SketchFab Now Permits 3D Model Download

3D modeling service SketchFab has changed their policy on public STL model downloads. 

SketchFab announced today a radical change in policy, whereby creators can opt to set their files available for general download. They say: 

We are announcing today an important new feature: the option to make your files available for download. This makes Sketchfab not only the best and easiest way to publish and embed a 3D file, but also a great place to find and use 3D content ­ for example for 3D printing, to build video games or VR experiments ­ or just to share and collaborate privately on 3D designs. Any user can now chose to publish 3D content for display only, or for display and download under creative commons licenses. 

This is great news for everyone: creators can more easily expose their work to a larger audience, while users have access to more 3D content. How much content, exactly? SketchFab also announced they’ve hit a milestone: 200,000 3D files have been uploaded. 

This is a significant number. While there are many 3D model repositories these days, and it seems more appear every week, few of them have significant 3D model catalogs. Most have less than a thousand and some less than a hundred models, but SketchFab’s 200,000 shows they’re in the top tier of repositories. 

SketchFab, if you aren’t aware, has some capabilities not often found in other repositories. They currently accept 28 different 3D file formats and provide a system to easily embed a 3D model into a website, which can be used in a variety of ways.

Via SketchFab