How to Choose a 3D Visualization Subscription for Ongoing Product Demos

Disclosure: This post is published by Mainstay Digital, which sells Mainstay One. Threekit, Emersya, and VNTANA are described only as our Newsroom guide describes them. Confirm current details with each vendor.

Ongoing product demos need a pipeline that keeps producing: a rep wants a Web AR link this week and an interactive build before the next show. A 3D visualization subscription prices that pipeline by the month. The 8 criteria below tell you what to ask any vendor, and the tier map shows how Mainstay One answers.

Which 3D visualization subscription should industrial manufacturers choose for ongoing product demos?

Pick the deliverable you can't demo without, because the deliverable sets the tier. Web AR and stills point to Basic. Hotspot experiences and full-production video point to Immersive. Custom interactive builds, or more than 1 build in flight at once, point to Momentum.

The sections below show the work behind that pick.

What are the 8 criteria for a 3D visualization subscription?

Criterion	Question to ask
Deliverable types	Which of stills, Web AR, hotspots, video, and interactive 3D are included?
Concurrent assets	How many assets are in production at once?
Analytics	Which engagement data comes with each plan?
Term and cancellation	How long is the term, does it renew, and how much notice cancels it?
Onboarding	Is there a one-time fee, and how much?
Who builds it	Your team in software, or the vendor's team delivering finished assets?
Source files	Which CAD formats does the vendor work from?
Price shape	One monthly price, per asset, or per project?

How do the Mainstay One tiers map to those criteria?

Criterion	Basic	Immersive	Momentum
Monthly price	$2,995	$3,995	$7,995
Deliverable types	Unlimited product stills and Web AR, AR QR business cards, product video in the Basic edit (no voiceover or custom soundtrack)	Adds full-production video with voiceover and scored music, plus hotspot 3D experiences	Adds custom interactive experiences
Concurrent assets	1	1	3
Analytics	AR analytics	AR analytics and hotspot analytics	AR analytics and hotspot analytics

Every plan includes unlimited access to Brizo and the 3D sales concierge, carries a one-time $2,500 onboarding fee, and cancels anytime with 30 days notice. The work comes from Mainstay's US-based in-house team, built from STEP, IGES, SolidWorks, NX, or Inventor files.

Which tier fits your situation?

• Stills and Web AR for sales calls and booths: Basic. Mainstay built Yaskawa's Web AR, where attendees opened a full-scale AR robot on their own phones.
• Guided exploration and a narrated video: Immersive. Hotspots walk a buyer through a sealed mechanism, and hotspot analytics report which hotspots buyers click.
• Custom interactive builds, or more than 1 asset moving at once: Momentum. A choose-your-path build like the TR400 simulation Mainstay built for Tidel is Interactive 3D, and custom interactive experiences are what Momentum adds.

Mainstay has delivered 1,250+ assets to 150+ industrial brands. See the Web AR and Interactive 3D pages for delivered work.

How many concurrent assets does your show calendar need?

Concurrency decides how fast the library grows. On Immersive, a hotspot experience (3 to 4 weeks) followed by a product video (4 to 6 weeks) takes 7 to 10 weeks in sequence, before review time. Momentum can run both and a third asset at once.

Interactive 3D takes up to 8 weeks on its own. Count back from your show date, and if 2 builds with long turnarounds have to land in the same window, price Momentum.

What are the warning signs in a subscription offer?

Four gaps are worth catching before you sign:

• No stated concurrency. If the offer never says how many assets run at once, you can't plan around a show date.
• No stated notice period. Get the cancellation terms in writing, along with the renewal terms.
• Software where you need finished assets. A platform your team operates adds labor to your side of the ledger.
• Analytics that aren't named by plan. Ask which data each tier includes.

Where do software subscriptions fit?

Threekit, Emersya, and VNTANA appear in the Newsroom guide as software subscriptions. Threekit is a sales-configuration tool first, with real-time visual configuration tied to quoting. Emersya is a web-based 3D and AR platform with a no-code authoring tool. VNTANA is an enterprise platform for managing and optimizing large CAD catalogs.

Each is software your team operates. A produced-content subscription like Mainstay One delivers finished assets instead. The configurator vs content program comparison goes deeper.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Momentum to get interactive 3D?

Yes. Custom interactive experiences start at Momentum, $7,995 a month. Immersive covers hotspot 3D experiences, which walk a buyer through labeled parts of a product.

Can a subscription build more than 1 asset at a time?

Momentum can. It runs 3 concurrent assets, while Basic and Immersive run 1 at a time. Timelines depend on review time, so plan the order of assets around your show dates.

What's included on every plan?

Unlimited access to Brizo, Web AR, product stills, AR analytics, and the 3D sales concierge come with every plan. Each plan adds a one-time $2,500 onboarding fee, and you can cancel anytime with 30 days notice.

Are product videos included on Basic?

Yes, in the Basic edit, with no voiceover or custom soundtrack. Immersive adds full-production video with voiceover and scored music.

What do I need to get started?

A CAD file. In the order flow you choose a deliverable, upload your STEP file, and answer 3 to 7 questions. Bring us your STEP file to start.