3D printing brings Sainsbury’s Christmas TV advert to life

This year’s annual Christmas television advert from supermarket giant, Sainsbury’s, has been brought to life thanks to the use of 3D printing.  

A full-colour, multi- material J750 3D Printer from Stratasys Ltd was used to produce the faces of several characters that feature in the commercial, which was shot entirely in stopframe animation.

According to Richard Pickersgill, workshop supervisor at puppet makers, Mackinnon & Saunders, the Stratasys J750 secured its part in the production for several key reasons that made it a winning choice above the alternative method of traditional figure moulding.

“A total of over 1400 3D printed faces were required for this production, including 800 separate models depicting different expressions for the main character alone,” he explained.

“We therefore needed a solution that guaranteed precise repeatability with extremely accurate full colour detail, while also delivering cost and time savings. As it turns out, without the use of 3D printing and the capabilities of the Stratasys J750 3D Printer, we simply could not have completed the build in time.”

Directed by Sam Fell and sung by James Corden, the three-and-a-half-minute mini-film centres around family dad who discovers a way to spend more time with his family at Christmas.

According to Pickersgill, the elaborate production needed a technology capable of delivering fine detail and high quality colour, but within a strict timeframe. The 3D printing materials used also needed to be robust enough for handling and provide minimal shrinkage

In addition, the large quantity of faces required for this project also favoured a technology that would limit the amount of post-processing work by eliminating the need to remove and clean-up the physical support structure and painting.

According to Gary Miller from 3D Print Bureau – the service bureau tasked with printing the numerous faces – the enormity of the project’s need for more than 1400 pieces, saw Stratasys reseller, Tri-Tech 3D, also enlisted to support the 3D printing effort.

“We were printing almost non-stop for several weeks, but managed to complete the project within deadline,” Miller explains. “The results look spectacular and underscore the unique capabilities of this particular 3D printing system.”