Every design in our catalog is test-printed before its file is published, and we film the good ones. Time-lapse footage of the relaunch catalog prints is being shot now and will be embedded on this page as each design goes live — the first clips land alongside the first STL releases.

What you're seeing in a print time-lapse

An FDM printer draws each cross-section of the model in melted plastic, then steps up a fraction of a millimeter and draws the next. A toy-sized model is typically 500–2,000 layers and takes 3–12 hours in real time, which compresses into a satisfying 30-second clip. Things worth watching for:

• The first layer — if it goes down clean and stuck, the print almost always succeeds.
• Overhangs — curves that lean outward are where cheap settings show up as drooping or ragged edges.
• The seam — where each layer starts and stops; good slicing hides it, and it matters on an object you'll be holding.

Until the new footage is up, the surface finish guide explains what happens after the time-lapse ends — turning a raw print into something actually usable.