To complete Lab 1, I decided to construct a mug, specifically a good old-fashioned world’s best mug. I think the process is incredibly difficult when starting out and walking through all the tools, such as how the extrude tool works and when to put in negative signs for some of the different functions. Another one of the most challenging things is figuring out how the sketch should look before starting to use the tools to enhance the 3D aspect of the thing you are trying to make. Something I found frustrating was the text and trying to orient it on the side of the mug rather than the front. For some reason, I just couldn’t get the text to be projected on the side of the mug, so I decided to compromise and leave the text on the front.
Something I wish I had figured out sooner is the sketch tool. While it may seem like the most basic tool, for some reason, it was really hard for me to imagine how the original design would look. A tip I would give for this tool is to take a deep breath and keep the sketch simple because after you have that simple shape and design, there are so many other useful tools you can use to mold that sketch. When it comes to what humanistic uses I envision for this in areas of research or teaching. I think that when it comes to teaching using the dimensions and sketch function in order to understand area and volume. For research, it could be used to visualize possible projects that research is backing, such as research about the accessibility of walkways and stairs. I believe that using the program to visualize possible solutions is possible when it comes to humanistic research.
