Anaglyphs - 3rd dimension for your CAD

CAD Studio has prepared a small "3D CAD gift" for all users of Autodesk CAD applications. We have released three freeware plug-ins "Anaglyph" for AutoCAD, Inventor and Revit 2013. These add-on utilities automatically create "anaglyphs" from your 3D CAD models. These stereoscopic images are then viewable in 3D with plain red-cyan glasses.

Although anaglyphs are a relatively old method of 3D viewing, they are a simple and inexpensive imaging method. You do not need any specialized hardware to display compelling 3D models and scenes, you can watch objects in three dimensions on any media - from drawings through a computer screen to the TV or mobile devices. The principles of creating anaglyphs from 3D CAD models - i.e. separating views for the left and right eye - can be also used for other, more modern imaging methods, such as 3D TVs.

All three types of the free Anaglyph applications are available for download and automatic online installation either directly from the CAD product using Autodesk Exchange Apps, or you can download them from Download.

The principle of operation of all three versions of the Anaglyph for AutoCAD 2013, Inventor 2013 and Revit 2013 (here it is part of the Revit Tools package) is similar and slightly differs only in some parameter settings. In the CAD application, just retrieve the desired 3D model, set the appropriate view in perspective - run the Anaglyph icon from the ribbon to create the anaglyph output image. An important parameter is the eye distance. It determines the intensity of the 3D effect and should either be a real distance of about 7 cm, or about 1/10 of the distance between eyes (camera) and the target (3D center of the scene). Another parameter is the resolution of the anaglyph bitmap image (depending on its subsequent use). With the IZ3D system driver you can use anaglyphs even during editing in many CAD applications, but also in computer games and other Windows programs.

All visitors of the CAD Studio's roadshow "Autodesk Live 2013" and subscribers of the CAXMIX magazine will get CAD Studio's 3D glasses as a small present. We hope they can help you at work - to communicate a complex assembly or an architectural model to your customers - but you can enjoy fun with them even in areas outside of CAD technology.

For more information, installation instructions, applications, and many examples of 3D models, photographs and videos, visit Anaglyph (in Czech) and Anaglyph add-ons.