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 Jehan-reznor wrote:
The crux of the matter is the 3D software also needs to be Idiot proof, i mean easy to use by the masses

^- This.

Every discussion about 3D printers reminds me of my dad.

He calls himself a geek, just because he's got an iPhone, an iPad, an iPod and an iBook Pro. Doesn't know how to install software on his iDevices, thinks WMA and WAV are the same thing, doesn't know how to switch between landscape and portrait in Word... but still calls himself a (computer) geek. Wants a 3D printer, doesn't know anything about 3D modelling (and doesn't want to learn).

The people on Dakka are highly creative. Really, guys. You are painters, you are modellers, you know how to youse your hands to create things instead of just buying them. You're miles ahead of the Average Joe.

Still...
Every dakkanaut who actually understand what I mean when I talk about the necessity to find relevant models, and not some crap made of non-manifold, non watertight meshes with inverted normals... please raise your hand.

 adamsouza wrote:
3D scanners coming down in price will help as well

Scanners work just like, well... scanners.

Why would you use a 2D scanner and then a printer?
1) Because you have the software and knowledge to make modifications on the scanned document
2) Because you don't have a photocopier.

Point 1 brings us back to the main problem: you must have some 3D modelling knowledge. Why? Because it's just like a vectorized 2D scan: it will probably need to be cleaned. And even if you want to perform very simple tasks like rescaling, things are not that easy because of some limitations of the 3D printer (minimum wall thickness for example). You need some knowledge, and while the scanner may be an efficient tool, that kind of knowledge would probably allow you to design things without having to spend hundreds in a scanner...
Hey, that money could be used to buy a better printer.

Point 2, well... 3D photocopiers already exist. It's called a RTV mold. It allows you to duplicate your own creations with resin or pewter, right here, right now, and it will cost you something 100$. You don't have to wait for ten years, and it'll be ten times cheaper.

There are legal implications, of course, but casting or scanning+printing is pretty much the same thing, you're duplicating something.

Most countries of continental Europe allow the duplication of any sculpture (or work of art) for personnal use. If I'm not mistaken, if minis are toys, you cannot duplicate the patented designs, but would be able to cast and sell most minis of the Red Period (anywhere in the world) because the patents have expired, and probably some more recent discontinued minis whose patents haven't been renewed...