Cases
Magics opens architecture up to new models of manufacturing
Magics’ capabilities save countless hours but also ensure the very highest quality results. The combination of sophisticated analytical, diagnostic and repair features, coupled with the truly magical MGX file format and new 64-bit version, have allowed us to produce projects of unprecedented complexity.
Architectural practice and the construction industry are on the verge of significant new developments in design and manufacturing, made possible by the digital revolution. While computer-aided design software is an integral part of contemporary architectural practice, forward-looking firms are increasingly using three dimensional modeling and Building Information Modeling (BIM). The next stage in this end-to-end transformation of the industry is the use of computational tools in the development and testing of scale models, prototypes and full-scale building components without the use of conventional representations.
A key step in this process is to verify geometry and overall morphology with large scale laser sintered models in collaboration with 3D Systems, the leading manufacturer of digital prototyping technology. These prototypes of unprecedented scale and complexity present a number of computational and engineering challenges. Given the extremely large data set, file management is crucial to successful exchanges between the architect and fabricator. Magics has proven to be the central platform for the assembly, analysis, verification and transfer of model data, and has several features that prove essential in contemporary architectural practice.
Saving hours and ensuring high quality RP models
Most importantly there is the capability to repair extremely complex models. For example, our models are so complex and data intensive that it is impossible to visually verify and if necessary repair surfaces that become damaged or otherwise unreadable by even the most advanced three-dimensional printing tools. Magics ensures that every STL file can be extensively and automatically evaluated and repaired before submitting files to the fabricator. This capability saves countless hours but also ensures the very highest quality results.
Establishing the most effective fabrication parameters easily
Magics is extremely intelligent but also flexible, allowing modelers to interactively and iteratively establish the most effective parameters for fabrication. For example, it is possible to operate on an already imported STL file to reduce the number of triangles as a means of reducing file size. It is also possible to import large and complex models in pieces or layers and ultimately merge them in Magics without any loss of quality and with extraordinary precision and accuracy. We have also found it extremely useful to create models with several shells as opposed to one single and comprehensive model. This approach allows for breaking down large files and greatly reduces processing time.
Managing enormously complex models rapidly and effectively
In our current work we are constructing models with an excess of 9 million triangles and 7,500 shells. In order to operate with these files, we found Magics .MGX file format uniquely capable of compressing information without loss of quality at a ratio in excess of 10 to 1 over a standard STL format. This attribute allows for the transfer of enormously complex models and previously unmanageable file sizes directly to the fabricator.
One very recent and equally significant development is the beta version of Magics 64-bit platform that has allowed us for the first time to access 4GB of RAM on the Windows 64-bit operating system. All the extraordinary capabilities we found in Magics 32-bit are greatly extended by this new operating system. Models that were previously unable to be processed, are handled rapidly and effectively in a matter of minutes.