2D-3D | Line to plane
Contents
Introduction
The laser cutter and engraver is a surprising tool. Most people understand it as a 2D tool, cutting flat shapes and making marks in their surfaces. This it does very well, but it can also be used to fabricate highly complex 3D form through the application of modulated sectioning.
Our project will involve an exercise in cutting and engraving 2D work and an art work that introduces 3D work through a CAD modeling program.
Objectives
After completing this project you will be able to:
- Understand and use visual principles and elements relating to 2D and 3D art
- Discover and develop hidden geometric structure that determines or describes form
- Generate sophisticated line art and flat graphics, and transform it into laser-ready vector work
- Use a CAD modeling program to generate an abstracted form, and to transform it into modulated sections
- Use a laser cutter to cut and engrave sheet good materials
- Fasten and join material together in expressive ways
Fusion 360 how-tos
In this project you’ll have items to share that are simple but not intuitive:
- An embed for the cloud-based Fusion 360 model.
- A link to the model in your Digital Archive.
- The .jpg rendering or renderings of the same model.
These how-to workflows are accompanied by non-narrated screen captures.
Embed a model
- Open your model in Fusion 360, and in the Data Panel, click on the icon for Open on the Web (a little eye in front of a globe), near the top of the model list.
- This opens in https://myhub.autodesk360.com/ … you may need a user/pass to enter. Select the model file from the list.
- Click the Share link. In the dialog, turn Share on if needed, then click on Embed, select a size, and copy the embed code.
- Go to your WordPress Dashboard, and in your post content editor, select the Text tab, then Paste.
- Update and view the post with your embed! An example can be seen here.
Create a link
- While in https://myhub.autodesk360.com/ … click the Share link. In the dialog, click on Copy Link.
- In OneDrive, go to your Digital Archive folder named Project 01 and select +New.
- In the dropout menu, select Link and paste the copied link under Create link to.
Rendering
- Open your model in Fusion 360, and in the workspace dropout menu at upper left, find and select Render.
- In the Render Workspace, find and select Render menu, and in the dropout, select Render.
- In the Render Settings dialog box, select Custom, then:
- Under Image Size choose a preset (1920×1080 is a good all-purpose alternative).
- Under Render With select Local Renderer.
- Under Render Quality select Final (75).
- Select the Render button.
- In the Rendering Gallery at bottom, observe the progress thumbnail (it can take a few minutes).
- Select the finished render thumbnail, and in the Rendering Gallery dialog box that opens on click:
- Find and select the Download icon (an arrow above a horizontal line).
- In the Save As window, name the file and choose a location to save your render as a .png file.
- Copy this image to your WordPress Media Library or image hosting service to conventionally embed the image in the blog post.