Registration for both courses opened in December, and we’re rapidly coming up on the start date for Beginner Design. Until March 1, you can save 12% on each course, with a discounted registration fee of $219 – after March 1, the fee goes up to $249, so if you’re interested, sign up now!
So what can you expect from our first online training offerings? Let’s take a look at Beginner Design for 3D Printing, week by week:
- Thursday, March 9, from 2 to 2:45 PM ET will be Beginning Design Principles – Part 1. Led by Andrew Taylor, Community Manager for Tinkercad, this session will be an overview of how to design basic shapes for 3D printing, with a demonstration of how to use Tinkercad, an easy design tool that’s simple enough for beginners.
Andrew Taylor 
Jordan Pelovitz Immediately following, from 2:45 to 3:30 ET, will be Beginning Design Principles – Part 2, led by Formlabs Training and Development Lead Jordan Pelovitz. This session will go further in depth and teach you how to optimize parts for 3D printing. Topics will include the design-slice-print work flow, designing for different 3D printing technologies, part orientation, and more.
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Jesse Harrington Au
Thursday, March 16, from 2 to 3 PM ET, will be Engineering Principles with Jesse Harrington Au, Creative Strategist for Autodesk. This course will introduce you to basic engineering concepts for 3D design.
- Thursday, March 23, from 2 to 3 PM ET, will be Sculptural Designs & Animation. Led by Kyle Houchens, Trainer and Tech Support at Robert McNeel and Associates, this class will teach you multiple 3D modeling tools in Windows using Rhino.
- Thursday, March 30, from 2 to 3 PM ET, will be Intro to Programmatic Modeling, led by Pelovitz. In this final session, you’ll learn about parametric modeling, a vital engineering and design tool that allows you to create 3D models for prototypes that will be modified after testing.
After the coursework, you’ll design a 3D printable model for your final project. Once your model is complete, Formlabs will 3D print it and ship it to you for free.
Advanced Design for 3D Printing will pick up where Beginner Design left off. Beginner students can transition directly into this second series, but if you already have some experience in 3D design, you can take this course without going through the Beginner session. Here’s a look at how Advanced Design will break down:
- Thursday, April 6, from 2 to 3 PM ET, will be Programmatic Modeling, led by Spencer Wright, Head of Product at nTopology, provider of 3D lattice design optimization software. Wright will teach you about topographical optimization.
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Jesse Coors-Blankenship
Thursday, April 13, from 2 to 3 PM ET, will be Voxel. Jesse Coors-Blankenship, CEO of design and engineering software company Frustum, will teach you about volumetric pixel and optimization techniques for additive manufacturing design and engineering.
- Thursday, April 20, from 2 to 3 PM, will be Texture + 3D Printing, where you’ll learn texturing skills including color and wrapping (instructor TBA).
- Week Four, from April 20 to 27, will be Design Week, in which you will create and refine a final 3D design based on a set of specifications. The winning design will be announced in a future 3DPrint.com article, and all participants will have their designs printed and shipped to them by Formlabs.
That’s a lot of information in a relatively short period of time, and we’re looking forward to taking you from beginner to expert level – or, if you’re experienced in design, enhancing the skills you already have. Course participants who attend all sessions (or view the recordings) and complete all assignments will receive a certificate of completion from 3DPrint.com. Group discounts are available; if you’d like to learn more, contact us at 3dprint@edmaker.co. Discuss in the Online Training forum at 3DPB.com.