Home > Store

Digital Engineering with Minecraft

Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.

Digital Engineering with Minecraft

Book

  • Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Not for Sale

About

Features

  • The only Minecraft book that teaches Minecrafters valuable CAD skills for real-world careers
  • Easy hands-on walkthroughs: designing objects in CAD, 3D printing, game programming, animation, and more
  • Includes free access to a set of how-to videos and screencasts that guide through key tasks
  • By one of the industry's most well-known and respected authors, James Floyd Kelly

Description

  • Copyright 2016
  • Dimensions: 7" x 9-1/8"
  • Pages: 368
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-7897-5547-5
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-5547-6

Digital Engineering with Minecraft


Create amazing objects for Minecraft—and learn valuable real-world 3D design skills!


Transform yourself into a Minecraft “engineer!” Discover how to create great Minecraft objects and structures fast, and push your creative skills to the max. You’ll have a blast, but that’s not all! You’ll learn how to use powerful 3D digital design and CAD tools—the same kinds of tools professionals use to earn big money in the “real” world!


Best-selling tech author James Floyd Kelly covers all you’ll need to know, starting nearly every chapter with an amazing project. Kelly guides you through each step of designing your objects outside Minecraft, and then importing them to your game, where they can come to life! You’ll master powerful techniques using Tinkercad, 123D Creature, 123D Catch, 123D Sculpt, MCEdit, i-funbox, Online-Convert, and more.


Think you can’t create incredible Minecraft stuff like this? Using Digital Engineering with Minecraft’s crystal-clear, step-by-step instructions and full-color photos, you can!


  • Find great 3D objects on Thingiverse and import them to Minecraft with MCEdit
  • Create hidden “secret entrances” with maze makers and Online-Convert
  • Master key Tinkercad skills, including shape creation, rotation, resizing, and grouping
  • Create and export monsters with 123D Creature
  • Put yourself in the game with 123D Catch: stitch your selfies into a complete 3D model
  • Generate rollercoasters and other landscapes in 123D Sculpt—without slow block-by-block in-game editing
  • Create hollow wireframe domes to transform any terrain into a battle arena
  • View your Minecraft worlds in 3D using a simple technique

James Floyd Kelly is an avid maker, tinkerer, CAD expert and teacher. He excels at taking complex technology and finding a way to demystify it for non-technical readers. Kelly has written more than 25 guides to a wide variety of technical subjects, including Open Source software, LEGO robotics, 3D printing, and game programming. His recent books include Ultimate iPad and 3D Printing. He has degrees in both industrial engineering and English.

Minecraft is a trademark of Mojang Synergies / Notch Development AB. This book is not affiliated with or sponsored by Mojang Synergies / Notch Development AB.

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

Digital Engineering with Minecraft: Crafting a Super Maze

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3 and Index)

Table of Contents

&>

 Introduction


Chapter 1 Taking Over a Castle 7
Digital Tools Make Great Shortcuts 8
Finding a Castle with Thingiverse 9
Preparing the Castle with Tinkercad 14
Importing the Castle into Minecraft 19
Exploring the New Castle 26
Up Next… 28


Chapter 2 Creating Your Own Castle 29
Downloading and Opening MCEdit 30
Discover Your Own Castle…or Something Else! 34
Introduction to CAD Software 40
Using Tinkercad to Prepare Your 3D Model 41
Preparing Your Model For Importing With MCEdit 51
Using MCEdit with Your 3D Model 53
Up Next… 73


Chapter 3 Crafting a Super Maze 75
There’s Almost Always a Solution 77
Creating Your Own Hedge Maze 77
Preparing the Maze with Tinkercad 81
Landscaping for Your Minecraft World 87
Exploring the Maze 92
Up Next… 94


Chapter 4 Getting Lost (in a Maze) 95
Creating Your Maze 96
Converting the Maze with online-convert.com 100
Importing the Maze into Tinkercad 102
Learning to Use MCEdit’s Select Tool 109
Up Next… 122


Chapter 5 Modifying a 3D World 123
More Tools Means More Options 125
    Finding a 3D Model with 123D Sculpt+ 126
    Converting Files with Binvox 131
Importing and Sizing the Robot 136
Binvox Opens Up Many Possibilities 143
Up Next… 144


Chapter 6 Creating Your Own Monster Island 145
Monster Making for Beginners 146
Using Binvox 162
    Converting with Binvox 166
Placing a Monster with MCEdit 170
Up Next… 175


Chapter 7 Seeing Your World in 3D 177
Having Fun Outside Minecraft 179
Viewing with the Oculus Rift 181
Using a 3D Viewer 183
Taking Minecraft Screenshots 184
Locating Your Screenshots 187
    Finding Minecraft Screenshots on a Windows Computer 187
    Finding Minecraft Screenshots on a Mac 189
Preparing Your Screenshots 190
Creating 3D Image Cards 192
Up Next… 195


Chapter 8 Viewing Your Worlds—Full 360! 197

Creating a 3D Model with Photos 198
Starting with Screenshots—Lots of Them 201
    Capturing Screenshots 202
    Converting Image Files 207
Using 123D Catch to Create 3D Models 210
    Uploading Your Image Files 211
    Running the Create Capture Process 214
Up Next… 220


Chapter 9 Custom Creations, Part 1 221
Creating Your Own Designs with Tinkercad 223
    Starting a New Project 224
    Breaking Ground on the Future City 229
    Designing Custom-Shaped Buildings 240
Up Next… 248


Chapter 10 Custom Creations, Part 2 249
Rotating, Twisting, and Turning 249
Deleting, Cutting, and Removing 260
Up Next… 268


Chapter 11 A Super Project To Test Out Your New Skills 269
You’ve Got Skills! 271
    The Shape Generator 272
    The Align Tool 278
Dome Cities 285
Up Next… 298


Chapter 12 Discover More MCEdit Tools 299
MCEdit Mastery 299
    Copy and Paste 300
    Mirror, Mirror 303
    Clone Clone Clone Clone 308
Conclusion 313


Appendix A MCEdit for Tablets 315
Introducing iFunbox for Mac and Windows 315
Connecting a Tablet to iFunbox 317
MCEdit for Android Mobile Devices 320


Appendix B Adding Interactive Elements With Redstone 321
Redstone Basics 321
A Simple Circuit 322
Advanced Redstone 325


Appendix C Resources 327
Books 327
Videos 328
Websites 329


Index 331

Updates

Submit Errata

More Information

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020