3D CAD NEWS

The ignoble Pushmi-Pullyu (“push-me pull-you”) is a two-headed beast made famous by the Doctor Doolittle stories of the 19^th Century. The mythical animal is noted for its ability to do either two things at once or struggle to do nothing, and to oscillate between these two extremes. Our 21^st Century CAD equivalent is history-free feature-based 3D modeling. For years a few vendors struggled to gain market share with it (CoCreate and Kubotek come to mind), but suddenly Pushmi-Pullyu CAD has become the rage.

SpaceClaim got way more press than it deserved for its new “natural 3D design system” last year, then PTC embraced its inner pushmi-pullyu by buying CoCreate. Today Siemens PLM Software becomes the latest CAD company to abandon the CAD Reich gospel of parameters uber alles with the introduction of what it calls synchronous technology (as if there is something mysteriously asynchronous about using existing 3D CAD tools; but we digress).

The Pushmi-Pullyu, new mascot of Siemens PLM Solutions

No less an authority on these things than Dr. Ken Versprille, the father of NURBS and resident PLM guru at CPDA, says in a published quote (I’ll bet a dollar he was paid to write), “its ability to recognize current geometry conditions and localize dependencies in real time allows synchronous technology to solve for model changes without the typical replay of the full construction history from the point of edit.”

Ken's quote is a real mouthful, so let us translate for the SolidWorks bloggers among our readership: You don’t have to redraw the damn part to make a single damn change all the damn time anymore. The good doctor goes on to say that “… users will see dramatic performance gains. A 100 times speed improvement could be a conservative estimate.”

Wow! Models 100x faster than with Autodesk Inventor and probably 300x faster than CATIA? Siemens resellers must be doubled over with orgasmic spasms at the mere suggestion of such superior results, especially because this new technology will be added to both NX and Solid Edge. Maybe Solid Edge will actually sell some copies again.

When you get the previous word picture washed out of your mind, let us consider something a bit more serious. CAD pundits (self glamourously included as shown below) refer to the Big Four CAD Vendors: Autodesk, Dassault Systemes, Siemens PLM, and PTC. A year ago not one of these had history-free feature-based modeling; now two do. Not that long ago Autodesk and Dassault entered into a bidding war over Seemage; perhaps SpaceClaim just might survive long enough to be so lucky.

A self-proclaimed Leading CAD Pundit caught in the act of meditating on synchronous technology at COFES 2008.

Today Adobe released a free download that delivers updated 3D CAD translators for Acrobat 3D Version 8. The new version allows Acrobat 3D to support the latest version of many major 3D CAD file formats.

The file formats updated as part of the free download include Autodesk Inventor, CoCreate OneSpace Designer, JT, SolidWorks, and UGS NX and I-deas. The updated translators leverage technology Adobe gained as part of its 2006 acquisition of Trade & Technologies France (TTF).

The product update is available from the Adobe web site at: http://www.adobe.com/go/a3d_update. A complete list of supported file formats is at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat3d/supportedformats/

A few days ago in this space I wrote a phrase typical of the "bit of attitude" we try to bring to CAD reporting. I noted that the purchase of Seemage allowed Dassault Systemes to continue its pursuit of "proprietary 3D for all." Which, while historically true of Dassault, isn't really true at all when it comes to 3DLive, the 3D data viewer DS acquired in the Seemage acquisition; 3DLive reads many CAD formats. (Astute regular readers will notice the gratituous use of a semi-colon in the previous sentence, just to confound the amateurs in the audience.)

Anyway, Evan Yares (at his blog) jumped on the phrase "proprietary 3D for all" like a cat jumps on a mouse. He put it on a T-shirt that you can purchase. I've already ordered mine; you should do the same. If my baby (the phrase I wrote) is growing up to become a monster, at least we need to feed it. I intend to wear it for at least a few minutes at COFES, even if it does mean dressing down a bit at my favorite industry event. After all, I'm a journalist, no one expects me to dress to any particular standard. Buy your own shirt by following this link.


The infamous T-Shirt. Text by Randall Newton, Layout by Evan Yares. Production by CafePress.
Inspired by the hard work of the usual suspects.

As has been written elsewhere, the "news" from SolidWorks World last week can be easily summed up: 4,500 SolidWorks users had a nice party. Oh, and engineers who blog find some sort of deep mystery in the use of semi-colons. (Follow the link; I guess to one SolidWorks blogger, semi-colons are to CAD journalists what opposable thumbs are to mammals.)


Historic meeting of blogger (left) and CAD journalist at SolidWorks World. It seems bloggers have opposable thumbs; they just have not figured out how to write semi-colons with them.

But I digress. Sometimes the interesting stuff to be learned at such conferences isn't said in front of a crowd. I learned from a conversation with a Dassault Systemes employee (out on the patio of the San Diego Convention Center) that the recent acquisition of Seemage was preceeded by an ugly bidding war between Dassault and Autodesk. Not ugly, obviously, to anyone who owned a piece of Seemage. Perhaps unseemly would be the better phrase. But all's well that ends well, and now Dassault can continue to pursue its vision of proprietary 3D for all.

What's that you say? What about the contest? Oh, yes. I'll get to that in another post. I was waiting for one of those semi-colon-less bloggers to send me a photo. Moi is a writer, not a photog.

To all 3DCADNews Readers,

The 3D Editorial Team wishes everyone a great Holiday week, in whatever it is you are celebrating, and we wish the entire CAD/CAM industry the best of fortunes in 2008.

We are by no means signing out until the New Year and will be continually tracking and watching the CAD news at all of our sister sites at:
AECnews,
CADCAMNet
CCNtv
TeamDWf and more,

Please have a fun time reading our sites and watching our broadcasts, and may your God be with you as we step into the New Year.

3D CAD News editorial team

David Prawel, who has organized and hosted the 3D Collaboration and Interoperability conference with SME for the last few years, has announced the conference will now be hosted in Denver, CO, on May 15-16, 2008.

Despite the best efforts of many, interoperability of 3D data can still remain a frustrating problem. Even with the many work-arounds and neutral file formats in existence, the translation of usable 3D data still often doesn't work. According to our CADCAMNet Interoperability survey back in May 2007 (Subscription or free trial required), while interoperability has become more manageable, it is still by no means resolved.

The conference will follow its standard format, with a few extras thrown in such as:

• Multi-CAD interoperability,
• Migrating CAD data,
• Cross-PDM interoperability,
• Lightweight 3D formats,
• and, of course, a lot lot more.

This intimate conference will convene at the beautiful Denver Athletic Club, with stunning views of the Rockies (just so you don't forget how insignificant mountains can be). Early registration ends January 15th 2008.

You can find out more at: www.longviewadvisors.com

While at AU I have the unusual priveledge of staying at the Venetian Hotel, where, like it or not, you can only close the curtains using a remote control.

Something Carl Bass commented upon in this morning's keynote is about the digitalization of everything. Like it or not, our children will find friends online in their chosen social networks, communicate via blog, and think email is incredibly outdated. While the 40-year pluses here at AU expect to be able to close the curtains manually, the kids we have currently living in our houses will probably grow up to expect the curtains to close at a pre-planned specific time, or via voice command. I remain confident that my PS2-obsessed 9 year old will happily find a respectable job in the Air Force due to his long, hard training with video game consoles. Is this something to be proud of? I remain unsure and simply hope I am preparing the poor child for an uncertain future.

Why does closing the curtains by remote control bother me so? First, I am of an older generation even while I am ever so slightly under 40. I don't need the constant nagging of the TV to make me obsess about germs, gun control and voting. I can obsess just fine on my own, thank you. I find that the incessant minor keys on the various alarms of the microwave, oven, water softener, and heating system in the house are a negative and destructive backdrop to life. My alarm clock chimes in at a loud A Minor note that is highly effective at waking me up in a bad mood. I might be old, but I don't even mind shutting the curtains manually! What I do object to, however, is having technology shoved at me. The damn curtains in this room won't move without the remote: I cannot close them myself without a Duracell battery in the remote. What happens when the battery dies? Daylight... when all I wanted to do was move the curtains to a closed position, using my arm, you know...manually.

(The image shows the remote control gauranteed purely for closing my curtains, and blinds.)

The problem with it is that it uses energy that, as individuals, we do not make ourselves. It simply adds to the burden of electric power that is made using coal... with some hydroelectricity here in Las Vegas, of course. Carl Bass is a vocal supporter of sustainability in all areas, and that includes leaving enough natural resources for our kids to be able to simply breathe. And live. And if we continue to waste it on crap like remote-controlled curtains, there simply won't be anything left, right?

So, rant over. Let us have some balance in our lives. Let's find a compromise between utter waste and extreme self-sufficiency that allows us to close our own damn curtains, not rely on electricity to do it, and to use whatever energy we have - personal and corporate - on things that matter.

r xx

This week at CADCAMNETtv, Greg Smith, our Big Mac Guy (you'll understand the double meaning when you watch) gives an overview of both Parallels and VMwareFusion running Windows XP, with AutoCAD and Rhino software, on a Macintosh.

If you've ever been curious about whether you can run your CAD system on a Mac, well this might give you pointers. However, be warned that only a select few Windows CAD products will actually run on the virtual machine, but at least it opens up the options a little more from what we have now for CAD on the Mac.

To watch the review, go to www.cadcamnet.tv; Greg's review is about half way through the broadcast. If anyone knows of any other CAD products that work on the virtual machine, please do share!

r

In today's article at CADCAMNet about SharePoint as a PLM trojan horse (paid subscription or free trial required to view article), CCN editors comment that proprietary PLM vendors could be soon regarded as dinosaurs.

"...at a conservative estimate of 85 million users, with a proven application that enables standardized file sharing, collaboration, revision control, and workflow process control, SharePoint has become a product of choice for millions of companies worldwide wanting to centralize their data—and then share it out. Manufacturers are no different. Chances are good that their globally distributed teams are using SharePoint for some part of their operations. It makes sense to have their PLM operations on SharePoint, too." writes publisher, Rachael Dalton-Taggart.

While this statement may infuriate traditional (big iron) PLM vendors, many of them have already created PLM applications that support SharePoint operations. Same goes for the AEC/BIM vendors too.

Microsoft, however, is very keen to emphasize its strategy - that of providing the key technology backbones on which developers can create specific applications.

Comments Simon Floyd, Worldwide Industry Strategist for PLM at Microsoft, “Our partners are very important to the success of SharePoint. Where we provide the common platform for document management, search, workflow, etc., they provide their deep domain expertise to deliver industry relevancy. This not only provides businesses with PLM-specific functionality and the ability to share that data across departments and roles, it also enables their IT organization to achieve economies of scale and benefit from the convenience of a common system.”

How many readers use SharePoint already, even for other, more mundane business functions? In my mind, if I could work PLM on top of an existing SharePoint installation, I would do it in a micro-second. But there must be barriers. What are they?

Comments welcome.

Dassault Systemes today announced today the acquisition of Seemage, a small firm that has specialized in the creation of XML-based tools for distributing engineering visual data. "This transaction will enable DS to provide innovative solutions addressing the growing demand of its customers in the diversified area of product documentation," said the Dassault press release.

All too often when there is a marriage in the technology industry, there is someone in the wings suffering from unrequited love. In this case it is Lattice 3D, which also makes XML-based tools for sending CAD data out into the larger enterprise. And which thought it had a nice exclusive deal going with Dassault.

 

Speaking on behalf of Dassault Systemes, former US presidential advisor Karl Rove explains the company's new policy toward Lattice 3D.

Purchase terms were not disclosed, which means there was a combination of unmarked bills and a few stock notes changing hands.

More later. Things are getting interesting here in Paris. It seems the Autodesk Manufacturing Media Summit is sharing the hotel with part of Fashion Week, and the lobby is crawling with models in robes waiting their turn on the runway that didn't exist yesterday in the hotel's Grand Salon. I don't think I'll tell Josh what's going on downstairs.