Autodesk Moves to Make Its Own 3-D Printer
By Don Clark
Wall Street Journal
2:01 pm ET, May 14, 2014
Autodesk’s forthcoming 3-D printer.
Autodesk is known for programs that help people make things. Now the San Francisco company plans to make something itself–a 3-D printer and software to go with it, hoping to spur a hot market to move even faster.
Carl Bass, chief executive of the 32-year-old company, is announcing the move Wednesday at an event in Silicon Valley for the do-it-yourself set known as makers.
“This will be our first foray into hardware,” Bass said in an interview. “We are trying to usher in a new age where there is more experimentation.”
People are experimenting already. They often use Autodesk software to design various kinds of real-world objects that are fabricated with 3-D printers, which build physical objects by layering melted plastic or other materials.
But there are sticking points, Bass said. Many makers of 3-D printers each distribute their own proprietary computer software, which can be a complication for users. In some cases, customers also have to buy materials like plastic from the company that sold them the printer, he said.
Autodesk, by contrast, plans to allow its desktop printer to work with materials from a variety of suppliers. The company also will publish the complete design for the printer so essentially anyone can make compatible clone devices.
In other words, Autodesk is less interested in making money from hardware than aiding other companies that will compete on additional features and pricing.
Autodesk is not targeting the home market, where some printers are how available for less than $1,000. Rather, Bass said, its printer is targeted at more professional users–for creating small objects like medical devices or jewelry–and will likely end up closer to the $5,000 range, though exact pricing has not been set.
The other thrust of the effort is Spark, which Bass describes as an open software platform to make it more reliable and simpler to print simulated 3-D objects conceived on a computer. Autodesk hopes to convince many printer makers to use the free software rather than developing their own, hoping to emulate the way Google’s Android software helped build a big market for compatible smartphones and tablets.
There’s no shortage of players in 3-D printing already, including publicly held companies like Stratasys and 3D Systems. Bass is quick to note that some of the established companies see their software as a differentiator, and aren’t likely to adopt Spark. “It’s going to be a fight,” he said.
Bass said Autodesk’s printer and Spark will be available later this year.
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