CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
24 January 2012
Company News
3D PDF Consortium Begins Formal Operations
Today the 3D PDF Consortium announced its formal incorporation as of Tuesday, January 3, 2012. The 3D PDF Consortium is a group of end users, software vendors, systems integrators, developers and software toolkit providers whose mission is to encourage the continued development and adoption of 3D PDF as a truly open standard for visualization, collaboration, data exchange and the long-term archiving of 3D data across multiple industries and disciplines.
“Until now, the 3D PDF Consortium has been in ‘start-up’ mode,” says David Opsahl, 3D PDF Consortium Executive Director. “Since October we have been establishing this new member organization in the professional manner that our members would expect. We are now ready to begin the process of building a high-value organization deserving of the support of both the end-user and solution provider communities.”
The 3D PDF Consortium is truly an international group, according to Bernd Paetzold, CEO of PROSTEP AG. “PROSTEP AG has always been committed to open standards. With the 3D PDF Consortium, the idea of bringing engineering data to each consumer all over the world based on an open format will be strongly supported. For that reason, we will be part of the initiative as a founding member.”
PDF will continue to evolve and be managed through the International Standards Organization (ISO) process – specifically ISO32000. 3D PDF Consortium adds value to this robust process as an industry-driven organization.
“Forming the 3D PDF Consortium is a crucial step in keeping this high-value standard strong and responsive to industry needs,” states Phil Spreier, manager of Translation Products for Tech Soft 3D. “The 3D PDF Consortium is the ideal forum to both accelerate the adoption of 3D PDF and ensure its continued focus on real-world workflows driven by the entire community, rather than a single entity.”
One of the major benefits of the 3D PDF platform is the ubiquity of Acrobat Reader, existing on 98% of connected devices worldwide. Not surprisingly, 3D PDF Consortium also enjoys the support of Adobe. "Adobe is pleased to be a founding member of the 3D PDF Consortium", said Kirk Gould, director of Acrobat Engineering, Adobe. "We see the 3D PDF Consortium as a key industry group, helping to drive the adoption of the 3D capabilities of PDF to represent rich content that is connected to a variety of data sources and across diverse media and devices. The consortium is a natural extension to Adobe’s commitment to driving innovation and the future of digital media."
Although the Consortium is newly formed, many organizations have been developing or deploying 3D PDF-based solutions for some time. The Consortium is a focal point in the market for both the producers and users of these applications. One such company is Boulder-based Anark Corporation, who specializes in technical documentation solutions. “We believe the time has arrived for the manufacturing community as a whole to benefit from a highly functional, cost effective, and truly open format that enables the creation and delivery of secure 3D Technical Data Packages and other mission critical manufacturing documents”, said Stephen Collins, President and CEO of Anark Corporation, “3D PDF provides just that, and we are excited about the formation of the 3D PDF Consortium as a group dedicated to the support and evolution of this powerful and open format.”
Membership in the 3D PDF Consortium is open to all organizations regardless of size and industry focus. Companies represent a broad spectrum of markets, including discrete and process manufacturing, architecture and building information management, geospatial and medical. The 3D PDF Consortium will hold its first annual meeting in May in conjunction with the 3D Collaboration and Interoperability Conference (3DCIC) May 21st – May 23rd in Denver, Colorado.
About 3D PDF Consortium
The 3D PDF Consortium is a community of companies interested in collaboration of dynamic 3D data through PDF files. Software providers, systems integrators, government agencies, and businesses that provide and consume 3D data solutions look to the 3D PDF Consortium to demonstrate the success of these solutions within the market and promote 3D PDF as a solution to improve business results. The 3D PDF Consortium promotes 3D PDF adoption through demonstrating best practices and generating awareness of the power of 3D-enabled PDF to solve a multitude of communication and collaboration challenges across various industries.
For more information on the 3D PDF Consortium, please visit http://www.3DPDFConsortium.org.
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