Lesson video

Hi there everyone.

My name is Mr. Booth.

Welcome to your Design and Technology Lesson IV.

Today we have got a brilliant lesson coming up.

So I'm delighted that you have joined me.

Today we're gonna be looking at physical materials and appearances in Fusion.

You are gonna be assigning these physical materials and appearances to your models to make them look realistic but also make them act like they would in the real world.

This lesson is part of the systems approach to design sustainable futures unit.

Today's outcome, I want you to be able to add physical materials to parts, change their appearance and create photorealistic renders using Fusion.

Four keywords for you today.

The first one is physical material.

Applies both visual and material properties to components.

So it doesn't just change how it looks.

It will also change how it acts.

For example, it will add density to a material.

We then have appearance.

Now appearance just adds the visual properties to a component.

It doesn't change the physical side of things.

We then have render, a photorealistic digital representation of components, and finally prototype, an early model of a design used to test and explore ideas.

We have two learning cycles today.

The first is about rendering fundamentals and then we're gonna have a go at rendering in Fusion.

So let's get going.

A prototype is an early model of a design used to test and explore ideas.

Now a digital prototype is usually a CAD model of a design that can be used to create photorealistic renders to showcase that model to end users.

But what we can also do is apply physical materials.

And this means that the product or the component can be digitally tested to see how it performs under specific conditions, such as applying certain forces or changing the temperature of the product to see how it performs. Here we have a photorealistic render of a kitchen utensil holder, and it's been rendered in the physical material of stainless steel.

So you can actually see it looks like stainless steel but it would also perform as stainless steel if we carried out some tests on it.

And here we can see we have a static stress test simulation of a component.

And this is a steel component, and it's being stressed under a force in one direction.

And we can actually see how that product, that component performs under those tests.

So let's compare physical and digital prototypes because it's important we understand when to use one or the other or maybe even a mixture of both.

So first of all, we have physical prototypes.

Let's have a look at some strengths.

Well, they can be held and manipulated by users and that's really important because it will give them a sense of scale and ergonomics straight away.

They're often made of cardboard and foam which is cheap and easy to work with and users can interact with the prototype, which obviously gives you instant feedback for you to then to be able to iterate the model.

But there are some challenges as well.

It can be difficult and time consuming to accurately represent complex shapes.

And you've also got a quite a high skill level.

There's no real life materials testing.

If I make a cardboard model that I know eventually will be made outta the polymer ABS, I can't test that functionality outta cardboard.

And also if I then want to make a new prototype, a new model, I've probably gotta start from scratch.

So I have to start everything over again, which takes time and also skill level.

Let's have a look at digital prototypes now.

So some of the strengths of digital prototypes, they're accurate and they have the correct tolerances so we can test those digitally before we even make anything.

Complex shapes can be modeled, especially if you are using the freeform function in Fusion.

Simulation and analysis can be formed.

So of that model that I was gonna make out the polymer ABS, I can actually test that model in Fusion.

Models can be exported for CAM.

So actually if I wanted to 3D print my model to make a physical model, I can do that very easily.

Sometimes I can even do that directly through Fusion itself.

There are some challenges though, so there's no physical object.

Ergonomics and usability are very difficult to understand when you're looking at a product on a screen.

You need expensive hardware and software to be able to do this.

And going hand in hand with that is of course you need to have a certain skill level to be able to produce the designs that you want to produce.

Quick check for understanding.

What are the strengths of digital prototyping? We have A, can be held and manipulated.

B, accurate measurements and tolerances.

C, cardboard and foam are cheap and easy to work with, or D, models can be exported for CAM.

Pause the video now, have a go at this and come back to me when you've got your answer.

So it is of course B, accurate measurements and tolerances.

And also D, models can be exported for CAM, which you could actually then make a physical model from.

So depending on the stage of the iterative journey that you are in, different prototypes can be used.

So we have low fidelity prototypes.

These are usually physical because we need it fast, cheap and we want in user interaction straight away.

We then have those medium fidelity prototypes and that's sometimes a mix of both.

We want shape and we want some basic testing and interaction, but we also want to be able to start to look at sizes, measurements and tolerances.

We then have that detailed design.

Well that is usually digital and that's because you want precision, you want simulation, you might want some renders and you might even want some drawings to produce for manufacture but also for CAM.

So you might want to export some files so you can start laser cutting or 3D printing.

And then finally we have those high fidelity and that's certainly gonna be a mixture of both 'cause you want your users to interact with something but you also want your high fidelity prototype to start to resemble the real thing.

So you're gonna have to use some digital sides for that.

Another check for understanding.

A designer wants to create a cheap prototype quickly that can be interacted with.

Which form of prototyping is most suitable? Is it A, physical; B, digital or C, a mix of both.

Pause the video now have a go at this and come back to me when you've got your answer.

So in this case it would of course be physical because they want it quick and easily, which would be much better.

So before changing to the render workspace, the physical materials of components can be set in the design workspace.

Izzy has identified the materials that will be used in a prototype.

We don't have many so this should be relatively easy.

First of all, it's a PET punnet and that actually can be found on the punnet.

If you look on it, it'll tell you what material it's made of.

We then also have a PLA base 'cause we're gonna 3D print that.

Now the microbit is a brought-in component and actually we're not gonna touch the microbit in this lesson so we're gonna leave that as it is.

So let's have a look how we assign physical materials.

Well first of all, in the design workspace, we need to select physical materials from the modified toolbar.

We are modifying our component, so that's why it's in the modified toolbar.

And there it is, physical materials.

What we're then gonna do is it then opens the materials dialogue box and there's a library materials that are shown.

And you'll see there's plastics, metals, woods, there's lots of other fantastic materials.

Notice it uses the term plastics instead of polymers 'cause that's the generalized term.

I know in design and technology we tend to use the word polymers, but that's all it means.

We can either look for the materials, so you can search through the library or you can even use the search bar.

And you can see here I've actually searched for PET and there it is, it's picked it up and it's even transparent.

So it's gonna match the product, my punnet product that I've already got.

Now it's really easy to assign a physical material.

You literally drag it from the library and you drop it onto the component that you want.

Just make sure it is on the component.

Don't accidentally drop it onto the base component.

Once you've done that, you will see it'll appear In This Design dropdown.

And you can close your dialogue box when all the materials have been assigned.

Now if you are getting very advanced with Fusion, you can actually edit the material properties.

So you might be using PET plastic, but you might wanna use a specific PET plastic.

And you can edit the material properties in the dialogue box, which you can find under the In This Design and right clicking on the material.

Now the Fusion library doesn't have PLA, so that might be an issue because we want our base to be made of PLA.

But actually ABS is a very similar material.

It's got very similar properties.

And when you 3D print ABS, you'll see it.

It comes out very similar to PLA.

So what we could do is we could select the base as ABS and then we could modify those materials to suit PLA.

But actually in this case I'm happy just using ABS, which you can see there.

And what we can do is we can assign that to our material for the base.

So when I answer your first task, I want you to explain the advantages and disadvantages of using digital prototypes when compared to physical prototypes.

And then I want you to assign the physical materials to your components.

Pause video now, have a go at this task and come back to me when you've got your answer.

So how did you get on? Well, let's have a look at sample answer.

So first of all, I wanted the advantages and disadvantages of using digital prototypes when compared to physical prototypes.

Accurate measurements and tolerances can be produced using digital prototypes.

Models can be more complex and testing and simulation can be completed.

Components can be processed for CAM such as 3D printing.

Digital prototypes need expensive hardware and software, user skill levels will need to be at an appropriate level.

There is no physical model for users to interact with, which can of course limit understanding of ergonomics and usability.

And then finally, hopefully your model looks something similar to this.

It might not have changed much, but if you've assigned PET to your punnet, you will see it is now transparent.

Well done.

So we're now onto our second learning cycle rendering in Fusion.

There are four main stages to creating a render in Fusion.

The first is we need to set the appearance.

This is how the components look.

We then need to set the scene.

So this is what is all around the component.

The scene that you're gonna put it in.

We need to add any decals.

So these are any images that we want to place on components and then we can render, create that high quality photorealistic representation.

Now changing the appearance of a component will not change the physical properties, it's just the appearance.

So for example, we have set ABS as the base.

I can change the color of that 'cause I might have orange 3D printing filament in my 3D printer and I want it to look like that, but it will still stay as ABS.

And also most models we won't add decals to, but you might do if you are doing something slightly more complex.

So let's have a look at the render workspace.

It's important to be able to understand the workspace of every single aspect of Fusion and we need to know what everything is.

So first of all, you will recognize the browser.

There it is.

That hasn't changed much.

But then we have our stages of render.

So the first is the setup.

Now in the setup you are gonna find appearance and you're gonna find scene and decals and things like that.

We then have render in canvas.

This is the kind of practice to see if our render is going to look good before we finally do the render, which of course will then happen in the render canvas.

And once the render is complete, you will see it in the rendering gallery down at the bottom.

So you will see that this workspace is actually relatively simple compared to a lot of the workspaces you see in Fusion.

Quick check for understanding which is the correct order for rendering in Fusion.

Is it A, scene, appearance, decal, render, B, appearance, scene, decal, render, C, render, appearance, scene, decal, or D, decal, render, appearance, scene.

Pause the video now.

Have a go at this and come back to me when you've got your answer.

It is of course B appearance, then scene, then decal, then render.

Well done.

So let's have a look at how we're gonna render an assembly then.

So first of all, we're gonna change our workspace.

We're currently in the design workspace, we're gonna change it to render.

And you will see there's the design, there's the render.

So let's change it to that.

Once you are in render, we need to go to the setup toolbar and we're gonna click on the first one, which is appearance.

The appearance of components can be set using the library and you've got lots of different appearances in there.

So for example, I have changed the appearance of my base to match my 3D printing filament, which of course is orange polymer.

What we then need to do is drag the appearance onto the component, which is really easy.

And then in the setup toolbar, we're gonna click scene 'cause I want to change the scene that it's in and I'm gonna change my background to a solid color.

I wanted something contrasting with the color of my base.

So I chose this nice color here and that will then change the background.

Quick check for understanding.

Which button do you click to assign an appearance? Is it A, B, C or D? Pause the video now.

Have a go at this and come back to me when you've got your answer.

It is of course A.

Well done.

So let's carry on with rendering our assembly.

So first of all, we're gonna click on the environment library and then we're gonna look for photo booth and we're gonna drag that onto the canvas.

And then what that will do is that will change the scene to the photo booth.

It will appear in the current environment dropdown list as well.

And then what we want to do is we wanna go back to scene settings and we're gonna enable a few things.

First of all, a ground plane.

So it's actually sat on the ground and also reflections because I think they look quite nice, and it'll look like it's on a reflective surface.

So you can see I've ticked those two check boxes right there.

Then what we need to do in the scene settings is we're gonna check to see if we like what we see in our render.

So I'm gonna click In-Canvas Render and what will happen is you will see it will start to render your model.

The iterations down in the bottom right and corner will start to increase.

And the longer you leave it, the longer the time elapses, the more high quality that render will be.

So we can check to see if we like what we see.

If we don't like what we see, we can go back into the settings and we can adjust it before we do our final render.

Now if you want to, what you can do is you can save an image from the In-Canvas Render.

If you wanted some quick renders that you wanted to use, for example in an NEA, then you could take some renders from this very quickly without having to do the full render.

And there you go; that's one example of what I saw and I quite like that.

So actually what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna say I'm happy with that.

So I'm gonna click the render button.

Now the render will take place in the background.

You won't see it happening, but what will happen is in your render thumbnail you will suddenly see the image appear when it is completed and that is saved in the data panel with all your other designs and drawings.

We're now onto your task B and you guessed it, I want you to render your greenhouse assembly in Fusion.

Remember, you need to assign appearances.

You need to set up a scene, you need to do the in-Canvas Render first to check that you like what you see, then make any adjustments that you need and then finally render.

Once you've done that, I want you to then try different appearances and scene setups.

You can have a lot of fun with this.

You can also spend a lot of time doing this like I have, but everyone is different.

Everyone likes their designs to look slightly different and it's important you find your own settings that suit what you want to do.

Pause the video now, have a go at this task and come back to me when you completed it.

So well done with that.

I'm sure your renders look absolutely fantastic and hopefully even better than mine.

You've done a really good job there.

So that brings us to the end of this lesson.

Let's have a very quick summary.

Physical materials and appearances can be assigned to components in Fusion.

Adding physical materials alters a component's properties.

Photorealistic renders can be created in Fusion to showcase digital prototypes.

When rendering in Fusion, appearances and the scene need to be set up.

You've been absolutely fantastic today and I really look forward to seeing you all next time.

Goodbye.