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Have you ever been bored with what you do at work or wish you could just model something different? Well, what if you could enhance your 3D skills and maybe even come up with a new product idea.
People that keep learning, keep creating opportunities.
Hmm. Now isn’t that just a little piece of wisdom. In actuality, the last thing you may want to do is learn more about something you use all day at work, but trying these following ideas may not only enhance your skills, they may open up other oportunities for you as well.
Hang out with other users
This is probably the best way to find opportunites, get referrals and just have fun. There’s several ways to do this besides a good user’s group though.
- Join or start a Flickr Group - post and share photos
- Join LinkedIn - expand your network
- Start a blog - start in two-minutes with Wordpress.com
Freelance for someone
This can be fun and very rewarding. Talk with a manufacturer or put up a web page that shows stuff you have done or can do. I would recommend getting business cards and making a portfolio. Give business cards to a SolidWorks reseller, small-business incubator and friends. You can also look through the Freelance Switch’s Massive List of Freelancing for possibilities.
Model your house
This may almost be a given for a CAD nerd, but if you’re interested in architecture or doing a renovation you can really get detailed with it. Who knows, you may even be able to offer this as a service to other people.
Model something you don’t usually model
Maybe there’s a company you’re interested in working for. Well, model up one of their products. Is there a hobby you have or something favorite you do? Try modeling it. It may give you new ideas for your own product. Some things could be bikes, drums, climbing equipment, cooking equipment, trains, or cars.
Hopefully this has sparked some ideas. Do you have something that has helped?
The resources
FreelanceSwitch.com
IdeaCafe.com
Daylo.com
Wordpress.com
Flickr.com
LinkedIn.com
OnlinePrintHouse.com
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My first year of college, I didn’t really know a bunch of people at my school, so I had some free time… I figured, I have CAD software, lots of time, and an apartment full of funky stuff. So I looked for something that had some curves, had some bits and pieces and something that everybody has to have in a college apartment. Alas, I saw my TV remote. Let me tell you, nobody really understands how complex those curves are until you try to reproduce it. So if you want practice, want to get better at CAD or just want to waste some time, try your lofting skills on something around the house. That helped me a lot.
man, that’s cool. a tv remote. stuff like that will really force you get into more advanced modeling.