Sep 24, 2015 | By Kira
Autodesk today announced that it has acquired German software startup netfabb, a provider of industrial 3D printing software and services. At the same time, it will make a strategic investment in netfabb’s parent company FIT Technology Group. The new partnership confirms Autodesk’s efforts to increase the adoption of additive manufacturing beyond disposable plastic prototypes, towards production-grade end-use parts.
“Autodesk has always been impressed by FIT’s track record in creating powerful solutions to meet the challenges of industrial additive manufacturing and together we will accelerate a new future of making things,” said Samir Hanna, Autodesk VP and general manager, consumer & 3D printing. “We look forward to welcoming the netfabb team to Autodesk and helping designers and manufacturers worldwide take 3D printing beyond prototyping and plastics, to reliably creating production-grade parts at scale.”
Netfabb’s software currently has a user-base of more than 80,000 designers, manufacturers, artists, researchers and developers. Autodesk plans to keep that thriving community intact by supporting, developing and selling netfabb software, It will also integrate netfabb technology into it’s own Fusion 360 and Spark 3D printing platforms.
netfabb Studio Porfessional software
Autodesk has been making several strategic moves with major industry players. Recently, it embedded its open 3D platform Spark into Windows 10 to make it more accessible, and acquired SeeControl, a cloud platform used by industrial product designers. It is currently in the process of moving away from its licensed-software business towards a cloud subscription model.
With apps for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Android, they are already making advancements in making CAD and design technology accessible to everyone from the professional to amateur designers. With today’s announcements regarding netfabb and FIT Technology, they continue this movement towards refined 3D printing processes and materials, and increased take-up of 3D printing technologies at the industrial level.
Posted in 3D Printing Company
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OK.. I hope this is good for NetFabb and it doesn't get more expensive. I wanted to buy a license, previously with big companies buying these types of software they tend to make it disappear or merge with other packages. However Autodesk doesn't seem like such a company. Let's hope for the best!
Andreas wrote at 9/25/2015 9:39:09 AM:
The main question for me as a Netfabb user would be, will there still be a completely free and simple netfabb-version available for non-professional users? And what about the licensing costs for those who are using the pro version? I think these would be the most important issues that the article does not mention at all. And one other thing, does autodesk now get all the information from registered netfabb users to hand them over to theyr own marketing department, so we can brace ourselves for incoming autodesk ad-flak?