For those of you using Autodesk’s free 3D modeling utility, 123D Design, there is very good news: a new version has been released.
The new version includes some very key features that were lacking until now:
- The ability to import existing STL files, critical for handling 3D scans captured elsewhere
- Text! You can include text in 3D on your model in seven different fonts, specifying the characters as either as a solid or a void
- Automatic “shelling” to create hollow objects – also important to save print material
- Ability to select the distance units (inches, millimeters or centimeters)
- An invisible history of all changes is recorded, meaning you can go back and change things you’ve done earlier and the change is cascaded through subsequent operations
And there’s much more too. This tool is getting very interesting, as you can see in this video:
We’ve long thought that 123D Design was perhaps the best of the free 3D modeling tools available today, and this announcement makes it even better.
Is there a catch? Only one: the new features seem to be available only on the web version of 123D Design. We suspect the standalone versions will be updated shortly, however.
Via 123D
