Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

It's Mrs. Franzsen here.

Welcome to Computing.

It's really good to have you in my lesson today.

In this lesson, we are going to be looking at 3D modelling.

Are you ready?

Then let's get started.

This lesson is called "Make your own 3D model.

" And by the end of the lesson, you will be able to create your own 3D model and make suggestions on how it can be improved.

Let's go through our keywords for today.

Now, for the keywords, it's really important that you listen carefully because these keywords are going to be used all the way through the lesson.

So I'm going to go through the keyword and the definition, so listen carefully so that when they come up in the lesson, you know what I'm talking about.

So our first keyword is construct.

Construct means to build or make something.

Our next keyword is evaluate.

Evaluate means to judge the quality of something and suggest improvements.

Our final keyword is modify.

Modify means to make changes.

In the first part of the lesson, you will be looking at constructing a 3D model based on a design.

Before you construct a 3D model, it is helpful to design it on paper first.

This is Alex's design for a building.

So you can see that Alex has done two sketches of his building design, the front and the back.

He has labelled all of the shapes that he wants to use, and you can see he's marked out his placeholder shapes with the grey striped lines on the different spaces.

So where it says cuboid placeholders, that's where the placeholders are going to go in his design.

You are going to construct a 3D model based on a design by combining 3D shapes in Tinkercad.

So, we are gonna have our paper-based design here, and we're going to use it on the computer or a laptop, whatever device you're using to construct your 3D model.

If you don't have your own design, you can use the one in the additional materials because we have provided one for you.

Izzy says, "I've got my design, and I'm ready to start constructing.

What's first?

" And Sofia says, "Think about what Tinkercad tools you will need, and make a list of steps.

" So there are so many tools on Tinkercad, it's good to look through your available options and make a list to go alongside your design so you know what order you're going to do your steps in.

On Tinkercad, you can view objects from different perspectives.

To do this, you can click and hold the ViewCube and move the mouse, or you can right click and hold the mouse and then move the mouse on the workplane.

You can try both and see which one you prefer.

Let's do a check here.

True or false?

The ViewCube moves objects around on the workplane.

Pause the video here and think about your answer.

The answer was false.

Why?

It was false because the ViewCube moves your perspective around so you can see the different sides of the object.

Well done if you got that one right.

Laura says, "To get closer or further away, you can use zoom.

" You can zoom in and out using the + and - buttons on the toolbar.

They're located here.

You can move objects by clicking on the shape and dragging them, or by using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

You can use both of these options or either one, whatever you prefer.

You can lift and lower shapes.

So Sofia says, "You can use the cone-shaped handle to lift or lower shapes in relation to the workplane.

" You can quickly sit the shape back onto the workplane by pressing the letter D on the keyboard.

So this is a shortcut.

If your shape is above or below the workplane, if you hit D, it'll snap back onto the blue workplane.

You can use the shape inspector to change colours.

There's a lot of different colours to choose from in the presets, and you can even try and make your own custom colour.

Let's do a check here.

Which Tinkercad tool is used to draw by hand?

Pause the video here and have a think about that.

Welcome back.

The answer was this one, the scribble tool at the bottom right.

The scribble tool is used to draw freehand shapes.

Well done for having a think about that question.

Izzy says, "When constructing, you might need to duplicate and repeat objects.

" Sofia says, "You can use the menu or press control and D as a shortcut.

" Objects can be grouped, which can help you to resize a number of objects at once rather than resizing each individual object.

This is the icon for the group tool.

Laura says, "You can use placeholders to make holes in objects and then align the placeholders with the aligned tool so that they are centred.

" Now, I must say the placeholders is one of my favourite parts of Tinkercad, the fact that you can insert a placeholder into a shape and then group them and, kind of like magic, make a hole in that shape.

Let's do a check here.

Here is a chimney on the roof of a house.

How could it be improved?

So we've got A, press the letter D on the keyboard to move it down to the workplane, we've got B, use a placeholder to make a hole in the middle for the smoke to come out, or we've got C, rotate it.

Pause the video and have a think about your answer.

Welcome back.

The answer was B.

So using a placeholder here would be a really good improvement.

You could insert a small placeholder shape into the middle of that chimney, and then group the chimney and the placeholder, and it would make a hole in the middle of that chimney.

Well done if you got that one right.

Look back at your design to remind yourself of the components needed to construct your model.

So your components are going to be all the different shapes that you need.

Now it's time to get ready for our first task of the lesson, and you are going to be constructing your model in Tinkercad.

Number one, write the steps that you will take to construct your model in Tinkercad.

Number two, use your design and steps to create your 3D model in Tinkercad.

Number three, were there any parts of your steps that you couldn't complete?

If so, share what was challenging.

It's time to go off now and work on those steps.

Write down your steps that you're gonna use to construct your model.

And when you come back, I'm gonna show you an example of what Alex did for number one.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at Alex's steps to success.

So this is the order of steps that Alex wrote down before he started building his design.

Number one, create a cube for the body of the house.

Two, use the placeholder to create the front door and add a doorknob, sphere, for the front.

Three, duplicate the door and doorknob and place it around the back.

Four, create one placeholder for the windows and duplicate and resize for all of the windows.

Five, add a cylinder for the chimney.

So now that Alex has written out his steps and you've written down your steps, you can pause the video here to go and work on constructing your 3D model.

And if there are any parts that you found challenging, you can share them with someone else or write them down to think about later in the lesson.

Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed constructing your models in Tinkercad.

Let's see what Alex has created.

So the shape on the right, the red building is what Alex made in Tinkercad, so he was mostly able to follow his design.

He has left a comment for us here, though.

Alex says, "I couldn't add doorknobs as I'd made the doors using placeholders.

" So you might find out that you have planned something in your design, but then when you come to construct your model, you're not able to do it.

Either it doesn't quite work, or maybe you can't quite get it to line up correctly.

And that's okay because the next part of the lesson, we're going to be looking at improving our models.

Let's have a look at the back of Alex's design.

You can see this is the back because he's added that extra window shape and the door has been flipped over to the other side.

So, Alex was able to follow his design nearly completely.

Just a shame about those doorknobs.

But really good work from Alex, and well done to you for all of your hard work in this task.

In the next part of the lesson, you are going to explain how a 3D model could be improved.

Now that you've created your model, you are going to evaluate it to see what you've done well and what you can improve.

Evaluating a design and gathering feedback lets you find out what can be improved.

Show someone your model and ask for feedback.

Alex says, "What do you like about my design, and what do you think could be improved?

" So, let's have a look at Alex's design here.

We've got the front of Alex's building and the back.

Now, you can pause the video here.

Have a think, have a look, and share one thing you like about his design and one thing you think could be improved.

Well done.

Let's look at this a bit more closely.

Let's do a check here.

Why can feedback from others be helpful?

Is it A, people might be able to highlight improvements that you had not thought about, B, people can tell you what you've done wrong and correct it for you, or C, people might raise your confidence by complimenting your hard work.

Pause the video here and think about your answer.

Welcome back.

The answer was A and C.

Feedback can be helpful because people might be able to highlight improvements that you had not thought about, and people might raise your confidence by complimenting your hard work.

Well done for thinking about that question.

Let's look at some of the feedback that Alex received.

The question was: what did you do well?

And Laura said, "Alex, you have only been using Tinkercad for a short time, so you have learned some important skills already.

You did a great job combining shapes and using placeholders to create your model.

" The next question says: is there anything you would change now that you have constructed your model?

So this is a bit of self-reflection.

Let's see what Alex says about that.

Alex says, "I can't add a doorknob to my door because I've made it into a hole with a placeholder.

I'd also like to add proper doors, doorknobs, and a slanted roof.

" The next question to think about is do the dimensions need modifying?

Let's see what Alex says.

Alex said, "I am still working in millimetres, which doesn't make sense for a life-sized house.

There is a settings option at the bottom of the screen where you can change the scale to metres.

I will try and change that.

" Let's do a check here.

True or false?

Measurements in Tinkercad are in millimetres, and this cannot be changed.

Pause the video here to think if it's true or false.

The answer was false.

Why?

The answer was false because if you go into the settings at the bottom of the page, you can choose different scales, including millimetres and metres.

Well done if you got that one right.

Next, we are thinking about proportion.

The question here is: are the parts of your model in proportion to each other?

Let's see what Alex thinks about that.

Alex says, "I think the different objects are roughly in proportion.

If I had more time, I could get the correct measurements and make it exact.

" This question reads: what extra detail could you add to your model?

Alex says, "I would like to add some window frames as I think this would improve my model.

" And I agree with Alex, that would be really good detail to add.

All right, for this task, you are going to work through those prompts, those questions about looking at your model, just like Alex did, and seeing what could be added or improved.

So here are your steps.

Evaluate your model using the following questions: What did you do well?

Is there anything you would change now that you've constructed your model?

Do the dimensions need modifying?

Are the parts of your model in proportion to each other?

What extra detail could you add to your model?

And the last one, how else would you like to improve your model in the future?

You can pause the video here.

Go and write down some reflection about your model, and then when you come back, I'll show you Alex's example here.

Welcome back, that was really good thinking working on that reflection.

Reflection is a really important part of the process because you can take the feedback from other people and your own ideas and think ahead of how you could improve that model yourself.

So I'm going to read through our example answer here.

You might not have all these elements in your answer, and that's okay as long as you answered all of those six questions in your answer.

I managed to create a 3D model of the house which looks realistic.

The features of my house are proportionate to each other.

Next, I'd like to change the scale of my model in the settings as it's currently set to millimetres, which is not realistic.

I haven't added any detailed features like windows or doors yet, so that is something I would like to change.

I think the house would look better with a pitched roof rather than a flat roof, so that is something that could be changed in the future.

Well done for all of your hard work on that task.

In the third part of the lesson, you will be modifying a 3D model to improve it.

Right, so for this final section of the lesson, we are going to be working on improvements.

We're gonna fix up these buildings that we've made.

I want you to list the improvements that you want to make to your 3D model.

So Alex says, "There are four things that I'd like to do to improve my design.

One, change the doors from placeholders to solid shapes, two, add doorknobs," he hasn't forgotten about those doorknobs, "three, add a slanted roof, and four, add window frames.

" If Alex could fit all of these improvements into his model in the time that he has, it would be absolutely brilliant.

Before you start to modify your design in Tinkercad, it can be helpful to sketch out what you would like the modifications to look like.

Make a quick sketch of an improved design for your model.

You can pause the video here to give yourself a little bit of time to do a quick sketch of that improvement for your model.

This is Alex's improved design.

You can see he's done two sketches again, the front and the back, but this time, it looks a little bit different, especially his labels.

So instead of labelling each shape like he had done in his original design, he's now labelling the improvements, like add a roof, add window frames, change the door, and add a doorknob.

I wonder what improvements you have put into your upgraded design.

Think about the time you have available and what you think you can complete within the timeframe.

So, I'm sure that if you had endless time, your house design would look really fantastic.

You could have a swimming pool.

You could have a garden.

You could have a balcony.

Who knows what you could add.

But you need to be a bit realistic and think about the time that you have got.

So, maybe if you've got quite a long list of improvements and your sketch is quite complicated, I would pick the top three parts that you could improve within the time that you have.

Instead of starting from scratch, it can help to create a copy of your original design and make changes.

You can see an example of that here.

I've got a building design, which is the first image here.

This is Alex's building.

And then the second image is a copy of that, and you can see because it's actually labelled "Copy of.

" To duplicate a project, first go to your dashboard.

The dashboard looks like this.

You can access your dashboard quickly by clicking the Tinkercad logo in the top left corner.

Click on the settings cog of the design that you want to duplicate.

You'll find it up here.

Select Duplicate in the menu, and a copy of your chosen design will open.

Izzy says, "Duplicating a project can be helpful.

" Sofia says, "If something goes wrong, you can always refer back to the original design.

" When evaluating, it can also be helpful to compare the original and finished products.

Let's do a check here.

How can you access your designs on your dashboard?

Is it A, the dashboard is shown as soon as you log into Tinkercad, B, click on Projects on the top toolbar, or C, click on the Tinkercad logo at the top left of the page.

Pause your video here to think about your answer.

Welcome back.

The answer is A and C.

You can access the dashboard by clicking on the Tinkercad logo, but it is the first thing that you see also when you log into Tinkercad.

Well done if you got that one right.

Let's do another check here.

When making improvements, duplicating a design can be helpful because.

Is it A, you don't have to start from a blank page, B, you can work with a partner, or C, it allows you to keep a copy of the original version and the improved version.

Pause the video here to think about your answer.

Welcome back.

The answer is A and C.

So, it's helpful to duplicate your design because it means you don't have to start all over from a blank page when doing your improvements, and you can keep a copy of the original version and the improved version.

Well done for thinking about that question.

It's time for your final task of the lesson.

And in this task, you are going to be modifying your 3D model to improve it.

So, for step number one, duplicate your original project.

Number two, use your updated plan to modify your design in Tinkercad.

Number three, explain the changes that you have made.

Number four, evaluate the success of your final design.

You can pause the video here to go and work through those steps, and when you come back, I will show you an example.

Okay, welcome back.

I'm sure that your building designs look fantastic now.

Let's have a look at Alex's improvements.

So, this is the front of his house.

We've got his original here and, drum roll, his improved house.

I think that is a fantastic improvement.

He has been able to add all of the elements that he planned to add.

We've got the sloped roof, the window frames, the door has become a solid shape, and he's got his doorknob.

Well done, Alex.

Alex says, "I added a door and doorknob and the window frames.

I also added the roof.

" Let's have a look at the back of Alex's house.

We've got the original design here, and the back of the house improvement looks like that.

Isn't that great?

So he's been able to copy those elements to duplicate and repeat them around the back of the house too.

So he's got his window frames, the door, the sloped roof, and that doorknob.

Alex says, "To the back of my house, I also added window frames of different sizes and a door with a doorknob.

" This is Alex's final reflection.

He is evaluating what he's made.

Alex says, "I am very happy with my final design.

I think it looks so much better with the extra details added.

I also changed some colours, which made the model even better.

" That's excellent work.

I hope that you have enjoyed improving your model and evaluating it, and I hope you've been able to share that with someone else as well.

We have worked really hard today.

We've come to the end of this lesson.

I'm going to summarise all of our learning for this lesson, "Make your own 3D model.

" You can construct a model in 3D modelling software using a design as a guide.

Evaluating a design and gathering feedback can identify potential improvements.

You can use feedback to implement improvements and make modifications to a design.

Thank you for all of your hard work today.

I've really enjoyed having you in my lesson, and I hope to see you again soon.