Lab 1 – Computer 3D Design

Intro

For my first render I decided to make a 3D model of a computer. Due to the fact that I have never used fusion before I thought this would be a good model to begin with. Computers are generally blocky and don’t contain complex shapes which made it ideal for this lab.

My Process

I began by building the bottom portion of the computer and moving my way up. During my process I found some things easier than others. I’ll begin with what was easy to me.

• Drawing to grid and extruding.
• Navigation
• Shape manipulation

After getting a hang of the basics, all of the above skills were easy to replicate and do continuously. Much of the 3D model was created using a combination of these tools. If you are just beginning with Fusion 3D modeling like me, I would recommend the best skill to learn is drawing to grids and navigation. By learning these skills you are able to begin making many different objects at a fast pace. In the image below, you are able to see that much of the model is able to be constructed simply drawing from the grid then extruding.

While some things came easy there were many problems I encountered. For example:

• Copying and moving objects
• Assigning materials

When I was making the keys on the keyboard for the model I tried to copy and move a single key. What I found was because the block had already been extruded I wasn’t able to copy the key directly. A spent some time trouble shooting this but decided it was more worth my time to create the keys manually. I was a bit disappointed I wasn’t able to figure out this mechanic. I think that copy pasting will be a very useful skill to master going forward.

I also found placing materials on faces did not work as I expected. My mistake was that most of the model is not separated into different objects/faces. When I went to place materials it would be placed on many more surfaces than I expected. Even through a lot of trouble shooting I was not able to place many of the materials that I wanted to. Due to this I ended up taking a more simple approach when it came to the materials of the model.

Before you see my interactive sample, I did want to point out somethings. One, it appears that there is not an indent for the screen which on my own rendering is visible. I made this indent very small but should have been still visible. You can see this indent in the snapshot below.

I also found that the materials appeared very different when rendered vs not. While this of course the render will look different from the modeling version, I did not think the difference would be so considerable.

Interactive Sample

Final Thoughts

I found the process of creating the 3D model very fulfilling and fun. On top of that, it is clear to see how this can be an important tool for the humanities. Being able to represent real world objects in a almost exact digital representation serves as a powerful tool. Being able to distribute, share, and collaborate on projects with minimal resources and effort means we are able to further the field of humanities faster than every before. Without such technologies, many projects would take a substantially higher amount of resources and time.