The 3MF Consortium, an industry association created to develop and promote a new full-fidelity file format for 3D printing, today announced that Ultimaker, a leading manufacturer of open-source premium 3D printers, headquartered in The Netherlands, has joined at the Founding membership level.
"Ultimaker strives to evolve 3D printing into a capable, versatile and accessible production technology," said Siert Wijnia, CTO and founder of Ultimaker. "For this fast-growing industry to create meaningful progress, we need a more modern, future-proof and free format that is still easy to implement."
"Ultimaker’s vision — to make 3D printing accessible to all — is one we share at the 3MF Consortium," said Adrian Lannin, 3MF Consortium executive director. "We’re pleased to welcome Ultimaker and know that its award-winning innovation and experience serving both professionals and novices will help strengthen the 3MF specification and its global adoption."
Ultimaker further stated that it contributes to the 3MF format because it allows companies to focus on innovation and is free for anyone to implement. The next release of the company's 3D printing software Cura will support the 3MF format.
The 3MF Consortium was formed to close the gap between the capabilities of modern 3D printers and outdated file formats. The 3MF specification eliminates the problems associated with currently available file formats, resolving interoperability and functionality issues, enabling companies to focus more on innovation. The first version of the 3MF specification is available now for download at no charge.
Two levels of 3MF Consortium membership are available: Founding and Associate. Members work collaboratively to develop, enhance and promote the 3MF specification.
Launched in 2015, the 3MF Consortium is a Joint Development Foundation project with the goal to define a 3D printing format that will allow design applications to send full-fidelity 3D models to a mix of other applications, platforms, services and printers. The 3MF (for 3D Manufacturing Format) specification eliminates the widespread issues with currently available file formats.
Founding members of the 3MF Consortium are: 3D Systems; Autodesk, Inc; Dassault Systèmes, SA.; FIT AG; HP, Inc.; Materialise; Microsoft Corporation; Shapeways, Inc.; Siemens PLM Software; SLM Solutions Group AG; Stratasys, and Ultimaker. The starting point for the Consortium's development of the 3MF specification was Microsoft's donation of its 3D file format work-in-progress. More information about the 3MF Consortium and the 3MF specification is available athttp://www.3mf.io.
