Between the Lines

Big Hearty Autodesk Welcome to Tinkercad

Autodesk announced yesterday at Maker Faire which is essentially the center of the universe event for DIY & Makers our intent to acquire Tinkercad. Tinkercad is an easy-to-use browser-based 3D design tool and will become part of the popular Autodesk 123D family of apps and supports Autodesk’s vision to help anybody imagine, design and create anything..  The addition of Tinkercad to Autodesk will help broaden the  The acquisition will also revive the Tinkercad service and community, despite a previously announced shutdown by its founders and creators.

Tinkercad has been one of the favorite tools of many Makers just wanting a simple web based 3D design tool to create 3D models for 3D printing. With Autodesk as a new parent and placed into 123D Family it is not only not going away as was the case before Autodesk, but it will be improved and given much love and attention.

Tinkercad Blog Post:
Tinkercad has found a new home at Autodesk

Go give Tinkercad a try, its super simple and a fun way to create 3D geometry for 3D printing or just for fun.

http://www.tinkercad.com

 

Autodesk Press Release:
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 18, 2013-- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK)

"We are excited to have reached an agreement with Autodesk that will provide a solid home and bright future for Tinkercad," said Kai Backman, founder of Tinkercad. "We found in Autodesk a shared vision for empowering students, makers and designers with accessible and easy to use software, and with their global reach and expertise in democratizing design, we're confident in their ability to introduce Tinkercad to new audiences around the world."

Autodesk intends for the Tinkercad service to remain available as part of its consumer portfolio. The company also intends to incorporate elements of the Tinkercad technology and user experience into the Autodesk 123D family of products as part of its ongoing effort to make 3D design easier and more accessible to everyone. The transaction is expected to close within the next 30 days.

"Tinkercad is a natural extension of the Autodesk 123D family as well as our other apps and services for consumers, as it is already used alongside Autodesk products," said Samir Hanna, Autodesk vice president, consumer products. "We look forward to welcoming the Tinkercad community to Autodesk and to continuing their mission of accessible 3D design for all."

Related articles

TinkerCAD reopens, purchased by AutoDesk

Tinkercad is Back! Autodesk is Buying It

Autodesk Saves Tinkercad from Extinction

Autodesk buys Tinkercad, saving the easy to use Web-based 3D modeling tool from closure

Tinkercad Acquired by Autodesk

The Coolest 3D Printed Speakers in the World

3D printing is now a viable technique for manufacturing highly customized, consumer-ready products. Designers can now go from concept to reality 100% digitally.

My Autodesk teammates Arthur Harsuvanakit and Evan Atherton are an amazing dynamic duo (3Duo) researching digital design, fabrication, and 3D printing technologies. They have developed some 3D printed speaker enclosures after Maurice Conti said “Hey, this would make a cool speaker” and then determined the project goals. The first speaker appeared on the cable channel Current TV with Autodesk CEO Carl Bass as well as featured in my Autodesk University 2012 session.

Now the 3Duo Arthur and Evan have taken the 3D printed speaker concept much further. They designed and 3D printed a new set of speakers in multiple materials using a Stratasys Objet Connex 500 printer and then incorporate LED lighting by startup LumiGeek.  If you are going to have a one of a kind set of speakers, why not really challenge what can be done and make them really wild and not only play cool music but light up LED lights in patterns synchronized to the music.

YouTube video of the speaker pulsing to the beat of music. http://youtu.be/50TBPeu560U

From Evan:
The main goal was not about making something wicked cool, although it was a factor but  more down to earth goals were established for this project.

• Demonstrate 3D printing as viable Manufacturing tool.
• Create something unique, but also useful.
• What can we print vs. what should we print.
• Now that we can print just about anything. We need to take a closer look at what we should be printing.
• In order to understand we must participate (in 3D printing)

How did digital design tools enable this project?

• Combined surface and solid modeling to create a unique design and product.
• Using 3ds Max we were able to pattern in an organic surface modeling environment to allow form exploration. The form exploration in 3ds Max gave us complex shapes and patterns that would be hard in a solid modeling environment.
• Using the Autodesk Labs plugin Mesh Enabler for Autodesk Inventor, the solid model was created from the .STL exported mesh from 3ds Max.
• Using Autodesk Inventor parametric features were created. Working on a solid model parametrically in Inventor is much more accurate for creating the necessary mounting geometry for the speakers and cables, etc.

Note from Shaan:
Now that we are starting to beta test the upcoming Autodesk Fusion 360 product, this might be a great one place to design the entire project. With the freeform sculpting powered by the T-Splines technology and also a top notch parametric design mode. Its like the reeses peanut butter cup of industrial and mechanical design software combining the best of both worlds.

Here are two screenshots showing the larger speaker enclosure design in 3ds Max.

 
3D renderings of the speaker designs.

 

The completed speaker set in the Autodesk Gallery all ready to rock and put on a trance inducing LED light show.

Wired Article on the speakers:
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/04/lumigeek/

Thanks to the mad speaker scientists Arthur & Evan for designing and creating the speakers, and Maurice for challenging and focusing them on this wicked cool project.

Here is the Instructable to create them from Evan:
http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Speaker-Enclosures-With-Lights/

I would like to challenge them to create the ultimate stereo enclosure to make this a complete uniquely styled and created music experience. I would love to bring the cool set to Autodesk University 2013 to show off what can be done with a complete digital design to manufacturing process.

Cheers,
Shaan

MakerBot and Autodesk Partner Up for 3D

The announcement was just made by MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis in speaking at SXSW 2013 and the Autodesk press release just went live announcing Autodesk and MakerBot will be partnering to provide 3D design software and 3D printing hardware to engineers, designers, architects, makers, creators, and artists.

Autodesk and MakerBot have been working together for awhile now on many projects including MakerBot’s Hackathon using Autodesk 123D Catch to capture models of the New York Metropolitan Museum exhibits and 3D print them. There was also the infamous horsehead captured and 3D printed and even larger Bay Bridge lights project. Beyond just capturing 3D geometry using 123D Catch there are many people that use Autodesk software to design in 3D and send their designs to a MakerBot 3D printer myself included.You can use everything from the Autodesk 123D family including 123D Catch, 123D Creature, 123D Design, and 123D Sculpt to the professional Autodesk design software to create 3D models and 3D print them on MakerBot 3D printers.

“Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot, announced the partnership during his Opening Remarks for SXSW 2013, and the companies showcased creatures designed with Autodesk’s new 123D Creature iPad app, which were printed on a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer at SXSW Create Presented by Autodesk.

“Software is key in showcasing the capabilities of 3D printing, and Autodesk’s 123D Creature iPad app is an awesome way to highlight how you can customize a design, make it your own, and print it in 3D on a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer,” noted Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot. “MakerBot prides itself on setting the standard in desktop 3D printing, and now in working with Autodesk, we are also together, setting the standard in providing the leading 3D design software that is optimized for printing on a MakerBot.“

“Our goal is to continue making 3D printing from our applications simpler and more straightforward, and optimizing the Autodesk 123D family to work with MakerBot printers delivers on this promise by enabling our community to print their creations with greater ease,” said Samir Hanna, vice president of Consumer Products at Autodesk. “Our collaboration will help accelerate the next industrial revolution, and we are excited to work with MakerBot to make this happen.”

This might be bigger than a Kardashian wedding, and certainly last longer and be more meaningful.

Raar! Autodesk Releases 123D Creature

Now you can be a monster Maker creating your own 3D creatures on your iPad for only $1.99 limited time pricing. The designs can be shared as well as 3D printed.  Autodesk 123D Creature app.

From Techcrunch:
Autodesk Releases 123D Creature, A Tool To Design, Paint, And Print Your Own 3D Monster stcrn.ch/Uftj0P

Go create your own and don’t forget to tell young kids with access to an iPad to create their own creatures.If robots are more your style check out designing your own robots in 3D using Autodesk 123D Design which there is an iPad version available.

Cheers,
Shaan

123D Make My Day

Autodesk 123D Make 1.1 for Mac and Windows has been released. Autodesk 123D Make is free software that allows you to import a 3D model (STL & OBJ) and slice it up into printed patterns. You can then using the pattern build a 3D model from cardboard, wood, plastic, tin, or even fabric. In the past we have created some really cool 3D models from cardboard including fossils, museum pieces, and even the life sized recyclable cardboard CEO named “Carl’board”.

What's new in 123D Make 1.1 for Mac and Windows:

• Folded panels construction technique. Folded panels can be assembled in a variety of ways; tab and slot, stitching, and many more!
• Multiple improvements for CNC users, including the ability to automatically generate Dogbones and T-Bones on cut slices, and to define the cutter tool diameter in manufacturing settings.
• By popular demand: added export option to output your cut layouts in layered DXF format.

123D Make Video on YouTube

 

 

Download Autodesk 123D Make
http://www.123dapp.com/make#download-make

 

After installing you get the dialog that provides the opportunity to learn about 123D Make. I always try to look at these in any application I install that provides one as there is always something I learn as opposed to just installing a product and blindly exploring and potentially learning bad habits or long methods to do something. I won't hold it against anyone that doesn’t watch the videos and loves the exploration learning software brute force as you notice I said I try to watch them but there are time I just both feet in and go. In the case 123D Make I would suggest taking a couple minutes and just understanding how the UI, navigation, slices and patterns work as that will save you a great deal of time in the long run.

My good friend Dr. Louise Leakey the Turkana Basin Institute & Africanfossils.org has printed the 123D Make created patterns for miniature models of ancient skulls on paper lunch boxes so that kids can cut out and build their own 3D printed skull model after eating their lunch. It also provide a way for almost any classroom to have 3D representations of various fossils, museum specimens, or other 3D objects without requiring a 3D printer or expensive materials. You could also capture something using the free Autodesk 123D Catch and then create a pattern from the created model as that is how we created “Carl’board.”

Using 123D Catch I was able to create a 3D model of my head using just photos.

Using 123D Make I was able to import the OBJ from 123D Catch and proceed to slice it up into patterns to construct a 3D physical model from cardboard.

Don’t have any3D models, no problem as there are many stock and gallery 3D models available for free.

Go have some creative fun as it is like 3D printing, but in an abstract way.

Cheers,
Shaan

Carl Bass on Engineer vs. Designer

I thoroughly enjoyed the return of the Engineer vs. Designer podcast, especially this one featuring Autodesk’s own CEO and chief Maker Carl Bass. The entertaining interview by Josh Mings and Adam OHern was great as it felt almost like I shoulder surfed in on a candid conversation about design software at a lounge somewhere in Brooklyn.

• Who are you, Carl Bass?
• What is up with all the iOS apps? Where are they taking us?
• Where is Autodesk today and where are they going?
• Why CAD in the Cloud? (Fusion 360)
• When can we expect Autodesk hardware?

After the podcast I was left thinking that we Autodesk employees have the most candid, coolest, down to earth, straight talking CEO ever.

Check out the podcast:
http://engineervsdesigner.com/61-autodesk-carl-bass/

Learn to Design for 3D Printing in NYC

If you are in New York City next week you can get a free introduction on how to design for 3D printing with Duann Scott of Shapeways. Learn from the veteran 3D printing Jedi master Duann on how to design and prepare for the materials for the 3D printing process to get the best results for your design and most economically as wasted materials is wasted money with 3D printing. Duann will be using Autodesk’s free and easy 123D Design.

Since it is February 14th aka Valentines Day, feel free to exercise your geeky Maker side by bringing a date and learn how to print your 3D designed valentine heart. If you scare your date away, perhaps it was for the best, and you will be left with more free time and able to concentrate on mastering digital fabrication nirvana.

Sign Up Here

Don't have a 3D Printer, No Problem

I hear it frequently when I speak about 3D Printing “Shaan I don’t have a 3D printer”, but they were not aware there are many printing services available locally and on the web. I think that is the business model 3D printing will be for awhile where the design shops and ultra hobbyists may have a 3D printer, but others designing in 3D can still pay for someone else to create the 3D print for them. I don’t think in the near future every home will have a 3D printer, but I believe they will all have access to one. We are starting to see companies like Staples dabbling in a local 3D print services but I want to see a day where the manufacturers of consumer goods provide free or a for a small fee replacement parts or custom modifications that you can purchase online and then pickup at your local FedEx Kinkos which are located about everywhere. That would save time, energy, warehousing, transportation costs and be better for the environment.

3D Printing - The Future is Coming to a Print Shop Store Near You

A good option is my friends like Duann at Shapeways.com that have some 25+ materials from plastics, ceramics, to metals they can 3D print in and also you can even market and sell your designs on their marketplace. There is also Ponoko, Scultpteo, i.materialize, and many more including if you are  a member of 123D you can get 3D prints.

I currently have a MakerBot Replicator which is great for lower resolution ABS 3D prints and their HUGE freely usable Thingiverse community with 3D models ready to print or mod;

Soon I will have use of a real professional quality 3D printer the Mojo from Stratasys (acquired Objet). I am running to my door each time I hear a UPS truck drive by. Of course even with the Mojo I will still be limited in the number of materials unlike Shapeways and other 3D printing services which have several types of 3D printer types so if I want something other than a plastic I will use my Shapeways buddies.

You can also locate a local hacker space or TechShop and get involved as many of them have 3D printers as well as a host of many other tools for making things.

3D Printing is growing exponentially in use and applications and now including printing living human tissue and organs like the recent announcement of Autodesk and Organovo.

So if you have 3D software from free like the 123D Design & Meshmixer to AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Revit, Maya, Inventor Fusion, Autodesk Inventor, and others chances are you can export a STL file to be printed by a 3D printer and have options to print it. Your not going to be printing your replacement liver or hear, but 3D print your creation in plastics, ceramic, metal, and glass prints are currently possible by everyone.

Duann of Shapeways even printed me some wicked cool fun examples of materials including my cherished Bacon Mobius Strip which you can purchase one yourself!

Happy 3D Printing!

-Shaan

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Now That's a Wrench! Largest 3D Printed Wrench

3D Printing - The Future is Coming to a Print Shop Store Near You

Staples to get in-store 3D printers

A Printrbot Fixed My Dishwasher

100 Ingenious 3D Printer Pieces - From 3D Printed Pasta to Instantaneous 3D Photography (TrendHunter.com)

3D Printing - The Future is Coming to a Print Shop Store Near You

Many people including myself have been predicting some mainstream print center would adopt 3D printing and bring it locally to millions of consumers. Quite frankly I thought it would be FedEx Kinkos first, but it looks like Staples beat them in announcing their intensions for 3D printing.

Staples Fires Warning Flare To 3D Printing Market - Seeking Alpha tinyurl.com/d7hzdz7

I have been talking about this for the past two years including at Autodesk University as it really is a no brainer when you consider the 3D printing and possibilities for consumers without a 3D printer in their home and need a part immediately.

It made perfect sense to me after I had to reverse engineer a plastic part for my clothes dryer and even discussed this on NPR last Spring “New Projects Help 3-D Printing Materialize on NPR.” I thought for small non-critical components it would be nice to have manufacturers provide a STL source file for free or a small charge and save warehouse space, transportation costs, energy, and satisfy customers with an immediate solution instead of waiting for a shipment. I know the lawyers would certainly want a customer agreement that the part produced from the STL was not under their control or liability, and that would be perfectly fine.

If the manufacturers don't embrace this and get in front and lead, people will surely resort to doing it themselves then posting source files online for others on a site like thingiverse.com. If they force the consumer to do it themselves, they will lose all control and the opportunity to be innovative in part supply and personalization of their products as well as make some very happy customers.

Imagine you need a small replacement part for your vacuum or want a custom accessory for your vacuum like a spoiler for your fast Roomba vacuum, a new custom mount for your GoPro camera, or perhaps a personalized smartphone case. Now imagine you simply go to the manufacture and select an option to 3D print the part and have the option to go pick up the 3D part from a local place like Staples 1.8 miles away in x hours for x$ that very same day.

That would, and Will be awesome someday.

-Shaan

Wouldn't it be cool if...

You could engineer a better world? Autodesk’s own Dawn Danby and the independent creative genius Saul Griffith produced a video to inspire young people, teachers, designers, makers and others to dream of all the challenges and things you could do.

Engineering, design, science, experimentation, making things, solving problems, taking on challenges, and yes even math are indeed cool.

http://bit.ly/WJIRcm

Autodesk 123D Makes it on The Top 10 Tech Breakthroughs of 2012

Autodesk’s 123D series of free consumer products like 123D Catch made it into Popular Mechanics Top Ten breakthroughs of 2012 article!
The Top 10 Tech Breakthroughs of 2012

http://bit.ly/UNGxx4

Autodesk University 2012 Social Web Session & Only 105 Days Left

BO2042 Autodesk, the Social Web, and You

The speaker is Dan Zucker Lead on Autodesk Social Media, and I was the co-speaker. This session will be great for anyone wanting to understand social web and media such as Facebook, Twitter, and more with best practices and applies to everyone from customers, partners, and Autodesk employees.

Unfortunately there is currently a class conflict as I have another session at the same time.

AC2231 Capture Objects in 3D and Replicate Them Like the Star Trek® Crew Does.

I am hoping the AU class schedule can be changed and appreciate the complexity of the job managing hundreds of sessions, but if not either session choice will be a good one.

Update: BO2042 is now 8am on Thursday. Thank you AU Speaker Team. Yay!

My other sessions at AU2012:
My Sessions for Autodesk University 2012

Reminder:

There are only 105 days until Autodesk University 2012!

Cheers,
Shaan

Kenya Changed Me and I Will Never Be The Same

I recently was in in extremely Northern Kenya near the Ethiopian border on Lake Turkana for a few weeks with Dr. Louise Leakey, Deming Yang of Kenya National Museum, and my colleague Gonzalo Martinez for an Autodesk research project. It changed my perspective on the world, and life.

Some blog articles on the research project.

Capturing Ancient Remains in Kenya with a Remote Octo-Copter
Autodesk Octo-Copter Video of Kenya
Back from Kenya
I Kissed a Giraffe, and I Think I Liked It...
Never Sleep Near a Hyrax
3D Fossil Exploration in a Virtual Laboratory

Hover over images for descriptions of the photos.

    
The people of Northern Kenya need a helping hand to lift themselves out of the poverty and limited options of just goat herding. There could be the next brilliant engineer, architect or scientist, but they may never get the opportunity to fully live to their potential and make a difference in the world ort their local communicates. They need more than just being manual labor in their life. The proud and humble local people also need help in education so their only skill is not their hard backbreaking labor in a hot poverty and drought stricken area.

One quote from a Ethiopian tribal elder is forever stuck in my mind, he said through a translator through three languages looking at us in our clothes, with cameras, GPS, and a remote controlled copter “you have too much stuff in your life.” He was adorned in minimal traditional tribal clothing, a stick, and a round wood carving to lay his head on to sleep and can move his families shelter in minutes to a new location in search for food and water which they dig in the sand for by hand. They live as they did for thousands of years. Just imagine if he had seen where we  live and our homes and all the stuff in them.

These people are extremely resourceful given little materials and I called them the “Ultimate Makers.” In remote regions there are no stores or Home Depots or 3D printers. They find scrap materials, and build what they need. Simply amazing ingenuity and they are really smart.

If I had no obligations in my life, I would dedicate my life to building schools and helping provide a better life for the amazing people and children. Typically only one child per family can go to a cinder block school where they might get some food, but are starving for education and have nothing but old ragged clothes and ancient books. Their siblings sit across the road some without any clothes hoping their brother or sister would pass on the knowledge they learned that day. Some walk 6 hours each way to attend school for an hour of education. We visited two schools while there to tell them they can do and be anything..They need more opportunities and schools and volunteers. It would be amazing to get Khan academy involved in helping educate these children as well as more schools and supplies, even clothes.

You don't have any idea how well we have it compared to some people around the world. Comparing the education in the US and those in Kenya is a great divide as the Kenyans want to learn and don't complain about school conditions, teachers, locker size, homework etc. The Kenyan students attend regardless of all the obstacles and challenges in their life, and they appreciate it and see it as a real opportunity to change their lives and people. The young Kenyan students lucky enough to go to school will walk miles barefoot in hot sand and thorns and perjhaps a scorpion or venomous snake along the way to get to their small cinder block school with no fans or AC just so they can get an education, but I am not sure how many in US or Western world have the same passion for school even though they have so many more opportunities.

If I do one thing that makes me feel like a difference in my life to make a better world besides building my beautiful family and career, I will do everything I can to help the people I met in Northern Kenya and people less fortunate elsewhere around the world. An internal fire has been lit in me.

I am forever thankful for Dr. Louise Leakey for opening my heart and eyes to the world far away and Autodesk for allowing me to participate in the Octo Copter research project in remote Northern Kenya where most people never go. Autodesk is a company known for design, visualization software, technology, and services.

Sincere gratitude to my management and people like Carl Bass, Jeff Kowalski, Amar Hanspal, Brian Mathews, Jon Pittman, and of course the Turkana Basin Institute’s Dr. Louise Leakey who made it all possible for taking our Octo-Copter for testing in remote Northern Kenya. You have forever changed me and given me the goal and fire to do something.

Autodesk is not just about selling software or making profits, but have a very active philanthropic program to Build a Better World. Autodesk is a company with a big heart. We at Autodesk are not just a corporation, but people that really truly care about our world, environment, and its people.

I challenge everyone to try and make a difference to someone else they meet less fortunate to gain an education.

Sincerely,
Shaan

3D Print Protects Your Garden

Perhaps you’re a gardener and have seen these evil little butterflies (Cabbage Moth / Cabbage Butterfly Plutella xylostella, Pieris rapae) that lay eggs on cabbage, then the caterpillars devour your vegetables. Why is it this is the only butterfly that I don’t like and does bad things? It is referred to as both a moth and butterfly so I will assume it is more annoying moth than a delicate innocent beautiful butterfly. It turns out these little delicate insects are highly territorial and wont go into a garden area where another is. I wonder what a butterfly fight looks like…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage_butterfly
http://www.yates.co.nz/problem-solver/problems/cabbage-moth-cabbage-butterfly/

Old remedies were to spray tons of nasty chemicals all over everything, spread egg shells in your garden, or place white paper butterfly decoys - but now we have 3D printing.

So I designed a 3D cabbage butterfly in AutoCAD end used STLOUT or 3DPRINT command to generate a STL file for use by 3D printers. I could also have easily designed the 3D Butterfly and generated an STL 3D Print export using the free 123D solid modeling software. I then printed it on my MakerBot Replicator and then affixed it with fishing line to some 1/8” copper wire.

The detailed steps to create a decoy to keep other real cabbage butterflies away has been posted as an Instructable on instructables.com http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printing-a-Cabbage-Moth-Butterfly-Decoy-to-Sa/

The 2D DWG and 3D STL source files are posted on Thingiverse at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26719

I hope the decoys keep these little hungry cabbage eaters out of the garden this year.

Cheers,
Shaan

New Projects Help 3-D Printing Materialize on NPR

This weekend I was doing things and started getting emails, tweets, and Facebook posts that I was on NPR. Back in March I was at the 123D event in New York City with many of our partners in the Maker movement and a gentleman approached me to discuss 123D, 3D Printing, and 123D Catch, and the practical possible uses of these technologies. Turns out this gentleman was from NPR and just published his story and interview edited clips.

Here is the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/07/156416954/new-projects-help-3-d-printing-materialize

Two clarifications should be noted.

The first in the misspelling of my name, but then again most people misspell my name as it is an odd spelling “Shaan” not “Sean”, or “Shawn” but phonetically the same. No biggie.

Secondly I was talking about two Autodesk free products. The clip was modeled in 123D which is a free 3D solid modeler and use the “Print to 3D” option to create the STL to send to my MakerBot Replicator. Why model a dryer door clip, well mine kept breaking in the dryer I have and it was ABS the same material I can 3D print from and also the same material LEGOs are made of. The part was $39 and 2-4 weeks to get a replacement or I could easily design and 3D print one myself in about an hour using about $1.50 in materials.I printed it then placed the metal clips from the broken clip and it worked.

Note to consumer goods manufactures of parts made from ABS, make your parts available for free on Thingiverse or a small fee so that customers can 3D print their own replacement part otherwise they will just reverse engineer it themselves using free software and do it anyways. I would certainly purchase a consumer product that offered some 3D placement parts as STL files. They could also partner with an online 3D printing service such as Shapeways or local 3D print shops so that one could simply go to the manufactures site select the part and then get a notice the part can be picked up at XYZ local 3D print company or that it is shipping from an online partner or even the manufacturer. Imagine all the saved fuel and time as the part no longer is manufactured in Timbuktu then shipped across the ocean and stored in a warehouse waiting for someone to order it. Makes perfect sense to me.

I also mentioned in another cut of the edited interview the other product 123D Catch which can create 3D textured models from photos taken with a standard digital camera.

Here is my post from the event: New 123D Catch for Windows, Web Hosted, and Apple iPad Available and FREE

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever end up on NPR.

Cheers,
Shaan

MakerBot and Met Museum Puts Historic Artwork In Your Hands

Our wildly creative 3D mad scientist friends at MakerBot recently gathered a group of artists and captured several objects in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in a Hackathon event using Autodesk’s own 123D Catch which is free and available to use on your PC, your iPad or on the web. They were then able to create 3D prints from their MakerBot 3D printers as well they posted many on the Thingiverse for everyone to mod or print.

• Met MakerBot Hackathon: Art To The People!

• Met 3-D: The Museum's First 3-D Scanning and Printing

• Met Heads Collection, Available On Thingiverse

• Met MakerBot Hackathon Art Now On Thingiverse!

• Pictures from the Met MakerBot Hackathon

Another pseudo related MakerBot & 123D Catch post from the MakerBot blog:
For Your Next Trip To The Wax Museum “Your Fired!”

Experimenting on what you can capture of the world around you using a standard digital camera or iPad is what all the fun and excitement is about. Give Autodesk 123D Catch a try along with the other great & free Autodesk 123D products like 123D, 123D Make, 123D Sculpt.

I wish I could have been at the event with Bre Pettis and the group but I was doing some research in the wilds of Kenya.

Cheers,
Shaan

(photo credit: MakerBot Flickr Photostream: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzLV8cq)

Autodesk 123D Make Available – Make 3D Models Real

In the first release of Autodesk 123D Make it was available for only the Mac and took imported 3D models and sliced them into patterns so that you could create a real 3D object. Now there is not only a new version of 123D Make for the Mac but also for Windows as well as a web hosted version.

Now you can take a 3D model from the community gallery or one you captured or created and create the pattern to create a cardboard 3D sculpture. You can select several methods and materials as well as get a nice animated assembly sequence. The generated pattern or plan can be exported and printed as an EPS or PDF with each piece mark on the plans for easy assembly. The numbers come in handy when you have a huge sculpture.

Here is a 3D shark model sliced up into a cardboard pattern. This a Maker version of sushi!

 
Autodesk 123D Make Assembly Animation

Here is the web hosted version that runs on the Google Chrome browser or with the Chrome frame extension in IE.
http://apps.123dapp.com/make/

 

 

I know of a person who used the generated pattern to print on school children's cardboard lunchboxes in Africa. After the children ate their lunch they were able to cut out and glue the pattern to create a skull of a 3 million year old human ancestor and learn a great deal about science as well as a cool 3D model to take with them.

The 123D products are free so go Design, Capture, Make, and Share!

Cheers,
Shaan

New 123D Catch for Windows, Web Hosted, and Apple iPad Available and FREE

Capture the world in 3D using your Camera using 123D Catch on your desktop, web or iPad!

Autodesk 123D Catch is a technology where you take photos with your digital camera and then using cloud computing it constructs a textured 3D mesh model. There are three new flavors of this delicious 3D treat - one for the Windows desktop, one for the Apple iPad, and one web hosted version you run in a browser.

The desktop version of Autodesk 123D Catch contains some changes from the previous version such as a new My Corner where your projects are stored and the Gallery feature where you can share and explore other peoples creations.

There is now a mobile version for the iPad version named 123D Catch Mobile and available free in the Apple App store (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/123d-catch/id513913018?mt=8). Autodesk 123D Catch Mobile currently supports the iPad 2 & 3 as they both have a camera. You launch 123D Catch Mobile and then simply tap the screen to take a picture in series around the object you wish to capture. It takes only about 20-30 photos for most objects and then uploads those to the server to process.
Update: This mobile app is currently restricted to the North American Apple App store. We have launched first in North America and plan to roll out to the rest of the world as we learn how people are using the apps and the cloud service so we can be sure everyone has the best possible experience and we can scale up to meet the demand.

Here is a photo of me on 123D Catch Mobile on my iPad 3 capturing some 3D textured models of ancient rock art sites in Southern Utah. I climbed up the rock wall like a mountain goat holding an iPad and stood precariously on the ledge to capture the petroglyphs.

Capturing a 3D model of a special decorated VW bug.

One of my favorite features of 123D Catch Mobile besides it being on my mobile device is that once your 3D models are created you can use the built in iPad gyro combined with your fingers pinching to orbit and view the object.

For more complex and higher resolution model captures I would suggest using a standard digital camera and the desktop version of 123D Catch but having a mobile version of 123D Catch is very convenient and fun.

There is now a web hosted version of 123D Catch so that almost anyone that can get on the web can use 123D Catch. This is really useful for those on a Mac as there is no current Mac native version of 123D Catch. The web hosted version of 123D Catch requires that you use the Google Chrome browser or the Chrome frame extension for IE. http://apps.123dapp.com/catch 

You can also take the 3D models you create and use them in animations in 3ds max or Maya or other 3D software, make a 3D print on a MakerBot or even send them to Autodesk 123D Make (also free) and create a pattern to build a real object from cardboard, acrylic or plywood. Yes imagine your own head as a 6 foot tall cardboard sculpture.
 

See my post today on 123D Make  http://bit.ly/KLSCxU 

Spread the word and capture the world around you!

Happy Capturing!
Shaan

Personalized Candy Dispenser

Several people have noticed recent images appearing in online articles and on the 123D Catch page of a 3D head created using 123D Catch, and thought it looked like me.

It is indeed me and my head in 3D created by the fun 123D Team.

I am going to take the model and articulate it to a real functioning candy dispenser in real-life as a 3D print.
Why? It is not to just creep out even more people, but encourage people to think about how the new technologies allow people to capture and create almost anything you can think of from the practical to uniquely fun ideas. I have found if you start showing practical examples people tend to not think about all the possible work flows and uses, but when someone demonstrates a technology using a fun crazy example it tends to get more attention and people thinking about the potential practical uses. So while you could capture your head and modify it in Autodesk applications and then 3D print it, you could also capture a historic building feature or a sculpture in 3D for a historic preservation or restoration purposes.

Give 123D Catch a try as a new version has been posted for free download. There is also a new mobile version for the Apple iPad coming soon and you can enter your email to be notified when it is available.

Cheers,
Shaan

TED 2012 - Master Class “RIP It MOD It FAB It”

Re-imagining Design and Manufacturing in the future

Tatjana Dzambazova, Technology Whisperer, Maker Extraordinaire, and Autodesk Sr. Product Manager hosted two live Master Class sessions at TED 2012 Monday this week titled “RIP MOD FAB Re-imagining Design and Manufacturing in the future. 

Tatjana’s preview video of the TED 2012 workshop: http://youtu.be/rrtysl-lcyc

The class flow was a 30 minute lecture with live demonstrations and then followed by a conversation and workshop. Tatjana covered three areas (RIP MOD FAB)  from urban level down all the way down to the nano level. She covered the available technologies, convergences, and use cases.

  

 

RIP It
From analog to digital: Using Reality Capture technologies like laser scanning and photogrammetry using Autodesk 123D Catch down to micro sensors and DNA sequencing.

Examples: digital historic preservation, education and access to scientific research such as paleontologist Louise Leakey captured important hominid and fauna fossils to 3D digital models for everyone to explore on AfricanFossils.org, real live measurement of energy performance of buildings, or just for fun.

MOD It
Modifying of digitized data (analysis, simulation) and the revolution that infinite computing brings.

FAB It
From digital back to analog: Discussed various democratized fabrication methods, laser cutting and 3d printing and the power it brings to anyone creative to participate in the creation of the world around us.

Examples: Laser cutting designs and prototypes for work, education, art or for fun. 3D printing objects, food, homes, bio printing and DNA printing, art, or just for fun.

Workshop material: Introduced Autodesk 123D Make that takes any 3D digital model and produces a vector, laser cut pattern that can construct that 3D model out of flat parts.

 

Attendees were then gathered around the machines such as the MakerBot, FARO Laser Scanner, NEXTEngine scanner, Epilog laser cutter where they received instructions about the machines, as well as instructions about the provided assembly kits that they grabbed to take and make themselves after TED.

Some of the kits

         

Attendees also received a Headphone Wrap creation by post grad student Alex Wall sponsored by Ponoko .

 

Check out the free Autodesk 123D Apps that support key parts of the personal fabrication / maker movement.

Maker Startup Weekend at TechShop San Francisco

This is a first ever event held by TechShop in San Francisco March 2nd through the 4th 2012. TechShop is like a gym membership for people who want to design and make their own items (personal fabrication). Imagine access to CNC machines, welding equipment, silk screen printers, woodworking equipment, computer workstations with software, 3D scanner and 3D printer, classes, and more without having to build a shop an spend your life's savings on the equipment for it. TechShop has several locations and expanding to more locations, I just hope one gets launched near me in Salt Lake so I have a place to work out my maker skills and unleash more of my warped creativity on the world.

Get ready for the first ever Maker Startup Weekend!

TechShop San Francisco and Autodesk will be hosting this new trend in venture creation—a 54-hour event where developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch startups. This special Maker Startup Weekend will infuse the typical web-based Startup Weekend format with the rapid prototyping and product development capabilities made possible by Autodesk and TechShop. This is the first Maker Weekend specifically geared toward making physical objects to bring to market. The possibilities are endless.

In addition to the weekend event, there will be an intensive day-long maker workshop on Friday, March 2nd. Participants will have the opportunity to take a series of classes in cutting-edge technologies and design software. The courses will be run by Autodesk and TechShop professionals.

Sunday evening will feature an open-to-the-public event wherein each team gives a presentation of their product before a panel of judges. Interested in checking out the result of this amazing weekend? 
Maker Startup Weekend's Website

I am not sure if I will be in San Francisco that weekend but if I am I would definitely be at this event.

Cheers,
Shaan