February
3, 2004
Issue
#371
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O N T E N T S A3DS
Halts Shipments to End-users AEC
Harder Than DImproving
in Q4: - - - Below
the Radar - - - Donate Write - - - (ADVERTISMENT) Updated and Expanded for AutoCAD 2004! Tailoring AutoCAD 2004 is the first book for AutoCAD 2004. Download as a 204-page e-book in PDF format (US$24.95) or on CD ($29.95). Covers all areas of customization, from changing the user interface to writing toolbar macros and LISP routines. Click here to sample preview pages and place your order.
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A3DS Halts Shipments to End-users Applied 3D Science's Steve Mastrangelo says his company will no longer sell ParaLogix to end-users. Source code licenses will be sold only to other CAM [computer-aided manufacturing] software companies; A3DS expects that end-users will buy upgrades from them. (ParaLogix is a procedural, parametric solid modeling CAD system based on the ParaSolid core. "Procedural" means that changes made to base construction entities automatically update solids and surface geometry.) The company says it has 7,000 end-user customers, and two primary OEM customers: Pathtrace uses ParaLogix as EdgeCAM Part Modeler, while Surfware uses it for SURFCAM Solids. Mr Mastrangelo tells upFront.eZine, "I have interesting prospects for the future and for our code." www.a3ds.com ParaSolid Updated In related news, UGS PLM Solutions announces ParaSolid v15.1, its geometric modeling component software. The update includes a version for 64-bit CPUs. New features include:
More info from www.eds.com/products/plm/parasolid/ Readers Respond IIn the last issue, David Lawrence wrote, "Architects and designers are going to have to have much more detailed plans to make up for the lack of skilled labor." "Great insight by Mr. Lawrence, he is
right on the money. Our experience is that construction laborers
are missing details that are clearly shown on the drawings." - - - Mr Lawrence also wrote, "3D CAD got its start in the aerospace industry because the shapes were too complex for 2D." "While airplane shape may be complex, the total structure (including finishes, all systems, etc.) is probably less complex than many buildings. And interfaces between dissimilar materials, typically a problematic area, are more constrained in airplane design. "There are other critical differences between building planes and building buildings, especially non-plain buildings: 1. You typically build many copies of an airplane. Commercial buildings are all prototypes (one-off's) and less is invested in design (possibly a higher % of total cost of manufactured product, but fewer absolute $$). Of course, design costs are hard to track and define in the AEC [architecture, engineering, construction] world, because the architect provides concept, with much detailed design being delegated to the specialty subcontractors and suppliers where those further design costs are buried in the product price. 2. The airplane designer is the manufacturer and they take responsibility for the accuracy of the design. In AEC, the 'it will be fixed in manufacturing' is formalized in the contracts with the assembler/manufacturer (the general contractor) and affects all aspects of the construction process. Both the formal and informal processes in commercial construction have as a major focus shifting the risks of mistakes inherent in prototyping from the owner to the architect, then onto the general contractor. The GC in turn shifts the risk of error to subcontractors and suppliers. "Mr. Lawrence's comments make sense in the manufacturing world, but in AEC the responsibility issues are critical. This is distinct from EPC - engineer, procure, construct - which is what the Bechtels do, and is closer to normal manufacturing in that the engineer takes fuller design responsibility than does a typical architect. "The implication for CAD, as we move to detailed building models, is how complete a model an architect will construct, and what responsibility they will take for completeness and accuracy. I believe that the techno-optimists have severely underestimated the issues of complexity here. For example, with a library of intelligent objects that are incorporated into the building model, is the architect realistically going to take responsibility for maintaining that library? Unlikely, especially if they work under the traditional design-bid-build process. "A few specialty design builders may
take responsibility in the nearer term, but we are a long way, especially
in America (European architects are more involved in the details
than in the US), from architects taking full responsibility for
the building model. No one should read into my comments criticism
of architects: the design fees they receive could never cover the
cost of taking responsibility for all the detailed design required
in a commercial building." Improving in Q4: RAND, Intergraph Rand A Technology's shares nearly doubled in value after the company announced that its sales are up and losses are down. Q4 sales are forecasted to be CDN$49 million, with a loss of $3 million. Also good news: a distribution deal with Boeing Intellectual Property Business, and a $3.8 million loan from an anonymous company. More details coming in March. - - - Intergraph reports Q4 income falling to US$1.4 million, down from $90.1 million the same quarter a year ago. Note that the huge income of a year ago was due to a one-time intellectual property settlement. On a more realistic basis, Q4 revenue rose to $145.8 million from $122.0 million a year ago, but may fall to $130.4 million next quarter. In unhappy news, CPU manufacturer AMD is pre-emptively suing Intergraph over Intergraph's claim that its Clipper technology is being used in CPUs without royalty payments. Below the Radar A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that we find interesting. - - - 3D+ v5 lets structural engineers model steel, timber, and concrete structures in 3D, from which working 2D plans, sections, details, and material lists are produced automatically. The add-in works with AutoCAD 2004 and Architectural Desktop. www.3dplus.info Felix GmbH joins the OpenDesign Alliance as a "founding member," and will work to develop the DWGdirect program library supporting the OpenDWG 2005 standard. The company sells FelixCAD for desktop computers, and CeCAD for pocket PCs. With its "9:1 CAD Challenge", you can outfit your business with nine FelixCAD workstations for less than one AutoCAD license. www.graebert.com WorldTech creates keyboards (US$89) whose keys are colored and etched with commands and icons for specific software applications. Most are customized for digital video editing software, but now Alibre is the first CAD package with such a keyboard. ssl21.securedata.net/gears-n-drives/items.asp ACS Software offers training seminars (US$1195) for its AutoEDMS document management software. www.acssoftware.com Axiom releases RefMerge for V8 version 8.2, a MicroStation utility for merging design and reference files into a single .dgn file. www.axiomint.com Camtek says that its CAD/CAM applications, SolidCut Production, SolidCut EDM, and SolidCut Laser, have these new features: rotary axis millin, 3D milling, new 3D origins, turned profiles from solids, CAD translator interfaces, and more. www.peps.com Trelligence's Design Center Module (US$5,000 and up) is meant for showrooms and design centers: a one-stop shop for customer profiling, previewing, and purchasing design center options. Customers select options and finishes, with real-time cost roll-up. Software runs on desktop and table PCs. www.trelligence.com And Informatix has a free Piranesi plug-in for Autodesk's Architectural Desktop 2004. It saves ADT renderings as EPix files. Download a demo at www.informatix.co.uk/piranesi/piranesi_downloads.shtml People/Companies on the Move Moldflow promotes Franco Ellena to vp of worldwide sales and distribution of design analysis solutions. Mr. Ellena is the company's former vp of sales for EMEA. William H. Gray resigns from the EDS board of directors to eliminate "any appearance of a lack of independence." Redo "As a clarification, the conference is
now called the BE Conference -- rather than Bentley Experience,
as you wrote in upFront.eZine #370. Also, BE stands for 'Bentley
Empowered.' Computer News In one week, I received 547 copies of the MyDoom virus. That's a smaller number than the virus attack from last August, perhaps because ISPs are now filtering for viruses. Dell is offering some of its computers without Windows; to boot these computers, Dell includes a disc with FreeDOS <www.freedos.org>. Dell says the desktop computers are "offered for IT professionals who want control over operating system development and installation." A study by The Yankee Group finds that 43% of 600 small and midsize businesses are concerned about becoming overly reliant on Microsoft software and services. news.com.com/2100-1012_3-5149066.html?tag=nefd_top WorthWhile Web http://www.space.com/marsrover/
www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hscov0127,0,2190396 Business Week Spin Doctors of the Moment "The financial damage from the outbreak
is difficult to measure, but is assumed to be billions of dollars,
according to experts." "MyDoom is now estimated to have caused
$38.5 billion of economic damage worldwide." Notable Quotable "I may have invented it, but Bill [Gates]
made it famous." |
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