As RP and prototyping rapid tooling processes become more refined, so the prospect of functional prototyping extends into mainstream fabrication. Already in some cases we don't just use these machines to make prototypes but to make real products. CAD systems also have greater capability for realism which we want to transfer into physical forms with equal ease. “

prototyping rapid tooling article

“Color is over analyzed and under-appreciated, yet it is the nuance of communication. We know the generalities of a thing through its form, but we come to know the thing itself through color.” From “Color in Black and White” This is a speculative article about color and rapid prototyping. Currently there are no variable multiple color technologies available in rapid prototyping although there is at least one patent which develops photo resolution color.

Color has been put on the back burner in deference to rapid tooling, materials, and the development of desktop modelers. prototyping rapid tooling greatest asset, namely the visualization of complex models, has been overlooked a little in favor of functional models. And yet in many areas, a rp model cannot compete with some technologies because of the lack of precision.

The relative simplicity of a rp machine (compared with creating tooling paths) again makes it ripe for the production of visualization models. If a picture is worth a thousand words and a model a thousand document: rapid color visualization is almost priceless. Color has a major role to play in the further development of rapid prototyping as a communications media.

Color is such a strong communicator that no major mainstream media is without it. As the market for rp sags, new, broader, popular markets must be aggressively developed. If the maturation of numerous technologies from black and white to color is any lesson (color TV, film, video, printing), this lesson might suggest that developing color is the next important step for broadening the market for prototyping rapid tooling