On top of the release of more 3D scanners and the acquisition of industrial 3D modeling developer Cimatron, today, 3D Systems has announced a partnership with Luxion, creator of advanced rendering and lighting software. 3D Systems will now implement Luxion’s KeyShot as the standard rendering method for many of 3D Systems’ Geomagic products.
Luxion rendering and animation software will now allow 3D printing designers to incorporate KeyShot’s rendering capabilities and more environmental elements into the display of their virtual models. Full-color models rendered in KeyShot can then be exported directly to 3DS’ Project x60 line of full-color 3D printers. As Calvin Hur, VP and GM of Geomagic Solutions at 3DS, explains, “We are reimagining the engineer’s desktop with our complete line up of solutions for Scan- based Design, mechanical design and haptic-enabled freeform design. Engineers will love having KeyShot’s world-class rendering as part of their Geomagic software.”
Claus Wann Jensen, CEO and Co-founder of Luxion, adds, “With 3D Systems’ seamless workflow from physical to digital to print creating product visuals can now easily be done throughout that entire process. When users need visual representations of their scan, design, modifications or 3D print, KeyShot provides the quality they expect.”
The software package, titled ‘KeyShot for Geomagic Design’, is now available for purchase as a part of a bundle for Geomagic Design users. An upgraded version of the bundle, ‘KeyShot HD for Geomagic Design’, can be purchased for $199 through 3D Systems and certified resellers. The partnership has only just begun, as future 3DS products will also offer KeyShot in the future.
The partnership indicates a further fleshing out of 3DS’ “digital thread”, in which models designed in the virtual world are meant to be seamlessly brought into the physical world. As the elders predicted, the bridge between the virtual and the physical worlds is beginning to manifest into reality. Stratasys has expanded its library of publicly available 3D printable files with the acquisition of GrabCAD, while their subsidiary, MakerBot, opened its MakerBot-Ready Apps Portal. HP has announced its own 3D printer and gesture-based computing system, Sprout. Autodesk has moved from the virtual world of software to the physical world of 3D printing with their Ember 3D printer. 3D Systems continues to supplement its own Geomagic offerings, too. What will the future hold? We must consult the prophecy…
