The New Magic Behind Movie Props

Movie makers have the creative vision, but it’s the prop maker’s job to bring that creative vision to life, usually as fast as possible. No one knows this better than Los Angeles-based film prop studio owner Frank Ippolito.

From Star Wars lightsabers to armor for Mandalorian characters, Ippolito produces the fantasy elements actors use on set, take after take. These not only have to look convincing but be durable, flexible, and produced on time. For this, Ippolito’s shop Thingergy has embraced to a new kind of 3D printing.

“Some of the older 3D printing technology produces parts that are not very stunt friendly and would break if the actor dropped it,” says Ippolito.

Thingergy adopted 3D printers about 10 years ago mainly for producing prop prototypes. Their consumer-level printers weren’t capable of making props that had to function like real products, yet the price tag of industrial 3D printers put the more advanced technologies out of reach.

More recently, Ippolito turned to a desktop-size 3D printer capable of printing in the strength and durability he needs, priced around $20,000. The Mark Two from Mass.-based industrial 3D printer maker Markforged produces parts using a nylon-based material fused with continuous carbon fiber to produce parts, it says are as strong as aluminum.

The Mark Two is among a growing group of 3D printers that straddle the consumer-industrial divide in the 3D printer market, and are squarely targeting end-use applications but with the size and ease-of-use of a consumer machine.

As businesses move from using 3D printers for prototypes to 3D printing for final products, printer makers, including Markforged, Ultimaker, Raise3D, Zortrax, and BCN3D offer desktop-size solutions combining engineering-grade materials with machinery that produces more reliable results, they all claim.

At Markforged, Director of New Platforms Tripp Burd says the customer base is broader than ever. “Although we focus heavily on the industrial applications, we see the same functional requirements being needed in other more creative uses, such as animatronics at theme parks or even high-heeled shoes.”

Ippolito says his newest fleet of 3D printers solves the quality and reliability hurdle he had faced, which opens up new avenues for creative applications.

Movie Magic with 3D Printing

Hollywood was quick to embrace 3D printers. “Every one of my competition has printers now,” says Ippolito, “whereas five years ago, it was maybe half.”

Not only are 3D printers standard equipment among prop makers, but they are finding their way onto the set at production locations to churn out quick prop changes and fixes.

On set, Ippolito says the 3D printer technology of choice is usually liquid resin-based, called stereolithography. These printers produce very finely detailed and typically small parts ideal for costume ornamentation or greebles, that don’t need a lot of extra work after printing.

The choice of technology hinges on knowing the right tool for the right job, says Ippolito. Thingergy has 25 3D printers spanning various technologies and sizes, but hasn’t ditched the styrofoam or clay.

“There are projects where we don’t touch the 3D printers, then there are projects where all we do goes through 3D print, then paint,” says Ippolito. “It’s a very multimedia art form, so one printer or one material or one method is never going to be the answer.”

Accessibility from 3D Printing Services

For prop makers, adding 3D printing to their toolset doesn’t always require buying 3D printers.

The number of 3D printing service bureaus is on the rise globally. These companies promise to quickly manufacture parts according to any digital design in thousands of materials and a range of technologies.

In fact, this year’s Oscars recognized 3D-printed props in the best costume category, with the top award going to the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” collection, which included several 3D-printed elements, such as the iconic crown pictured below. These parts were manufactured by 3D printing service bureau Materialise using a technology called selective laser sintering (SLS). Averaging around $60,000 to $80,000, SLS 3D printers have also become much smaller and more accessible over the past five years.

Outsourcing, however, can be taboo in the highly secretive movie industry. “We work on movies that don’t come out for a year or two, so, I’m not always comfortable sending that digital file out to a service bureau,” says Ippolito. “We make all of the things that are more sensitive in-house.”

Mastering the Magic of 3D Printing

As with all of the manufacturing methods at Thingergy, the 3D printers require technical knowledge and talent to produce creative props, notes Ippolito.

“Most people just think that you press a button, and it just goes,” he says. “They don’t understand the details of orientating a model, troubleshooting machines, or all the things that will change their outcome.”

In fact, Ippolito says 3D printing does have its downside. “Getting good prints is sometimes still really expensive to do because of the labor in the digital 3D modeling, which is almost the same as traditional sculpture or molding. But one significant difference is flexibility.”

Because 3D prints are made from a digital model, they are changeable. Ippolito says this enables movie makers to make continuous changes that would have been too time-consuming and costly with hand-crafted props. The drawback is that producers more often wait until the last minute to make prop decisions.

In many ways, the film industry’s adoption of 3D printing technology mirrors a process playing out across a wide range of businesses and small manufacturers. Companies are realizing that desktop-size 3D printing has reached maturity where it’s a manufacturing solution that’s accessible and applicable to their business. Now the challenge is finding the right 3D printing technology, printer, or service and implementing it to complement existing methods.

“Just a few years ago, printers were this magical thing that everybody didn’t totally understand,” he says, “but now, with everybody having them, it’s making everybody’s work better.”