Week 2
18/09/17- 22/09/17
This week revolved around 3D modeling. 3D modeling is a key aspect to the design world. It's the backbone to all prototypes. Yes, it's more exciting to see an object be printed, but it's even more exhilarating to see your creation become a reality. The purpose of 3D modeling is to create. It's when you first start piecing your work together. Every single detail of your creation is there because of the modeling that you did before hand. You wouldn't even have anything to print if you didn't 3D model it first.
To start off the week, we had to practice 3D modeling on a program called Tinkercad. Tinkercad is basically a free design tool to help students get into the routine of designing. Earlier in the week, the class was given a challenge to design a keychain in one hour using Tinkercad. We had fell creative control. Needless to say, I was nervous. I had no idea what I was doing, let alone knowing anything about 3D modeling. I was a graphic design person, but at least I could tell if something looked bad or not. For the challenge, I decided to create an arrow. Really, I just looked at y bracelet which had a similar ring around. After that, the ring remineded me of Hunger Games, which resulted in the arrow that was created. I knew I need to improve on my skills, so when I got home, I practiced more with the program by making a treble clef. Overall, I still don't like the program, but I was able to get a better understanding of 3D modeling.
After working on Tinkercad, we moved onto working with Solid Works, another 3D modeling program. I found this one to be a bit less challenging. The main point I had to overcome was being able to identify the difference between a sketch and a feature. Although I am still not entirely sure, a sketch is basically drawing down what you want (the 2D part), whereas a feature is the extrusion part, the 3D part, making your creation come to life. I learned a lot of different techniques. How to extrude cut, how to change the colour/finish of something, how to use smart dimensions to make sure your structure is up to scale so it is accurate when it gets printed/built, etc. Later in the week, we had to recreate this A shaped chair. Of course, be a sticker for detail, I spent a lot of time trying to make all dimensions equal. For example, I used the smart dimensions to make the cut outs one each side equal. The transition from Tinkercad to Solid Works was much easier than I expected. I felt more comfortable on Solid Works. Overall, this week I had learned a lot about 3D modeling and I am starting to feel more comfortable with it.
