Release Notes

NIH 3D is an ever-evolving product. We’ve been listening to your feedback and using it as a basis for improvements and additions.

Here you’ll find our release notes — summaries of bug fixes, new features, and other updates introduced in each release.

Have suggestions for a new feature or bug fix? Contact Us.

NIH 3D Release History

Version: 1.05

August 31st, 2023

What's New?:

  1. Implemented collection of entry view counts by users.
  2. Entry published dates are saved as a searchable field.
  3. Back-end additions for upcoming features and small bug fixes.

Version: 1.04

July 27th, 2023

What's New?:

  1. Introduced the new VA collection.
  2. Added download counts to the entry pages.
  3. Updated the FAQ page.
  4. Various UI/UX improvements, security remediations, and small bug fixes.

Version: 1.03

July 13th, 2023

What's New?:

  1. Improvements to the sign-in experience. Users are automatically redirected to their target page on sign-in.
  2. Back-end collection of file sizes, checksums, download counts, and published date for upcoming features.
  3. Compression of user uploaded thumbnails to improve page load time.
  4. Capture of quick-submit source files through ChimeraX for future reproducibility.
  5. Fixed redirects to NIH 3D user profile pages originating from 3DPX URLs.
  6. Added new controls to the model viewer. Users have the ability to toggle between surface and wireframe and have the option to switch screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO) on/off.
  7. Increased the computing resources available to the API and front-end.
  8. Various UI/UX improvements and small bug fixes.

Version: 1.02

May 12th, 2023

What's New?:

This release features a reworking of our sign-in system to fix some unusual behavior that was reported by testers. We are also happy to introduce the new TB Portals Collection and the 3D Pollen Library.

Numerous other UI improvements, search updates, and workflow optimizations are also included in this release.

  1. Updated sign-in session information access by UI components
  2. Added individualized filters and full-text search to each collection.
  3. Added an alternate data-grid style display to the user submission dashboard
  4. Added iconography, warnings, and policy updates in accordance NIAID external link policies
  5. Numerous minor accessibility improvements in response to Deque Axe scans
  6. Implemented WYSIWIG editor for larger full text input areas
  7. Creation of Pollen and TB Portals Collections
  8. Added new search index fields to CloudSearch. You can now search by molecular ID from the full-text search bar
  9. Added molecular weight calculations for non-Quicksubmit entries that go through the ChimeraX workflow
  10. Autogenerate file descriptions for non-Quicksubmit entries running through ChimeraX workflow
  11. Updated vertex and poly count computation method
  12. Allow multiple PDB, EMDB, and Uniprot IDs in post-submission wizard
  13. Added more options to Experimental Methods ontology
  14. Corrected discrepancies in migration data from 3D print exchange
  15. Various UI/UX improvements and small bug fixes

Version: 1.0

March 7th/2023

Welcome to the first official release for NIH 3D!

What's New?:

Everything!

  1. The the 3D Print Exchange has been rebuilt from scratch and re-branded as NIH 3D
  2. Site philosophy has been changed to embrace the upload and output of files that are suitable for 3D Printing AND/OR for other visualization technologies (eg. AR, VR, Animation...)
  3. All input files, metadata, and x3d outputs have been migrated from the NIH 3D Print Exchange. We have also migrated the .zip outputs that package the .wrl, .x3d and .stl files. In some cases we had to modify entries in order to be accomodated by our new system. If this required a file replacement, the original file has been attached as supplementary data. In some cases files were renamed but the data left untouched, in which case the old file was not included in the supplementary data.
  4. User accounts from 3D Print Exchange have only been migrated if the user had created models or builds, commented on the site, or been listed as a contributor to a 3D Print Exchange Entry. This was part of an effort to remove spam accounts from the site. You can easily create a new account from the sign-in
  5. You may now create an account using Google Sign-In OR e-mail/password
  6. All 3D Print Exchange entries have been stored as v1.0, then the input files have been re-run through our new workflows to generate v2.0. You may notice differences bewteen the outputs on 3D Print Exchange and NIH 3D due to changes in the software underlying our workflows
  7. New and Improved Workflows
    • Moved from Chimera to Chimera X for generation of 3D models for Quicksubmits and molecular data files
    • Output several new 3D printable and non-3D printable representations of molecules
    • Our DICOM workflows use Simple ITK and VTK to generate bone models from CT data
    • DICOMs and any supplementary medical imaging files will be anonymized automatically.
    • Now accept and output GLB format files
    • Custom "mesh repair" solution for 3D Printing has been built in Blender.
  8. Completely redesigned submission and post-submission process for models and builds
  9. Modernized UI
  10. Robust Search Features
  11. Expanded list of metadata pulled from external databases for "Quicksubmits"
  12. Expanded list of metadata for users to annotate their entries
  13. Re-classification of models into new NIH 3D Categories: Biomacromolecules, Viruses, Small Molecules, Prosthetics, Anatomy, and Cells & Organelles

We expect to continuously be adding new features to the site, so stay tuned!

If you notice a problem with your entry in it's new state on NIH 3D, please contact us and we will repair it for you.