MICROMINE is launching an exclusive new viewer, Micromine Effects (MFX), to make sharing complex design and visualisation files much easier.

Like a PDF reader, the free utility enables anyone to view, share and interrogate Micromine output files without needing access to a full software licence, the company said.

“For the first time, sophisticated data analysis and design models are no longer locked away with technical teams,” the mining software leader said. “Instead, they can be shared, quickly and easily, with consultants, clients and colleagues.”

Built on the power of the Micromine’s Vizex, its 3D visualisation environment – and advanced functionality incorporated in the recently released Micromine 2020.5 – MFX allows users to attach any Micromine project and load any number of displays, the company says.

MICROMINE Chief Strategy Product Officer, Paul Hooykaas, said Micromine MFX was designed for collaboration and communication, so anyone could view models and provide feedback.

“It can be costly and time-consuming to explain plans to clients and other people in the business who may not have the same level of technical understanding,” Hooykaas said.

“MFX allows you to show them. Sharing models is as easy as simply sharing your project with someone who can download MFX software for free, in seconds.”

MFX has a level of interactivity that goes beyond what is expected from most file viewers, MICROMINE claims.

“Users can view preconfigured models with any number of display layers,” it says. “They can control the appearance of layers and toggle them on or off – even see multiple views in different windows, apply filters to data displayed in a layer and generate high resolution screenshots.”

The user interface offers drag and drop functionality and interactive tools like zoom-to-selection and a measurement device.

“The advanced display options include transparency and interactive block model visibility, with flexible view management including Section Control Files,” MICROMINE explained. “Clipping planes can be defined, with the clipped section limits highlighted as ‘corridors’ in related views. Shadow sections include seeing next and previous sections together with the current section.”