another day, another m0ving sculpture

This is interesting, because in my other class, we have to design, do an exploded view and CAD out a six part (at least) assembly and 3D print it out (and you only get two print opportunities; they take about 8 hours each/ per model). So people are um..kind of struggling. It's a LOT to think about; design, assembly, how things will mechanically move. I've done such things in c0ncept class before, but I realize now how badly it was done in that the mechanisms really aren't understood. For the most part, the attitude of a lot of designers tends to be "let the people making it figure that out".
So it feels like there is a gap between the people who understand how these things are built mechanically (but can't necessarily draw) and the people who can draw (but don't understand how things work mechanically).
So taking this class has helped me IMMENSELY because I was literally able to just immediately draw an exploded view, based on having built my model in the past, which makes it easier to CAD and therefore to print in 3D. Hooray! I believe the tolerance on the printer is .010", so not too bad. We shall see. I have a BUSY weekend and next couple of days; that's for sure.

Anyways, never mind the random music in the background, and people welding around me; this (today) was fun! We learned about gears and motors, which was wonderful because I heart Physics and it was basically drawing from a lot of some of my favourite parts (electromagnetics, etc)! Someone said mine looked like a prop/set in a Wes Anders0n movie LOL haha. But my gears also moved the smoothest out of everyone's project. Everyone keeps asking me "how come yours moves so smoothly?" project after project. I honestly have NO idea but I hope I never lose that LOL. But I enjoy this a LOT and hope to do many more.

some renders for today

It's a programme that has (really) crappy rendering, which is funny because people always ask me "did you use a plug-in?" "Is that Keysh0t?" "How did you get yours like that?" NO. It is NOT. I use my eyes; I've kind of um..lit things in real life (for stage and film). It's NOT a plug-in! (end rant) And I didn't get enough time to get it better than this (which I'd like to), unfortunately. But whatever.

the nerd lives

She really does. These aren't terribly exciting to watch, but they are to me, because I made it! LOL.

Assembly and my first B0M

And for all of you who are all "artsy" and think "we'll never need to know this", ACTUALLY, my prof who worked on @v@tar, R0b0cop, etc was saying that they DID need to make some of these for production. A manual, when they made actual set parts or props that had to be used by the actors and crew. They had to make a little booklet which would have clear instructions, especially for props that were custom built, and bear in mind sometimes you are in one location and they're shooting in three other different countries so you need to be clear. So there; I've justified what was fun actually building.

Everyone should know how to build an @ssembly of parts, an expl0ded view and label out the parts; there is actually a shortage of people who can do this stuff in entertainment, which is kind of sad, but oh well.....

more modelling

Another day, another device

So it's after midnight and I literally JUST got home. The joys of public transportation at night, when your bus shows up early, thereby leaving you, while another doesn't show up at all, so you decide to take another route, only to argue with one bus driver that what he's proposed ("you'll get there on time for the connecting bus") is impossible, only to prove that you are right and make the better decision anyways and finally get home with the help of Ozzy Osb0urne's reincarnation into a bus driver (I kid you not).
So anyways.....haha..this is what we did. D!sney and other places would actually PHYSICALLY build these devices (or derivations of them) to create movement many years ago for their movies. I know about the theme park stuff, but I never knew much about the actual models they used to build for their characters this way. Makes sense, as it really is teaching their animators to observe movement FROM life.
So for example, they could simulate the movement of a giraffe or a cheetah, etc. He showed us one in which they had an old decrepit character who moved with a walker, and they let the character they built mechanically move, and eventually it tipped over in its walker! So if you give it life in that way, it's almost like it continues within character; it's quite interesting. There are also some INCREDIBLE artists who use things like wind power and sensors using similar mechanical concepts. It's awesome!!!!

So ours is beginner; just simple. I had to ask a friend to help me crank it (first video attempt was a fail trying to tape and crank) while I taped.

more draftings

A g@sket I forgot to post

wahh wahh wahh and a U-Br@cket. This is actually pretty fun. I really enjoy making this stuff.
For our final, we (ideally) have to do a piece that can only be made as one piece via 3D pr!nting. So essentially, it should be able to move back and forth, etc. It's interesting because a LOT of people only do 3D pr!nted stuff that essentially is like a static chunk, like a cheapo conversation piece for your mantelpiece or something like that. This encourages us to think about something that would have to be built in two parts and either welded together, etc, if made out of actual materials like metal or wood, but with 3D pr!nting can be printed as one piece but is able to (due to tolerances, etc) move or change in some way. Pretty neat if you ask me. It's problem-solving; which I think is what design is all about.

some

of the previous dimensions were ambiguous according to the blueprint, but I was told what they were and fixed 'em. Then we made drawings based on the updated model.

another puzzle...

another day, another part

It's actually quite relaxing to do during my spare time. Also, it's like a puzzle, trying to figure out how you should cut the metal or whatever material to achieve the form given the dimensions and blueprint. It's also reinforcement for all the other 'real' stuff I"ve been making with my hands, etc.

this is one version

of a spud we machined in class. My 45s were't 45s because the machine is a bit messed up (markings missing, etc) and I couldn't tell 100 percent what was 45 degrees (mine is more of a 30 it looks like), but I finally got another machine and since no one is really doing a project anymore and just doing their own thing now, my goal is to do the project again (which will be a lot faster to do) and get it done more accurately using the machine readout (which I only used for the last two parts; the other parts were done using the calipers and some dye, which was less than accurate).
The final pic is of my tap; I made a mistake also on there and chose a .25 inch drill bit, so that my final tap screws ended up something like 15/16" instead of the 1/4"-20. So hopefully on the upcoming one, I'll do a more accurate job, even though I still did a pretty okay job on this one. Need to be a perfectionist :)
One of the things I liked about lighting design too was spec-ing the gear; a fresnel is different from a parcan is different than a leko. Each has its purpose. I like that a lot, and it's part of what design is all about. You pick certain metals or plastics over each other also based on their material properties. That's part of design. I don't agree with people who say "I don't care; that's not for me to figure out; I just draw squiggly lines and sketch and someone else figurees it out". J0bs cared about that stuff, and THAT is why his products affected so many people; he was into craftsmanship. This lady I saw last week, a goddess in design right now, was the same. She knew a LOT about materials; glass, ceramic, wood, metals, etc.  In a lot of the schools today, that is neglected, and then the graduates wonder why they can't find any jobs. Hmm...
Also, this is kind of analogous to illustration and design, I guess. I've seen mechanical engineers that will proto-type a design and it's not perfect, but the machinists can look at the prototype (even just a blue-print) and do a spot on, accurate version or mass version of the same thing. Interesting to think about. I guess, in the same way, if you're a designer you don't need to be the BEST machinist; I do enjoy machining a lot, though; it's very Zen in many ways. You get carried away, especially on the mill for me, where everything is measured out and you measure the read outs. Great skill to have; makes you a better everything!