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Inside this Issue
Part I: A Solution
A primary theme emerged from the many letters readers wrote on the subject of the quality of drafting by computer. CAD software itself doesn't degrade drawings, although all software does suffer from similar problems: lack of immediate feedback; lack of intimacy with the media (pencil, paper, and so on); and reduced distinctiveness.
The problem seems to be caused by students who are taught how to use CAD software, instead of being trained how to draft. They are effective at using the computer, but less effective at communicating discipline-specific concepts.
The problem may have been caused by: (1) CAD vendors in charge of training ("We'll show you how to use our software,"); and (2) tutorial books being software-oriented ("Here's how to use the Circle command."). Students are trained to employ the CAD software's stilted command set.
Unlike a pencil, the command set found in CAD software is limited. (I still roll my eyes over a claim made in the early days of CAD: "You're limited only by your imagination!") CAD software is lacking because programmers: (1) haven't made drafting features a priority; or (2) haven't figured out how to implement them. Related to that, I wonder how many product managers have a background in drafting.
Let's look at some concrete examples. I've made mention of a book, 'Fundamentals of Drafting' by Paul Wallach. (The book is excellent at teaching ASME drafting, but is lacking in CAD content, which I've been asked to provide.) As I planned my outline over the weekend, I became fascinated by the number of drafting tasks illustrated by the book that AutoCAD cannot perform -- ones where the CAD operator would have to resort to techniques no different from hand drafting.
An example: the Archimedes spiral. There is no Spiral command in AutoCAD. To draw the Archimedes spiral with software requires the same steps as in manual drafting -- draw ten concentric circles, array ten lines, join points with a curve. I would argue that AutoCAD takes longer because it has no direct method of joining points with curves, such as the French curve used in manual drafting (the two steps in AutoCAD are to join points with a polyline, then convert it to curves).
To be fair, there are many tasks in which CAD is superior to manual drafting. Examples include placing a line perpendicular; drawing an arc tangent; constructing regular polygons; and copying angles. Students no longer need to learn the correct way to hold down the paper with masking tape, and don't need to whisk away eraser dust. Letters and hatches are formed perfectly by CAD.
On the other hand, there is value in learning the discipline of printing precisely with standardized lettering -- upright and italic -- and creating perfectly spaced hatch lines. Taping the paper to the drafting board concretely shows you the limits of the drawing (a concept made vague by CAD), while whisking away eraser dust teaches the economy of thinking before drawing. And there is a great delight in finally constructing a perfect pentagon by hand.
Tasks like these satisfy the inner soul -- the spiritual need we all have to be creative -- but are crushed by the convenience of CAD software.
I am picking on AutoCAD only because it is the software I am most familiar with (17 years worth). You may want to check if your CAD package is capable of performing these functions without resorting to techniques taught in first year manual drafting classes:
In some cases, AutoCAD provides partial support, such as creating isometric drawings. It provides the isometric grid and cursor, and isocircles. It lacks, however, isometric text and dimension styles, as well as additional tools that could make isometric drafting easier.
In summary: today's students need to be taught proper drafting technique, and CAD software must provide the commands to easily perform first-year drafting tasks.
Part II: Final Letters
Let's finish off the letters I received on this subject:
"A trend I noticed from the beginning of CAD is the "immediate
feedback" you get from a paper drawing. I have always felt that CAD drawings
were not be properly checked until they were printed on paper. It may just be
that I get a better feeling of scale and design from paper. Even large computer
screens are not much bigger than couple of letter-size pages.
"Colors
have replaced line weights. Some drawings suffer from either too much or not
enough detail. While 2D continues to suffer, 3D has begun to break out of some
of these visualization practices.
"I
have no desire to return to the drawing board, but the advent of CAD has begun
to put new challenges on designers, detailers (the distinction is getting blurred),
and checkers (a dying but necessary breed)."
-
JR Walker
Grob Systems
"Overall, the coordination quality of drawing sets may have declined,
but I believe this lies more with the skills and knowledgebase of the job captain
than the tools used to produce them. I have had little use for CAD operators
whose output must be constantly micro-managed for content and accuracy; give
me architecturally knowledgeable, competent people first, and I'll teach them
to use the software.
"In
the old days, everyone in the office could draft when needed, but not anymore.
I have noticed is that a substantial number of people older than myself who
have either apparently progressed beyond the need for CAD skills, or simply
felt left behind and never bothered to acquire them. Many seem intimidated by
the high tech labeling of CAD; the resulting lack of these skills leaves them
with little to offer at production crunch time.
"One
of CAD's greatest advantages is editing and re-using information, and there
is a wealth of pre-drawn information from product vendors out there; however,
I constantly run across the conflict between using downloadable detail information
from specific product manufacturers (because it's available and 100% correct)
and the desire to streamline drawn information to it's most basic level.
"Much
of our work is publicly bid, meaning that we must specify items in performance
rather than proprietary terms. The manufacturer's storefront framing detail
we downloaded is likely not what we'll get in the field; our drawings must be
very basic to allow for so-called equal products, any one of which may alter
some aspect of the final assembly.
"As
a production business, we are interested in clear, concise drawings that illustrate
intent at a minimum of effort; however, as a business with liability concerns,
we are interested in being as complete as possible to avoid errors and omissions.
It is a difficult balance to achieve.
"At
the same time, there is the continuing contractor's game where an emphasis is
placed on finding drawing errors and inconsistencies that produce lucrative
change orders. This is increasingly becoming our most significant motivation
to produce well-coordinated drawing sets.
"I
don't think that the development of CAD itself is responsible for these changes
as much as the general decline in our society in accepting responsibility for
one's work, and acquiring true expertise in a field. Sometime between the 1930s
and now the expectation for workmanship, material selection, and overall quality
of building has deteriorated; I think there are other (and more significant)
contributing factors besides the development of CAD."
-
David Griffith
MBF
Architects
"This whole episode has been interesting."
-
Leo Schlosberg
Heavyware
PTC reported 1Q02 revenue of US$198.6 million, down from US$234.9 million a year earlier. For the first quarter of 2001. Net income fell to a loss of US2.9 million, down from a profit of $12.3 million in 1Q01. PTC blames the falling revenue on a 36% decrease in software license revenue and flat service revenue.
IMSI managed a second quarter net income of US$2.2 million only because of a one-time non-cash gain from forgiveness of debt of $2.2 million. Net revenues were US$3.7 million, up from US$3.4 million a year earlier.
Moldflow did well, with a quarterly net income of US$994,000 on revenue of US$$9.2 million.
Nemetschek last week reported a net loss of e46 million (US$40m) for 2001. To stem the flow of red ink, the company last year cut 150 jobs, merged subsidiaries, and increased customer focus in Sales and Development. The company hopes to next year have a "balanced net income" on total sales of e120 million. Nemetschek shares recently fell to a new all-time low of e2.75.
Graphisoft announced preliminary revenues of e29.4 million for 2001, but a net loss of e4.1 million. The losses were blamed on strong appreciation of the Hungarian Forint, increased R&D costs, lower sales, and consolidated income tax. While sales of its facilities management software tripled, sales of its GDL software plunged by e0.9 million. Revenues are still dominated by ArchiCAD. Graphisoft shares have recovered from their all-time low back in September.
Graphics board vendor ELSA AG is considering its options now that seven out of eight banks ended access to a e$28 million line of credit. German ELSA AG is the parent company of North American ELSA Inc., which is apparently unaffected by the financial problems in Germany.
Users of the free DSX Tools 2002 add-on for AutoCAD 2000-2002 can download the 5MB beta for 2002.20 from http://64.224.125.68/dsx2002-20.exe , which adds metric scaling, improved automatic layer management, and new commands.
Last October, Samuel McCammond alerted us of the free download of Pro/Desktop Express from http://www.ptc.com/cgi/products/desktop_agree.pl . PTC this week announced it again, this time as a prologue to announcing the US$995 Pro/Desktop, which adds rendering and VBA.
Enterprixe (formerly NetModeler) is a single-3D-building model-based software operated over the Internet for the entire life of the building. It uses AutoCAD (and in some parts ADT) as the front-end client software. http://www.enterprixe.com
CADutils.com has cut the price of its CATLearn training courses for CATIA users from £249 down to £69. http://www.cadutils.com
Plot Minder (US$195 or less) from CADfx now supports AutoCAD LT. The add-on tracks plotting activity for cost analysis andr billing. Free demo from http://www.cadfx.com/Plot Minder/ .
VariCAD released its VariCAD v8.1 (US$399) for 3D modeling and 2D drafting. The software is available for Linux and Windows. http://www.varicad.com
Rebis holds its annual conference, Plant Solutions Symposium (PSS), for North and South American clients on June 3 - 6, 2002 in New Orleans LA USA. http://www.rebis.com
People/Companies on the Move
Constructware named Tom Barnes as vp of business
development. Mr Barnes was formerly with Clarus Corp. The company plans to double
its sales force.
Eagle Point appointed Shane Gardner as vp of technology and services; Mike Lyons as vp of sales and marketing; Randy Ambrosy as vp of business development; Jim McCann as cfo; Jim Pullen as vp of operations; and Tim Axtell as director of human resources. All were previously with Eagle Point, except for Mr Axtell who held the same position with Hillcrest Family Services.
The WorthWhile Web
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1658.htm
"Descriptive
Geometry: Plates"
The University of Houston's College of Engineering
-
thanks to Michael Shook.
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/ms_tuncom/major/mtc-00030605.htm
O'MELVENY
& MYERS LLP
Sony's statement on the Microsoft-DOJ settlement.
CAD Trivia
Q16: VDraft from SoftSource was the first non-Autodesk CAD package to use DWG as its native file format. What were VDraft's original names?
Bonus question: What is VDraft short for?
Hint: The first name was based on Autodesk's second location.
Look for the answer at http://www.upfrontezine.com/trivia.htm
Spin Doctor of the Moment
DRM (digital rights management): share-denial technology.
"We used to have this attitude in IT that Microsoft was a bunch of
SOBs, but if you wanted to be successful, you'd better play along. Now, the
sentiment is very different. They need us more than we need them."
-
Robin McMullen
WETA-TV