second part

I finished twice the amount of homework two days early. Woohoo. It was fun, rocking out to music while dr@fting. Probably going to spend my time starting to learn S0lidworks or V@sari, which is another programme I sort of kind of have to learn for this upcoming workshop. It's in Bet@ actually (since 2010) but will be gone by May 2015. So you can download it for free and enjoy it while it lasts. It has a plug-in called Dynam0, which is also quite interesting; there are lots of tutorials once you download it. It's very similar in its setup (this is saying so without actually using it yet) to the way Gr#sshopper is set up in Rhin0. It's quite interesting; it allows you to use N0de Processing, but you can also use Pyth0n scripting and create Sine Waves and Graph Functions and Arrays for Physics Simulat0rs and things like calculating forces and hydr0carbons that would exist in real situations when building a structure.

Anyways...enough jibber jabber....

the lazy one aka Dr@fting 101 (for Eng!neers)

I started doing my long weekend homework two days ago. We only have about 16 of these to do but it came on a sheet of 32, so I'm doing all 32 LOL. Sorry; if anyone is aware of the high school I went to, it was pretty much expected that you'd do more than the average, and if it came on a sheet with that many, that you'd do all. Haha.
It's been fun; I really like it. It's literally like you'd be making things out of metal, etc. Oh, I signed up also for another w00d class, which should be fun, and I have a metals class in the morning. I hope I keep all my fingers LOL (just kidding; I've worked with machining before LOL). So this term is def about using w00d, metal, and designing in 2D and 3D, with some printing in there. Oh, and c0ding. I'll be learning some of that too, on my own, as well as continuing with Pr0cessing. My background (even though yes, I did study 'art') in high school was pretty much a science intensive one, with a lot of math and whatnot. So it's nice going back and forth; it seems to satisfy both parts of my brain (if the brain really is divided that way; I actually think it's more connected, not divided, because a lot of the concepts are the same).
So this stuff is simple, but I"m aiming for accuracy and all that.
I absolutely love that about science. In art, a lot of the time, I feel like you get "how does this line make you FEEL?" In science, it's "if you draw the line this way, THIS is what you're communicating/ saying". Oh yeah, and the teacher starts on time and expects us to be PROMPT, and NEVER goes over. Ha! Find that in an arts class (where the teacher often will blab on mindlessly about himself/ herself and I"m sitting there thinking "Good God, I just missed the bus..argh!" LOL.
 I really love the precision of all it. I'm aiming to get better and better. In my trans teacher's class (well he's from a trans background and works for a car company design office but was teaching CAD), that stuff was driving people in my class (who were used to M@ya or Ph0toshop) CRAZY. I really really enjoyed it, though. At the end of the class, my prof said my ability to keep up and whatnot was impressive and I should think of stepping off to the next level of CAD and CAM. My goal is to not be sloppy, because there is PLENTY of that going around (particularly in the entertainment industry! That's why these guys from actual manufacturing industries are asked to come in and help) Also, to understand it well enough that I can think of something and start working on it with materials on my own. To be able to see an object through really thoroughly down to the last screw or rivet is really kind of amazing. I'd like to be able to sorta kinda be like that some day.
Okay, enough of that. Have a great Lab0ur Day weekend! (ha, I spelled it with a U again..dun dun!)

cutting my teeth

I got into my Digi F@b class! I wasn't sure if I would because I was one of nine on a waitlist, but it turns out I was bumped to being confirmed anyways (that's a long story in itself). AND, this semester, we WILL be doing 3D pr!nting! Hooray!
I also helped a senior Chinese couple find P@sadena, and I think they were so thankful, it helped with my good karma today :)
So I'm MEGA excited! Also, I'll be doing some m@chining, as well as learning Aut0cad and S0lidworks. Plus, my good friend and first teacher of my favourite software ever gave me a lifetime subscription to the tutorials he teaches, (which include S0lidworks), so I'll be hitting those up too!
Also, I"m taking two online Pyth0n classes and one M@chine Learning class, a well as buying my own R@spberry Pi setup to make and pr0gramme my own stuff. I want to be able to just come up with my own ideas and have the ability to build them and make them.

I know that right now there is a lot of push for STEM this and that and the other, especially for females in the field and all that. I refuse to be used as part of a political agenda. I think that in many cases, it's selfish to the craft of what we do. (bear in mind, I may change my opinion as I mature, but these are my thoughts currently, at this time in my life).
I want to say that there have been so many times that I've been encouraged (by other women no less) to use my gender or who I am to get further and make a big deal out of my ability, but I want to be known not for who I am, but my competence and talent and ability to do things really well. So I'm cutting my teeth right now.
So for now I guess I"m 'one of the guys'. I don't want special privileges or anything, and I'm just happy to push myself more than ever. I remember in welding class, I got a LOT more respect from the guys for not being that whiny little girl who thought she should get a special privilege just for being a girl. I've been doubted over and over again at a glance by guys who just thought "she'll drop out just like the others". But I stuck it through. I don't take it personally, and people do change. I've had people do a complete 180 in their opinion of me just because I stuck it out and gained some respect.
I just put my head down and did the work. I'm so used to being the only girl over and over again, it doesn't even phase me anymore. I've gotten so many 'man hugs' at the end of a long day (which involves their clubbering me in group form via a hug) and drank so many beers with the guys that I see them as my peers; that's how they should be. I want to work with the best people. Period.
I used to think that I should make a big deal about it, as in some classes where I was expected to give an opinion as representative of a certain group. Believe me, if I have something to say,  I will say it. But I can't stand for every 'other' out there. I challenge those people to step up and become a part of these fields too, so that they too can have their own voice.

My mom, who is one of the best at what she does, has been the same, and she is an inspiration to me. She was never into the politics regarding who she in terms of physicality or gender, but she worked her butt off to be one of the best, and ended up getting an award by her peers for her efforts. She's also mega great with chemistry and math and repairing cars. How's that for an awesome mom!? She also is a GREAT cook, btw!

I think that for me, I just aim to be my very best and keep learning for the rest of my life. If you love it, the love for what you do carries you really far. As for me, right now, I"m just really excited. Great times are ahead, so stay tuned!

I totally also forgot

Two random pr0jection mapping images LOL. Oops. Here they are. You can clearly see the points mapped onto the image in the flat one, and the image itself. The second is mapped in such a way that it is correlated to the distance away from the normals of the point based on extracted channels (I believe it was the red one in this case). So the redder parts of the picture had larger values for the normals than the ones with less red.

I dont even know if this will post

but it's worth scrolling through if it does :) They're ten second long animations. The last is using a color channel from an image and using the brightness to map it onto distance. It created this mesh that looks like some kind of anemone. It can be printed, but I'd have to thicken the mesh and probably do some smoothing. The rest is just fun and games.

this is the bomb.

So we took a bunch of things today that were centred on preparing algorithmic designed models for 3D printing. It was fun! In the first one, as we used subDs the mesh became smoother and cleaner for 3D printing as shown. We also designed a series of other ones; I rendered one out (with the cyan background) so there can be a sense of how it would look with light (the surface). This can be imagined as a living, breathing space that you could walk through; it's essentially an ex0skeleton. There are several views and the 3/4 view that is rendered out in preview mode (so it's not high res or anything).
Finally, we took a random image from the internet; I took one of H0li powders I found, because she said the images should have a range of values, and mapped them like a panel. We also filtered out the red channel, which became the pretty coloured bunch of dots, which apparently are great for things like making gift paper LOL.

Anyways. Enjoy :)

a Physics Simulat0r

Today we worked with some live simulations.
In the first, we attempted to create a simplified version of what G@udi would have used for his calculations of string and weights for La S@grada Famili@.
So essentially, we had a line that was cut into segments and two points at the end were used as anchor points. From there, we applied and manipulated a downward force with attributes like damping, plasticity, etc, and applied a time for the reaction to take place. It's essentially tensile stress, for those who are nerds like me and remember everything from Physics class in high school. I had a few really great teachers so that helped, too, and Physics is life!
We then tweaked the force and created a thickness for it, so it behaved more like a slinky LOL. Actually, this sort of simulation is great for say, determining properties of a bridge.
We also applied a similar force to not just a line, but to an actual plane, so it acted like a piece of material with different properties would react.
Finally, we created a whirlp00l effect, where one central axis would have everything attracted from it.
The result is the circle and the centripetal motion. Finally, we created a trail. Mine looked a bit Fib0nacci-esque LOL.
I like this stuff a LOT. It's a beautiful blend of design choices and Physics :) And these are simulations that have been used on real objects; they're not just withing a 3D programme.