Mastering the Project tool

Tutorial series: Sketching fundamentals

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What you'll learn

Easily project geometry into a sketch or project a sketch onto geometry and slice it. This allows you to cut up surfaces. Then go ahead changing materials or continue extruding or modeling interface elements.

Transcript

00:00

The projection command in Shapr3D is also very powerful. With the projection command, we can project the shape or the outline of a face into a sketch or project a sketch into a face and slice it. So let's take a look at how this works. From this flat surface, I will create a plane and move this plane up a little bit.

00:31

Then I will select this face one more time, Shift click this construction plane I created, and then select the Project command. And you see here, we have two options, Edges and Sketch. Sketch is only the one that makes sense because we are projecting geometry into a sketch and click Done. I will go ahead and actually hide this plane.

00:59

So it's much easier to see the sketch we just created. So that is a projected sketch. This is very useful when you then want to create more controlled interface design versions. I would like onto these three buttons, elements to be projected onto, so I can change the material. Currently, when we zoom in, you see this is just a solid face. So

01:29

I will go to the sketch, go to top view so I can look straight down. I go to circle, select the center and draw one circle and draw a second circle and exit the sketch. As you can see now, we have two new sketch elements added, which I can select. And then

01:58

I shift select also the target face, go to More and select Project. And this time the logical selection here is edges. So the circles in the sketch are being projected down onto the geometry and where it intersects, it slices actually the sketch. Sorry, it slices the geometry.

02:28

into individual elements. I can now go to the visualization command and zoom in, find this new cut, and then assign a new material.

02:43

If I go back to modeling and because everything is parametric, I can go ahead and change the dimensions of the sketch. And then this, well, as you can see, also adjust the projection and the material. Working very efficiently is also very useful when working with sketches. I would like to have a plus and a minus added actually.

03:12

onto these two buttons. So I go to the sketch, I go to top view, zoom in a little bit, rectangle from center, and there is one rectangle. I will say two by five. That is perfect. And then I will do another rectangle and a third rectangle, but I don't really enter dimensions. Press Escape.

03:40

Take a look at what I'm doing now. I'm selecting all three short edges, and then I say, equal. And then I will select all long edges and I say, equal. I will also, one more time, select three elements from these rectangles and add a horizontal vertical constraint to make sure that these rectangles don't...

04:10

rotate, because now I can go ahead and say, there should be a one millimeter. And you see how everything is being updated. Because the constraint system equal makes sure that the shape of these two rectangles is always the same as the first rectangle. Then we can exit the sketch. This time I select the sketch profile, select the target surface, project.

04:41

And then I do the same on top. Here, I need to make sure that everything is correct. So you see how I made sure that all the sketches should be projected onto the target and as edges and done. What I can do now with this,

05:10

is these selected profile sketches. I can select and then extrude or extrude inwards. Make a little bit of a haptic effect. Go to Visualize and then change the material. So this is actually how easy it is to project.

05:39

geometry into a sketch or project a sketch onto geometry. So we can change materials or for example, continue extruding and 3D modeling interface elements.

 

About the instructor

Instructor-Claas-Kuhnen.png

Claas Kuhnen is a German 3D designer known for his strong interdisciplinary background in product, space, and animation design. He holds an undergraduate degree in Color Design for Interior and Product Design from the University of Applied Science and Art in Hildesheim, Germany. He further pursued his education and obtained a Masters in Fine Arts in 3D Studio Art with a focus on Jewelry Design and 3D Animation from Bowling Green State University.

As a designer, Claas Kuhnen is particularly interested in design-informed solutions and exploring the relationship between consumerism, products, and their impact on society. He engages in a wide range of projects, including furniture design, interior and exhibit design, consumer product design, and medical product design.

In his research and studio practice, Claas Kuhnen delves into the application of a modern multi-application and interdisciplinary workflow. His areas of investigation encompass parametric, generative, and subdivision surface modeling, as well as AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), photogrammetry, and AI-powered tools. He collaborates with various national and international universities and companies on research and design projects, contributing his expertise and exploring innovative approaches.

Claas Kuhnen's design projects span diverse domains. For instance, he has designed exhibit artifacts for The Henry Ford Museum, developed medical devices for the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and undertaken interior design projects that serve the community. His work showcases a keen understanding of the intersections between design, technology, and societal impact.

In addition to his design practice, Claas Kuhnen is actively involved in teaching and sharing his knowledge with students. His classroom experience is strongly influenced by his diverse research background, providing students with a modern, interdisciplinary, and competitive education.

Furthermore, Claas Kuhnen's work and techniques have been featured in exhibitions such as Autodesk University, SIGGRAPH, SOFA, and SNAG. He actively engages in educational collaboration efforts with both national and international universities and serves as a Matter Expert for leading design software companies, contributing to the advancement of design tools and methodologies.

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