I will admit that I am not a designer and have very little experience creating 3D Designs. I tinker but that is about it. There are a lot of 3D design tools out there with tinkerers like me in mind. They are easy-ish to use yet powerful enough to create some amazing things. Morphi is one of those tools.
Morphi Overview
Morphi is a multiplatform application for creating 3 D designs. It is available for Windows, Mac, and iPad. The tool is relatively easy to use and has some interesting features. The app costs $9.99 per device for up to 20 devices. Over 20 and the cost goes down to $4.99. I played around with the windows version using the 15-day free trial.
Features
I spent about an hour checking out the tool. I did not watch any tutorials, I just jumped right in. The controls are fairly intuitive. Here are some of the features I liked.
- You have the ability to create shapes, text or free draw. I really like the free draw because you can turn on symmetry points and create some fun designs.
- Convert your 2D drawings into 3D designs in the click of a button. The image to the right is a 3D version of a scribble I created using a 5 mirror symmetry setting. I first drew the image and then converted it to 3D. Now I have the ability to change the height and size and combine it with other elements.
- Create, group and combine shapes. In the image below, I was able to combine some simple shapes into a little house. No, it is not a complicated one but I also only spent a couple minutes moving my shapes and getting them to align. There are some useful align tools to help you get the shapes into the right place in 3D space. Not as easy as it looks
- Your creation can be exported as an STL so it can be 3D printed. I did not try this but it seems straightforward.
There are some other features mentioned on the website that I did not get a chance to try out such as texturing tools and augmented reality editing. I hope to play with those more through the course of my 15-day trial.
In the Classroom
If you are using 3D modeling in your classroom, Morphi might be a tool to consider. It is a great way to get all your students thinking in 3-dimensional space. The drag and drop features and easy to use controls make creating fairly simple. Not really simple because creating in 3D is not super easy. It can actually be really hard. The Morphi interface makes it easy to navigate in 3D space and create shapes. I also really like the 2D to 3D features. That is a great way to get your students started. Morhpi has more information about classroom uses on their educator page. There are also some great ideas for what to have your students create and some tutorials videos to help you get started.
I am looking forward to spending some more time in this app during my 15-day trial. For $9.99 a device, it seems like a pretty powerful tool to get you creating 3D masterpieces.
Are you or your students using Morphi? Share some of your designs? I’ll leave with one more of my amazing creations. Don’t judge – I only played with it for an hour. I think it is beautiful! Enjoy!
