Rights owners will argue that embracing 3D printing should not reduce their rights. There are intellectual property issues that still need to be resolved. Sites offering unauthorised copies of digital files for 3D printing are now at greater risk of being blocked. In response, the courts have developed speedy procedures for ordering blocks on pirate sites. Following a path first navigated by the film industry, rights owners have become savvier about framing copyright complaints. The first is that many of the legal issues that a rights owner would have to deal with when trying to control digital copies are now clear. Will Lego learn the lessons of the content industries? Though burdened with increasingly rapid cycles of change and adoption of technology, it has a number of advantages. But it required a significant adaptation in both mindset and business models. That fight isn't over, but it has calmed down because substantial progress has been made both in defining and restricting illegal activities and offering legal alternatives. But in no time the music industry was turned on its head, fighting a constantly renewing and growing hydra of filesharing sites, while being criticised on all sides for not adapting its business model to the new environment. There was little pressure on the industry to change. The technology to make and distribute digital copies was around but few consumers had it. When the original Napster launched in the late 1990s, it seemed barely feasible that digital copying would become a serious threat to the established record industry. There are comparisons to be drawn with the content industries, especially music, and how it coped when faced with such a disruptive technology. Mainstream use of this new technology could inevitably make it easier for home users and backstreet 3D print shops to duplicate products on the cheap.
One of the questions that must be addressed relates to rights owners and the risk of digital piracy. The concept of 3D printing remains a hot topic and poses interesting opportunities for brands and retailers, but there are significant legal considerations that need to be explored.
For example, it was recently reported that Lego might consider 3D printing in the future with a vision of people printing products at home. It would probably be quicker to make the model from scratch in the 3D modelling program directly.Consumer brands attempting to keep up with the changing consumer landscape are looking at how new technologies can give them a competitive market edge. You would likely have to do a lot of work making the model printable. Modelling for 3D printing is a lot different from modelling from LEGO bricks. Now for the next issue, once you have your 3D mesh into another program, is it good for printing? Even without knowing specifics, I doubt it. I don't know of any complete tools that actually do this though. I know some people have done some research into directly converting LDD models directly into 3D mesh, by reverse engineering the file formats.
LEGO 3D PRINT FILES HOW TO
LEGO 3D PRINT FILES SOFTWARE
There is some software which will attempt to capture 3D mesh from memory. So getting 3D mesh data out of LDD is tricky to say the least. LDraw files are similarly structured like the LXF files.The actual part data is stored in binary files inside the various LIF files. They only contain information on how to assemble the parts. LDD won't get any new features any time soon, as it is no longer being updated.
LEGO Digital Designer cannot do 3D printing.