3D Printing (in) a Spectrum TV commercial

Last December I worked on a television commercial for Spectrum, an American tv/internet/voice service provider. I was asked to assist with props for a commercial that featured a ‘makerspace’ type lab and they wanted a bunch of 3D printers. They also wanted a printed scan of the featured actor that would be used on screen.

I printed the scan of the featured actor…which took about 20 hours (prior to filming) and they wanted it in a specific shade of orange:

I ended up bringing my CR-10 and a couple of DittoPros in addition a few others that had been arranged by others.

After a number of set ups, they decided the CR-10 would be the ‘hero’ printer and shot multiple angles through the printer:

I’m not entirely sure when spot first aired but it’s now on YouTube. Don’t blink or you’ll miss the first 7 seconds that takes place in the lab we shot in for 8 hours.

This is the 30 second version of the spot. It’s kind of fun that Ellen does the voiceover. Spectrum seems to have a number of similar commercials that are longer but so far they haven’t posted a longer version.

What’s missing from this version is the 10+ takes of me sitting on the floor, just below camera, with my laptop to make the printer move (basically an X/Y homing) on command to simulate that the head had just finished printing and the actor was taking it hot off the printer.

All in all it was a fun and interesting day. I’d definitely do this kind of work again if anyone needs a printer in a commercial.

Update: Looks like they’ve pulled the spot from Youtube…must have been a licensing or rights issue since they pulled all the spots from that campaign.