Live · v1.0.22 · MIT

Any STEP file.
A marketing-ready 3D experience.
In seconds.

ExplodeView is the presentation stage of the Suite. Drop a STEP or IAM in — get an interactive exploded view, AI-rendered hero shots, AR walkthroughs, and McMaster-matched part identifiers. All shareable via URL.

Open ExplodeView → See features

Every CAD marketing asset used to take a week.

STEP → SolidWorks Visualize → Photoshop retouch → PowerPoint for the exploded view → Adobe Dimension for the AR try-on. Five tools. Five handoffs. Five license fees.

$$
KeyShot
~$995/yr
$$
SW Visualize
~$1,995/yr
$$
Autodesk VRED
~$4,495/yr
$$
Adobe Dimension
~$240/yr
!!
PowerPoint gymnastics
priceless frustration
ExplodeView does all of it in one browser tab.
The Viewer Surface

Five modules. One shareable URL.

ExplodeView is the presentation stage of the cycleCAD Suite. It picks up a STEP, GLB, or IAM and turns it into something a product team, a marketing lead, or a field tech can actually use.

01

Loader

STEP / GLB / IAM import via server-side converter or browser WASM. Cached in IndexedDB. Survives tab refresh and 138MB assemblies.

02

Interactive Viewer

Assembly tree with AI drawings, 399-part performance, section cut X/Y/Z, annotations, 2-3 point measurements. Built on Three.js r170.

03

AI Render

Gemini Nano Banana v2 with preservation-first prompts. Photoreal any scene — forest, studio, factory — without the model redesigning your CAD.

04

AR Mode

WebXR hit-test + pinch-to-scale. iOS Safari 17+ and Chrome Android. Drop your assembly on the floor, walk around it, explode in place.

05

AI Part Identifier

Geometry-based classification with McMaster-Carr deep links + CSV BOM export. Click a mystery bolt, get a purchase link.

Viewer features

Every tool a product team needs.

45+ features shipped, all reachable from a tabbed toolbar. These are the 12 that matter most when you're presenting a physical product.

Exploded view

Viewer · Core

Explosion slider + presets. Drag parts independently. Animate assembly ↔ disassembly. Save and load sequences.

Section cut

Viewer · Inspect

Per-axis X/Y/Z with flip, plus global clipping. DoubleSide material mode — no hollow artifacts when slicing.

Assembly tree

Viewer · Navigate

Tree-style numbering (1.4.21), hide/show/isolate per branch, AI-generated drawings per sub-assembly. 6 sub-assembly rollups.

Annotations

Viewer · Collaborate

Click-to-place 3D notes. Draggable pins, click-to-edit. Stored per session. User-specific colors for team review.

Measurements

Viewer · Inspect

2-point distance, 3-point angle, radial, edge-to-edge. Tooltips track pointer. Snap to vertex / edge / face centers.

AI Render

Create · Marketing

Preservation-first Gemini 2.0 Flash Image. 6 scene presets, 5 style presets + None. Multi-turn conversation for refinement.

AI Part Identifier

Analyze · AI

Geometry-based classifier plus Gemini Vision fallback. McMaster-Carr search queries auto-built from classification.

AR Mode

Viewer · Field

WebXR hit-test. iOS Safari 17+ and Chrome Android. Pinch-scale, tap to place, rotate around, explode in-place.

Multi-language

UI · Localization

EN · DE · FR · ES · IT · NL with dropdown selector. All panel text, tooltips, and toasts fully translated.

STL export

Export · Per-part

Right-click any part → Export STL (ASCII or binary). Works on selected mesh or whole assembly. Drop straight into Kiri:Moto.

Embed widget

Share · Distribute

Single <iframe> snippet with URL params for starting angle, explosion state, and hidden parts.

QR codes

Share · Physical

One QR per part. Scans deep-link to #part={idx} — lands on the viewer pre-selected. Print on service labels.

AI Render · v304

Gemini + CAD geometry, finally co-operating.

Most generative image models redesign your CAD the moment they see a better-looking shape. The wing-shaped side panel becomes a smooth curve. The stainless frame becomes matte black. The whole thing drifts 15% off spec.

ExplodeView v304 shipped a preservation-first prompt pattern that leads with reference-image anchoring. The model renders your exact geometry into any scene, instead of reinterpreting it.

  • Gemini 2.0 Flash Image (aka Nano Banana 2) via generativelanguage.googleapis.com
  • Preservation-first prompt wrapper with explicit reference anchors
  • 6 scene presets: forest trail, golden hour, studio, factory floor, urban loft, beach
  • 5 style presets + None for raw scene fidelity
  • Multi-turn refinement conversation with context carry-over
  • 1024×1024 offscreen capture before prompting — no viewport artifacts
prompt.pattern.v304 
[PRESERVE]
Silver/grey bike washing station from the
reference image. Same shape, same
wing-shaped side panels, same white top,
same stainless frame, same adjustable feet.
Do not redesign it.

[SCENE]
Three mountain bikers on a forest trail at
golden hour. Station in the left third,
bikers mid-shot.

[CAMERA]
DSLR, 35mm f/2.8, natural light,
shallow DoF.

[STYLE]
None  (let the scene breathe)
AR Mode

Walk around the assembly. Before it exists.

ExplodeView runs WebXR natively in iOS Safari 17+ and Chrome Android. Tap AR, point at the floor, drop the assembly in place. Pinch to scale. Rotate around it.

Hit the Explode button and the physical world hosts your exploded view — parts floating in your living room, at scale, with the tree panel in your hand.

  • WebXR hit-test + plane detection (iOS Safari 17+ · Chrome Android)
  • Pinch-to-scale gesture with clamped min/max
  • Object-anchored exploded view — explosion persists as you walk
  • Works offline once the page is loaded
  • Shares via URL back to the normal in-browser viewer
AI Part Identifier

From mystery part to purchase link in 3 clicks.

Click a part. ExplodeView analyses geometry (bbox, volume, feature hints), classifies it (bolt / nut / washer / bearing / profile / bracket / …), generates a McMaster-Carr search query, and surfaces matching parts with prices.

🖱️

Click a part

3D selection
🧠

AI classify

geometry + vision
🔍

McMaster search

built query URL
🛒

Matches + prices

ranked list
Persisted in window._aiIdentifiedParts and reused across session tools — BOM, report, shopping list.
explodeview:classify
geometry heuristics · Gemini Vision fallback · returns type + confidence
explodeview:search
McMaster-Carr URL with exact query params
explodeview:match
ranked candidate list with prices · alternative sizes
explodeview:csv
BOM export with McMaster part numbers in column
explodeview:order
deep-link to McMaster cart with qty pre-filled
explodeview:database
persists identifications across session for report export
Roadmap

Shipped. Shipping. And what's next.

ExplodeView is live — v1.0.22 on npm, 400+ weekly downloads. The roadmap is honest about what works today and what comes next.

Done

Phase 0 · Shipped

  • Three.js r170 viewer
  • STEP / GLB / IAM import
  • 45+ features in tabbed toolbar
  • AI Render v304 preservation-first
  • AR Mode (WebXR)
  • Multi-language · McMaster integration
In progress

Phase 1 · Compositing

  • Transparent-background 3D render
  • Background-only inpainting prompt
  • Canvas compositing of foreground over gen background
  • Guaranteed pixel-level CAD preservation
  • Ship as v305 / v1.0.23

Your next 3D asset shouldn't take a week.

Open ExplodeView in the browser. Drop in your STEP file. Explode it, render it, walk around it in AR, match the hardware to McMaster. Share a URL.

Open ExplodeView → View on GitHub View on npm
ExplodeView is MIT-licensed. Part of the cycleCAD Suite.