It was the pants. They were large, multi-colored and had the faces of a thousand furry yak babies. But, I’ll tell you this right now. They had enough snort juice to power these link and then some. Radoslav Zilinsky – If his name is any hint, you’ll know how rad 3D artwork and animations can…

Carve it. Shape it. Cut it. Smooth it.

Knick it. Clip it. Daft Punk Helmet.

Yeah, you know what’s good for you. 3 minutes of prop building madness from Volpin Props. The prop? The helmet of electronic, supersonic duo supremo, Daft Punk. The process took all of 17 months… yeeeeeah. So ya gotta think, especially after watching the video, couldn’t some of this have been done faster, if 3D printing were used? Yes, yes I think so. Work it.

This is a guest post by Joris Peels who has enjoyed being the community manager at Shapeways over the past two years. He’s from the Netherlands and makes some mean stoofperen. YOu can find him on Twitter @pilz

CAD and 3D modeling tools have come a long way in letting more people turn their ideas into designs. The tools offered today have become simpler and easier to use as well as more powerful. But, you still need training, skill and a lot of time to master a CAD or 3D modeling app.

Lets dream for a moment of a world where anyone can design. What kind of a tool would make that possible? Well, in my mind, the ultimate solution would be BAD or Brain Aided Design. How would BAD work? Rev up the MRI, have a seat and let’s take a look.

Let me ask you this. Do you ever have a SolidWorks model that has the same color applied to all the parts? Doesn’t that just frustrate the glitter out of your magenta and chartreuse trousers? I feel your pain, and so does a reader who is looking to add a splash of randomly generated color to his 3D geometry to aid in rendering. But, how to do it?

This one is above my macro-slapping skill, but I know there are some of you who know just how to do it. Is it even possible? I’ve seen random colors applied to new parts, but how about an existing assembly, or a part with multi-bodies?

Any thoughts? Here’s the original question to help you ponder.

My eyeball lids have peeled back over my head… by themselves. I think I feel pain, but I don’t know, because I’m in shock at the coolness I’m seeing.

Even though there’s nothing this cool in 3D product development, we can imagine if there were… and the time wasted throwing our virtual designs into the sides of virtual walls. Lagoa Technologies Inc, a start-up by Thiago Costa, is showing off his first version of their Multiphysics solver. Definitely keep an eye on this company. Oh, and slap some Vaseline on those eyelids, they’re about to be torn.