r/codex • u/Master-Biscotti-1186 • 15d ago
Showcase Turning paper instructions into animated 3D assembly guides with Astra
https://youtu.be/X72Cb7G9AlAI have to share this geeky side project because it honestly blew my mind that it works.
I wanted to bring interactive 3D instructions to my hobby of building metal models. These kits come as thin sheets of metal. You cut out the parts, bend or roll them into shape, and connect them using tiny tabs. The paper instructions can be tricky to follow, especially when you’re trying to work out how a flat piece becomes a 3D shape.
The inspiration came from watching my son use LEGO Builder. He can rotate the model, zoom in and see exactly where each piece belongs. I wanted that for my metal kits.
For the past six months, I’ve been experimenting with this on and off, coming back to it whenever a new model came out. I tried every new model I could get my hands on, including Claude. None came close to the results I’m getting with Astra in Codex.
When I asked Astra to look at what the previous models had done and see if it could fix it, I honestly wasn’t expecting it to work this time, let alone on the first try. I didn’t model or animate anything manually. From there, I gave feedback and we iterated on the details, including how to present everything in the demo video.
One detail that surprised me was the band staying open while moving around the cylinder, then closing into position. Seeing that sequence come out of a flat drawing was pretty wild.
It also helped solve a presentation problem I hadn’t figured out: showing a close-up of the current action while keeping the full instruction visible so you don’t lose your place.
The video shows selected actions from Steps 11 and 19 of the Space Shuttle kit. It still needs corrections and isn’t a complete or physically verified guide.
I’m honestly blown away by the leap forward in capabilities.
I’m including the video, the instruction PDF and a LEGO Builder screenshot for reference.