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Shortly after watching the trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in April, Ken Landrum began building his own stormtrooper-style weapon. At his home in St. Louis, the man used a computer to design nearly 40 separate 3D-printed parts to assemble an exact replica of the weapon from the famous film series, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“My goal is to make it better than the studio’s,” Landrum said. At the very least, he’s doing it faster. Landrum posted pictures of his guns on a message board on a 3D enthusiast forum about eight months before the film’s release and five months before official Disney toys hit store shelves.
As the film’s release approaches, fans are flooding his inbox with requests for prints of his toys. Landrum says he sold more than 100 in a single week in mid-July, and recently decided to start charging $55 per file.
Landrum’s hobby is part of a looming problem for Hollywood. 3D printing is gaining traction and becoming more accessible to millions, meaning the specter of digital piracy, which wreaked havoc on the media business in the internet age, now looms over sales of physical products, long thought to be immune to such forces.
The emerging market for DIY products means that the film industry could soon face the same kind of problem that the music industry faced with piracy at the turn of the millennium.
Currently, most printed objects are the work of loyal fans who want to get special products for free. But that’s changing as 3D printers become mini factories and pirate sites publish lists of 3D files alongside illegally copied movies.
It is likely that prices for original products will drop as 3D printers flood the market with affordable alternatives to toy stores.
“We used to buy discs, and the fact that it was a physical medium meant that there was some protection. When music was digitized, it became a pure informational commodity that could be copied for free,” said Brett Dinaher, an economics professor at Wellesley College who studies piracy and digital distribution. “I think you can draw a direct parallel with 3D printing.”
The phenomenon is likely to go far beyond the realm of entertainment, he adds, noting that it will affect everything from car parts to coffee cups. He believes 3D printing will become a part of everyday life.
Online marketplaces for 3D printed objects resemble an aisle at Wal-Mart, filled with comic book characters and well-known cartoon characters, including figurines of Shrek, Gandalf, and Homer Simpson.
This new market has the potential to displace one of Hollywood’s most profitable segments.
DreamWorks Animation built its consumer products division to help the company when a film doesn’t perform well. Consumer products can turn a hit title into a long-term source of revenue.
Disney’s revenue from similar products in the fiscal second quarter reached $971 million, thanks in large part to toys related to the hit “Frozen,” which enjoyed strong sales more than 18 months after the film’s release. (Model versions of the characters Elsa and Olaf from that production are available for download from several 3D printing sites.) Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment on the fan creations that are available online.
Hollywood has so far avoided serious legal action against 3D printing enthusiasts, careful not to repeat the mistakes of the music industry, which sued fans for sharing songs online. Some executives at consumer product departments at movie companies say they are watching the trends closely, although they are not yet sure how to respond. Some industry players, such as Paramount Pictures, Marvel Studios and Warner Bros., have begun to sanction fan-made 3D products after new films are released.
3D printing is becoming cheaper and more accessible. About 217,000 3D printers are expected to be sold this year, more than double the number last year, according to Gartner. The number is expected to double every year from now until 2018. Inexpensive models, costing under $1,000, are also becoming more common. Free software can be used to create the schematics for printing objects.
Legal experts say it is difficult to determine who should be held accountable – the person behind the project’s concept, the person who wrote the code, or the person who operates the 3D printer.
Among the major problems facing the industry is the fact that tracking 3D files is extremely difficult.
Source: http://www.investor.bg/
