Anarkik3D has released a new version of their popular haptic 3D design software.
If you’re not familiar with haptic design, let me explain. It’s a step beyond the “what you see is what you get approach” used by most 3D CAD systems, and certainly very far beyond the programmatic approach of OpenSCAD or Grasshopper, at least in terms of usage.
Haptic refers to a physical feedback you experience while using the tool. You’re able to twirl around the 3D model you’re working on and view it in 3D form on a 2D display, but it’s the hand interface that’s interesting. To use Anarkik3D Design, you must employ a specific 3D mouse system from Falcon.
The Falcon haptic device provides physical force feedback as you move the mouse around in 3D space to correspond with the virtual 3D model you’re working on. In other words, if you move the 3D cursor into the 3D model, you’ll feel it bump!
This physical feedback takes your mind deeper into the 3D model itself, and should provide a better way to design free-flowing 3D objects, particularly artistic pieces. Some of the most interesting features include:
- ‘Touch’ and ‘feel’ the 3 dimensional qualities of virtual objects in real time
- Move freely and fluidly in all 3 dimensions using the Falcon haptic device
- Straightforward graphical interface
- Choose colours quickly with our 3D colour selection box
- Easy creation of basic geometric shapes that you then manipulate
- Scale, mirror, snap and rotate
- Change hardness/softness of objects
- Use boolean operations (subtraction, union) to create beautiful forms
- Support for following file formats: .stl, .3DS, .OBJ and .wrl
- Easy to increase or decrease mesh complexity
In their latest release, 3.1, they’ve simplified the software installation by directly including all drivers necessary for use of the haptic device. They’ve also significantly optimized the mesh processing, so that complex operations chopping up the 3D mesh occur far more rapidly. A number of other user interface operations have been simplified as well.
All 3D CAD software is designed with a usage purpose in mind, and Anarkik3D’s Design software tends towards the jewelry and fashion industry, where artists can very easily create highly complex 3D structures. These can then be 3D printed as prototypes, for, say, jewelry, before being put through a metal casting process.
Pricing for Anarkik3D Design 3.1 is set at £390 (USD$550), but this will rise to 2018 pricing at the end of February. And you’ll also need the Falcon haptic device, which can be obtained for only USD$249.
If you’re interested in a straightforward system for designing jewelry or fashion items in a radically new way, you might take a look at Anarkik3D’s tools.
Via Anarkik3D
