Then the sketch conversion tool in Project Salvador can (hopefully) convert the image to sketch lines. Sometimes this fails if it is pathological image, but that’s ok — just generate more until one works.

Auricle

Charles R. Goulding and Preeti Sulibhavi delve into how automation and 3D printing are redefining global port operations and what this means for the workforce.

Auditory pathway

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!

This week’s selection is the enormous Articulated Dragon by Cults contributor MCGYBEER and printed to scale by Metalhead Printing.

Helixof ear

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Tragus

Fusion 360 is the highly popular 3D modeling tool used by many to create mechanical designs for 3D printing. It’s a subscription-based product and has an incredible amount of functionality. One of the features is an ability to add features through plugins.

Project Salvador is available for both Windows and Mac OS platforms, and is easily installed. It adds a new menu with two options: image generation and sketch conversion.

Ear structure

Autodesk provided a new beta plugin on their store called “Project Salvador”. I have no idea what the name means, but it is a way to directly use AI while 3D modeling.

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I tried this with a prompt: “unicorn logo with leaves”. Amazingly, the generator provides a way to enhance your basic prompt by using AI. The new AI-made prompts are far more detailed. There’s also a menu pick to ensure that the generated image is a line drawing that is suitable for conversion to a sketch.

The process is to first use the image generator to create an image, and then use the sketch tool to convert that image into an editable sketch right within Fusion 360.

Helix anatomypiercing

It’s an incredibly easy and fast way to create very complex sketches — and at least for now it’s entirely free from Autodesk.

I found the process quite easy to use, although you may have to do several iterations to get something you like, and also something that is truly “sketchable”.

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External ear

Once the design is in sketch form, Fusion 360 can act on it as it can with any sketch. You can extrude it, spin it, or whatever you like. For my unicorn logo, I decided to do some extrusions, and ended up with the 3D model shown at top.

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Ok, that sounds strange: how exactly could you do this? It turns out their new workflow is all about sketching, the basis for creating shapes in most 3D tools.

After publishing “Alternatives to Thingiverse, 2024 Edition”, I wondered which printable 3D model repositories were most popular.

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