designed by proxy link + Dana Karwas

Rapid prototyping and personal fabrication increasingly open possibilities of production that will re-invent our understanding and relationship with everyday objects and material culture.

The seminar will function as both an introduction to different CNC + prototyping equipment as well as a studio in which to test the possibilities and constraints of these new methods of production. Using 3D-printing, laser cutting, and milling, we will develop a language of “making” that can be brought to bear on two different scales, product and display wall.
 

Getting Started	Course Materials Basic class information
	Media/Info	visit the NYU Advanced Media Studio guides Reference the class syllabus link
Class 1	CNC technologies/CNC techniques Issues of "making" in an informational space
	Media/Info	read this excerpt, from A Turning Point in Building (1) (1961) Konrad Wachsmann, discussing industrialization and its effect on construction systems, from the vantage point of the early 60's read this excerpt, from A Turning Point in Building (2) (1961) Konrad Wachsmann, setting forth a theory of systemized "making" within a paradigm of mass-production and industry read this article, from Versioning SHoP architects describe a design methodology of "versioning" - or using increasingly sophisticated knowledge of design and construction issues to guide a process of design prototyping read this excerpt, from The Life of Forms in Art Henri Focillon writes about the interdependence of any art form on the substrate of material that it is formed from - invoking means of working with material, as well as inherited qualities and resistances, as primary read this excerpt, from Fab: The coming Revolution on Your Desktop An accounting of CNC fabrication machines from a framework of subtraction + addition + forming read this article, from Wired "Fabbed Housing" read this article, from LA Times "Shape of things to come" read this article, from New Scientist "Desktop fabricator may kick-start home revolution" read this book excerpt, from Branko Kolarevic "Architecture in the Digital Era: Design and Manufacturing" A survey, paralleling our first class, on CNC fabrication approaches and the work produced through them read this article, from NY Times "Beam it Down From the Web, Scotty"
	Download	Download Autodesk Maya PLE A free version of Maya with certain import/export/rendering features disabled. Note that Maya is available in the ITP computer labs.
Class 2	Computational Geometry/Discrete Form Working with surfacing technologies in Autodesk Maya
	Media/Info	read Exercise 1: Milling on google docs The first of two small exercises. Using the techniques demonstrated in this class and the next, we ask you to produce a NURBS surface with two scales of deformation. The surface should be millable and should anticipate the constraints of CNC mill fabrication. The surfaces will be milled from blue polystyrene at Associated Fabrication.
	Tutorials	read Tutorial: Maya Shortcuts An introduction to the Maya interface, as well as usefull toolbars and shortcuts. read Tutorial: Geometry Platforms A chart describing different platforms of geometry, and the potential of each within fabrication, rendering and possible transformation. read MEL Script: Surfacing For those with programming knowledge, an introduction to MEL scripting that doubles as a surfacing example. *NOT* necessary for the class but of interest.
Class 3	CNC Milling & Maya Surfacing Machining concerns & software processes
	Media/Info	read MEL Script: Excel2NURBS A potential method for realizing a surface - this MEL script reads cells from a tab-delimited chart and pushes the values into a new surface. A potential starting point for interesting visualizations. Download test data here. see Complete Maya Programming Vol 2 by David Gould Our favorite Maya MEL/API programming book, it delves deep into how maya handles geometry. Not for casual users. If you are not into programming, do not buy this book! Dont bother with Vol 1
	Tutorials	read Tutorial: Deformers Type: Direct Using a series of spatial deformers to mold a NURBS surface. read Tutorial: Displacement Mapping Type: Direct Using a height map (grayscale image) to raise or lower portions of a surface. read Tutorial: Blendshapes Type: Intermediate Creating multiple 'target' surfaces, a single surface can be constructed to blend, or average, features between them. read Tutorial: Soft Body Dynamics Type: Experimental Technique to produce form through an active dynamic simulation. Each CV of the surface is turned into a particle, which can then be manipulated with abstract forces. read Tutorial: Isolating Surface Patches Helpful for taking a small portion of a surface, or trimming out undesirable areas (parts that would cause undercuts, etc) read Tutorial: Miscellaneous A few helpful commands for displaying surfaces and accessing hidden component
Class 4	CNC Milling Projects Student Presentations
Class 5	Form/Topology Deformation, Surfacing and Topological Work
	Media/Info	read Exercise 2: 3D Printing on google docs The second of two small exercises. Using the techniques demonstrated in this class and the next, we ask you to produce a iso surface mesh generated from sectional images or raw data. We will "print" these at the NYU Advanced Media Studio. read Topology at Wikipedia read this excerpt, from Animate Form Greg Lynn writes about the "animate" process of formation - invoking simulation and mathematics as constituting a new methodology for architecture see isosurfacing examples output from the NYU AMS Actually medical samples of osteoporosis, note the topological complexity that is handled with ease by both the meshing software as well as the 3d printer. These images can server as a metric for what can be achieved through this design/fabrication methodology. visit Non-Standard Practice @ DesignBoom A slightly-dated survey of digital architecture. visit ScriptedByPurpose online exhibition catalogue A recent show featuring a selection of architects working through computational methods. download OsiriX for Intel Macs Advanced software for working with fMRI data - in our case we will not be working with the DICOM file format, but instead bringing in sequenced jpgs. Software is for OS X and features a GUI download IsoSurf for PC PC and perhaps Power Mac, command line software for generating iso-surface meshs from binary data. download Topmod for PC or TopMod3D for OSX or PC(nicer but buggier!) Program to model topological features - a great intuitive interface and instructional videos make this a good alternative for those that would rather "make" than "generate" - outputs 3D-printable meshes
	Tutorials	read OsiriX Best Practices hosted on the Proxy Wiki Goes into depth on the factors you should consider when making your data set, as well as general instructions read IsoSurf Best Practices hosted on the Proxy Wiki Scroll down to the isosurf section for instructions on how to use the command line options and compiling a single binary image file
Class 6	Site Visit to Associated Fabrication CNC Milling
Class 7	3D Printing Student Presentations
Class 8	Assemblage Complex Assembly, Parametric Constuction, Scale Shifts
	Media/Info	Link to Exercise 3: Assemblage link Link to assemblage images link
Class 9	Techniques in Assembly Projecting, Meshing, Unrolling
	Media/Info	'Adaptive Architectural Design' from AD link A good reading for thinking through CNC prototyping techniques paired with software methods and an iterative design philosophy. 'Blurring the Lines' from AD link Documenting the work of architect Bill Massie, this article discusses his approach to housing through CAD/CAM research
	Downloads	download Rhino 4 Trial from McNeel We will be showing unrolling techniques within the new version Rhino. This is a more advanced version than is in your labs. The software is fully functional, but will only let you save 25 times. Use your saving wisely!
	Tutorials	Link to MAYA - Simple Projection link Link to MAYA - Complex Projection link Focus on curve 'extraction' and 'projection' with NURBS geometry. This will allow you to extend results from the CNC milling exercise Link to RHINO - Complex Projection link Similar to the previous tutorials, but using Rhino Link to RHINO - Unrolling link Focus on developing Polygons and the modeling techniques needed to accomplish this. This will allow you to extend results from the 3-d printing exercise
Class 10	Laser Cutting Individual Presentations
Class 11	2D Formatting Maya -> Rhino -> Illustrator
	Media/Info	visit the NYU Advanced Media Studio guides Download a template for the laser cutter - we will be formatting everything through adobe illustrator, and files must be carefully calibrated not only for size, but for indication of scoring and cutting. Maya rendering templates link Use these templates as generic setups, importing your geometry and using the 'render_camera'
	Tutorials	Link to Formatting Tutorial link PDF documenting workflow from Maya line-work to finished illustrator file, prepped for AMS to cut. Rhino Visualization Tutorial link Simple rendering methods and 3D->2D drawing methods in Rhino