VICTATE CAD/CAM

Yesterday we had a session booked on the big laser cutter to engrave some old skateboards CAD/CAM style. The graphics were made on Illustrator, ready to bring onto TechSoft. The boards were all super old and battered (not to mention all the PVC-containing vinyl stickers everywhere) so they needed some sorting.

Good old sandpaper did the trick. Beforehand we ran them through the bobbin sander, whilst stickers were chiselled off.

Some technical stuff about sandpaper (abrasive paper): lower numbers (80) are more coarse, higher numbers smoother (360). We used pretty low numbered sheets, best for rapid removal.

Sadly, the Illustrator file which was correctly exported as a .emf file wasn't able to be read by 2D Design for some reason, leaving Andrew and ourselves baffled. Not sure why. Very frustrating. Although transfer from Illustrator isn't strictly recommended, there are guidelines such as using fine lines (0.25), having no fills, no layers, and other little things, all of which should have been ok. Hmm.

This isn't the last you'll hear about the Victate skateboards. We'll be back!

HELVETICA

I'm becoming a Helvetica freak.

That's what I would have said a couple of months ago. Now I know I am one!

I see it everywhere, I spot it when I'm not looking, it's mad. But I love it. That was up until I learnt just how similar Microsoft's counterpart typeface Arial was to it. So I did some research into the differences between them.

The fundamental difference is the angle at the end of a stroke. Helvetica works perpendicularly whereas Arial has angles. This is most noticeable in letters like c, e, f, r where the letter ends with an unclosed stroke. The a is different too, Helvetica almost flicking off, Arial straight down. The small t is also a giveaway. The top terminal in Helvetica is again cut perpendicularly, but the Arial t is slanted down left. There's more but I won't ramble. I'm Helvetica crazy. I'm currently compiling a list of good examples and bad examples of Helvetica in branding, because quite frankly it is over-used, but having said that, where it is used well it is such a beautiful little font. So it's a little research project I'm conducting, which I'm sure I'll put up here in due course.

This is a beautiful little graphic by swissmiss to pinpoint the Helvetica vs Arial comparisons.

[IMAGE] STOP MOTION STRUGGLE

One of us held the camera, the other altered the scene. I don't know if we worked slowly but the changing daylight affected the shots, detracting from the consistency through shots. And some messy sequences looked untidy and almost ineffective. Some sequences looked great though. Anyway, we finished shooting but I didn't feel they were good enough to produce a nice video, and so the movie making process wasn't very fun, which was a shame. (My fault too.)

We used Adobe Premier Pro for the first time as well, which was another thing to have to get from zero. Tough couple of days and with no real outcome I'm afraid. But I do have the shots so I should finish an animation, even if it's not the whole thing. It'll be up here.

[IMAGE] STOP MOTION STORYBOARDING

STOP MOTION LEGO ANIMALS

So I've signed up for Stop Motion classes next week, which will be cool, but OH MY GOODNESS these animations are amazing. I can't even begin to imagine how it's done.

TERM TWO STUDIES RESULT

So it turns out the Building is getting no heat or water. With Technical Studies being spread across Weeks 1, 6 and 7, there was a mini scramble to sign up for the classes that we wanted to do. Actually it was quite a proper scramble. In fact, I've not been so squished since.. well, this morning on the tube getting into school.

Anyway, we've been provided with a choice this term for the first time apparently, and I will be learning and practicing Graphics, Image and CAD/CAM. Which is what I wanted, and I still have a Reading Week. So that's a success.

TERM TWO STUDIES

The second term starts next week and I just received an email regarding our Technical Studies. Looks like we get a choice this time, including Image, Graphics, Making and Textiles. I think I want to avoid Making haha. Not yet sure what each workshop involves, but I'm already interested in Graphics and also Textiles if that's things like clothing. It would be useful to learn how to use a sewing machine too. And putting buttons on shirts.

Too bad the timetable's been changed with it. Reading Week this term mirrors the dates for school half terms so I was set on spending some days with my work commitments. That'll for sure play a part in which workshops I select. Won't know much more until we meet on Monday though. Hmm.

NEW YEARS ISO

Earlier today, I spent a few hours in central London volunteering for the firework display. I was there providing information and answering questions for the people out, when one lady asked for help taking a photo. She was only using the camera of her smartphone, but complained that her photo appeared very grainy. Now, I learnt in our Image workshop that this is often down to the ISO settings. ISO helps with the brightness of a photograph, but compromises the quality by filling the dark bits with the lighter-yet-grainy stuff. So I went into her camera settings and sure enough found that her ISO was on 800. I lowered it to 100. She was able to take her pretty photo of the Big Ben and continue to enjoy her evening. As did I. Thanks Tomás.

[MAKING] METAL TOOLS

I thought all the woodwork was 'new' to me, but metalwork is something else! Never worked with it before, never heard of these tools before. And of course we had to make something with it this afternoon. Didn't quite turn out great...

I MADE ANOTHER MOVIE

In September this year, I was in Japan on a holiday, when I drove up through the Tohoku region with friends, the northeastern coastal area affected hugely by the disastrous events in March. I had my digital camera and iPhone in hand, thus accumulating some footage of our three-day trip, with which I promised to compile a video. And I did. Finished just last week, I edited the (mostly playful) video to show what we got up to.

I feel I've got some experience on my side now, having made 7 or 8 of these shorts, and I'm beginning to understand what makes good engaging video. Of course, without any conventional study at all, I can't articulate what techniques or tricks I've used and all that, but I think that through the relationship of the visuals and selected music (which is super important), I've been able to capture the emotion felt at the time and also control the emotion to evoke for the video audience. This I'm sure I have been improving upon video after video, and am taking great interest from.

[MAKING] WORKSHOP INDUCTION

We had our workshop induction on Friday, getting to know the tools and machines. It seems everyone on this programme has good D&T experience in one way or another, having come here on the back of relative A-Levels or internships or something. Don't think I've been a workshop since Year 9. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Design & Technology as a school kid. I was the winner of our school's Technology Prize when I was like 8 years old. Let's see how much I remember!

Not much apparently..

We covered four of the six main machines - the whats, the how-tos, the what-not-to-dos. Knowing these and signing the "contract" allows me free usage of the workshop so that's good. The machines we looked at today were the Pillar Drill, Cordless Drill, Band Saw, Belt & Disc Sander. (Scroll Saw and Bobbin Sander another time.) They are mainly used for wood, though not exclusively.

Pillar Drill
- This drills a hole into my flat piece of material.
- Its size can be adjusted according to drill bit used.
- Its depth can be adjusted too.

1. Choose and fit drill bit securely, tightening with fitted key.

2. Set table at preferred height and lock into position.
3. Set depth stop.
(Use sacrificial board when drilling all the way through material.)
4. Clamp material to bed on the table securely.
5. Switch on, turn wheel to drill in, turn to drill out, switch off.

Cordless Drill
- This drills a hole into material from multiple angles.
- As it is cordless, it is free from the mains and operated simply by hand.
- Convenient for curved material or awkward approaches.
- Requires attention to keep steady and straight.

1. Choose and fit drill securely, tightening by turning the chuck.
2. Clamp material (and sacrificial board).
3. Adjust torque and speed.
4. Squeeze trigger to drill in, reverse rotation to drill out.
* Leave drill on worktop on its side, not to stand on battery pack.


Band Saw
- This cuts a straight line into the flat material with the aid of the fence.
- It can cut limited curves too when the material is fed free-hand.
- Fit only for relatively large pieces of material to keep flesh away from saw.

1. Adjust guard to reveal/cover the saw depending on material height.
2. Set fence and lock into position.
3. Press material against fence whilst pushing through the saw.
*Use a cross slide or push stick to push material through.
4. Switch on, make cut, switch off, take material out.

Belt & Disc Sander
- This sands material to predominantly smooth its edges.
- Power turns on both sanders simultaneously - use only one at a time.
- One runs vertically, the other horizontally.

1. Choose one sander, fit for material.
2. Hold edge down onto Belt / push edge into Disc.
(Use the cross slide to keep material straight.)
3. Switch on, hold material firmly to sand, switch off.

I MADE A MOVIE

Over the last year or so, I've been making some personal movies for myself and for JFC (the youth football club at which I work). I have only been working on the relatively simple application iMovie, but I've been learning and enjoying the movie-making process through these personal projects. I think it's something I would love to develop further and maybe there will be a Technical Studies workshop for it, though there doesn't seem to be one this term. In the meantime, this is my most recent movie (and my longest) finished just this week, using footage from our JFC summer trip to the countryside with some of the boys. With hours and hours of video to work with, I made a 23 minute film with six chapters, encapsulating the feel and vibe of the trip as well as capturing our actual activity across the weekend sleepover.

[GRAPHICS] BOOK COVER TASK

On day one with Avni, we looked at books and the design that goes into their covers. Because let's be honest, we all judge a book by its cover. Otherwise what purpose is the cover serving, right? I think so anyway.

So in partners, we made up a book for which we would design a cover.

We were using the library computers, onto which we saved the relevant files. Turns out you're not supposed to save it there, because it doesn't actually save it. Yeah. So I'm afraid we lost our work. The cover was nice though. We chose a square canvas for the book shape and filled it with a cute shot of a toddler enjoying ice cream, editing it on Photoshop to give it a bit of sepia tone and cropping it. We even designed a publisher's logo on Illustrator, which I think was rather effective.

But yes, the main lesson here was not to save onto the computers, instead to use a personal USB. Damn.

[IMAGE] SOUTHBANK PHOTOGRAPHY 1

So we decided to go out to London Bridge and walk along Southbank for some SLR practice. The task was essentially to get to grips with the settings and on-the-spot adjustments, whilst taking themed shots for later use and editing.

I went with people and how people were enjoying the sunny day. It was a nice activity to look through the shots afterwards and see the individuals taking a stroll or reading a book and see couples or families walking together and enjoying their company, so I thought these could be picturesque when grouped.

In terms of the technical stuff, we saved the shots as JPEG+RAW, so we had both a compressed and uncompressed raw version. The RAW files are better to edit with later on Photoshop as they are (as it is on the tin) the raw format, the original untouched photographs. These settings are found under Menu varying with model.

As an experience, I attempted adjusting the Shutter Speed and Aperture, while leaving the WB set for sunny conditions and medium ISO. I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it all. For sure the light meter is very helpful (except when it's off the scale and I'm not sure if it's too dark or too bright!). As for the focus, of course I think it's good through the viewfinder but many turned out slightly off, which was a shame. Perhaps it's the camera lens and my glasses lens not quite matching, or simply because I can't tell at the scene. Tomás says that comes with practice too though. So practice I shall.

[GRAPHICS] INTRODUCTION TO TYPOGRAPHY

[IMAGE] PHOTOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION

First class of the programme, Photography course with Tomás.

Up until this point, I've never used a proper camera before, only the little digital ones with settings on Auto. So all I've worried about with my 'photography' has been to blur as little as possible and to make sure it's bright enough to see. And where necessary, I've been editing their exposure and saturation on iPhoto, but nothing more complex.

We've been asked to bring our own cameras into class with us, together with its instruction manual. So here's mine. OLYMPUS µ-9010.

Tomás said it's not good enough to use. Haha.

STARTING MY TECHNICAL JOURNAL

I've chosen to compile an online Technical Journal because it's better for me. I should elaborate.

1. It's easy to fill and edit. I can quickly upload and write about things as and when I have them.
2. It's easy to look back to for reference. I don't have to carry a (potentially) huge file everywhere and flip through pages to find what I want. This digital source allows me to label entries at my convenience and search for things with keywords.
3. I can post things other than purely the technical skills I learn, but also how I think I'm doing. Essentially I can treat some aspects of this Journal like a Blog too. This will help me greatly with reflection and evaluation, as well as recording at-the-time feelings.
4. I'm already accustomed to the Blogger interface and usage. Saves a lot of time.

There are disadvantages too I suppose, because it becomes quite easy for me to ramble and waffle with words. Like now. But I'll make sure to highlight the important things, so that's ok. If it doesn't work I will revert to the conventional binder format. Let's see how it goes.