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Sunglass.io Updates Collaboration Platform, Announces $20 PDM

03 May, 2013 by Josh Mings in CAD, NEWS

Your choices for web-based collaboration are ever-growing towers of storage, sharing and data-viewing options that are turning into quite the trend in the 3D software space. Sunglass was one of the first on the scene with viewing CAD files in the browser and the widest support for 3D file formats, 3d software plugins, cloud-based apps and an API that links it all together. Now, they have new features, a new pricing model with versioning and data-management functionality that make the plugins more useful and the entire direction of this company (and this space) even more interesting.
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GrabCAD Workbench Launches. CAD File Viewing & Versioning For Engineers and Design Teams.

30 Apr, 2013 by Josh Mings in CAD, NEWS

Two weeks ago, GrabCAD launched Workbench. It’s not the worn countertop in your Grandpa’s garage. Rather, it lives on the internet surrounded by the warmth of Amazon’s S3 secure server architecture. More specifically, Workbench is the revamped version of GrabCAD’s project collaboration platform that adds a new interface, viewing of all major CAD file formats, secure sharing of files, versioning, revision control and, low and behold, a pricing model. Yes, GrabCAD has forayed into the world of freemium business models with three tiers of pricing – Professional, Team and Enterprise. Team and Enterprise details and pricing are yet to come, but the free Professional level (currently in closed beta) allows unlimited projects, unlimited collaborators, unlimited storage and mobile access. Are your collaboration woes solved?

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Alibre and Geomagic Combined. 3D Systems Releases Geomagic Design.

17 Apr, 2013 by Josh Mings in CAD, NEWS

Remember Alibre? That’s what people will be saying after today (or may have already been saying.) Alibre is the company and makers of Alibre Design 3D modeling software that was acquired by 3D Systems in July of 2011. As of today, Alibre is combined with Geomagic, the makers of Geomagic Studio 3D scanning software (and other design, inspection and haptic products) that was acquired by 3D Systems this past January. Now 3D systems has merged Alibre with Geomagic–the two become one; a big, happy geometry-shaping family. 3D modeling bliss and water-tight mesh babies soon after?
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Autodesk Reveals Fusion 360 Pricing for Cloud-based 3D CAD

16 Apr, 2013 by Josh Mings in CAD, NEWS

Wondering how the future of cloud-based 3D CAD is developing? More and more services are coming online with cloud-based offerings and Autodesk is certainly leading the way in both offloading processing for simulation and having complete access to your software and data via a web connection–it’s the whole anytime, anywhere scenario and they just announced pricing for the 3D design development portion of their growing 360 portfolio.
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3D Refiner: Transforms Low Quality 3D Prints into High Quality with Pressurized Solvent Jacuzzi Bath

02 Apr, 2013 by Simon Martin in NEWS

Are you tired of waiting more than two episodes of Breaking Bad for your high-resolution part to 3D print? Two Masters of Engineering students at UC Berkeley are too, and with their ingenius new 3D Refiner Kickstarter project (already funded with 29 days to go), you can 3D print at a fast low resolution, and then transfer your print to the 3D Refiner for a pressurized smooth-blasting solvent that gives you high-quality results…in less than half the time of a high-quality print.

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April Fools’: The Play-Doh 3D Printer is Not Real Folks, But It Most Certainly Should Be

01 Apr, 2013 by Simon Martin in FAB, NEWS

Few scents truly bring back the golden age of my childhood. Chocolate pudding, fruit roll-ups, and scented markers are high up on that list, but few can meet the powerhouse that is Play-Doh. To this day, if I ever catch a whiff of the colorful fun stuff I am instantly and without warning thrown into a magical time machine where I remember extruding blue ropes through the plastic equivalent of a garlic press into a delicious spaghetti dinner (neon green meatballs included). Sadly, many Play-Doh fans like myself were let down today by a great prank pulled by ThinkGeek. Yes, the Play-Doh 3D printer doesn’t exist, but we can at least pretend.

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OUYA Video Game Console teams up with MakerBot to Offer Custom 3D Print Options

27 Mar, 2013 by Simon Martin in FAB, NEWS

After having raised over $8 million on Kickstarter ($8,596,474 to be exact) from the original goal of $950,000, the wildly successful OUYA open-source video game console will be launching with a bang from San Francisco this week. In celebration of the launch, OUYA teamed up with MakerBot and Thingiverse to offer the option to 3D print your own OUYA enclosure. Yes, if you were one of the thousands to pre-order the OUYA from Kickstarter, the Yves Behar-designed box is now open for your downloadable .STL and .3DM modifying pleasure.

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3D Part Source: The Drag and Drop 3D Shape Search Engine For All Your Sourcing Needs

27 Mar, 2013 by Simon Martin in NEWS

For designers, finding parts for a project can be a cumbersome experience. While McMaster-Carr and other part suppliers have convenient downloadable CAD models of their inventory, it can still be a time-sucker to search those inventories if you’re still in a conceptual stage. The new 3D Part Source search engine developed by 3D Industri.es aims to put an end to the task of wading through endless specs and catalogs to find approximations of the part you are seeking–and also put a few pennies back in your pocket.

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Click. Print. Gun. | Watch the Full Documentary on Cody Wilson and 3D Printed Weapon Manufacturing [video]

26 Mar, 2013 by Simon Martin in FAB, NEWS

Having recently been approved for a Type 7 Federal Firearms Licence (FFL), Cody Wilson just can’t seem to stay out of the news these days (not that he has a problem with that). Currently Wilson is awaiting his early-April approval for his Class 2 Special Occupational Taxpayer (SOT) add-on which will allow him to manufacture and deal firearms under the National Firearms Act. To add fuel to the media fire, the popular counter-culture media hub VICE just released an honest and raw 25 minute documentary where perhaps for the first time, we get to see the real Cody Wilson and why he is so passionate about the 3D printing revolution.

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Tinkercad to Shut Down, But Lives On… The Advent of Airstone.

26 Mar, 2013 by Josh Mings in NEWS

I am devastated, DEVASTED I tell… yet also quite hopeful. A bitter-sweet day for all. The most advanced web-based 3D modeling site and, really, the only great hope for 3D creation on the web, at the moment, has announced they are closing shop to pursue a new venture. In place of models created by users, the Tinkercad homepage now shows the closure announcement and the dates the door will close. Pretty clever of the good chaps at Tinkercad, because this makes it the perfect environment to announce their new venture and how Tinkercad will live on.

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Category: NEWS