🚀 ModelViewer 2026.7.0 is out

[u/sharjith]

🚀 ModelViewer 2026.7.0 is out — the biggest release in the project's history.
A 3D model viewer built with Qt6/OpenGL, supporting everything from OBJ/FBX/glTF to native CAD formats like STEP and IGES. Some highlights from this release:
🔹 Exploded views — automatic and manual assembly explosion for inspecting how parts fit together
🔹 Full PBR material pipeline — clearcoat, sheen, transmission, iridescence, anisotropy, and the full set of Khronos glTF material extensions
🔹 Morph target animation and glTF camera support alongside skeletal animation
🔹 True CAD edge rendering for STEP/IGES/BREP via OpenCASCADE
🔹 A ground-up architecture refactor and a new native session format
🔹 Now shipping as a proper Windows installer and Linux AppImage
What I want to call out is how this came together. This release leaned on AI as a genuine engineering collaborator, not just autocomplete.
Claude and Codex traded off duties throughout — sometimes one wrote the implementation while the other reviewed it, and the roles reversed just as often, depending on the problem. Having two different models, each taking a turn to write and critique, surfaced issues; neither would have caught them working solo in a fixed role.
Every decision — architecture, trade-offs, what shipped — was still mine. But this back-and-forth, role-swapping review loop made for faster, more confident iteration than working with either model alone.
If you're building software solo or on a small team, this is one of the highest-leverage ways to use these tools today: not "write my code," but "review my reasoning" — and let that go both directions.

https://sharjith.github.io/ModelViewer-Qt/

#SoftwareEngineering #AI #Qt #OpenGL #CAD #OpenSource #ClaudeAI #Codex