3DVIA Mobile HD Comes to iPad

While Autodesk woos Mac fans with the pending release of AutoCAD for Mac, its rival Dassault Systemes also curry favor from the same crowd with the release of 3DVIA Mobile HD this week. Described as an "interactive 3D model viewer for the iPad," the application lets you use an iPad to browse, view, and play with 3D models hosted at 3DVIA.com, Dassault's 3D content sharing platform.

Dassault's 3DVIA.com portal lets you upload models saved in 3DXML, DAE (COLLADA), 3DS, OBJ, IGES, STEP, and .KMZ formats. You don't need an iPad to sign up for 3DVIA.com. However, if you do, the iPad-targeted 3DVIA Mobile HD application lets you zoom, pan, and rotate your models using fingertips on the portable device. You may also export quick renderings of your models and publish them to Facebook.

3DVIA Mobile can also be used in a similar fashion by iPhone users, but the larger screen on iPad makes 3D presentations more effective. Models hosted in 3DVIA.com are usually in lightweight, simplified geometry; therefore, they're better suited for online viewing then the more complex history-based parametric CAD models used in manufacturing.

Dassault operates a site similar to 3DVIA.com called 3D Content Central. With a greater focus on mechanical engineering, 3D Content Central is more closely associated with its mid-range MCAD package SolidWorks. The company is also getting ready to release a version of its 2D drafting program, DraftSight, that will run on Mac OS as a native program.

For more, watch the video clip below from Dassault: