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Integrate 3D models in product documentation
for more efficient communication
The benefits of interactive 3D models integrated in technical
and other documents go far beyond eye candy. They can save your
company large sums of money when incorporated into manufacturing
and servicing, catalogues and process control. Over and above
making merely your PDFs easier to use, 3D models of hardware,
parts and processes enhance comprehension, reduce errors and
contribute to higher productivity. The saving in resources can
be immense, from marketing (visualizing products and processes)
through training and service (error reduction such as minimizing
the shipping of incorrect parts) to reduced localization costs
(as processes are visualized).
But how to go about it? Many companies will not even pay for
a static exploded diagram, let alone a 3D model. And how
labor-intensive is creating a 3D PDF? Then what happens
when you need to update your PDFs?
Well, first of all, hardware-related companies invariably
use 3D models for design and production purposes, so the
models are already available at no or little extra cost.
And you don't have to manually place the 3D models in
the PDF file using Acrobat every time the document is updated.
With TimeSavers + 3D Assistant,
3D models can be added to your FrameMaker source files,
together with a wide variety of model-related interactivity features.
All these will automatically be produced in the PDF document
whenever you distill.
End users do not need any special 3D display software. When
viewing the PDFs using the free Adobe Reader (7.0.7 or later),
all they need to do is click on the 3D model and manipulate
it interactively -- zoom in/out, switch between different views,
rotate the model, view cross-sections and individual parts, see
animations such as assembly or disassembly sequences, and more.
Interactive 3D-PDF examples (distilled with TimeSavers+3D
Assistant):
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