02— Computer Aided Design

Week 2: Computer Aided Design

Asignment

Deliverable(s)

Learning Outcome

  • Evaluate and select 2D and 3D software
  • Demonstrate and describe processes used in modelling with 2D and 3D software

Core Questions

  • Modelled experimental objects/part of a possible project in 2D and 3D software
  • Shown how you did it with words/images/screenshots
  • Included your original design files

Outline

00 Setup + Grid Search Method

01 Basics of Blender

02 Basics of Rhino

03 New Tool in Autodesk Fusion

04 Inkscape

05 Final Project

00 — Setup + Grid Search Method

A— Before We Begin

I chose to model the Lego brick because it is a great practice hard surface with some deceptively tricky elements to replicate. Using the same model also allowed me to get a sense of exactly how Fusion, Blender, and Rhino varried in their workflows. Specifically, all three programs handle array and layer management very differently. Rhino’s treatement of array/object copying was definately my favorite—though that is just about the only thing I like about Rhinos UI.

My final project was done in Fusion. Going forward probably a hybrid modeling approach is where I will land with some primary software, likely Fusion pulling all of the files together. I still don’t really understand how to place object properly in either Rhino or Blender with accuracy so I need to figure this out before I know how to really model something using a normal workflow. With both I think I need to follow tutorials that are more about modeling a specific object because I barely understand the mesh based workflow.

Ultimately, I think the most valuable lesson I learned in the process of trying to speed run the basics of modeling in Rhino and Blender was that there is definately a place for a soft modeling in my current CAD workflow. I think the knowledge will make me far better in 3D too because I am starting to recognize all of the times in the past where I was simply using the wrong tool for the job or rellying to much on habit or what was familiar when modeling when some more explorations or a different overall approach might have been more relevant.

B— Some Philosophy: The What and Why of Grid Searching

I have identified an approach I like taking when I am overwelmed with the shear amount of potential options and paths to learning a new skill. This approach I have coined as a grid search. This is also an approach I use when trouble shooting hardware when I am really desperate. I came up with this idea about 10 years ago when I was lost on a group camping deep in a forest in the High Seirra’s in CA. Its not revolutionary or even particulary clever, but it is a kind of blunt learning tool— like a flat head screw driver to pry open a container.

I first thought of the idea when I had been camping alone for 48 hours as part of a group outdoors program trip. After eating granola for about a week straight it started to catch up with me and I immidiately had to run to a spot far away from my camp… a little too far. When I was done, I realized I had no idea where my campsite was.

That said I did know I only ran for about 5 min so I was likely about .4km from my campsite. Similarly I knew that I had run to a stream so when facing the stream I knew it was behind me. With this limited, but useful information I roamed for an hour and a half randomly and often to the same locations not able to find my campsite. As it began to get dark it dawned on me… the one way I could gurantee that I found my campsite was to search in a grid—it would be slow—might even be slower, but it would gurantee that I found my campsite. In this scenario what I needed was a gurantee. So all I did was stupidly walked laps back and forth at an increment of about 12 meters and I found my campsite in about an hour.

How does this apply to learning software? The way I apply this kind of approach with learning something like software is to first scan for resources that seem thorough relevant and not super long—kind of medium in length. When I am alone and not super pressed for time I actually preffer learning from books. Instructional books tend to be more thorough because there is more effort put into their editing. Similarly, books geared towards teenagers or even kids tend to avoid needlessly complex descriptions or jargon. On a few ocassions I have simply read a book like this cover to cover very slowly and just taken a fucking shitload of notes. I have only managed to do this for a handfull of book and it takes me an embarassingly long time like several months. The times I have done it though it has never been a waste of time…yet. Ultimately the more general lesson for me as my temperment is actually more impacient is that being thorough an methodical is often more efficient. Anyways that cheap flat head screwdriver stays in my toolbelt.

B— Style guide for key commands

01 Basics of Blender

A — Core UI Flow

List item summary: I am still tweaking how I approach learning software in general. For working with blender I did the obvious and just tried to get an overview of the main modeling workspace keeping a kind of mental note of its idiosychronies with other CAD platforms I have experience with. I sorted this out through reviewing my notes from the class session (mostly just shortcuts) and watching and copying Blender Tutorial for Complete Beginners - Part 1 very slowly. In fact this is something I have noticed in the past with software tutorials. In this case a 20 min tutorial took me 6 to 8 times that set video length to follow along play with the ideas and write notes… so 20 min ~ 3 hrs in this case.

Personalizations

B — Essential Key Commands

List item summary: Clearly Blender is idosyncratic in its exstensive use of key commands. From prior experience I know its better to just rip the Band-Aid off early and just and start memorizing the really core key commands through playing in the software.

g + x, y or z ’g’ initiates a grabbing mode ‘x’ ‘y’ ‘z’ lock the transpose direction

s + x, y or z sets scaling mode and ‘x’ ‘y’ ‘z’ note what you are scaling

r + x, y or z sets rotation mode and ‘x’ ‘y’ ‘z’ across which planes you are rotating

a select all objects in a scene

n opens property menu

shift + s full rotary menu opens

g + b vertice selection mode

shift + z wireframe mode

x delete

right click if you want to cancel out of a move mid move

g + MMB allows you to snap to an axis during move

click ‘camera’ moves camera positition

f12 quick render

shift + tab enable disable snapping

shift + c to move cursor to central origin

ctrl + 1 subdivision modifier

~ view select wheel

w selection tool

Detail camera adjustment

→camera icon + → camera object ‘g’ free pan camera from camera pov

→camera icon + → camera object g + r free pan camera from camera pov

→camera icon + → camera object g + MMB zoom from camera perspective

C— Working Blender Tutorial from Blender Guru

List item summary: With

  1. shift + n → Insert Torous Tweak polygon count to a low value with reasonable fidelity to give you the below. Lower poly gives you faster load times and polycount can be increased later.
  1. Set shading to right click → shade smooth this will hide the low poly look.
  1. Click on modifiers generate → subdivision surfaces this is a way to non destructively subdivide faces to create a higher polygon surface and thus greater object fidelity. This is why the initial polygon count does not need to be super high.
  1. Switch to →edit mode then 1 then select vertice → proportional editing then g then adjust with MW to shrink or enlarge. Basically you are trying to just make the donut look more organic.
  1. Edge select donut edge vertices in edit mode. ctrl + LMB then use s to flatten donut edge vertices.

D— Making The Lego

  1. Doing this straight off the dome… no tutorial. Switch to modeling workspace… fuck just found this.
  1. Create the rectolinear envelope for the Lego piece - without the lego stud height. Make your cube in origin center → obviously… (I typcally use workflows based around origin center as they seem to be faster to build) use technical drawing dimensions to define set your length width and height of the envelope. Do this by pressing n and inputing dimensions in relevant fields. USE ctrl a and apply all transforms .

  1. Select the bottom face and create an offset with inset face tool based on technical drawing offset [1.2].

  1. Extrude face internal to specification

  1. Create and dimension cylinder g move to lego corner cmd + a to apply tranformations. Move up so it is flush with face manually move to position in the properties panel n .

  1. Add array to cylinder object select constant offset set offset to [8] as its the distance between object centers. Add another array modifier in the object set the Y distance to [-8]. Apply changes of modifiers so they are ‘commited’ to the mode. This fixed an issue I had that was creating a weird profile when joining elements.

  1. Create cylinder copy cylinder insitu resize second cylinder for boolean cut operation. Perform boolean cut operation through boolean generator set to difference. Apply generator.

  1. Position cylinder apply array generator so they pattern at 8mm from center.
  1. Final result (just the primary body without the finer internal details)

— Citations

02 Basics of Rhino

A — Core UI Where and What

B— Core Concepts / Workflows

C — Essential Key Commands

Ctrl + J Join

BooleanUnion BooleanUnion

MergeSrf MergeSrf

MergeAllFaces MergeAllFaces

Weld Weld

JoinEdge JoinEdge

CollapseMeshFace CollapseMeshFace

Rebuild Rebuild

Grasshopper launches grasshopper

D — Learnings From Experimentation

E — Rhino Lego

Discoveries While Working

  • Enable end in snaping panel to snap to a point on a solid.
  • Your drag oreintation will define your dimension ‘from’ point so you can skip use -values.
  • Option command is very powerful as it allows you to set distances between copies by directly inputing a spacing value from original object origin to new objects orgin.
  • Not having the z axis up is killing me… viewport dropdown→top plan + enter file->save as template

Design Steps

  1. Create center based rectangular solid from world orgin. Dimension to Lego envelop -stud height.

  1. Click bottom Inset command set inset value → push pull

  1. Create CPlane alignment rectangle on edge as a construction sketch to position a dimensioned 3D cylinder solid.
  1. Option drage and input from center spacing value… repeat

  1. Create cylinder dimensioned shelled internal cylinder by subtracting a smaller cylinder object through boolean difference
  1. Position cylinder by move select point and enter 0, 0 since it is modeled at origin. option + input value approach to copy and place cylinders.
  1. Draw cylinder in alignment with the center of the stud at the cplane to later subtract from interior then use option move protocal then group objects and use boolean difference to create cutaways.
  1. Create rectangular solid at center that is slightly tall. Push pull to size boolean join push pull to remove center of cylinder.

  1. Set cplan at bottom inset and save cplane as “lego” manually draw all nubs and extrude crv

  1. Selection filter select curves delete all curves
  1. Final Design

—Citations

03 Autodesk Fusion

A — New To me UI

Form

  • Is Sub Division modeling like in Rhino… this is very interesting I have always been confused how this differs from mesh. Basically nurbs based mesh. These subdivided 3d forms can then be converted into solid object.
  • Its a mode and does not represent a parametric operation with historicity. So it only show up as the a mesh body object that was created.

Surface Modeling

Rendering

—Citations

04 — 2D Software

A — Inkscape!

I didn’t get a chance to look deeply into inkscape I use illustrator as my defualt application, but do like inkscapes more focused feeling UI. Below is a sketch I created while simply clicking around and trying to find simililarities in Inkscapes vector workflow to Illustrator’s vector workflow.

  1. Rectangle tool was use to create rectangular profile. Line/ fill functions were identical to illustrator.

  1. Gradient was applied to this element by applying a gradient to the fill and feathering it.
  1. This red shape was created by first creating a start and rounding over its edges.

  1. the white blue circle was created by divided the shape from the rectangle and deleting the resuling cut shape.
  1. The weird start thing are placed manually in a grid by copy paste and recoloring.
  1. Final— Composition is supposed to be a zig zag leading the eye from left to right.

B— Illustrator

I have decided that learning new software is less of a priority for me for FAB lab I like the software I use generally an I could be a lot better at using it. Especially Illustrator I use it as a blunt tool for layout and generating tool paths from 3D to 2D.

New tools to me

Dimension Tool— Select points and drag out aligned dimension

Blend tool — e

Object types— Pasted from Chat GPT prompt: “what are the main types of objects in illustrator in brief?”

1. Paths (Vector Shapes) – Made of anchor points and lines, used to create scalable shapes and outlines (e.g., lines, polygons, curves).

2. Compound Paths – Multiple paths combined to create complex shapes with transparent areas (e.g., cutouts).

3. Text Objects – Editable text that can be point text (single line) or area text (paragraphs).

4. Images (Raster Objects) – Placed bitmap images (e.g., JPG, PNG) that are not scalable without quality loss.

5. Symbols – Reusable vector graphics stored in the Symbols panel for consistency across designs.

6. Groups – Multiple objects grouped together to act as a single object for easier manipulation.

7. Artboards – Not an object but a workspace unit, each artboard represents a design layout or exportable area.

8. Layers – Organizational structure for managing and stacking objects in a design.

If you want, I can explain any of these in detail with examples. 😊

05— Final Project

A— What the Heck is it?

B— Why?

My Project Files