MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanners Ship While New Filaments Flow

This week the folks at MakerBot have begun shipping the new Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner while – at the same time – they're introducing new filaments and an update to MakerWare. This Desktop 3D Scanner is the first working with the brand with the ability to capture 3D objects from a user's desk, then transforming them into 3D models which can then be worked on, adjusted, and improved in the 3D modeling software of the user's choice. Then the printing can begin anew!

The software included with the MakerBot printer, MakerWare, is being updated to version 2.3.0. This version of the software allows the user to do a Print Preview. It's also bringing on an Advanced Dual Extrusion algorithm that's specifically tuned for the MakerBot Replicator 2X. Finally you're getting multimaterial support – finally the wave can start with mixes!

"The MakerWare 2.3.0 update is a significant update. Not only does it offer new features such as print preview, but it provides a new and improved MakerBot Slicer, a helpful 'lay flat' option, sizing preferences to know if your print will fit the build plate, custom profiles for MakerBot Flexible Filament and MakerBot Dissolvable Filament, and even a print time estimation. These are really helpful features that will make 3D printing even easier and more enjoyable for the user." – Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot

With Advanced Dual Extrusion, MakerBot works with options to print with color-matched rafts and supports. It also adds support for creating cleaner, more consistent surfaces when working with dual extrusion projects, and ads on Extrusion Guards to keep the whole process smooth. This update takes on the tracking of extruder tool paths to see and decide on how infill patterns will be appearing and where further support should be applied.

For those of you looking to move forward with new materials, there's also the new MakerBot Dissolvable Filament. This material provides a solid infill for super-detailed projects, such as those printed with ABS and those made with the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer. What you'll end up doing here is printing something with ABS and this new filament then immersing it overnight in Limonene.

Limonene is a common citrus-scented solvent available in grocery stores that, when you're letting it sit with this setup, allows the Dissolvable Filament to dissolve. This new filament is available for $65 USD for a single 1 kg spool – available starting today, in fact. Have at it.