2. Digital bodies¶

( All images are mine unless marked with a hyperlink )

Pixelated Face

Research & Ideation¶

Things i'm interested in

*Intentional glitches, pixelation

*Chimeras, combined bodies, clones

*Anonymity, obstruction of idenity

inspo for this week

Software¶

Modeling¶

rhino error

I have some rhino expirience but mostly for flat patterns for the laser cutter and have not done too much 3D modeling. I ran into some issues at the start of the week because I had already used up my 90 day free trial. I tried making new accounts but had no sucess. I'm waiting to get approved for a student account but until then I decided to try out blender.

I was intersted in leaning into the digital nature of 3D modeling and trying to intentionally pixelate/glitch objects. I originally planned on trying to use a grasshopper plug in for rhino but after I switched to blender I discovered it is an availible effect as well.

step by step process

This video was really helpful in achieving the pixelation effect

2 Face Blend in Pixels by rileycox on Sketchfab

Laser Cutting Process¶

This is the site where you can find a walkthrough of lightburn

After I was finished modeling, I uploaded the file into Slicer. I played with the sizing to make sure the plans could fit on to three sheets of cardboard in the laser bed. I used the stacked slice mode for construction.

Slicer file

Laser file 1

Laser file 2

Laser file 3

Bit of the construction process

Setting up the Laser Cutter¶

This image is from The WAAG Futurelab has a docuemtation page walking through the use of the laser cutter availible in the lab. You can find this here

Import your files into lightburn as a dxf or svg file
Go to edit in the top menu bar and select "delete duplicates". This gets rid of any duplicate lines so the laser doesn't try to repeat any cuts.
Based on the color of layers, you can change machine settings for different lines/shapes.
Make sure to turn on the Output, otherwise lines will not be cut.

The settings we used for 3mm thick corrugated cardboard

Machine settings :

Layer 1: Cut = Speed 30.0 / Power 45.0

Layer 2: Inscribe = Speed 50.0 / Power 20.0

Running the laser cutter¶

Focus the laser based on the height of the material. Our lab uses a wooden jig to place on top of the desired material. The laser is focused by making sure the head is touching the top of the jig.
Turn the laser cutter on and make sure the laser moves to the 0,0 axis
Turn ventilation on!!
Now you can press play to run the cut in liightburn
Watch the machine carefully to make sure there are no fires or other issues
After the file has run, leave the top closed with ventilation on for several minutes before opening

Final Product¶

Card board views