Share your models with anyone in 3 dimensions? Check. Pin annotations right on the surface of a model to share advice and ideas with other engineers? Check. GrabCAD's new in-browser 3D viewer is a huge step toward seamless collaboration and sharing for mechanical engineers and designers.
Announcing a CAD Game-changer: You can now rotate, translate, zoom in on and annotate all CAD models right in your browser without downloading anything! We'll show you how it works in this video:
Click the "View in 3D" button directly under the render viewer of any model with an associated STL file to pull up the 3D viewer:
It will take a few seconds to load the file into the 3D viewer, then you're ready to rock! We've included a few controls to make it easier to make the most of models:
holding 's' enables zoom mode
holding 'r' enables rotation mode
holding 't' enables translation
Use this new in-browser 3d viewer to:
- Collaborate with engineers on projects you're working on by annotating pins right on the model
- Share your models securely with clients, manufacturers, or anybody without CAD software
- Check out all public models on GrabCAD without downloading them
The nitty-gritty:
- STL file format is supported (we converted a bunch of models already! Over 15,000 of 'em...)
- Only WebGL-enabled browsers (Chrome, Firefox, recent versions of Opera, and Safari with customization... view Safari instructions. Internet Explorer is not WebGL-enabled so it will not work)
- 3D viewer load times vary depending on the STL file size and on your internet connection
- Harnessing the power of 3D through your browser takes computer memory- powerful computers will work better
We have automagically converted tens of thousands of CAD models into STL format. Most models should look great, but in some cases we may have converted the wrong file. Feel free to convert the original format into STL yourselves if that is the case (but don't zip the STL file). As always, we're coding away to make this feature simpler, faster and more powerful. Offer your feedback by private messaging any staff member or leaving us a wish (at the bottom right of each page). We take feedback very seriously!
Enjoy this great new feature on all of these models!
Cheers,
Gabe
