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<div><span style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: georgia, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">In case you guys missed this, this is probably useful for the laser cutter........</span></span></div><div><b style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: georgia, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br></span></b></div><div><b style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: georgia, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br></span></b></div><b style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: georgia, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Autodesk to offer new, free apps for 3D 'makers'</span></b><span style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_19267045" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_19267045</a> �<i>Autodesk�hoping to bring 3-D printing and scanning to the masses�will release two new free 3-D applications. One of them, dubbed 123D Catch, will allow users to create 3-D models of objects using photographs taken from a digital camera or even a camera phone. The other, 123D Make, provides tools to help users create models that can be laser cut from sheets of cawrdboard or other materials�Consumers can now buy a simple 3-D printer for less than $1,000. A startup company called Tech Shop has opened work spaces in San Francisco, San Mateo and San Jose that allows consumers to use professional-grade fabrication tools, including 3-D printers and laser cutters, for a monthly fee. And online services such as Ponoko will print out or laser cut 3-D models for consumers based on the designs consumers upload to them. There are other free 3-D fabrication-related software programs on the market, including Google's (GOOG) SketchUp, and Blender, an open-source application. But Make and Catch represent significant advances in the variety, sophistication and ease of use of such tools available for consumers, 3-D fabrication experts said�Catch takes pictures that users have transferred to their computer from a camera and sends them to Autodesk's servers on the Internet. Those servers analyze the pictures, which can be sent in any order, and put them together to form a 3-D digital image. Within about 20 minutes, Autodesk will alert users via email that they can view the 3-D image. Consumers can use Catch to create duplicates or miniatures of real-world objects�After visiting New York, "you can make your own Statue of Liberty" with Catch, rather than buying one from the gift shop, Bass said. Make, by contrast, takes a 3-D image and allows users to see what it would look like as an actual 3-D image made of layers of flat materials, such as cardboard. Users can vary the thickness of the layers and the angle at which they are sliced�For now, Catch will be available only for Windows-based computers. Make, by contrast, is available only as a Mac OS program. Autodesk plans to offer both applications for both major computing platforms as well as for smartphones such as the iPhone and as a Web-based application�Earlier this year, the company released 123D, another free application that allows users to create or edit 3-D models and send them to a 3-D printer, and 123D Sculpt, an iPad application</i>�� <a href="http://www.123dapp.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://www.123dapp.com/</a> <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/autodesk-boosts-3-d-printing/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/autodesk-boosts-3-d-printing/</a> <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-57318231-52/autodesk-bringing-3d-modeling-to-the-masses/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-57318231-52/autodesk-bringing-3d-modeling-to-the-masses/</a></span><br><br><div><br></div> </div></body>
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