Thursday, July 3, 2014

3D Spaceships!

I attended a 3D printing class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) this evening...and we made spaceships

I was a little late in joining one of the scheduled 3D printing classes being offered at MODA, and I'm so glad I made it to one of them. And I'm ecstatic that there was a spaceship option!

There are still a number of classes available, specific to adults, families, and kids.


3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)

Yes, I've been writing about MODA a lot lately, but if you know me at all, you know that it's one of my favorite museums in Atlanta. They have done a brilliant job of creating a "community", something other attractions do and do well, but MODA is exceptional at it. I even made a couple of new friends tonight. 

So, MODA has had three MakerBot 3D printers for the last couple of exhibitions and they've hosted a number of 3D printing classes, some of them themed to specific items, such as tonight's spaceship theme.

By a count of hands, our class decided to build a Star Wars X-wing Starfighter!


3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)

The above photo is the work of classmate Andy, the model in the foreground being the object from which we worked. Actually, that's not totally correct...we worked from the brilliant tutorship of Neil Miller, MODA staff member and a designer. 

At the beginning of class Neil passed around several 3D printed spaceships...an X-wing Starfighter, a Millennium Falcon, and a U.S.S. Enterprise, as well as a 3D printed titanium ring that he himself designed. Of course I tried it on, and it fit! But alas, the ring wasn't on the auction block...I'll have to design my own!

Neil explained that 3D printing is a popular nickname for additive printing and a few other technical aspects of the technology, as well as color blocks—actual blocks—of the various colors available at MODA, my favorite being the transparent red!


3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)

I'd met Neil at MODA quite some time ago (and appreciate his calling me by name during the class), and have seen him teaching other classes. He'd already shared a fair amount about 3D printing with me, as a visitor, but experiencing his tutelage as an instructor...the man is totally brilliant! And he possesses an amazing sense of humor, which he cleverly disguises, but it doesn't slip past a master sci-fi enthusiast. 


3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)

The application we used tonight is a free multi-dimentional design program called "Tinkercad". 

Now...I think I'm a fairly bright and definitely a highly-skilled corporate communicator, but I've never used a design application like this. I know DreamWeaver and PhotoShop and Sony Vegas video editing...I do as much design work as I do writing, but this was a new—and exciting—experience! In the end, I learned a fair amount, given the newness of the program for me.


3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)

However, my classmates were not only fellow sci-fi enthusiasts—we were ALL making spaceships, after all—they were quite brilliant designers. Neil complimented one guy on creating a number of 'extra' elements for a 'traditional' X-wing Starfighter! 

Everyone's excitement and enthusiasm was remarkable and rewarding...I felt lucky to have joined such a fun group of fellow classmates.


3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
3D Printing Class at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)

I had the honor of sitting next to Nicole, she and Andy were last-minute additions to the class (Thank you, Neil!), who was super excited about being able to participate...I knew immediately they would be great fun! 

Andy designed a perfect X-wing Starfighter, which you saw above, and Nicole designed her own custom, "star-studded" spaceship. 

One of the things that I love most about the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), which I've mentioned a number of times, is the community they've developed over the years. Attend an exhibition opening, go on a Field Trip, take a class...you'll discover for yourself the wonderful people who are part of the MODA family and MODA community.

Now, let me leave you with an absolutely brilliant video that Neil shared with us...



1 comment:

Terry said...

Chuck Norris still rules the Piano Guys.