Plastic Software – aka tools developer Nick Kallen – has released Plasticity 2025.1, the latest version of the lightweight NURBS modeler.
The update reworks the software’s interface, adds new Slide and Section Analysis commands, and updates the sketching, modeling and surface toolsets.
A lightweight NURBS modelling app for concept art, not industrial design
Released in 2023, and pitched as “CAD for artists”, Plasticity is a streamlined NURBS modeller.
The software is intended to provide a low-cost, artist-friendly alternative to tools like MoI and Fusion 360, and is aimed at concept art as well as industrial design.
It features a streamlined UI, with on-screen clutter reduced by context-sensitive widgets and pop-up UI panels, and uses key bindings and selection modes familiar to Blender users.
Plasticity 2025.1: new ‘modern, streamlined’ UI
The most visible change in Plasticity 2025.1 is the revamped user interface, described as a “modern, streamlined UI” that “retain[s] key functional elements from previous versions”.
The redesign moves key features to more intuitive locations, makes it possible to toggle the sidebars to free up screen space, and makes panels in the right sidebar function as menus.
It also improves in-app documentation, with 11 tools getting tooltips, and each command dialog getting an icon linking directly to its online documentation.
Workflow improvements include the option to drag items from the Recent Files list to the viewport.
New Slide and Section Analysis commands
New features include a unified Slide command, for sliding CVs on spline curves and surface hulls, making it possible to make precise adjustments during modeling.
A new Section Analysis command slices through a 3D model to reveal its internal structure, helping to check whether internal components are aligned properly.
Updates to key toolsets
There are also updates to the existing toolsets, with the sketching tools, the transformation tools and the surface tools getting new control options and workflow improvements.
Users with Studio licenses get updates to the xNURBS library integrated in Plasticity 2024.1 and the features it powers, particularly the Square command.
Price, system requirements and release date
Plasticity 2025.1 is available for Windows 10+, Ubuntu 22.04+ Linux and macOS 12.0+.
Perpetual node-locked Indie licences cost $149, and import and export files in OBJ, STEP, STL and Parasolid XT format. Studio licences support a wider range of file formats and cost $299.
Read a full list of new features in Plasticity 2025.1 in the online release notes
Read more about Plasticity on the product website
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