Animals Always
Sculpture facilitated by Scan2CAD, AutoCAD and CNC technologies.
Thursday, 25th May 2006, sees the unveiling of celebrated American metal
sculptor Albert Paley's "Animals Always" sculpture at the St Louis
Zoo, MO. The sculpture's transition from a cardboard model to an imposing
100-ton Cor-ten weathered steel structure was facilitated by a combination
of Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software, AutoCAD and CNC plasma
steel-cutting technology.
"Animals Always" is the world's largest public zoo sculpture.
It contains more than 60 recognizable animals, including elephants,
penguins, giraffes and a giant salamander, as well as exotic vegetation.
Measuring 130 feet long, 36 feet high and 8 feet deep, the sculpture
dominates the zoo's southeast corner, making a welcoming new entrance to the
Zoo and Forest Park at the intersection of Hampton and Wells avenues.
"It's about how we relate to a threatened environment," said
Paley, arguably now America's foremost forged metal sculptor. Paley is
celebrated worldwide for his inventive approach to form development and
metal technique. He is currently a Distinguished Professor holding the
Charlotte Fredericks Mowris endowed chair at the College of Imaging Arts and
Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Paley developed the original design concept for "Animals
Always" over 20 years ago. The current design is the result of an
inspirational architectural tour of St Louis and from working closely with
St Louis Zoo authorities and others to develop the concept over the last
three years. The scale and involvement of the St Louis Zoo sculpture is the
largest and most complex project of his prolific career.
The Animals Always sculpture assembled in Attica, NY, prior to shipment in 14 flatbed trucks to St Louis, MO. (Photo credit: St Louis Zoo.)
"I'm glad to be associated with the zoo which is involved with many
international programs to save endangered species," Paley said. "I
went to zoos including the Seneca Park Zoo and drew a lot of animals.
The challenge was personalizing these animal designs. I love challenges, but
this has been a huge undertaking". Animals Always" has more than
1,300 parts. The cardboard models alone took Paley six months.
Working initially from paper sketches Paley used these to create
cardboard models for the fabrication of the sculpture. His problem lay in
converting the cardboard models into computer images which could be cut from
steel plate. Paley Studios, the team behind the project, found the solution
in Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software. Scan2CAD successfully
turned scanned images of Paley's cardboard animal and plant profiles into
AutCAD DXF files. These were then edited and cut from Cor-Ten steel plate
using CNC plasma technology.
See the original cardboard model.
About Albert Paley
Albert Paley made his name initially as an art jeweler in New York. In
1969 he moved to Rochester, New York to teach at the Rochester Institute.
With the recognition he earned from the Renwick Gallery "Portal
Gates" for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, 1974, he
switched to metal sculpture and decorative arts. Since 1974 Paley has
completed over 50 major corporate and civic commissions. In 1995 he was
awarded the AIA (American Institute of Architects) coveted Institute Honors
Award for his integration of art and architecture.
Paley employs 12 full-time people including fabricators, project
planners, archivists and administrators in his Rochester, NY, studio. He and
his staff work in a variety of metalworking disciplines. Paley produces the
designs and takes a key role in the construction of his sculptures.
Paley's construction method started with a representative drawing which
was broken down into drawings of each element. These were then transferred
to cardboard to construct a scale model. The inefficiency of working with
paper patterns in a today's CNC environment led the studio to recognize that
the use of CAD, in particular AutoCAD, could offer significant benefits. For
example, as CAD files the patterns can be scaled up or down as required,
then cut directly from steel. But before they could get the advantages of
using AutoCAD files they first had to get the artist's existing hand
sketches and patterns into AutoCAD for editing. This is where Scan2CAD
provided a practical solution.
www.albertpaley.com
About Scan2CAD
Scan2CAD is a raster to vector converter that turns scanned raster images
into DXF files suitable for editing in any PC CAD program. After evaluating
various products Paley Studios chose Scan2CAD as "it seemed to do the
best job of converting our scanned images saved as TIFF files intor DXF. We
hired an AutoCAD technician and he learned Scan2CAD very quickly" said
Robert Chan, the project manager.
Chan had two requirements for Scan2CAD. The first was that its DXF files
had to be a close match to the artist's scanned hand sketch; the second was
that the converted hand sketches should need as little tidying-up in AutoCAD
as possible. By first creating good quality scans of the sketches Paley
Studios were able to follow a set raster to vector conversion procedure in
Scan2CAD that ensured good results.
Scan2CAD met Chan's requirements. It converted the sketch and pattern
outlines into a tight-fitting DXF file made up from lines, polylines (joined
lines and arcs) or Bezier curves (which can be exported to AutoCAD as
splines, polylines or arcs). A significant, unexpected benefit accrued to
Paley Studios from of their use of Scan2CAD to produce AutoCAD files. Now,
in addition to supplying their steel supplier with patterns as CAD files
they can now quickly resize any pattern to produce a Cor-ten steel scale
model of whatever they are designing
"Scan2CAD has greatly increased our flexibility to control our
patterns. Now, each piece can be burned to our specifications or modified
without having to recreate the paper pattern and pay for extra time on the
burn table. Our integration of Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion
technology with AutoCAD has developed time and cost saving factors which
Paley Studios will use well into the future," said Chan.
www.softcover.com
About "Animals Always" and St Louis Zoo
The "Animals Always" sculpture will be unveiled in 25th May
2006.
The edges and corners of the sculpture will be burnished so that every
surface is safe to touch.
The entire "Animals Always" piece was fabricated at Paley
Studios in Rochester, NY, and shipped 800 miles by road to St Louis. It has
caused something of a sensation along the way. Several US TV stations
carried newscasts on its progress. To view a KS-DK TV newscast of the
arrival of "Animals Always" in St Louis, see: http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=96499
The height of "Animals Always" is equivalent to the combined
height of two giraffes
The width of "Animals Always" is equivalent to three hippos
standing shoulder to shoulder.
The length of "Animals Always" is equivalent to 19 sea
lions.
The weight of "Animals Always" is equivalent to 143 grizzly
bears.
For further details on "Animals Always" and St Louis Zoo, see: http://www.stlzoo.org/home/featurednews/animalsalwayssculpture.htm
"We have sold Scan2CAD to thousands of companies and individuals
worldwide, many of whom have interesting applications. But this is
unique," said Steve Hannath, Softcover's marketing director. "How
often do software developers get to be awed by the application of their
software? I look at "Animals Always" and have to pinch myself.
Wow, we had a hand in that! Every creature and every plant in the sculpture
owes some part of its form to the software solution Scan2CAD gave to a
great, creative American sculptor. Now that feels good!".
About Softcover International Limited
Softcover International Limited are leaders in professional raster
editing and raster to vector conversion. Founded in 1991, Softcover is based
in Cambridge, England, a region of British excellence in science and
technology. With Scan2CAD now in its 10th year of consistent software
development Softcover have prospered without charging exorbitant prices for
a product that is as good as and often better than products that cost more.
Softcover's award-winning Scan2CAD is used in over 80 countries worldwide by
architects, engineers, surveyors, manufacturers, etc, and by governments,
local authorities, the United Nations, NASA and many Fortune 1000 and Blue
Chip companies.
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