[mr.miyagi]

Now this is some crazy stuff. A group called Eyebeam has released OGLE: The OpenGL Extractor, a software package that will, much like the name implies, extract 3D models from within games or other 3D applications. Essentially, it's like taking a 3D screenshot of a particular character or object you like within a game.

OGLE (i.e. OpenGLExtractor) is a software package by Eyebeam R&D that allows for the capture and re-use of 3D geometry data from 3D graphics applications running on Microsoft Windows. It works by observing the data flowing between 3D applications and the system's OpenGL library, and recording that data in a standard 3D file format. In other words, a 'screen grab' or 'view source' operation for 3D data.

The primary motivation for developing OGLE is to make available for re-use the 3D forms we see and interact with in our favorite 3D applications. Video gamers have a certain love affair with characters from their favorite games; animators may wish to reuse environments or objects from other applications or animations which don't provide data-level access; architects could use this to bring 3D forms into their proposals and renderings; and digital fabrication technologies make it possible to automatically instantiate 3D objects in the real world.

If you somehow have access to a 3D printer, this software provides an easy to way to made actual real life figures of your favorite game characters. Insane!

OGLE itself is a plugin to another piece of software called GLIntercept. The OGLE website has a detailed guide for getting the whole thing up and running.

-The article mentions a 3D printer which an example of which can be found here, watch the video, pretty amazing stuff I hadn't seen before:
http://www.zcorp.com/products/demo.asp

Personally I see a this becoming a legal shit-storm..
I'd have to print out a headcrab from Half-Life.... cool: