Week 2

The fangirl universal lightstick

Simulation of the 3d model

t h e p r o c e s s

I decided for the lightstick but make it work at home too. First I needed to conceptualize de image of the object so I can think in its parts. So, I understood this object like a flashlight in the crowd. All of it's parts(the handle and the light part) would be part of the flash and not separated objects. This flashlight will work in two modes. First as a lightstick for concerts synchronized with the frecuency of music and volume. Second, sensored light for work from home motivation by time and touch.

Sketches of the concept for the form of a flashlight

Parts of the lightstick

The handle. Needs to be part of the falshlight star form. The base of the star that will be longer, wider and different material.

The replaceable logo. At the top of the star. It needs a socket where you can screw or fit the new one.

The phone socket. At the back of the handle pointing at me so I can see what I am recording. And helps me not to get tired.

The lamp. It needs a sensor by itself synchronize with a timer and touch to increase its intensity or it can be at music mode like a concert.

2D RASTER: GIMP

GIMP interfaz and the result

As we had to try 2d raster and vector, I first draw as a raster the idea of the entire object so I can have a concept to attach to. Intuitively I would open Photoshop or Procreate to draw something in 2d but I decided to try GIMP.

What I liked the most is that you can modify your selection without modifying the size of the object and either adding or removing anything from your selection, as it will happen in Photoshop. Also you can just select the strokes by selection by color or ALT+ the layer. Still the result are pixels.

2D VECTOR: INKSCAPE

INKSCAPE interfaz and the result

Once I had the idea I then had to vector the strokes and forms so it can be fabricated. Because machines do not recognice pixels. So I download Inkscape. I have used Illustrator to vector an image to laser cutting, however I read Inkscape can be more intuitive and faster.

It indeed worked really fast to edit a polyline and to offset a stroke. I did join different strokes so the logo and the handle can be symetric. I just used basic geometric forms to understand the parts of the lightstick. To export I separate the strokes from the ones I would like to cut and the ones to raster. By two different layers: red for cut and green for raster.

3D: RHINOCEROS AND BLENDER

Parametric design for the star base in grasshopper

First, the vectors from Inscape were too sharp. So, I tought about making the base parametric so I can change the points and make it curve so It is not that literal. I did that in grasshopper with Kangaroo plugin from 4 points I can edit. When I got like a diamond that I liked I baked that in Rhino and make it a SubD I could extrude more organic. For the logo I imported the Inkscape vectors and made them surfaces. I also tried to model it in Fusion, however it was faster in Rhino since I got some experience in it.

Model in Rhinoceros and Fusion try for the base.

Then I move to Blender which I have never tried. At first I didn't understand that there are two importante modes: Edit and Object. All the options change in between both. Also some important shorcuts are Scale, rotate and fill. I still not sure about the materials of the parts of the lightstick. That is why I keep it all the same.

INKSCAPE interfaz and the result

To assign the materials it has to be in Object mode. For the replaceable logo I tried to make it acrilic. For the star I want it to be traslucid but soft. And the handle needs to be less traslucid still. So I made some variations in alpha and difusse settings for the material.

INKSCAPE interfaz and the result

To make the lights I had to separate each with different settings. For the logo I imagine some tiny leds that I can adjust for each logo and connect to the star. This had less strengh than theothers. Then the handle has another type of emmision light. But to really visualize the glare in Blender 4.3 I had to search and go to the Compositing nodetree just as grasshopper. To activate this in render visualization and adjust its intensity related to the alpha settings.

Animation keyframes

To simulate the changing color an intensity of the light I mark as much as keyframes i wanted the color to change. With (I) you add a keyframe by clicking in the setting to change. In this case in the strengh and color of the light. Then I exported it as .mp4 and add the music in adobe premiere.

AI: DALL-E

Some highlights from the ai results

I tried asking AI how to manage all my ideas and if it is alredy done. It said they were cool improvements for this model and that I can add modes of changing colors for the leds not only with the beats of the music but with the frecuency. Also It told me how to codified it in Phyton and propose to add a charging bank to the handle so my phone never runs out of battery.
However when talking about the form, the AI did not recognice my vector drawing as a base for the description I gave. The handle was never part of the star and the background in a concert was ignored. But I liked the effect of the lights it gave so I will try to achieve that in my design.