Chosen software: Gimp (2D), Inkscape (2.5D) and SketchUp (3D).
I chose these software because they where free, multiplatform and had a wealth of online tutorials. In addition to this, I have used GIMP and SketchUp in the past so the learning curve will be slightly easier, and Inkscape is available at my local Fablab, so I can be supported there if I need to be.
The sub-menu that allows you to edit textures
Having had some prior experience, I decided to download Sketchup to make a 3D design of my project. Two of the three Solar panels will be designed to ‘fold out’ of the device, but unfortunately Sketchup doesn’t have a hinge function. After a bit of research, I found a plugin that could help known as Sketchy Physics. But I had trouble successfully installing it. So for now, I opted to make two models; one where the solar panels are folded in, and one where they are folded out.
I found Sketchup very easy to use, on the whole. While I didn’t use any tutorials, I used trial and error to work my way around everything. One difficulty I did have was scaling down the textures so they would be a suitable size for my model, which is quite small. I managed to work it out by just exploring the software. While I managed to make my model fairly easily, it was admittedly quite a simple model consisting almost entirely of rectangles.
Sketchup render of my project idea
The render shows the main components of my gadget; the 3 solar panels, 4 usb ports, led screen and buttons. It is not currently made to any kind of scale, as the exact dimensions will probably be decided by which solar panels are available to me. I also used sketch up to show what the inside of the device could possibly look like.
