Weekly Assignments Final Project About me

WEEK 2

Computer Aided Design

Computer aided design is basically a language that the computer uses for the machine to give an output. CAD is not limited to just 2D design. It involves 3d modeling too. This week I have some basic understanding about 2d and 3d modelling softwares. Still I am new to using Fusion and blender

Week 02’s assignment

• A possible final project's 2D and 3D models

• Compress the images and videos

• Post a description with your design files on the class page

Process

vector vs raster images

Image source

The very basics of 2D software is the use of vector and raster formats.

There are numerous software that can rasterize images. Vectors use mathematical equations or codes to draw lines, making them very clear. When scaled, vector images do not pixelate like raster images.

2D Software

Mostly we use 2D software such as Inkscape, Illustrator, Photopea, and Photoshop. Vector image formats produce clean, precise lines that are suitable for laser cutting and other digital fabrication processes.

Photopea

Photopea is a browser-based open-source photo editing software that mainly works with raster images.

Download Photopea

Photopea browser

I opened the browser. I was given options to create a new project or open an existing file from my system.

Photopea canvas sizes

I chose to create a new file. The next page displayed different canvas sizes with preset layouts as well as editable options.

Photopea A4 canvas

I selected an A4 canvas.

Photopea drawing

I created this by choosing the Rectangular Tool, or you can press ‘U’ on the keyboard. Click and drag on the canvas to create the rectangle. Adjust the stroke to 20px (or as needed) from the ribbon bar. I did not select any fill. You can also choose the color from the toolbar. To draw a circle, click on the small arrow under the same tool and select the shape you want to create. You aslo work in layers

the frame drawnin photpea

Here, I used the Fill Tool to pick the colors. You can also adjust the blending options in the bottom-right corner of the Layers panel

Inkscape

Inkscape is a free and open-source vector graphics software available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is used to create drawings such as logos, illustrations, diagrams, cartoons, and charts. Because it uses vector graphics, images can be resized without losing quality. Inkscape saves files in SVG format, which can be opened in many other programs and web browsers.

Photoshop has been my go-to editing software for composing presentations, and Photopea is very similar to it. However, both of these are raster-based softwares. When it comes to laser cutting and making files easy for machines to understand, we have to rely on vector-based softwares like Adobe Illustrator or the open-source software, Inkscape. Affinity is another software that is a blend of both types. I used Inkscape to try bitmap tracing.

Layout of Inkscape

Inkscape also has a similar layout to other editing and 3D softwares. I chose an A5 template to work on.

Layout of Inkscape

I dragged and dropped an image from the internet. The image had a clean outline.

Layout of Inkscape

I right-clicked with the mouse. In the dialog box, I selected “Trace Bitmap.” A Trace Bitmap properties dialog box opened. I chose “Edge Detection” and adjusted the threshold to keep some features of the fur. I also smoothed the edges. There is a preview box that shows the changes, so we can finalise the result.

Layout of Inkscape

I selected the “Nodes” tool. This helps to adjust the shapes. I chose to change the color of the trace and its transparency.

Layout of Inkscape

I selected many unwanted nodes and deleted them so I could get a clean filled image.

Layout of Inkscape Layout of Inkscape

I outlined the cat’s eye using the pen tool. With this tool, we can draw straight lines and curves and adjust them easily. The thickness and stroke size can also be changed.

Layout of Inkscape

Finally, I grouped all the traced image parts into one group in the layers panel so it would be easier to work with.

3D software - Fusion

I have a solid background in AutoCAD, SketchUp, and Lumion, and I feel quite confident navigating those workflows. However, Fusion 360 and Blender are still very new territory for me. I just installed Fusion in my local class this past Thursday, and while my experience with SketchUp helps with the 3D mindset, the interface is a completely different ballgame. The commands and the overall workspace feel totally new, so I’m currently adjusting to how everything is laid out.

Download autodesk

We were instructed to choose to work in the hybrid design layout .

First, click on the plane that you wish to work with. We will be working in the Sketches workarea. Once the profile is closed, we can use the Extrude tool to mass the body.

To start, I have to choose the plane I want to work on, so I went with the base plane.

I clicked Sketch and selected the Rectangle tool from the ribbon. To draw it, I just started the shape and typed 500 for the first dimension; then, I hit the Tab key to switch to the other side and entered 300. Since the initial settings were already in mm, the units were spot on from the start.

I used the Offset tool from the ribbon to create a smaller rectangle inside. I noticed that when you want to offset inward, you have to use negative values, like -15. At first, I tried selecting the inward direction and just typing 15, but it still offset to the outside. That's definitely something I need to be careful with in the future.

After clicking "Finish Sketch" on the ribbon, I jumped into the Extrude tool and selected the offset profile. I typed in the dimension, and just like that, the frame was created.

I went back into the Sketch layout to add circles onto the frame, then switched to the Design workspace to extrude them into pipes. To finish it off, I added a cylinder body right on top of the two pipes.

Fusion offers a Material selection feature that helps you visualize exactly how your product will look. When you open the dialog box, a wide range of material options appears; you can simply drag and drop them onto a body, a specific plane, or even individual faces by adjusting the settings in the box. You can further customize these appearances by tweaking properties like reflectivity, roughness, and translucency, allowing you to tailor the product to your exact design needs.

I was working on the horizontal plane, but I needed the frame to rotate along the Y-axis, so I used the Move tool in the design workspace. I selected the rotate icon in the dialog box and typed in the specific value to get the orientation just right.

You can render your model directly within Fusion by switching to the Render workspace, which is found in the workspace selector at the top left of the ribbon.

Blender Animation

I exported the file from Fusion into Blender using the FBX format. After opening the file in Blender, I began the animation process. I also rendered the model by applying materials and adjusting the textures. I used the Emit setting specifically to create a luminous, glowing effect.

Exporting the file from blender
Importing the model to blender
Adjusting the light position
I added keyframes by changing the object's position. In this case, I moved the light and set the keyframes by pressing the 'I' key

After setting my keyframes and completing the movement of my model, I rendered my animation into a video. First, I went to the timeline at the bottom and set my Start Frame to 1 and my End Frame to 250 so that my animation would run for the desired length. I then pressed the play button to check whether the movement looked correct. Next, I went to the Render Properties (camera icon) and scrolled down to the Output section. I clicked on the folder icon and selected a location on my computer to save my animation. After that, I changed the File Format to FFmpeg Video. Under Encoding, I selected: • Container: MPEG-4 • Video Codec: H.264, so that my final output would be an MP4 file. I then set my resolution to 1920 × 1080, which is standard HD quality, and kept my frame rate at 30 fps for smoother motion.Finally, I went to the top menu and clicked Render → Render Animation. Blender rendered the animation frame by frame, and my final video was saved in the folder I had chosen.

Video compression

This is where we are introduced to Handbrake. It is a open-source tool, built by volunteers, for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs. Most importantly it is an open source software.

After completing the Blender animation render, I processed the 3MB file through Handbrake to reduce the footprint while maintaining visual quality.

Handbrake is a software I used to compress video files. In the Handbrake window, you can either drag and drop the file or choose Open Source.

I adjusted the format and the video quality to my preference. After that, I clicked on Start Encode, and it took a few seconds to compress the video.

Movement of light

Image Compression

I have used a site named Image Compressor to compress the images.

image compression site image compression site

This tool is very simple to use. You just drag and drop the file onto the website — you can even upload multiple images at once. After that, click “Compress,” and the site processes the image to a smaller file size. You can then download and save these compressed files back into your folder.

Download Week 2 Zip File