For those of you not aware that it exists, or maybe just never tried it, I wanted to introduce you to Autodesk 123D. 123D prides themselves on being a free software for people who want to make things themselves. To date there are eight tool in the portfolio. They are built to run on your computer or on an app on your smart phone/tablet. Here's a snap shot list of what they are.
123D Catch:
Create 3D scans of virtually any object using your iPhone, iPad, or any camera.
123D Circuits:
Design, compile, and simulate your next electronic projects online.
123D Design:
Powerful, yet simple 3D creation and editing tool which supports many new 3D printers.
123D Make:
Turn your amazing 3D models into even more amazing do-it-yourself 3D puzzles.
Meshmixer:
Meshmixer is the ultimate tool for 3D remixes. Mash, mix, sculpt, stamp or paint your own 3D designs.
123D Sculpt+:
Easiest way to create and 3D print any imaginable character using your iPad.
Tinkercad:
Tinkercad is a free, easy-to-learn online app anyone can use to create and print 3D models.
Tinkerplay:
Autodesk Tinkerplay is a free app that lets you design and customize your own creatures and characters on your mobile device and make them real using a 3D printer.
So what's in it for you, why do you care that Autodesk is making these consumer levels programs/apps? For me it was about finding another way to connect with my kids. I have two daughters, the oldest just turned five and she enjoys being outside with her dad when I'm working on projects. The funny thing is most the time rather than helping me she ends up stealing my scraps, enter her fantasy-land, and build something out of them. I'm all about getting that creative mind going and away from just watch something on the iPad or playing some video game/app. I took this as an opportunity to show her what her dad does for works and make something fun with her at the same time.
One of my daughter new favorite movies is "Big Hero 6", by Disney. She love Baymax as was thrilled when she got to meet him as Disneyland last year. I though why don't we take an afternoon and build one. So I turned to 123D Make. This desktop moblie app alows you to print out plans and build it out of the material of your choice. Not quit as elaberate as Hiro and Tadashi make in the movei but my daughter was hapy with the end result. We chose cardboard for our project. But first we needed a 3D model, so I turned to the web to see if there was something out there that had already been modeled. Sure enough I found one, so I proceeded to downloaded the file. It just so happened to be an OBJ file created in 3ds Max. After doing some clean up in Fusion360 (I'll have to share some tips on that later) I had a good model to bring into 123D Make to start slicing up to make our plans.
So how does 123D Make make anything? They break into down into 3 Steps: (this is using the desktop application as it has more functionality)
1) Choose you model (reads stl & obj) and choose your construction method (stacked slices, interlocked slices, curve, radial slices, folded panels, & 3D slices). There are tool to modify the number of slices or plains, the direction of the slices, angles, as well as thickness of material you will be using. We choose the Stacked slices for our Baymax.
Stacked Slices:
Interlocked slices:
Curve:
Radial Slices:
Folded Panels
3D Slices:
2) Auto-create your 2D plans. So not much for you to do here other than picking out your construction method, decide on the material of choice, and plan how you will be cutting it out. You can export the plans to be used with a laser cuter or another high-end CNC cutting device. Or you can export them to a plotter or printer via a PDF file. If your using a printer or plotter you will need to take the plots/prints and transfer them over to your material so you can cut out the shapes. We choose cardboard for our Baymax and kept our design down to what would be printed on standard 8.5x11in. piece of paper. We then used and razorblade knife and scissors to cut out the shapes from our cardboard. (Example of the Print out can be seen above in the construction type example images)
3) Make you Object. Once you have you pieces cut it's time to construct you model. There are video assembly instruction that are created in the application. I didn't use them with my daughter but it was nice to have for first time users to understand how the model is to be constructed. We used a glue stick to fuse our cardboard cutouts together.
In summary find using Autodesk's consumer apps, like 123D Make, is a way to get the younger generation excited and involved in technology. I hope you can try some of them for yourself and get young kids excited about a future using Autodesk tools & technology. You might just be surprised and also find a way to use them at work too!
-Travis @travis36evans
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