Jun 21, 2016 | By Benedict
MakePrintable, Mixed Dimensions’ cloud-based model-fixing software for 3D printing, has integrated with 3D Hubs. The integration enables users to send their 3D printing project to their 3D Hubs account from within the MakePrintable interface.
Although 3D printing is becoming more accessible to the casual user, the fractured nature of the 3D printing process remains off-putting for some. Learning how to use different software packages for each stage of the 3D printing process—3D/CAD design, model-checking, and slicing—can seem like a mountain to climb, so many makers (and would-be makers) are understandably keen to see more integration between platforms, as well as and one-size-fits-all solutions at all stages of the printing process. MakePrintable, a cloud-based service which repairs and prepares 3D models for 3D printing, appears to understand this way of thinking, having recently announced an update that will make life a bit easier for many of its users.
MakePrintable today announced that it is integrating with 3D Hubs, the global network of 3D printing stations which 3D designers can use to find their nearest usable 3D printer. 3D Hubs now counts over 31,000 3D printers across its huge international community, giving those who do not own their own 3D printer a chance to get into 3D printing. It is these printerless customers who stand to benefit most from the new MakePrintable feature: users can now send their fixed and prepared file directly to a 3D Hubs account from within the MakePrintable web interface, without having to download and re-upload the file. This direct integration would appear to be particularly useful for users working on shared or public computers, or those simply wishing to remove a small but time-consuming step from the 3D printing process.
Mixed Dimensions’ announcement that MakePrintable will integrate with 3D Hubs comes around two months after the Jordan-based startup raised $4.3 million in funding from a number of investors, including Silicon Badia, Alsop Louie Partners, Dolby Family Ventures, and Draper Athena. Whether that new financial backbone contributed to the 3D Hubs deal is not yet clear, but the company has indicated that forming new partnerships with 3D printing services is an important part of its future mission: “More partners mean more broken files, more users and more data,” said Joris Peels, 3D printing consultant and MakePrintable blogger. “Data is key for us because assembling ever larger datasets will give us improved mesh fixing ability. More users means that we can get more feedback and improve our service.”
MakePrintable’s integration with 3D Hubs follows similar connections with Shapeways and Sculpteo—MakePrintable users now have the option to share their 3D printable files to any of those three platforms, and can also send their creations to Google Drive and DropBox from within the software interface. The cloud-based software also offers dedicated plugins for Blender and Sketchup, allowing its features to be accessed directly from 3D design applications. While some advanced users may prefer to take a more hands-on approach to model-fixing, the multi-platform integration offered by MakePrintable is making it an ever-more-appealing solution for 3D designers.
Posted in 3D Design
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