Tech Soft 3D and tetra4D today announced the acquisition of tetra4D by Tech Soft 3D. This event marks the beginning of a new chapter in the 3D PDF world, and I wanted to take a few minutes and explain what this means for the customers of 3D PDF Converter, the partners who have helped build tetra4D into a growing business, and Tech Soft 3D’s HOOPS customers.
We’re very excited about this move, and the opportunities it presents for everyone who is investing in one way or another in the 3D PDF ecosystem. By bringing the distribution of 3D PDF Converter and related products in-house, we expect to get closer to the marketplace and also create previously unrealized synergies between these end-user products and Tech Soft 3D’s HOOPS SDK products. This will also provide the underlying power behind 3D PDF Converter, HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Publish.
Tetra4D customers and partners should expect to see virtually no change in the business. Our goal is to make the transition as seamless as we possibly can for all concerned. Customers and partners can continue to order product, receive licenses, purchase maintenance, and receive support in the same manner as they always have. Maintenance agreements remain fully in force, as do partner agreements currently in place with tetra4D.
From a product perspective, our first objective is to bring those customers who are on active maintenance up-to-date with the underlying technology behind 3D PDF Converter, which is represented in our HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Publish products. The first step in this will be the release of 3D PDF Converter 4.0 on January 6, 2013. This brings 3D PDF Converter into alignment with the HOOPS Exchange andHOOPS Publish release 7.0 announced in October. In February, we expect to release 3D PDF Converter 4.1 that will be based on the HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Publish release 7.1. Details about the content of the next 3D PDF Converter releases will be posted shortly on the Tetra website and customers and partners will be able to make a decision on whether to immediately upgrade to 4.0, or wait about a month and upgrade to the 4.1 release. Going forward, we expect the release of 3D PDF Converter to occur once per quarter, and simultaneously with the HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Publish releases, sometime in 2014.
Overall, our goals for 3D PDF Converter are three-fold:
- To continue to provide the highest quality, most up-to-date format support we possibly can.
- To make 3D PDF Converter more accessible as a platform for value-added development by customers and partners.
- To look to our customers for suggestions on how to improve the value delivered by 3D PDF Converter through enhancements and new development.
We have some ideas about things we can do to make the use of 3D PDF Converter more effective, and allow its use in a broader set of workflows and industries, but we will bring that information to the market once we have satisfied our customers, our partners, and ourselves that we have successfully transitioned the business with little or no negative impact.
For now, customers and partners can continue to use the general contact points they always have, whether those are your value-added reseller, corporate account reseller, or the direct contact points provided on the https://tetra4d.com website. For partners who have questions or concerns, they should feel free to contact me at dave@tetra4d.com and if the issue or concern is something I cannot directly address, I will connect you with the right person. The order fulfillment and licensing staff at tetra4D will continue to work with us going forward; support requests will be handled through staff in Tech Soft 3D’s Bend, Oregon office or through our development office in Lyon, France.
I look forward to hearing from you.