Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
media: all digital cameras save photos in JPEG format, which is compatible
with laser jet printers and web browsers.
The world of 3D printers has its own industry-standard ile format called
Standard Tessellation Language (STL) ile format. The STL ile format got its
start in the 1980s, an era when 3D printers were brand new prototyping tools
and design software and computers were weak, tiny versions of what they've
become today. Like today's design software that's now limited by its built-in
ineficiencies, the STL ile format was designed to simplify the transfer of
design iles to budding 3D printers.
To digitally “slice” a design ile into a 3D printable format, early STL iles
had to account for the fact that a 3D printer could only handle so much physical
detail. Computer memory was limited and expensive in those days. Therefore,
the fact that the STL ile format removed some design details was ideal since
that conserved computing power. For example, a design ile can contain color
information and other design niceties that the STL ile's job was to strip away.
A typical printer needed to process only the triangles that touched the cur-
rent layer and could temporarily ignore the rest until the next layer was due
to be fabricated.
Fast forward three decades, and STL iles remain, yet their original beneit
has become a limiting factor on the design possibilities for 3D printing. If 3D
printing is going to fulill its potential, the STL format, as valuable as it has
been for decades, needs to be honorably retired. Design software is improving
and so are 3D printers.
Today's design software routinely handles design iles that involve billions
of location coordinates or intricate mesh lattices. In tandem, the best 3D
printers today can keep apace and are approaching printing resolutions of
1 micron. However, the STL ile, the vital bridge that spans these two tech-
nologies, can't keep up.
AMF: The new standard
One possible way to replace and upgrade the STL ile is with a new XML-
based standard, the Additive Manufacturing Format (AMF). Full disclosure:
I co-authored the AMF standard so, of course, I'm a fan. I worked on the
AMF standard with a group of 3D printer manufacturers, CAD software ven-
dors, and expert users. We teamed up under an international organization
that manages the development and implementation of technology standards,
the ASTM.
