CoKreeate: A family business makes celebs’ 3D printed figurines
Isn’t it great to know your product has helped start a family business? And it’s people like William Co, his wife Jewelyn, and his younger brother Andy that make us feel this way. In 2013, they started a company called CoKreeate to produce 3D-printed figurines and scan objects for their clients’ projects and prototyping. The scanner they use for this is Artec Eva.
The CoKreeate studio in Alhambra, CA is the place that the talk show legend Larry King, co-creator of Marvel Stan Lee and R&B star Christina Milian chose to make their mini-me statues.
William Co scanning Stan Lee.
CoKreeate’s story began in 2013, when a business-minded person with a passion for technology, William Co, decided to build a 3D scanning and printing company. With the support and assistance from friends and family, William established this upstarting 3D scanning and printing business to capture special moments, help recreate a concept, and produce it by 3D printing.
Finding the right equipment for this business was the first step. CoKreeate tried several 3D scanners and decided that Artec Eva was the best for body scanning.
“We decided to purchase Artec Eva for its reasonable pricing, fine resolutions, technical specs, and portability,” says William. “Its portability is great for travelling to the costumers for their convenience. We can do projects for clients who may not be able to travel to our studio location.”
Around 20% of customers learn about the studio from local press, and the vast majority get to know CoKreeate on social media, primarily Instagram and Facebook, as well as via the team’s affiliates, supporters and friends. The company has been featured in many news and magazine articles, TV shows and web interviews, during which they demoed the scanner.
After one such show the team was contacted by Larry King’s production manager to make a miniature figurine of him for showcasing it on his feature show about 3D printing. “Larry King was very excited to see his miniature figurine,” says William.
Then the guys were introduced to Stan Lee and his assistants by a friend of theirs, wrestler and comic book writer, Brimstone. “We met Brimstone at our first convention at Comikaze, and we instantly became good friends,” says William. “Brimstone introduced us to Stan Lee’s assistants and we connected and talked about creating miniature Stan Lees as a product for fans. They have become more than just our friends; they are a part of our CoKreeate Family. Stan Lee is very gentle and kind. He is always down to earth, very humble and is just such a great guy to do business with.”
The process of body scanning and creating a 3D printed figurine requires some preparations. CoKreeate tell their clients to choose a pose they are comfortable with and hold it for at least 3-5 minutes. They scan the client with the Eva, then proceed with Artec Studio to do post-processing, and finish with 3D printing on a ZCorp printer.
“The Eva provides great features such as constrained alignment to help align scans that are out of proportion,” says William.
CoKreeate use this feature to align scans of people who moved out of place a little while being scanned.
“This feature is great and saves time in aligning scans together,” William adds.
Many customers who come to CoKreeate seek to express their personalities with 3D printed figurines, and CoKreeate can scan clients with their outfits and accessories such as musical instruments, toys, and sports equipment. A client can also be scanned with another person.
“The Eva’s handheld feature is great for scanning from one subject to another, so we can capture areas such as underarms, holes, and gaps,” says William.
Lighting and a reasonable amount of space help achieve a great scan. Other than that, not much is needed.
“There are no tricks or secrets for getting the best scan because Artec Studio provides a great tool set to make our scans the best quality,” says William. “The new Artec Studio 10 has made it convenient and efficient for scans to be processed and complete and easier for us to do cleanups and edits.”
The guys have some impressive plans for the upcoming months. First, they are working on a gallery of 3D printable files which will be available for free download from their website. They are also going to be offering 3D prints in bronze and gold, and are collaborating with Stan Lee and Christina Milian to design 3D printed products and accessories.
