W2 ¦ computer-aided design

Assignment for week 2

  • Model (draw, render, animate, simulate, ...) a possible final project, and post it on your class page
  • Try out as many different software applications as you can.
  • Link to this week’s home work page

Trying out software

After Wednesday's lecture I set up the following software on my computer: GIMP, GimpShop, MyPaint, Krita, Scribus, Inkscape, FreeCAD, SketchUp, FlatFab, 123Design, 123Make, Blender, OpenSCAD, SketchChair, Rhino, Grasshopper, ReconstructMe and Audacity. I also looked at Tinkercad, MatterMachine and shapeshifter. I already work a lot with Illustrator and Photoshop so I have that installed on my computer.

After taking a quick glance at the programs and playing around with them I decided to try to draw my final project in SketchUp and Rhino and InkScape.

The learning curve for Inkscape was relatively ok but for SketchUp and Rhino I found myself very frustrated at times.

SketchUp

To learn SketchUp I started by watching the basic video tutorialls on the SketchUp website. After that I followed the SketchUp School on YouTube. I watched their main playlist of 80 videos which I liked but found a bit unorganized. I also watched many other tutorials on YouTube but one I liked particularly well was Aaron Bishop and his playlist SketchUp 8 Lessons.

Rhino

For Rhino lessons I turned to Lynda.com where I have access through work. There I followed Rhino Essential Training with Dave Schultze, which was a really good course. Only problem being that the instructors voice lulled me very easily to sleep so it took some time to get through the 5 and half hours.



Files to download from this week



Inkscape

I found some good tutorials on Youtube that I followed for Inkscape: Inkscape Tutorials for Beginners, Inkscape Beginners' Guide, and Inkscape Video Tutorial



Lesson 2: Computer-Aided Design

Here you can find this weeks's lecture on Computer-Aided Design on VIMEO.



Review 2: Computer-Aided Design

Here you can find the homework review for Computer-Aided Design on VIMEO.



EVALUATION CHECKLIST 2015 -
COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN:

Skills Acquired:

  • Student understands the concept of both 2D and 3D digital design
  • Is able to convert an idea both a 2D or 3D design

Documentation Required for Completion:

  • Original 2D design files
  • Original 3D design files
  • A description of the software experimentation process.

What’s the Point?

  • The ability to design 2D and 3D CAD files is an essential part of digital fabrication.