In the spirit of learning by making and diving in head first, we are starting with some relatively easy 3D modeling. This course’s collective projects in the past have revolved around Carleton’s built environment and building histories, and fabricating an interactive reproduction of it in 3D. We are modeling objects this year and will be discussing the theoretical implications of such a project throughout the term, but since the skills required to model in 3D are complex, we will begin practicing in week one.
There are MANY different tools for 3D modeling, and which you use depends not only on price and availability, but also on the intended output. Modeling for architecture you might use SketchUp, which we have used extensively in this class for modeling buildings in the past. For computer graphics usage, e.g. for making a video game or animated movie, you might use Maya or the free and open source Blender. When modeling real world objects, there are also laser and photographic methods of scanning to produce high fidelity models, which we’ll get to later in the course.
The 3D software that our school’s MakerSpace has chosen to support is Autodesk Fusion360. It is almost as easy to use as SketchUp but optimized for engineering usage and so makes parts that can be 3D printed effectively. Most importantly, it is free for educational use, and our MakerSpace director, Aaron, has created some excellent introductory tutorials for using the software that will help you get up and running.
Getting Started with Fusion 360
- Go to the Autodesk website and create an educational account, if you don’t already have one.
- Then go directly to the webversion of Fusion360 at https://fusion.online.autodesk.com/ and Take the Tour to get oriented to the interface
There is a downloadable version that you are welcome to install on your computer as well, but the online account allows you to switch between lab and personal machines more easily.
We will start by modeling a simple die to get a feel for the software. Check out this example from user tnRaro posted on Sketchfab, a popular 3D model sharing site.
- What basic shapes make up the die?
- How are the pips oriented?
- What else might you need to know to model such a thing accurately?
We will walk through the basic steps of modeling this together in class, but Aaron has put up a great series of Fusion 360 tutorial videos on the makerspace website that you can check out for more advanced tips and tricks.
Lab Assignment (Due Sunday)
Your assignment is to use the techniques you just learned to make a model of an object you know very well that has some meaning for you. Don’t worry about photo-realistic accuracy, just try to get the basic features in place, so that someone who knows the object could recognize it. We’re just trying to get a practical understanding of the ways you need to look at an object differently when you need to understand how all its parts fit together.
When you are happy with your model, SAVE IT to your Autodesk account and DON’T FORGET YOUR PASSWORD
Export
- Go to https://fusion.online.autodesk.com/ and log in to your account
- On the home screen, open the saved file so that you can find some views to export
- Use the Orbit tool or the Views presets in the right side toolbar to find some good angles of your beautiful model
- Export several views as PNG images.
- Finally, go to our Google Drive Shared Folder create a folder for yourself, if you haven’t already, and save your images there.
During the next class we’ll set up blog access, and you’ll use images of your model to write your first lab assignment post along with some thoughts on your process.
As you model, think about…
- how easy/hard it was,
- what elements particularly bogged you down,
- what compromises you had to make,
- what technique or tool that you wish you had figured out sooner so that you can provide a tip for other novice users and share your knowledge.
Resources
There are lots of Fusion360 tutorials available online (just google Fusion360 + what-you-want-to-do and you’ll be overwhelmed with options), but here are a few list of resources to get you started.
- Fusion 360 tutorial videos on the makerspace website from our own Aaron Heidgarten-Green
- Fusion 360 Self Paced Learning tutorials from Autodesk
Feel free to leave a comment if you’re having trouble, or if you discover something really great, and feel free to respond if you know the answer to a question.
Happy modeling!
I enjoyed this lab! It was fun to be able to try out 3D modeling, which I have never done before. While I didn’t quite figure out how to include every single part of the object I chose, there are also so many tools in the program I didn’t get to explore fully, so it is exciting that there are so many more new things to learn.
I found navigating the model to be very difficult until I figured out that “Shift + Scroll Wheel” allows you to orbit. That helped a lot!
I really enjoyed trying out 3D modeling! It definitely took me a few tries to get familiar with all of the various tools, but once I got the hang of things it was pretty fun and relaxing. Trying to connect objects and join them in the correct way was tricky, though.
Getting oriented on the manipulation controls was tough, I found that the system works best if you use an external mouse (insetad of the trackpad), it was mostly uphill from there. I really liked the sketch tool, it made designing a much more simple process, with a blueprint you can use as a template to test tools on. The only issue I had was getting the browser tool to show up, which is the easiest way to flip between sketches. I found I had to use file > restore default view in order to make it show up. (I accidentally posted this comment to the labs page)
I didn’t know that you could easily flip between sketches, that is a useful tool I’ll have to try out! I also liked the sketch tool, it was very neat being able to create a 2D object that you could later drag up into 3D space to form your 3D model. Maybe I should invest in a new mouse since mine recently broke, that might save me lots of time.
At the beginning, I wanted to make a 3D model of my badminton racket. As the modeling progressed, I found I was unable to attach the strings to the frame of my racket. They are attached in some views, but actually scattered all around in the 3D space. Trying to get them attached for nearly an hour, I gave up the idea and turned my racket frame into a pan, which was somewhat disappointing. However, the process of 3D modeling was overall fun!
I enjoyed looking into all the features. It was rewarding to make something pretty similar to what I had envisioned. However, it was frustrating at times figuring out the basics of Fusion 360. The maneuvering of the object and adding sketches was difficult to grasp at first. Finally, I am excited to use this in class in the future. I enjoy 3D modeling and would like to become more well-versed with Fusion 360.
I enjoyed creating my own 3D model and carving out each part to arrive at the final product. However, I wasn’t able to find anyway to “Copy + Paste” any element, be it a sketch or a body, so for my object I had to manually repeat a lot of operations. Other than that, I enjoy using Fusion 360 and look forward to creating more projects in the future.
Downloading and registering for Fusion360 is quite frustrating, and the software itself looks pretty complicated. I was only able to learn it quickly through the videos provided, and I did find those quite helpful. However, those videos might still be too short and missed out some important features. In general, this software is rather hard to handle, and I may need to practice more
This first assignment, while slightly frustrating at times, was very cool! It was exciting to go into this assignment having no prior experience with 3D modeling and being able to create an easily recognizable object. I struggled for a bit on how to create a cone, but eventually figuring that out with the revolving tool was a rewarding feeling. I didn’t add any lead at the top of my pencil since I wasn’t sure how to cut the cone, so trying to learn that in the future could prove useful.
I thought it was kind of funny that I was constantly comparing Fusion360 to Blender. The entire time I was modeling I was thinking to myself “making X would be super easy in Blender” or “why can’t you edit Y like you can in Blender?” I get why the two apps are different and I’m sure that a designer or engineer would appreciate a lot of the features and limitations that Fusion360 has, but some of the extra hoops I had to jump through were a little frustrating at times.
I didn’t know that you could easily flip between sketches, that is a useful tool I’ll have to try out! I also liked the sketch tool, it was very neat being able to create a 2D object that you could later drag up into 3D space to form your 3D model. Maybe I should invest in a new mouse since mine recently broke, that might save me lots of time.
While my project was tedious, I felt a good sense of accomplishment after completing this lab and gaining some proficiency in a new software.I chose to model my watch, and I had to troubleshoot when working with some of the smaller details. I think I have the basics down now though, and it was fun to find tools that worked perfectly for what I was envisioning for my model.