UK ad uses 3-D printing to get its message across

United Kingdom supermarket group Sainsbury’s is warming hearts this Yuletide with a TV advertisement in which stop-frame animated character Dave discovers a way to spend more time with his family at Christmas. “A total of over 1,400 3-D printed faces were required for this production, including 800 separate models depicting different expressions for the main character alone,” said Richard Pickersgill, workshop supervisor at puppet makers, Mackinnon & Saunders. The faces were all produced on a Stratasys J750 3-D Printer by rapid production company 3D Print Bureau with back-up by reseller Tri-Tech 3D. “Without the use of 3D printing and the capabilities of the Stratasys J750 3D Printer, we simply could not have completed the build in time,” said Pickersgill in a Stratasys news release. Gary Miller at 3D Print Bureau said: “We were printing almost non-stop for several weeks, but managed to complete the project within deadline. The results look spectacular and underscore the unique capabilities of this particular 3-D printing system.” Other companies involved in the project included animation studio, Passion Pictures, and technical CG modeler Glen Southern/Southerngfx.