Stratasys enhances the 3MF 3D printing process with KeyShot 10
Accurately simulating color, material and finish, or “CMF,” used to be a time-consuming and costly process. Not anymore though as the newly released KeyShot 10 rendering software from Luxion now supports Stratasys full color multi-material PolyJet 3D printers – J55 and J8 Series and change the design process to just a few clicks and print.
Supporting the new 3MF open-source file format which represents a huge leap forward over legacy STL, OBJ, and VRML files, designers can now 3D print in full color and textures like wood directly from KeyShot to Stratasys PolyJet printers.
Traditional modeling for final iterations can typically take from one to three weeks, but the new workflow with KeyShot can now enable the CMF design phase to start much more earlier. Products can go-to-market quicker as a result, while intellectual property loss is avoided by keeping modeling in-house.
Erik Fickas, Senior Industrial Designer at Priority Designs, was one of the beta users to experience the new KeyShot 10, and found the speed and simplicity of 3D printing a collection of design options to be completely refreshing.
Overnight, we had five different models with five different wood samples and different fabric samples.
To rapid prototype a wood texture would have been a heck of a lot of work. It’s really incredible what we can do now.Erik Fickas, Senior Industrial Designer at Priority Design
The KeyShot support in PolyJet 3D printers means designers are able to accelerate their design process immensely. This gives them a huge advantage when compared to designers who are only using 3D printing for concept designs and then turn to slower and expensive traditional models for detailed designs.
“With KeyShot and the J55, you send the file to print, and the next morning it’s done,” said Billy Rupe, a Prototype Specialist at Priority Designs. Additional and significant enhancements for KeyShot 10 are planned for release in 2021.
