Tag: Photo

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A Glimpse Into the Magic of Capturing Memories: Laser Engraved Photos

At the Design Hub, we are constantly putting our beloved laser engraver to work, and now we’re looking at YOU: artists, photographers, models, and students of ARC! If there is any interest in engravings of any photo/drawing/art work that anyone would want, we are here to help you capture that magic on wood.

Our photography intern Kyle Chan has been testing out his own photographs taken from both a dslr camera as well as his iPhone X.

 He tells us that, “Being a photographer, seeing the photos printed out and having a tangible piece of artwork is always thrilling, and to create one through such a thrilling process makes the work that much more meaningful for me.” Kyle gifted his photos to his girlfriend for her birthday, and was extremely excited to see his own work engraved into something unique and tangible that will withstand the tests of time. 

With a strong rustic flare, these laser engraved photos make for a really cool grad present. What’s even cooler is the fact that it was created by the hands of our very own American River College peers. 

 

 

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Come and Get Your Grad Portrait Laser Engraved!

The Design Hub of American River College is now introducing a first time ever opportunity for students all around the campus who are graduating this Spring of 2018 to get their portrait taken by specially selected advanced photography interns of the Design Hub.  

The price per portrait ordered by each student is still yet to be determined, ranging in the area around roughly $10, as a vague estimate. In the last few weeks of April, we will set up a temporary photography studio in the ARC Bookstore.  We could take a certain set number of graduates on a first come, first serve basis. There would also be monetary gains for the photographers.  The portraits will be made using our laser etcher on 1/8″ thick birch plywood (5×7 or 4x6ish).  The photographs will be PS edited so that they come out best on the plywood.

The people involved in this project are Brandy Worsfold, Randy Schuster, Aaron Stanley, who works in the bookstore as a Bookstore Buyer, and all of the photography interns for the Design Hub.  Randy ordered this work and assigned the photography interns to this position. He created this fantastic opportunity for the graduates and the photography interns, and worked with Aaron Stanley from the ARC bookstore to help bring the idea to life!

This project is being created to give the graduates a long lasting portrait that they can take with them for the next steps in the life, and in their futures.  The Graduation Portrait Laser Engraver first was created in late February/early March, and is currently being set up to be executed in early May. The training for the photography interns to prepare for portraitures has been occuring during the month of March and April, and we predict to begin taking the pictures in early May. We plan on continuing taking portraits for other projects during future semesters.

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Laser Engraving at American River College

The Design Hub of American River College conducted one of the first projects using the Laser Engraver.  Shailza, one of the laser engraver interns working on this project, demonstrated how it produces the gentle, artistic shades of black and white on the sturdy wooden boards.  Plywood is used as the canvas, and the laser carves in its drawings. The Laser Engraver obeys the commands sent by the software on the computer to create whatever artwork the intern orders it to.  For this particular project, the deliverables are name tags made of wood for all the interns who are working for the Design Hub.

This project of engraved name tags gives all the interns a sense of community, since we are always collaborating and working together to contribute each unique skill set to the various projects.  The original idea for this project was right at the beginning of this spring semester because it gives a feeling unity and family to the new incoming interns just now joining the team. The engraved name tags were completed a couple of weeks ago, and can be viewed in the Design Hub lab.  Even though the actual project for the engraved name tags is complete, the Laser Engraver will be frequently used during the full course of this semester. 

The Full Spectrum Laser Retina Engrave 3D software orders the laser to cut out the name tags. The shaded pink section we can see in the photo to the left is the area that the laser already engraved, and the white areas are what is left to be carved until the project is finished.

 Shailza, a hard-working intern trained in the art of laser engraving, showed a one-on-one demonstration of the laser engraver in action!  First, you open up the file in the special software, Full Spectrum Laser Retina Engrave 3D. She showed the computer settings required for the engraver.  

FUN FACTS:

  • Whatever image that the intern wants to print must be in xps format
  • The raster power CANNOT be at 100%- we have found it most effective to be set at 65-70% for the best wooden artwork.
  • The raster speed is set between 45-50%, and the vector layers power is set at 70%. The IP address should show up on the laser screen.
  • And “Slow jog” isn’t just something a student does when they’re late to class on a Monday morning after sleeping through their alarm, it’s also the setting on the control panel to give the intern more control over the laser so it doesn’t go flying off in a frenzy.

Once the settings are properly set, the wood is positioned to be carved into, and watch the time at the bottom of the screen allows the students a time frame for when their project should be completed.  The average time is 7-8 minutes- like for the name tag project- but it depends on the size of the wood/project.

The laser engraver, Photo by photography intern Angelique Doty

The next project also on the Laser Engraver leads us to meet Jacob Olson, who brings ideas to life through the art of 3D printing and laser engraving.  He is trained in laser engraving and is a solid modeler for the Design Hub. He also tutors design technology programs such as Autocad, Revit, Sketchup. 

Jacob takes family photos, and creates images printed onto wood through the scientific world of computers, cyberspace, and LASER TECHNOLOGY (cue the “Twilight Zone” theme song).  

Jacob is providing this project with his own family photos of his great grandparents, inspired by his father’s idea, and giving them as a present to his grandpa. The end product will be a collage of family photos laser engraved in the plywood.  Jacob showed us around the laser engraver to get a feel for it and showed me exactly how the machine works: the water filter from the bucket pumps up water and keeps the laser tube cool while the exhaust fan pulls out smoke and filters out the exhaust to prevent turning the interns’ hard work into a barbecue.  There’s a cycle of water that goes from being pumped from the bucket, to the laser tube and back to the bucket in a little circle of life. 

The artists of the Design Hub have an ongoing task of creating new ideas to contribute to being engraved into wood using the Laser Engraver.  There has been extensive training to prepare the interns on how it’s used, including training sessions they attended, as well as sample tests before running the actual name tag project.

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ARC Design Hub Drones Take to the Sky!

Photo by photography intern Angelique Doty

On March 2, 2018, middle school and high school students from Heritage Peak: Pacific Charter Schools visited the ARC campus to view the demonstration of drone flying put on by the drone-flying interns of the Design Hub: Sean, Jason, Shane, and Allan.  Jason demonstrates the flying of the drones using remote controls, while Sean presents the technique of using hand gestures to direct the drone on where to fly. The basic ground rules for the drone flying demonstration in the gym was for all people in the gym who are not currently involved in the drone flying to stay behind the blue line, except for the individuals who are either showing the students how to fly the drones, or the students actually participating in flying the drone. Angelique, one of the Design Hub’s photography interns, had the opportunity to fly the drone. “Jason showed me how to guide the remote control to direct the drone to wherever I wanted it to go. It was like a real life video game!” She tells us afterwards.

Angelique is the Design Hub intern behind capturing the photos of these drones, and is our eyes and ears for fantastic events like these. She is one of the several very talented photographers we have on our team, and is an integral part in bringing the Design Hub stories to life. She takes our articles to a whole other level, because without pictures these pieces would be all bark and no bite. Here is a quick thank-you to her!

This event Angelique covered was made possible by the CTE department reaching out to the drone flying interns of the Design Hub through Randy Schuster, who put this event together. This event was put in place to encourage more students to discover all the different educational opportunities that ARC has to offer. There will be further development and a build of programs, especially in the photography and agriculture departments.  The drones will be flown on campus in certain areas. For this event, it was held in the gym and on the neighboring field. Due to restricted airspace, there are regulations for how far the drones can be flown in the air. They are in the process of setting up another drone flying event on a specific day during the month of April, and are working on getting certain days set up to fly the drones during the semester. 

Photo by photography intern Angelique Doty

Flying these drones isn’t the only thing our Design Hub interns get to do, either. We actually make them by hand here in the Hub’s maker space! Every piece is designed on the computer by our modeling interns, and sent to be 3D-printed in our 3D printing lab. From there, the pieces are assembled by hand, and the tech needed to fly the drone is inserted into the drone body. Then, voila- we have a drone that is ready to fly! No drone kits required. Here at the Design Hub, our students really take pride in their work, and are happy to share with others and inspire younger students like the ones at Heritage Peak. If we left at least one inspired student from this visit, we consider that a win, and we hope to see that inspiration someday flourish into something great.

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Welding Vacuum Chambers

Design Hub student Shayn found inspiration in his teacher’s words: “You just gotta do it!” Quoted from none other than the welding professor here at ARC, Chris Messier. “When he’s not teaching his students all he knows, he’s creating vacuum chambers with gloved hands and sheet metal. He is pictured giving an example of the TIG- or GTAW- welding process, something that is proven to be a pretty tricky task. Shayn tells us that he is taking his fabrication and blueprints reading class in the welding department at ARC. As Shayn explains this process, he gives us a piece of welding slang: “stacking dimes”, which is the process of getting the weld to look like dimes that have been melted on top of each other. “It’s actually the sign of a job well done,” Says Shayn. Seeing students inspired by their professors is always a great thing to see. Teachers leave not only an impression on the students, but on the campus community of makers, including those here at the Design Hub. Thank you Chris Messier for all that you do, and thanks to Shayn for sharing! More of Professor Messier’s work can be found on his instagram page: @mez_welds