3D Printing Resource for Teachers (resource)

Here are some helpful tips and links for printing NCMA 3D objects at your school, home or other location with a 3D printer.

NCMA Explore, Sketchfab link ~  

Sketchfab is an online platform for publishing, sharing, and discovering 3D content. The NCMA is a part of this community, and we use it to share our available 3D viewers for 43 objects that have been digitized from our Collection: specifically with a focus on Ancient Cultures at the moment. We are actively expanding our 3D viewer collection on Sketchfab with objects from both our Modern and African galleries being available later this Fall 2025. Stay tuned! 

 

Curious about additional digital resources related to each of these 43 objects? Visit NCMAExplore to view more. 

____________________________________________________________________________________ 

NCMA Explore, Thingiverse link ~ 

Did you know if you have access to a 3D printer and this shared link, that you can print any of our available digitized Collection objects on your own? Thingiverse is an online platform and community for 3D printing. With that shared link, you will have access to the required STL files needed to download in order to print your own 3D object from the NCMA’s Collection. They are great to use as extensions to lessons and learning with your students as well as facilitating an interactive Museum experience to your own classroom before or after your visit; a great way to connect to the NCMA even if you aren’t ready to visit at all.   

 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 

3D printing resources ~ 

Where is there an available and accessible 3D printer, open to the public, near you? 

 What will you need to make your own 3D print? 

  • Access to the STL file ~ This is the 3D file format that you’ll need to download for any 3D printing.  

For example, let’s say you wanted to 3D print a copy of the Bull’s Head Rhyton object from the NCMA’s Collection, you’ll need to do the following steps:  

  1. Go to this Thingiverse link 
  2. Find, click and/or tap on the rectangular button in the top right-hand corner that reads, “Download All Files” 
  3. Store those files on your desktop/laptop or portable USB drive 
  4. You will need to provide these to whoever is assisting you to start the 3D print. 

____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Museums are still learning about the world of digitized objects, so we welcome you to learn with us. Explore other 3D asset-related digital resources and educational examples to become more familiar with the world of digitized objects. 

3D print object of bull rhyton