Product design review software for form, CMF and renders

Product design review software lets an industrial design team put a design in front of clients and stakeholders and get decisions on its form, colour, material and finish. In MeshMarkup the review happens on the 3D model in the browser, dressed in the materials you chose in Studio, with renders and snapshots in the same link. Stakeholders pin notes on the product or on a render, you answer them, and each round is a version that ends with a clear yes.

#What a product design review needs to cover

Product design reviews are different from engineering reviews. The questions are less about clearances and more about how the product looks, feels and reads:

• Form. Proportions, the silhouette from each side, how surfaces meet, where the parting lines fall.
• CMF. Colour, material and finish on each part: which plastic is matte, which metal is brushed, what colour the buttons are.
• Details. Logo placement, button shapes, textures, the visual weight of a radius.
• Variants. Two or three colourways or finishes that the client has to choose between.

A useful online 3D design review covers all four. Renders alone show form and CMF from the angles you chose; the model alone shows form from every angle but may not look like the product. Reviewing both together is what gets reliable feedback.

#Dress the model for review in Studio

Studio is where you prepare a model for presentation, in the browser. You pick a part, then a material from Metals, Plastics, Rubber, Glass and Paint, and adjust its Colour, Metallic, Roughness and Clear coat. Lighting comes from environment sets with softboxes, and you can choose a white, grey or coloured background.

For a product review, the useful parts are:

• Materials per part. Parts come from your file, so export from CAD or your 3D app with parts kept separate; an assembly that arrives as one mesh takes one material.
• Several looks per model. On Solo and up, the Look menu holds more than one look, for example a matte black colourway and a brushed aluminium one. Duplicate this look starts a variant from the current one.
• Show this look to clients. On Solo and up, this makes the review link open the model in your Studio look, with your materials, lighting and background. It's off until you switch it on, and the look that's picked is the one clients see.

#Review colourways and finishes side by side

Because a review link shows one look at a time, the clearest way to put several CMF options in front of a client is to render them:

1. 1

   Build each look

   Create a look for each colourway in Studio, using Duplicate this look so each one starts from the same lighting and background.

2. 2

   Render the same angles for each

   Save the angles you want under Camera views and render each look from them. Renders are made by your own graphics card, in the browser tab.

3. 3

   Add the renders to Images

   Click Add to Images after each render. The renders sit next to the model in the review link.

4. 4

   Show the preferred look on the model

   Pick the leading option and switch on Show this look to clients, so the client can also turn the 3D model in that finish.

5. 5

   Ask the question

   Pin a note on the model, such as "Which colourway should we take forward?", and send a Leave feedback link.

The client can then answer on the model, or pin a note on a specific render with an arrow, box or highlight: "this grey, but with the black buttons from option B". See notes on renders and PDFs.

#Get feedback from stakeholders, not only the client

Product designs are reviewed by more than one person: the client's product manager, their marketing lead, an engineer, sometimes a retailer. In MeshMarkup they all review through links, and they're free and unlimited on every plan.

• One link each. Give each stakeholder their own link, and the Share menu shows who has opened theirs.
• One conversation. Everyone on the same version writes in the same notes, so you see marketing and engineering disagree on a finish before you change anything, not after.
• Questions first. Notes you pin before sending are listed first for every reviewer, and each can be answered with Looks good or Needs a change.
• A deadline. Set a feedback-by date and MeshMarkup reminds reviewers in your name until they answer.

Inside your studio, use internal notes for the discussion the client shouldn't see, such as cost or feasibility, and @mention the designer who owns the part.

#Iterate on form and finish across rounds

Design reviews take several rounds. Two things keep them under control:

• Versions of the model. Upload the revised form onto the same model with Upload v2. Open notes carry across with their replies, and Compare draws the previous version as a ghost so the client sees what changed in the shape. Your Studio look is saved on the model, so the next version opens dressed the same way. See versions and comparing.
• Revisions of renders. Upload a render again under the same name and it becomes Rev B. On Solo and up, Compare with rev A lets you and the client slide between the two. Snapshot views are saved too; after a new version, Re-shoot takes the same angles again.

When a direction is agreed, a Sign it off link (Solo and up) lets the client approve the version, recorded with their name and the date. Approval is blocked while notes are open. The round report gives you a PDF of every note and its thread for the project file. See client sign-off.

#Choosing product design review software

When you compare 3D design feedback tools for an industrial design team, check these:

MeshMarkup isn't a rendering suite and isn't where you model. It's where the model and its pictures go to be discussed and agreed. For the engineering side of the same product, see engineering design review; for an overview of review tools in general, see 3D model review software.

#FAQ

#Can the client switch between colourways on the review link?

No. The review link shows the one look that's picked. Render each colourway and add the renders to Images so the client can compare them.

#Can the client change materials?

No. Reviewers can turn the model, measure, section, explode and leave notes, but materials are set by your team in Studio.

#Do I need a separate rendering program?

Not for review renders. Studio renders up to 4K on Solo and up. If your studio already renders in another program, add those images to the model instead.