More and more developers are turning to web-based 2D and 3D visualization and interaction services. These allow you to quickly present designs to colleagues, clients or anyone else using only a web browser. Tools in this area offer a wealth of functionality that may or may not be suitable for your specific development needs.
One of the original developers of HOOPS Communicator shared some insights into the market, the products in this space and who it fits in. In this article, we will focus on two popular and powerful products: HOOPs Communicator and Autodesk Platform Services.
We share our thoughts on the pros and cons of each product, as well as a broad overview of what they do and who might be best suited for them. Neither is for everyone, but both perform better in different areas of this developmental space.
https://isite.baidu.com/site/wjz8psvc/275e648c-86f9-40a6-a112-5771ac5491f2Who is the HOOPS COMMUNICATOR suitable for?
HOOPS Communicator is a development platform for building high-performance web-based 3D engineering applications, designed to provide various visualization functions mainly for engineering application developers.
HOOPS Communicator Features Overview
An easy way to emphasize who HOOPS Communicator is for is to discuss how it's typically marketed. As an SDK, it is always packaged with HOOPS Exchange as the HOOPS Web Platform. In short, Tech Soft 3D products are best suited for those looking for high-quality, scalable, fast web visualization capabilities capable of handling difficult use cases. It is fundamentally designed for developing web-based 3D engineering applications.
The HOOPS Web Platform is designed to provide developers with detailed customization support from a development perspective, while leaving the door open for more advanced functionality. This is also reflected in other key advantages of the HOOPS web platform. It is not a SaaS solution, Tech Soft 3D does not provide any hosting.
On the plus side, this means you retain control of your data and can integrate directly into your own server backend, independent of the framework and infrastructure you're using. In some cases this may be more difficult to set up and may not be convenient, depending on your needs, abilities and experience level.
Compared to Autodesk products, HOOPS Communicator is suitable for those who want to grow fast, deal with large and complex files, or have a lot of files to translate. Through the seamless integration of web platform products with HOOPS Exchange, users can more easily build complete applications that can import more than 30 CAD file types directly supported by HOOPS Exchange.
Whether sold stand-alone or within the HOOPS Web Platform, HOOPS Communicator fits a multitude of markets. Web application developers for CAM, CAE, EDA and Additive Manufacturing as well as AEC, PLM, MaaS and Metrology will find this a perfect fit for their projects.
The core purpose of HOOPS Communicator is to allow visualization in a web-based format. In that spirit, to get a deeper understanding of what this product can do for you, you can request a demo or a free 60-day trial from Tech Soft 3D.
limitation:
HOOPS Communicator is not sold as a SaaS product, but through a strategic technology partnership model. It's perfect for those working with large files and offers comprehensive project-focused functionality out of the box. This is a great option for those looking for an advanced solution for their engineering specific visualization needs.
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Who is the AUTODESK platform service suitable for?
Clearly, Autodesk Platform Services is a great option for those who spend a lot of time working within the Autodesk ecosystem. That's what makes this product great. If you have researched this topic in the past, you must know that APS was called "Forge" until recently.
Overview of Autodesk Features
For those of you who regularly work with Revit, DWG and Navisworks or Inventor, APS will be a strong candidate for your web visualization needs. Autodesk owns these formats, so their support for them is near perfect. You may see faster support for any changes made to these or other Autodesk formats than other web visualization SDKs can provide.
One of the most important considerations when deciding whether to use Autodesk Platform Services is its pricing structure: APS operates on a cost-per-transaction basis. This is very attractive for young development teams (especially startups) and for teams using it to prototype use cases. This is invaluable if you are a relatively new team working in the Autodesk world and have a good understanding of how far you will be using the service.
Autodesk will take care of your web visualization needs completely, so you don't need to set up cloud infrastructure to support it. This again is attractive to teams that are early in the life cycle. For some, this might be a problem: Many organizations are hesitant to relinquish control of their data. Like pricing, this can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on what you and your development team are working on.
In summary, Autodesk Platform Services offers its web visualization capabilities as: a service. This gives it a very different structure than the Tech Soft 3D offering and is critical in determining if this is the right product for you. They provide a large number of APIs, which can be browsed under the "Solutions" tab.
limitation:
Autodesk Platform Services is a fully hosted SaaS model solution for those looking for web visualization capabilities. Its pricing model is fundamentally different than the one offered by HOOPS Communicator, and each model suits different teams. This is an excellent choice for those operating primarily within the Autodesk ecosystem.