Snapmaker announced today that their new ecosystem, Snapmaker Space, is entering open beta state.
That means that anyone can sign up and give it a try. But hold on, what exactly is Snapmaker Space?
Each of the major 3D printer manufacturers operates a parallel online ecosystem to provide content for those operating their equipment. Prusa Research, for example, runs Printables; Bambu Lab runs MakerWorld, etc. The goal of these systems is to make it seamlessly easy for their customers to instantly find useful items to 3D print.
This has been quite important for manufacturers, because in order to expand their sales, they increasingly sell to those without CAD skills. These customers are unable to create their own content, and therefore need an easy way to find content. These company-operated ecosystems provide that for them.
Snapmaker has been unique in that they have not had an integrated 3D model ecosystem in their orbit. They’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to quickly develop Snapmaker Space, and now it appears that it is in good enough shape to offer public access.
That doesn’t mean it is perfect! Beta state is typically used to allow more users to find more bugs before the actual production release. That means that if you’re trying Snapmaker Space, don’t be surprised if something doesn’t work.
What’s in Snapmaker Space? You’ll find 3D models, of course, but far fewer than you’d see at the more established sites. Snapmaker said that at launch their site will have approximately 2500 3D models, which is a decent start. However, they will have a long way to catch up to some of the other sites, which now have millions of 3D models.
The other factor here is the use of print profiles. In Snapmaker Space, you will see 3D models that have specific print profiles for their U1 system. This means that they are basically ready to print immediately, providing operators with some confidence that the print job will succeed. This is another way of making life easier for those less familiar with tuning a 3D print job.
Like the other ecosystems, Snapmaker Space includes all sorts of features to encourage designers to contribute 3D models to the site. However, the metrics are different. Snapmaker Space’s key metric is “cumulative print time”. This means that a complex 3D model that takes much time to print will gain more points than a simpler 3D model.
This makes sense because Snapmaker’s U1 system is a tool changer: it can very easily 3D print multicolour 3D models without much wasted material. Snapmaker is trying to encourage the creation of complex multicolour 3D models by participating designers, which will in turn help them sell more equipment due to the availability of great printable content.
Points accumulated by designers can be redeemed in the Snapmaker online store through the use of gift cards. That means that a successful designer could be awarded free materials, accessories, or perhaps even a new 3D printer if a sufficient number of points were gained.
Snapmaker is focusing on search and submission during the beta period. It sounds like they may be trying some different approaches, which is a good thing: discovering 3D models in a large site has never been a great experience on any site. I’m hoping Snapmaker is able to make a breakthrough in that area.
If you have a U1 3D printer, you’d better get on this right away.
Via Snapmaker Space
