There were many tricky points related to the modeling of my glasses, but I would say it was generally on the easier side of things. Every step felt intuitive, but there was no small amount of fumbling and bumbling as I tried to figure out how to exactly some of the tools.
The process started with the sketch of a rectangle that I eventually fileted in order to make it more true to my actual glasses. After extruding this sketch, I then mirrored it to save myself time. Funny enough, however, this process probably cost me more time than creating a new sketch might have. I had some trouble figuring out all the details and options available with the mirror tool, but I think it was well worth it as it seems to be a tool I will find useful in the future. The rest of the frame continued smoothly, but I did reach some trouble with the ends of the frame until I figured out the ‘Loft’ tool.
However, what probably cost me the most time was inserting the lens within the frames. It was tricky primarily because I didn’t think about adding lenses until after the frame had been constructed. As such, I had to mess with a sketch and mirror it after I had already extruded it. Certainly, I learned a lesson in planning my design prior to starting the actual modeling.
In terms of compromises I made, while my real glasses have ridges along the part of the frame that surrounds the lens, I didn’t know how to replicate those ridges without tediously extruding a ton of thin rectangles. I did, however, see a ‘pattern’ option available that I couldn’t quite figure out, so I hope to learn more about using it in the future. Another compromise I had to make was not including the hinges of the frame. It seemed only worthwhile if I could animate the hinges opening and closing, but I imagine that was far more ambitious than I would like for an initial project.
In terms of things I wish I had figured out earlier in the process, it would have to be the pattern tool. As I previously addressed, it was a useful tool that could have helped me enhance the quality of my model, but by the time I had learned about it, I was far too exasperated with Fusion to pursue it further.
4 thoughts on “3D Modeling: Glasses”
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I too found difficulty in trying to mirror or copy. For practice, I tried to make the playing die but could not for the life of me figure out how to copy one face onto another. I knew it would save me time, but I eventually gave up on figuring it out since it took too long. Is mirroring a different tool than copying? I am curious how you ended up doing it.
I also had to make compromises when it came to intricate ridges. Creating irregular curves is definitely a challenge. I like that you mentioned that planning before you start can be really helpful. I think if we spend more time on 3D modeling I would like to think about which tools I might use for different parts of my object. Nice work.
The glasses turned out really cool looking! I similarly encountered issues in my model where I needed to compromise realistic accuracy as a result of my general understanding of the software. However, it is super cool that you were able to spend more time familiarizing yourself with other tools in Fusion, such as sketching out your model. With the general extent to which Fusion can replicate realism, it is entirely understandable for your first project not to utilize every function possible with the app.
Seeing what methods you can use to save time definitely helps, especially if you are frustrated on a specific step, like I was with my mug handle. I don’t know what the Loft tool is, so I’ll have to look into that. Making a new sketch vs. mirroring definitely takes some thought. How did you get the textures and materials onto your model? I haven’t figured that out yet. The pattern tool does sound very interesting, and I will have to check it out!