3MF Consortium Releases Version 1.1 and MCOR Orange Starts Supporting The File Format

In a short release Mcor announces that their software called Orange will replace their previous slicing-software, SliceIT, completely and also supports the updated file format 3MF.

The 3MF file format supports many features like coloured objects, so it fits perfectly for the full colour 3D printers from Mcor. But that is not the only thing going on with the 3MF file format.

“We are in this business to expand the possibilities of 3D printing and make it accessible to everyone, so we couldn’t be more excited about our new support for 3MF through Mcor Orange Software,” said Dr. Conor MacCormack, co-founder and CEO, Mcor. “Without a doubt, this is huge news for the entire 3D design and printing industry, and will have positive implications moving forward.”

Yesterday the 3MF Consortium announced some changes in the core specifications for the new Version 1.1.

The full release from the 3MF Consortium:

I’m pleased to announce that the 3MF Consortium has released its first update to the 3MF Core Specification (Available for download here). Version 1.1 is the latest proof of the 3MF Consortium’s commitment to defining 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.

First of all, what hasn’t changed. All features and structures of the core specification are retained, thereby preserving the investment made by developers. The namespace remains unchanged because this update does not break any existing parsers.

What has changed? In response to feedback from our user community, we’ve made a number of updates to clarify content, add detail, and improve support objects:

Page 13: Restriction to absolute paths within the package. This was already true in the XSD schema, but is now reminded in the text.
Page 15: Restricted XML content to UTF-8 to simplify parsers. We added a reminder of how XML namespace inheritance works.
Pages 25-28: Added object type “solidsupport,” which like a model, must be manifold (hence solid). Objects of type “support” are not intended as solid objects, but as thin walls (regardless of whether they are manifold or not) to be manufactured at the machine’s precision. This ensures no ambiguity in whether support structures should be filled or not.
Page 31: Restriction that base materials cannot form gradients, in order to ensure that splitting edges in a core-spec 3MF still results in a core-spec 3MF, rather than requiring composite materials from the materials and properties extension.
Page 46: The only change to the XSD schema is to add “solidsupport.”

As with the core specification, Version 1.1 continues to support English and Japanese.

Thanks to all of our users and the work of our consortium members in bringing Version 1.1 together!