3D sample approval between brands, factories and suppliers

3D sample approval works best when every sample has one link that the brand, the factory and the supplier all open, where each comment is pinned on the exact part of the 3D model, each sample round is a new version of the same model, and the approval records who approved which version and when. That replaces the long email chain of screenshots, "see the third photo" and "which file is the latest?". In MeshMarkup the people reviewing don't need an account: they open the link in a browser, on a computer or a phone.

This guide is for product developers at brands, sampling and 3D teams at factories, and suppliers of materials and components. It works whichever side makes the 3D model.

#Why sample feedback gets lost in email

A typical sample round by email goes like this: the factory sends renders or a file, the brand replies with marked-up screenshots, a supplier is copied in halfway through, and two weeks later nobody can say which comment was dealt with on which sample. The problems are always the same:

• Comments aren't tied to a place. "The stitching near the heel" means different things to different people.
• Versions blur. Proto 2 feedback turns up on proto 3, and an old file gets approved by mistake.
• Nobody knows what's still open. There's no list of what was asked for and what was fixed.
• The approval is a sentence in an email. It's hard to find later, and it doesn't say which version it was for.

#Set up a sample in MeshMarkup

1. 1

   Create one model per sample

   Whoever makes the 3D (the factory's 3D team, the brand's designer, or a 3D studio) uploads it on the Models page. MeshMarkup opens GLB, FBX, OBJ and other mesh formats, and STEP, IGES and Rhino files from CAD. Name it the way your teams already do, such as the style number.

2. 2

   Group a season or collection in a project

   Put the samples for one collection or one buyer in a project. A project link gives the other side one page listing every sample in it. See project review links.

3. 3

   Attach the tech pack and photos

   Add the tech pack PDF or the bill of materials spreadsheet with Drawings & documents, so it opens next to the model. Photos of the physical sample can go in the same link with Add images, and reviewers can draw an arrow or a box on them. See drawings and documents and review images and PDFs.

4. 4

   Send a feedback link with a date

   Click Share for review, choose Leave feedback, and set the date you need comments by. Add the reviewer's email and MeshMarkup sends the link in your name and reminds them before and after the date. See feedback by date and reminders.

#How each side reviews

The person reviewing opens the link, types their name once, and clicks the part of the model they want to talk about. Their note is pinned there, with the camera angle they were looking from, so the factory sees exactly what the brand saw. They can measure between two points, hide or isolate parts, and cut the model open.

On your side, every note has a status: OPEN, IN PROGRESS, RESOLVED or WON'T FIX. You reply in the thread, and an internal note lets your own team discuss a point without the other company seeing it. Every note waiting on your team, across all samples, is on the Tasks page. See notes, replies and statuses.

#Each sample round is a new version

When the next proto is ready, upload it onto the same model with Upload v2, not as a new model. Notes still open are copied onto the new version with their replies, and earlier versions stay in the history with their own notes. Compare draws the previous version as a translucent ghost behind the new one, so everyone sees what changed. See versions and comparing.

At the end of each round, the round report saves every note, its view and its replies as a PDF: a record of the round you can attach to a purchase order or a sampling log. See round report PDF.

#Record the approval

When the sample is right, send a Sign it off link. The reviewer approves the exact version they're looking at, such as Approve v3, and MeshMarkup records the name they typed and when. The approval is refused while any note is still open, so an approved sample is one where every comment has been answered. See client sign-off.

#What a 3D sample can't replace

A 3D model is good for shape, proportion, construction details, placement of logos and trims, colourways and measurements. It can't tell you how a material feels, how it fits on a body, or exactly how a colour looks in daylight, because every screen shows colour a little differently. Use 3D review to agree everything you can before the physical sample, so fewer physical rounds are needed, and keep the physical sample for fit, hand-feel and final colour.

#Try it

Open the sample review to see a review link from the reviewer's side, or drop a model on the free viewer to see how it looks in the browser, with no account.