3D Design & Rapid Prototyping

Building on the student's abilities in basic visual problem-solving and 2D digital drawing, this course will introduce the skills for visualizing 3D objects and developing them into 3D digital models for rapid prototyping. Artists and designers will work through hands-on class exercises using several 3D modeling software programs as they explore concepts of space, mass, balance, scale as well as form and materials used in 3D printing as a method of rapid prototyping. The 3D visualization techniques covered will have relevance in many creative industries such as graphic design, industrial design, jewelry design, toy design, illustration and fine arts. In-class projects will lead students to create optimized 3D digital models ready for printing.

The purpose of a prototype, creative problem solving for 3D models, visualizing and sketching for ideation, introduction to modeling of primitive and complex shapes, the 2D model as a physical object, watertight models and enclosed systems, optimizing models for rapid prototyping, materials and forms used in 3D printing for rapid prototyping, the future of rapid prototyping.