Inventors:
Marshall M. Monroe - Glendale CA
Steven G. Goldstein - Los Angeles CA
Assignee:
The Walt Disney Company - Burbank CA
International Classification:
C01D 1516
Abstract:
The current invention provides a device that produces a three-dimensional object with custom art work from an electronic signal. More particularly, the preferred implementation is a device for making masquerade-type masks, and includes a digital camera that captures a front-on image of an individual's face and converts the captured image to an electronic signal that is downloaded into a personal computer. The computer is utilized to select an image, process that image to remove background, scale the image to correspond to the dimensions and features of a facial die that will be used to mold the mask, and to provide for special effects processing of the selected image. An ink jet plotter is then directed to print the processed image upon thin, flat plastic, which is aligned with the facial features of the die and deformed to skin tight conformance with the die by a vacuum-forming process. The finished mask bears art work, upon its convex exterior, that realistically imitates the face of the individual which served as the model for the mask.