Computers II

Class GitHub organization.

Gradebook.

Current Projects

3D Printing and Design

FOR MONDAY, MARCH 27th: Head over to Thingiverse. Take a look at the types of models that are available: some are art pieces, some mechanical, some are toys.

If you could build something to 3D print, what would it be? Do you need a part for your car? A new chess set? A stand for your phone? Jot down some ideas, and begin plotting a way to build or print it. There are LOTS of tutorials on YouTube from people who design these objects for a living; see what they have to say if you're stuck. When I get back I'll show you a few more programs you could use to build your idea.

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Build Your 3D Printing Badge!

Build a badge! I shamelessly stole this idea from the Edmon Low Creative Studios at OSU.

How to do it:

• Don't forget your Inkscape practice; you are moving nodes in the same way, but have an additional axis to build with.
• Open SketchUp and play around. The shape we are going for is a cylinder, a cube, letters, and a torus. The last part might be challenging; look to the "follow me" tool.
• I will be less helpful this round, because I want you to work out your own problem solving flow. However, if you run out of things to Google and have tried a few tutorials, don't hesitate to ask!
• As you build, keep two things in mind:
  1. Your model must be "watertight"—no holes in the mesh. This can be a challenge, because holes can be tiny. You should install and run this plugin to verify.
  2. Your model should not have internal walls, because when we print your object the printer may separate the object at the walls. The above tool will help you there.
• Once you feel you are finished, follow instructions at the 3D Printing page.

Watch your print here!

Next up: Design an original item, then upload to Thingiverse!

Previous Projects

Inkscape Intro

At the moment your GitHub account does not have a picture associated with it! If you look over to our GitHub organization (link at the top of this page), you'll see an .svg file that I built is set as our "organization" image. Here is the file:

If you'd like to download it to check out the layers in Inkscape, click the image, then right click one of the thumbnails below. Click "Save link as..." then choose the directory to download to. Open that folder, then double-click the file. Select the image, then press ctrl + g a few times to ungroup the layers. I built it the other evening by finding a picture of a PrintrBot Play, then dragging it into Inkscape and tracing. I made liberal use of the dropper tool.

My Inkscape version on the left, Mr. Harper's original on the right.

Your assignment is to create a square image in Inkscape that represents you in some way. Don't be too precious about the assignment; you aren't getting a tattoo, so if you decide in a few weeks that you don't like it, you'll have the skills to change/update it.

Here are some ideas: Take and trace a picture of yourself; trace your hair/glasses; begin with your favorite animal and look to tutorials on how to create it; make a goat; make your initials, then stylize them; make a mountain; use the colors of your future college; discover Charley Harper, weep for joy, realize we have one of his books in the library, then trace his design.

By the end of the process you will upload the file to GitHub as your avatar.

I can't wait to see where you take this.

Some tutorials to get you started building beautiful things in Inkscape:

Want a real challenge? We will be messing about in Blender in a bit, but if you're up for a challenge, check out this tutorial to explore the abilities of the software.