Free software that is useful – 123D Catch
The annual meeting for digital prototyping in Paris provides a good look at the latest technologies used to produce a product before the first unit is manufactured. Of course there is the CAD-modeling aspect, but quickly Autodesk moves to the combination of simulation and visualization – the strong points differentiating the Product Design Suite offering.
But sometimes we don't start with a blank screen and an idea – products already exist, environments already exist, and either we can model them, scan them, or, now thanks to a technology product from Autodesk, take pictures of them.
123D Catch is a client/cloud product in beta from Autodesk. It seems to me that they have not yet decided whether this becomes a stand-alone product or a technology integrated into a suite or subscription service, but for the moment, that doesn't matter. Today the download is free and you can start generating 3D models from photos almost immediately.
The cool aspect of this product is the ability to easily generate 3D geometry from anything that you can take a picture of. You need a plant in a vase for your architecture models, grab your camera and the flowers on the dining room table. You need a 3D environment for the new coffee machine you just designed, grab your camera and start a photo shoot in your kitchen. Photo-textured 3D geometry of anything you can point a camera at is now not just possible, but easy.
That is the joy of 123D Catch – Autodesk, the company that democratizes technologies – has a hit service with 123D Catch – an enabling tool for all of their design and modeling products which is really so much fun to use. If you are like me, you'll find yourself playing with it for far too long.
Check out the video demonstration Autodesk gave to CADplace, and then download the Windows program from the link above. You'll soon have new 3D models - really useful models which are perfectly adapted for your projects.
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