively cheap and fast way to prototype parts. It is so easy for a user to print a piece, check it suits the purpose and if it does not, make modifications and reprint it until it does suit.
Photo: Mauricio Vives: Eifel Tower in Minecraft
Why should schools be paying attention to 3D printing?
Eric: Everything physical thing we create is designed and manufactured, by definition. 3D printing is one of the easiest ways for students to get exposed to the world of design and manufacturing. The low-end market for printers has made them affordable, a few thousand dollars for a prebuilt, pre-calibrated 3D printer. At the same time, the Maker movement has helped make creating your own things cool, versus simply consuming what others have made. Being able to create, modify, and customize something is a great opportunity to let students be artistic, while also highlighting the relevance of math and science to what they’re making.
One of the nicest elements of 3D printing in particular is that it’s almost unconstrained as to what can be printed. Not entirely unconstrained: you have to worry about wall thickness, you want to avoid fully enclosed hollow areas, etc. However, these constraints are much lighter than most other manufacturing processes, including CNC milling. For the most part, you design it, you can make it. I see the few constraints as learning opportunities for how various materials truly work, a touch of material science.
Stephen: 3D printing is not going away; like paper printing it is more than likely going to end up that every house has a personal 3D printer. This means that the skills of design and also the skills of actually 3D printing designs are going to be household skills. The price of 3D printers has already dropped dramatically, and the technology is ‘moving’ quite fast in terms of new options to print with.
Even the software is getting to the point where it is very usable by people without experience. There are a great many design packages that are free, and simple to use. All of this combines to, what I believe, the fact that schools need to be looking at 3D printing and design as a future key skill required by our current students.
Take this one step further, and if 3D printing is common in the household, it will be equally common in employment, so the skills that 3D printing revolves around will also be employable skills.
How should a school get started with 3D printing? Can you give an example of how 3D printing can be aligned with curriculum?
Eric: I’m definitely no expert in this area, though I occasionally try to help local teachers with advice (I organize a 3D printer meetup in the area). For beginners I’ve created a simple page with links to groups and resources I like. There are plenty of good free guides, modelers, and other software available, as well as forums.
Stephen: I am probably biased here, but before we started at our school I spent a lot of time researching what printer would be best for the school. Should we build our own, or purchase a pre-made one? While making our own printer would have been an awesome project, from my research I found that the quality was a bit variable and took a considerable effort to get ‘right’.
So my first suggestion is to buy a 3D printer, then begin exploring. Offer it to students as an extracurricular activity, just get them designing anything. Minecraft is a great place to start ‘3 dimensional thinking’ as it is a native place for many of our students.
Have a look at competitions if students are struggling with what to design, Thingiverse, Instructables and Pinshape have regular competitions, in many of which 3D printing plays an important role. The design skills that students use to fill these ‘design briefs’ are linked to the technology curriculum. (at least they are in AU)
What’s the connection between Minecraft & 3D printing? What’s the added value of using Minecraft to design 3D models?
Eric: Minecraft is the world’s most popular 3D modeler, bar none. I work for Autodesk, and we’re proud of having developed and sold millions of copies of AutoCAD and other design software for decades. Minecraft’s distribution dwarfs these numbers. It has sold nearly 100 million copies, and every user is a builder - it’s the main part of the game. A large portion, if not a majority, of those users are school children.
This makes Minecraft a natural springboard for getting children involved in other activities. Minecraft has been called “virtual Legos.” Some kids’ eyes light up when they realize they can make their virtual creations real by using 3D printing. If they get into it, they run into the limits of Minecraft as a modeler: it’s a bit tedious to build a large wall, curved objects are problematic, and so on. This provides an opportunity for them to learn about other modelers, either interactive, such as 123D Design, or more mathematical, such as OpenSCAD.
Stephen: Minecraft is a safe and easy place to start thinking and designing in 3D. Well over 100 million users are already 3D designers, many probably just don’t realise it just yet. It is where I began my 3D design and printing journey and has many opportunities for ‘worthwhile’ designs. Like most modeling software it has its limitations, but it is hard to find a more familiar or friendly design space for beginners.
Photo: post-apocalyptic research institute
What’s the potential impact of 3D printing for education? How do you see 3D printing changing the everyday life in schools?
Eric: 3D printing lets people more easily make their own designs real; I find this an empowering concept. I think the impact is potentially large, alongside other Maker activities, high to low: laser cutting, soldering, fiber arts, woodworking, jewelry making, welding, glassworking, and with software and programming folded in. Such areas have a wider use than simply vocational training nowadays. Not everyone will grow up to be a professional designer or craftsperson, nor may get involved as a hobby or creative outlet. However, having an awareness of how all the things we use went through some design and manufacturing process makes us more engaged, less passive, and less willing to settle.
Stephen: In a word “huge”. It has not been long that we have been able take something from our head, through a computer and into the real world as a tangible object. This is a positive gold-mine of opportunities, for students and teachers. Teachers can create custom models to help them teach their students, and due to the relative low cost, students should even be allowed to keep the models. Students can also create their own models to display their understanding of a concept, and use this to help their peers learn.
From personal experience, the ‘rush’ students (and me) get when they can see their design ‘coming to life’ is pretty amazing to witness. It is a very rewarding experience to see something that you ‘made up on the computer’ get created into something you can hold in the real world. Personally I have spent hours upon hours watching my designs get printed, and I see students mesmerised by the actions of our 3D printer all the time.
Castle Chambord by Eric Haines on Sketchfab
Anything else you want to share?
Eric: I’ve enjoyed making Mineways, it’s my way of giving back to the community, alongside the many mod-programmers, animation makers, and countless passionate model creators. If you use Mineways in the classroom or elsewhere, get in touch. Mineways gets about a thousand downloads a day; I believe most users are making animations instead of 3D prints. Personally, I enjoy seeing what people have built in Minecraft and 3D printed, so send me pics!
Stephen: I am happy to say that this year, for the first time, I have a 3D printing class running at my school. We have just begun, and already I am seeing students developing design skills at an astounding rate and designing unique and interesting ‘things’. I am happy for people to contact me if they want more information about 3D printers and how they can be used, @eduelfie or [email protected] are the best places to get me.
To get started with 3D printing in Minecraft, check out the step-by-step guide in the wiki.
