so wrong, but I laughed to tears...

[flash=600,500:23fcbt70]https://www.youtube.com/v/KPgpRw9tiuM[/flash:23fcbt70]

Funny you bring this up now Mike - I've been learning lately about how our school system is broken, and how the Internet can help fill this need.

Here's some great reading on the topic - stuff that I've been using to form an educated opinion on the subject...
Hacking Higher Education Series

@unknownuser said:

All education – even college education – is fundamentally self-education.

A series of posts teaching people how to graduate faster with an accredited degree.

Back to (the wrong) school
From the always-insightful Seth Godin:

@unknownuser said:

Large-scale education was never about teaching kids or creating scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system.

...and a much more detailed manifesto by Mr. Godin on the same topic: Stop Stealing Dreams (references Sir Ken Robinson's ideas)

@unknownuser said:

The economy has changed, probably forever.

School hasn't.

School was invented to create a constant stream of compliant factory workers to the growing businesses of the 1900s. It continues to do an excellent job at achieving this goal, but it's not a goal we need to achieve any longer.

In this 30,000 word manifesto, I imagine a different set of goals and start (I hope) a discussion about how we can reach them. One thing is certain: if we keep doing what we've been doing, we're going to keep getting what we've been getting.

Our kids are too important to sacrifice to the status quo.

Personally, I think that online classes like Khan Acaedemy and Skillshare are going to have a big influence on education for the next generation.

I've been asked by my local makerspace to teach Sketchup there - this is a form of education that I think will be more common in the future. People(employers and entrepreneurs alike) want results rather than a expensive college degree, and this whole idea of democratizing resources(whether its tools, education, or something else entirely) lets regular people perform like never before.

We're going to see a whole lot more of self-education thing if the mega-corporations and politicians don't eff up the Internet before then.

Sweet application for 3D printing. The medical field is doing something similar where they 3D print internal organs and bones before performing life-threatening surgery.

@unknownuser said:

...
i ended up tracing it in layout while i was at the playground with the girls..
made it 1024 for future use

Nice

@unknownuser said:

what.. no transparency marcus ?!

worked for what I needed it on...

No they didn't make that one available, but here's one I made by making the icons in windows xtra large and taking a screen grab.
np

@thomthom said:

Marcus - post the example in the article comments - let him eat his words.

I did just that.

btw, notice how the title of the Tinkercad interview is "3-D Design for Idiots..." sorry, it was too easy

@unknownuser said:

I posted my 2¢++ and a link to my 3D printed sketch -> SketchUp -> 3d Print model: https://plus.google.com/photos/103450081381233788032/albums/5754245713469640065

Hey, that's a cool model, and a good one to show the subtle complexity of drawing on curved surfaces with Sketchup. Turned out nice, no?

Here's a Sketchup Render that shows the design better:

My 3D printed lamp...like to see Tinkercad do that!

Also a 3D printed Candle holder I made

...just a thought... What if you weld the lines together before export? http://www.smustard.com/script/Weld

Great updates, Dolphus

@dolphus said:

Liam are you going to volunteer?

I'd like to try rendering one of these...if you want, send to email deleted.

I got a look at the Cube printer recently and wasn't really impressed. Their target market is kids, and so the whole system from printer to the software used to run it is dumbed down and not at all customizable. The print quality was not great either.

For a printer in this home user/hobbyist class, I think most people would be better off with a Makerbot, or if you want to build it yourself for a cheaper price, look at a Reprap. If you want to see other options, here's a huge list of them: 3D printers under $1000.

These little printers can't really be compared to the commercial ones like Z-corp and the ones used by Shapeways and other 3D print services. The commercial printers often cost upwards of 100K, and have much bigger build space, better resolution, and better quality in general. The home printers are good for getting quick results for concept testing and for simple low resolution functioning parts.

Hi Tristan, welcome to SCF!

In Sketchup, you make models "Solid" by ensuring the object is completely enclosed. See this link for a nice description by Aidan Chopra, who works on the Sketchup team.

Here's a very useful tool to help find solid errors in your model: Solid Inspector. I do a lot of modeling for 3D printing, and couldn't live with out it.

I use this tool to export to STL: SKP files to DXF or STL (its the same plugin as in Massimo's link, but I put it here to make it easier)

Good luck, and don't forget to post pictures of the models in the Gallery once they're made!

she's charming, isn't she?

[flash=600,380:2akd33vs]http://www.youtube.com/v/JGCsyshUU-A[/flash:2akd33vs]

....more cool stuff on Lindsey's youtube channel

@mark h. said:

A bit more fodder for discussion, we just launched a new gallery of user projects. Notice anything new?

A bit late to the party, but that viewer looks awfully like a stripped down version of Sketchup running in the browser.

Could it be this is a preview of an official full version of Sketchup in the browser? ...that would be neat!!

Re the lampshade, here's what the video description says:

@unknownuser said:

!!! Please before you write a negative comment about the waste of wood, please realize , this is fast growing pine, it had already been cut down to be used as firewood, the centre of the log is sap wood and is very poor quality, and all the wood chips are reused in another way, for heating, or in the garden. We appreciate your care for nature, and assure you that we too have the same regard for what our planet gives to us.

I think its a great use for what would otherwise just be firewood.

@fluffy82 said:

Is there a way to reduce them without deleting the whole thing, drawing new profiles using arcs with less sides and extrude again?

There is the Polyreducer plugin you could try...

Gotcha.

BTW, isn't it great holding a model you designed in your hands for the first time?

@baz said:

Hi Marcus, can you explain the 'crease' a bit more? The model has the labels but I'm missing the creases.

Just use the Crease tool (at least that's what its called in Subdivide & Smooth), and click on each of those vertices. The Crease tool icon changes from Red when uncreased to Green when creased. There's not a visible effect right away on the model, but you'll be able to tell the difference after running the plugin.

...or in this case, Jeff's way is simpler, but you'll still want to crease the end vertices before subdividing so you get square ends.