ThingiThursday SmartObjects
Earlier this week we brought you news of the demo release of Pirate3D’s SmartObjects, a 3D modelling tool designed for the layman, and if there’s one thing I am when it comes to 3D modelling it is a layman, in fact more like a lame man…
I downloaded the demo to my, much derided but much loved by its owner, Google Nexus 4, because iOS doesn’t do demos… anyway no fanboy wars here. Guess what? It works! I took a mushroom and turned it into my idea of a stand for the above-mentioned smartphone, simply by adding dots to a very intuitive line drawing, which renders right in front of your eyes instantly.
I downloaded my STL and hey presto! I’ve got my first 3D model semi-designed by yours truly, not so lame man any more hey?
Well, not quite, it was pointed out to me on the Google Plus 3D printing community that my item would never survive a 3D print. Back to the SmartObjects touchable drawing board it was then.
Heeding the advice of my peers I designed a much simpler object, a nice, if rather small vase. Again this was literally ten minutes of spare time playing with a demo of the app on a smartphone but I was still able to create something fairly impressive.
The real test would of course come in the 3D printing, running my design through netfabb seemed to tell me that it was pretty much fine, I hit the automatic repair button, better to be safe than sorry and all that jazz and imported it into the UP! software.
The UP! software automatically orientated the object for me and reliably informed me that with a resolution of 0.15mm on normal speed I’d have my vase in four hours.
Four hours later and voila a 3D print, designed by me, I’m proud as punch, from my brain to my hands in four-to-five hours? Whether you love this technology or loathe it, things are speeding up.
And what of the vase I here you say? Well it’s come in handy as an UP! tool-kit pot…
