Tools, Tips & Tidbits - What I’m Learning

[MaKim]

Hi everyone - I’m copying @Josh-3D and @Johnny_Bit in creating a thread here to collect some occasional updates. I feel like most of us are just learning as we go & I wanted to share some of the small things I’m picking up along the way in case they’re of use to anyone else.

Hand-Drawn Animation for Model GIFs

Many projects have motion or some kind of interactive component which can be hard to communicate in a photo or GIF. While I had a crowfdunding campaign running, I took a break from that project to work on an interactive itemI- 've been experimenting with adding animations to help illustrate its function.

The iPad app Looom allows you to sketch simple drawings frame-by-frame but you can also sketch ‘live’ while the animation is running.

Here’s an experiment where I’m trying to show paths in assembly instructions where users will be threading string through parts:

Here are a few thumbnails where I was experimenting with type that could animate on top of a photo/video to show an action. In this case, parts snapping together:

I’ve been slowly trying to learn DaVinci Resolve (free) and you can use it to layer these animations on top of video. Do do so:

• In Looom, change your background to black and lines to white.
• Press the Rec button in Looom to record a video of your animation.
• Import the video into DaVinci and place it in the timeline in the track above your video clip.
• With the Looom clip selection, go into the Fusion tab
• Add a Bitmap node and change the channel to Luminance - this will separate your animation from the background while keeping it solid.
• Optionally, you can add masks or a Background node to change the color of the animated lines.

An example of the nodes in the Fusion tab:

After that, it’s just a matter of exporting and converting to GIF (I use EZGIF).

Cool Tool: Gaffer Tape
Is it weird to have a favorite tape? Anyway, this is mine. It’s just sticky enough to stay in place but it leaves no residue. You can even remove and reapply it a few times for adjustments and it has a cloth-like backing that’s easy to write on.

I used to carry a tiny roll of this in my camera bag - in a pinch, I’ve even used it to just quickly tape a light to a pole instead of setting up light stands.

Recently, this was helpful when filming a stop-motion sequence where I needed to lightly secure the base of a print to a table and swap out connected parts.

You can even use it for the traditional purpose of taping cords to the floor so that you don’t get tripped up.

There are many brands but this inexpensive one has been working well for me lately.

Random Tidbits:
Do you feel like the art you’re seeing impacts your 3D printing projects? I sure do - even if it’s subconscious. Just as a curiosity, I’ve been trying to keep track of what I was watching/reading/seeing while working on a model. Most recently:

• The Wager (I don’t want to be an 18th century sailor)
• The Ministry of Time (I don’t want to be a time-traveling 19th century sailor)
• The Hustler (Sure, I’ll be Paul Newman if that’s on offer)

[PrinterMcgee]

@MaKim

I feel like most of us are just learning as we go

[MaKim]

It has been a busy few months!

I delivered my Relic Rush crowdfunding project last month. Although I tried to scope it out and plan my time, I ended up really underestimating it. For what it’s worth, I posted an article with some of the planning steps that worked well. Next time, I’ll multiply my estimates 2x.

At around 11 days to print a copy, my devices have been busy with the 3.5 copies I’ve output so far. In the next month or two, I’m going to be giving away one of those fully assembled copies in a drawing.

Having gotten Relic Rush out the door (along with a string of updates over the last month to fix issues and make improvements) I’ve posted the pre-launch page for my next campaign. I wanted to change it up and ended up with a décor item that uses the magnetic power connectors from Maker’s Supply - they make a pretty satisfying noise when they snap together:

Introducing Snap Lamp: A Desk Sculpture You Can Rearrange with a Satisfying Magnetic Snap

Tip for magnetic connectors: I’ve found that I can minimize connection issues by leaving one side of the connector essentially ‘loose’. This will allow it to travel a bit and overcome any minute surface differences introduced through different devices

Cool Tool: Sharpie Creative Markers

I end up using these markers all the time to make notes on prints or just to test out different shapes or ideas on prototypes. They are opaque, write well on prints & with a few color options, have worked on basically any filament color. I’ve even used them in place of paint for areas that just need a small dot of color.

Random Tidbits:

• On MakerWorld there’s a “Master Challenge: Book Nook Design Contest” starting next week that I’m pretty excited about. I have a bunch of ideas in my brainstorming file and am needing to narrow it down to one
• The new version of Affinity is free and combines the features that were previously in standalone vector, pixel and layout editing apps. I still haven’t replaced Photoshop (too much muscle memory) but I love being able to jump into the vector tools to create something on a multi-page layout. Overall, it has been very useful for creating graphics for model pages but also assembly instruction PDFs.