Raster to vector conversion brings animals to life
A
Softcover International product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
May 26, 2006
This week saw the unveiling of celebrated American metal sculptor Albert Paley's "Animals Always" sculpture at the St Louis Zoo.
This week saw the unveiling of celebrated American metal sculptor Albert Paley's "Animals Always" sculpture at the St Louis Zoo.
The sculpture's transition from a cardboard model to an imposing 100t Cor-ten weathered steel structure was facilitated by a combination of Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software, AutoCAD and CNC plasma steel-cutting technology.
"Animals Always" is the world's largest public zoo sculpture.
It contains more than 60 recognisable animals, including elephants, penguins, giraffes and a giant salamander, as well as exotic vegetation.
Measuring 40 x 11 x 2.5m, the sculpture dominates the zoo's southeast corner, making a welcoming new entrance to the Zoo and Forest Park at the intersection of Hampton and Wells avenues.
"It's about how we relate to a threatened environment", said Paley, arguably now America's foremost forged metal sculptor.
Paley is celebrated worldwide for his inventive approach to form development and metal technique.
He is currently a Distinguished Professor holding the Charlotte Fredericks Mowris endowed chair at the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Paley developed the original design concept for "Animals Always" over 20 years ago.
The current design is the result of an inspirational architectural tour of St Louis and from working closely with St Louis Zoo authorities and others to develop the concept over the last three years.
The scale and involvement of the St Louis Zoo sculpture is the largest and most complex project of his prolific career.
"I'm glad to be associated with the zoo which is involved with many international programs to save endangered species", Paley said.
"I went to zoos - including the Seneca Park Zoo - and drew a lot of animals".
"The challenge was personalising these animal designs".
"I love challenges, but this has been a huge undertaking".
"Animals Always" has more than 1300 parts.
The cardboard models alone took Paley six months.
Working initially from paper sketches Paley used these to create cardboard models for the fabrication of the sculpture.
His problem lay in converting the cardboard models into computer images which could be cut from steel plate.
Paley Studios, the team behind the project, found the solution in Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software.
Scan2CAD successfully turned scanned images of Paley's cardboard animal and plant profiles into AutCAD DXF files.
These were then edited and cut from Cor-Ten steel plate using CNC plasma technology.
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