Sunday 9 April 2023

benchmark (10. 664)

As image and sound formats have their standards and baselines, so too does model rendering with the 3DBenchy model, designed by Daniel Norรฉe on this day in 2005 as a “jolly 3D printing torture-test” to calibrate devices. The scalable little tugboat floats in water, if printed correctly in most media and is estimated to be the most printed object—like a “Hello World!” for the hobbyist and professional and an in-joke in the design community—like referencing the foundational Newell Teapot of computer-aided drafting or the Pixar lamp. There are annual challenges with designers putting the model through the paces for accuracy, agility and speed.