Z Corporation Unveils Best-in-Class Color 3D Printer for Demanding Applications, The ZPrinter 650

Top-Of-The-Line Offering Sets Industry Bar For Build Size, Quality, Color and Speed

BURLINGTON, MA, USA – Z Corporation, maker of the world’s fastest 3D printers, today took a major leap forward in multicolor 3D printing with its unveiling of the         ZPrinter® 650, which delivers the industry’s biggest models, highest-quality color and finest resolution.

The ZPrinter 650 is engineered specifically to satisfy the most demanding requirements in engineering, education, AEC, GIS and entertainment. With the largest build volume of any 3D printer, it enables users to print very large, high-resolution, multicolor models in hours or to make many smaller models at once.

Z Corporation remains the industry’s only maker of 3D printers capable of printing in multiple colors and has raised the standard once again. For the first time ever, the ZPrinter 650 adds a dedicated black print head to the standard cyan, magenta, yellow and clear colors to deliver richer and consistent color from part to part, build to build. Superior size and color come with more than double the resolution of other devices: 600 x 540 dpi. The ZPrinter 650 combines these qualities with                       Z Corporation’s documented speed, automation and office compatibility.

“The ZPrinter 650 is the machine we’ve been waiting for,” said beta user William Effrece, Laboratory Manager of Stanley Tools, which uses 3D printing for concept prototypes from initial idea through the unveiling of products at its annual sales meeting. “Z Corporation has listened to our opinions and delivered on all of our requests, resulting in a fantastic improvement in 3D printing performance. Our various engineering and executive teams demand fast turnaround on an ever-increasing quantity of models, and we are all sticklers for quality. The large build volume, color quality, resolution and automation make the ZPrinter 650 our preferred method for delivering full-scale multicolor concept prototypes on deadline every time without much user interface with the printer.”

“We’re making a greater quantity of better footwear models with the ZPrinter 650,” said beta user Toby Ringdahl, CAD Manager, Global Footwear Product Development at Timberland. “All the new automation reduces touch time and keeps our work area tidy, and the new black really makes our footwear concepts pop. The large build volume significantly improves our productivity, which is critical for a busy company like Timberland.”

Key firsts include:
Biggest models:
No other 3D printer can match the ZPrinter 650’s 10 x 15 x 8 inch
(254 x 381 x 203 mm) build size, which prints very large models in a single piece. The large build size also enables users to produce multiple models at once, which is virtually impossible with competing technologies that rely on cumbersome structural supports.

Best color: The ZPrinter 650 employs full-spectrum 24-bit color and five print       heads – clear, cyan, magenta, yellow and black – to simultaneously print in multiple colors, delivering the highest color quality and consistency across hundreds of thousands of possible color combinations. Competing 3D printers can print only in monochrome on one of five colored materials, one color at a time. This approach requires separate builds, repetitive manual material loading and painstaking assembly to create multicolor models.

Highest resolution: The ZPrinter 650’s 600 x 540 dpi resolution is the highest resolution in a 3D printer, producing models with the finest detail and accuracy.

Speed: The ZPrinter 650 is five to 10 times faster than other systems, enabling model production in hours, not days, to support engineering departments and classrooms with ease.

Ease of use: The ZPrinter 650 is the easiest-to-use large format 3D printer ever with fully automated set-up and monitoring, no-touch powder and binder loading, and automatic powder recycling.

Office Suitability: The ZPrinter 650 is quiet, safe and clean with an all-in-one self-contained design compatible with other equipment in the professional office environment.

Other 3D printers in the Z Corporation product line are the ZPrinter® 310 Plus, a monochrome entry-level rapid prototyping system, and the ZPrinter® 450 and Spectrum Z™510 mid-range multicolor printers.

“Our customers want to quickly and easily produce big models in high volumes with the highest resolution and most realistic colors,” said Z Corporation CEO John Kawola. “These are exactly the capabilities we’ve delivered with the ZPrinter 650, part of our ongoing commitment to raising the bar on 3D printing quality and automation in the industry and throughout our entire product line.”

Pricing, Availability
The ZPrinter 650 is available now through Z Corporation’s worldwide reseller network for a United States manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $59,900 USD.

About Z Corporation
Z Corporation makes products that enable users to capture, edit, and print 3D data with unprecedented speed, ease, versatility and affordability. These products include the world’s fastest high-definition 3D printers – machines that produce physical 3D models from digital data in full color, and uniquely portable 3D scanners – handheld machines that digitize 3D surfaces in real time. Z Corporation technology is enabling a wide range of applications in manufacturing, architecture, civil engineering, reverse engineering, geographic information systems (GIS), medicine and entertainment.

MTV Games and Harmonix Tap Z Corporation To Create Real-World Rock Stars For Rock Band 2

3D Printing Brings Rock Band Digital Avatars Into Third, Physical Dimension As ‘Bandmates’

7 October 2008

BURLINGTON, Mass., USA – Z Corporation today announced it is working with Harmonix and MTV Games to transform Rock Band™ 2 players’ electronic alter egos into real-world 3D rock star figurines called “Bandmates.”

Players of Rock Band 2, the second edition of one of the world’s most popular video games, can visit rockband.com and order five-to-six-inch-high 3D physical models of their in-game Rock Band avatar creations that reflect players’ animated digital rock persona, style and musical instrument.

Rock Band 2 avatars are ZPrinted on demand, thus creating Bandmates, and shipped to the owner. ZPrinting is a new technology that creates a physical object from a 3D digital image, much as an office printer creates documents from electronic text.

Bandmates are available now, just three weeks after the release of Rock Band 2 by Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company, and MTV Games. Rock Band 2 takes the groundbreaking Rock Band music platform that forever changed the face of music video games to the next level. As the next evolution of the franchise, Rock Band 2 will continue to give millions of players a new way to enjoy the music and artists they love.

“The Rock Band figurines are astonishing,” said Harmonix Vice President of Product Development Greg LoPicollo. “Giving players the opportunity to create models that reflect their very own rock star personas is an incredible way to extend the Rock Band experience. They’re colorful, accurate, and seemingly ready to rock the stage. We are pleased with how Z Corporation’s 3D printing technology has delivered an impressive level of quality and accuracy.”

How it works
To get a Bandmate, Rock Band 2 players visit rockband.com, select from an array of poses, then place their order. The ZPrinted models ship shortly thereafter for $69 each. For detailed information on the Bandmate creation process, visit https://www.zcorp.com/Solutions/Entertainment—The-Arts/How-Rock-Band-Bandmates-are-Born/spage.aspx.

“Rock Band allows players to bring their Rock ‘n Roll dreams to life. Now they can bring their Rock Band characters to life as well,” said John M. Kawola, Z Corporation CEO. “That’s where we come in. We’ve done this for product designers, and we’ve done this for architects. Now we are honored to do it for Rock ‘n Roll.”

Z Corporation makes the world’s fastest 3D printers and the only ones capable of printing in multiple colors. A 3D printer is an output device for 3D data in the same way that a 2D printer is an output device for the words and pictures on a computer screen. The primary difference is that a 3D printer produces 3D models and prototypes in composite material.

Entertainment is an emerging market for Z Corporation, which built its reputation enabling traditional manufacturing companies to create 3D printed concept models and product prototypes. ZPrinter use is also growing in architecture, civil engineering, reverse engineering, education, geographic information systems (GIS) and medicine. Z Corporation customers include 3M, Black & Decker, Hasbro, John Deere, New Balance, Ohio State University, Timberland and Walt Disney Imagineering.

The Z in Z Corporation refers to the third dimension in the Cartesian coordinate system: x is the horizontal axis and y is the vertical. An oft-overlooked third axis representing depth is the z axis. Just as the z axis adds depth to a geometric figure, Z Corporation adds the crucial third dimension to printing.

Rock Band 2 platforms
Rock Band 2 made its debut on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft on Sept. 14 and has an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for the PlayStation® 3 and PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment systems and Wii™ later this year.

About Rock Band
Rock Band is a platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune – all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Built on an unprecedented partnership with artists, record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band spans the full range of rock music and include original master recordings from the greatest songs and artists of all time. For more information, visit www.rockband.com.

About Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, Mass., and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US. For more information please visit: www.harmonixmusic.com.

About Z Corporation
Z Corporation makes products that enable users to capture, edit, and print 3D data with unprecedented speed, ease, versatility and affordability. These products include the world’s fastest high-definition 3D printers — machines that produce physical 3D models from digital data in full color – and uniquely portable 3D scanners – handheld machines that digitize 3D surfaces in real time. Z Corp. technology is enabling a wide range of applications in manufacturing, architecture, civil engineering, reverse engineering, geographic information systems (GIS), medicine and entertainment. For the latest news and information from Z Corp., visit www.zcorp.com.

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