Friday, December 23rd, 2016 Posted by Jim Thacker

Autodesk cans its 123D apps

161223_AutodeskDiscontinues123Dapps


Autodesk is discontinuing its 123D family of 3D apps next March, the company has announced.

Support for the Windows, iOS and Android apps, which includes photogrammetry tool 123D Catch and modelling tools 123D Make, 123D Design and 123D Sculpt+, will cease on 31 March 2017.

Underlying tech will be integrated into Autodesk’s browser-based tools
Over the past five years, Autodesk has steadily expanded the 123D family of apps, targeting hobbyists and the emerging maker community as well as traditional 3D artists.

As well as the modelling and photogrammetry apps, the 123D product family also now includes electrical circuit design tool Circuits and online 3D design and printing platform Tinkercad.

Of that line-up, Tinkercad is the only one being preserved as a standalone product, with the functionality of the others due to be intergrated into it and Autodesk’s other products.

123D Make will be incorporated into Fusion 360, Autodesk’s online CAD platform, while 123D Catch will become part of reality capture solution ReMake, formerly known as Memento.

Both have free editions, and Fusion 360 is completely free to anyone with revenue under $100,000/year.

The future of the underlying technology from the other apps seems less certain: as a sculpting package, 123D Sculpt+ doesn’t seem like a natural fit for either ReMake or Fusion 360.

Downloads due to be suspended on 31 March 2017, along with 123Dapp.com
Autodesk doesn’t give any reason for the decision to discontinue the 123D apps, apart from a desire to “streamline product offerings” and its ongoing efforts to migrate software to its cloud-based services.

In its statement, the company says that it remains “committed to providing free tools to hobbyists, kids, hackers, and makers around the world”.

The individual apps will remain available until 31 March 2017, after which point new downloads will be suspended, along with updates to and support for existing installations.

Autodesk will also be closing its 123Dapp.com portal on 31 March, making it impossible to access any models or projects stored in online accounts after that point.


Read Autodesk’s blog post announcing the discontinuation of the 123D apps

Read the company’s FAQs about the discontinuation of the apps