Monday, December 1st, 2014 Posted by Jim Thacker

Autodesk releases Meshmixer 2.7


A recent Meshmixer tutorial, covering some of the 3D printing features added in the 2.x series of releases. Autodesk has just released version 2.7 of the free software for creating mashups of 3D models.

Originally posted on 17 October. Scroll down for details of the Meshmixer 2.7 update.

Autodesk has released Meshmixer 2.6, the latest update to its free tool for creating mashups of other 3D models, further gearing its feature set towards 3D printing the output.

From art experiment to printing tool
Meshmixer began life as a fun art toy, but since Autodesk acquired the software in 2011, it has been turning it into a rather more practical tool for the hobbyist 3D printing market.

Version 2.0, released last year, tidied up the UI and expanded the general feature set, and since then, Autodesk has been steadily introducing features for preparing models for print.

Simplified 3D printing UI, new Orientation tool
The software now outputs directly to online printing services Sculpteo, i.materialise, and Shapeways, or to any user-defined 3D printer: the 2.6 release also adds a specific preset for the Dremel 3D Printer.

Meshmixer 2.6 also simplifies the 3D Print UI, and adds a new Orientation tool for calculating the best orientation in which to print a model to maximise strength or minimise the size of the supports needed.

Updated 1 December: Meshmixer 2.7 is out, adding new tools for analysing a model before 3D printing, including Deviation, for analysing differences between meshes, and Clearance, for analysing tolerances.

There is also a new Layout/Packing tool for analysing the layout of a model on the 3D print bed, and the bed itself is now visible in the modelling view. Find a full list of new features in the Meshmixer forum.

Meshmixer 2.7 is available now as a free download for Windows and Mac OS X.

Read more about Meshmixer on the software’s website