As 2024 comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the updates that shaped how teams design and collaborate this year. From making sharing models faster—cutting down on PowerPoint engineering and speeding up design reviews—to helping designers iterate concepts faster, we’ve focused on making every step of the process more effective.

With the launch of Vision Pro for immersive design reviews and the full integration of History-Based Parametric Modeling, Shapr3D has seen an increased interest from enterprises looking to boost their current CAD workflows with agile tools for collaborative design.

Istvan, our CEO, shared more about Shapr3D’s journey this year, including our growing presence in enterprise and exciting milestones in his recent LinkedIn post.

Communication in 3D, made easy

This year, collaboration in Shapr3D became simple and effective. With the introduction of Teamspaces, teams gained a centralized hub for organizing shared projects, while Webviewer Commenting allowed for clear and timely feedback on designs.

Immersive design reviews with Vision Pro

2024 brought Shapr3D to Apple Vision Pro, the first CAD solution to run natively on the platform. Vision Pro made it possible for teams to collaborate in augmented reality, conduct detailed design reviews (even remotely), and refine concepts with precision on the spot. By visualizing designs instantaneously in spatial 3D, teams reduced reliance on physical prototypes and made faster, more informed decisions.

To mark the launch, we hosted a Vision Pro event in Budapest, bringing together industry leaders to discuss how Shapr3D with integrated XR changes digital prototyping. We invited Samuele Meda, Design Director at Kenwood to share how engineers and industrial designers collaborate faster with adaptive, multi-device CAD.

History-Based Parametric Modeling: From beta to a core feature

In April, History-Based Parametric Modeling became fully integrated, offering a more robust and adaptable solution for design workflows. The ability to edit parameters for any previous operation simplifies adjustments to complex models, allowing refinements without a rebuild.

This significant progress reflects the valuable feedback gathered from users. Updates such as the addition of new adjustable parameters, merge history and copy without link have made our initial implementation more powerful. User insights have been instrumental in aligning the feature with real-world workflows.

NX and CATIA integration

This year, Shapr3D took a major step forward in supporting enterprise workflows by introducing importers and exporters for JT, PRT (import only), CATPART (import only), and more. These tools make it easier for teams to integrate Shapr3D, enabling lossless data exchange and smoother collaboration across CAD systems.

For a deeper dive into how Shapr3D fits into enterprise workflows, check out our NX whitepaper. It explores how adaptive, cross-device CAD is transforming design, from faster concepting to more efficient reviews.

The smaller wins that add up

While the major updates stole the spotlight, the smaller refinements we introduced this year made a meaningful impact on functionality and usability. Across 23 releases, we focused on making modeling flows more precise and refined.

Core modeling tools such as Extrude gained new capabilities, including Symmetric Extrude and Start/End Offsets, offering greater flexibility and control. These updates made it easier to achieve precise results in less time.

We also made sharing workflows more robust. Features like Saved Views under View settings allowed quick returns to specific perspectives, while the new batch export option simplified handling multiple files.
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Visualization saw exciting upgrades with the addition of emissive materials for glowing effects and automotive material finishes for sleek, professional presentations. Combined with smoother rendering performance and bigger control over textures, these updates helped designers showcase concepts effortlessly.

As we look back on 2024, we’re proud of how far Shapr3D has come, and we’re excited to continue building tools that make design faster, smarter, and more collaborative. 2025 holds even more opportunities to evolve and improve workflows, and we can’t wait to see what the future brings.

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