August
3, 2004
Issue
#397
< Previous Issue Next >
T
H E B U S I N E S S O F C A
D
|
August
3, 2004 < Previous Issue Next >
|
|
|
- - - C
O N T E N T S From the Editor How
Many 3D Users? Pliable
Lens Display
2D Our
Summer Book Reading List
Below
the Radar Write - - - Donate - - - Look for additional,
nearly-daily CAD commentary at our Weblog: (ADVERTISMENT) Updated and Expanded for AutoCAD 2005! Tailoring AutoCAD 2005 is the new e-book for AutoCAD 2005. Download as a 260-page e-book in PDF format (US$26.95) or on CD ($31.95). 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.
|
From the Editor This is our last issue before the annual summer break. upFront.eZine returns on September 14. - - - In our other line of work, we're close to completing the update to our best-selling e-book, "Tailoring AutoCAD 2005." All-new material includes the DXF file format, field codes (undocumented by Autodesk),and the Cal command, as well as updates for AutoCAD 2005. If you previously purchased this e-book, you can "upgrade" for half-price (= US$13.47). We'll do an e-mailing when the PDF e-book is ready for purchase. More info at www.upfrontezine.com/ta5 How Many 3D Users? Guest Editorial There is something those who try to count 3D seats should be aware of:
- - - A summary of my thoughts and experiences with 3D since 1984: Three-D is hampered by old-fashioned project thinking, counting drawings, and hours. Hand drafting standards should be DELETED! Examples include out-of-scale piping isometrics, and single line arrangements. In 3D, you do not find really good general CAD systems, as in 2D. If you don't agree with, try to do plant design in an MCAD system -- and the other way around. Three-D system developers and suppliers are neglecting the human factor and don't tell those who buy 3D that this requires a lot more than 2D. Three-D GUIs are far from user-friendly. The GUIs that look friendly at first glance are usually just as messy underneath as those that look messy from the very beginning. Three-D parametric MCAD systems are usually in two categories:
Both choices may prove a disaster for inexperienced users. Those who choose category A will find them unable to accomplish the project due to complexity and inefficiency. Category B users find themselves usually stuck in the lack of capacity. When A or B want to get their job done 100% in 3D, they have to cheat. All those 3D shortcuts usually reduce the value of the model, and it usually becomes a mess (as 2D drawings are). Technology limitations: MCAD has far more limitations than possibilities to do advanced simulation involving irregular surfaces against each other. What's the point of doing a prototype in 3D when you can make and test physical parts faster than virtually? Still wondering why 3D has not broken through? And why you can count all the real 3D users you know on one hand? A real 3D user (designer / engineer) is able to actually do the design and problem-solving in 3D from scratch. Most users of 3D (operators) are only modeling the solution already found in 2D on a sheet of paper or on a plane section from a 3D model. We had gotten their press releases, but never gotten them: what is this "pliable display technology"? upFront.eZine finally ran an item from one press release that announced the first patent win for Idelix [pronounced eye-dell-ix] -- the first of 24 patents applied for. "We're serious about protecting our intellectual property," Ali Solehdin later tells me. Idelix is in suite #555 inside Vancouver's ueber-trendy Yaletown district, a former run-down warehouse area just 15 years ago. Across the narrow European-looking one-way street, the parking garage is done up in BMW Austin Mini motifs. Some of the 20 employees bring their dogs to work, a problem when in front of me two dogs don't like each other. Me, bitten in the thigh by a dog in my late teens, I shy away. Biggest point of pride is the room converted into a rock climbing wall; it's what founder David Baar likes to do -- that, and windsurf in 90km/hr winds. Me, with my fractured fibula, turn down repeated offers to don climbing shoes. "About a medium shoe size," an employee sizes me up. I snag a Dr Pepper. Office tour is over. Chief technical office David Baar starts demo'ing pliable display technology. When he shows it, I finally get it; but how to describe it in print? Employees offer up phrases: "Detail in context." "Reduces on-screen clutter." "Elastic lens display." No, no no. None of the terms work for me. Another staffer uses the term "eliminates zoom and pan." Aha! Something CAD users understand. PDT is the next-generation of bird's-eye view, and integrated into the drawing. As I pan about the drawing, the PDT's lens shows me the zoomed-in view. [See figure: www.idelix.com/images/img_library/cad7avac600x556.jpg]. Outside the lens is a transition zone, warping the view from zoom-in to normal view. It's the transition zone that lets PDT show me details in their context. The lens has built-in user interface controls that adjust the zoom level, size and shape of lens (doesn't have to be round). The magnification shown by the lens is vector, not simple pixel multiplication. Mr Baar shows other capabilities of PDT:
Removing Visual Blockages in 3D One of great flaws in 3D design is visual blockage, the problem that some parts hide your view of other parts. Solutions from CAD vendors thus far include transparency of selected parts; exploded views; and increasingly institutive forms of 3D rotation. The 3D version of PDT is still being developed, but Mr Baar showed me its unique purpose: it lets you look inside 3D objects by preserving the line of sight. Select a part in the assembly that you wish to view. PDT/3D moves the other parts of the way, no matter your angle of view -- it's dynamic exploded view. [See figure: www.idelix.com/images/img_library/pdt3d_matrix500x534.jpg]. Mr Baar is working on making objects semi-transparent as they reach the edge of the lens. Another capability: The lens shows the wireframe view of shaded drawings. "Smart PDT" the is follow-up generation, where the lens adjusts itself, depending on the data and location. CAD Integration PDT is popular in the defense industry for examining aerial photographs in-context, for instance. Idelix looking to integrate PDT into CAD software. This involves not merely writing a display driver; rather, it requires integration deep into the CAD software. Idelix tested PDT on QCAD, an open source CAD program from Ribbonsoft. It took a programmer three days to integrate PDT. Interested CAD developers can contact ali@idelix.com Our Summer Book Reading List The world does not revolve around CAD. Not everything not built by God is built by CAD. Life outside of CAD has meaning. And after writing too much about CAD, I like to read about things that have nothing to do with CAD. Herewith, my summer reading list: - - - "Eats, Shoots, & Leaves" is for those of us who labor over language. We wince when it's should be its, and worry whether the punctuation goes inside quotation marks. Lynne Truss has an unexpected best-seller in a book that promises "A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation." But even this urban punctuation correctionist (she paints over misprinted signs to correct them) ends up waffling over when commas should be used. US$10.50 paperback from Amazon.com - - - "The Salmon of Doubt" is a wrapup of Douglas Adams' writings, who died suddenly in 2001. This is a compilation of many magazine articles (mostly non-fiction), and the first few chapters of his uncompleted novel. 'Cookies' is the funniest of the brief articles. Several other articles emphasize his belief in atheism, yet he muses, "Without a god, life is only a matter of opinion." US$11.16 - - - "all families are psychotic" and "Hey Nostradamus!" are by the only fiction writer I ever enjoy reading, other than well-written science fiction. [Hmmm... science that is fiction.] Douglas Coupland is from West Vancouver, meaning I am familiar with the Lower Mainland geographic references he makes. "Psychotic" is about a torn-apart family that goes through insane heck to come together somewhat less insane. "Nostradamus" is worth reading for the complexity of Part I: a 17-year-old girl tells her life story by weaving together three histories -- her life story until today; today, the day she is killed in a school shooting; and her musings as she lies dead. Psychotic: US$11.16 Nostradamus: US$15.27 - - - "The Right Questions" -- sometimes they don't get asked. We are imbued with cultural prejudices we don't recognize, like fish unaware of water. To shake up our thinking, upFront.eZine has hosted debates that ask questions, like "Does CAD make drawings worse?" (The answer, for those who missed the discussion, is 'Yes, the nature of CAD software and training creates drawings that can be worse than those hand-drawn.') Scientists, engineers, and others presume rational thinking and empirical working; how do they know that? Do they miss out on that which cannot be measured? Phillip Johnson asks these and other questions, such as "What is the ultimate premise, the beginning point from which logic should proceed?" Note that this book speaks to cultures that no longer tolerate religion. US$9.60 - - - "Don't Shoot, It's Only Me" is the autobiography of Bob Hope, a book on my yet-to-start-reading list. There are a few more books that I've mentioned in earlier summer reading lists, including "World War 3.0" and "No Logo," that I still haven't read. "Don't Shoot": US$6 (used); no longer
in print. Below the Radar A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that we found interesting: - - - Raindrop Geomagic has a free plug-in for real-time processing and graphics display of objects captured by Faro ScanArms. www.geomagic.com Periscope (US$30) dynamically displays information about objects underneath AutoCAD's cursor. Version 3.0 supports extensions written in VBA. www.manusoft.com/DLCenter.htm Okino provides 3D data translation from SolidWorks and to major 3D file formats. The company's NuGraf and PolyTrans software imports geometry, hierarchy, and materials (assembly data) from native SolidWorks 2005 files. www.okino.com/solutions/solidworks.htm Autodesk hopes to ship 3D Studio 7 (US$3,495) this fall, with something for everyone: game developers, character animators, film & television visual effectors, and designers (CAD). The press release mentions NVIDIA's Quadro FX graphics board. www.discreet.com In related news, Power CatiaToMax (US$2,995 from nPower Software and Datakit) translates native Catia files directly into 3ds Max and VIZ. www.nPowerSoftware.com Also, Autodesk will soon announce release 6 of its project collaboration software, Buzzsaw. www.buzzsaw.com Informatix Software International will soon ship version 4 of Piranesi, its "3D painting" software -- September is the projected date. www.informatix.co.uk/piranesi DATACAD makes DCAL [data cad application language] for Delphi available free from www.datacad.com/ddn UGS says its NX Simulation Process Studio lets you easily automate repetitive digital simulation tasks. www.ugs.com eQuorum releases ImageSite v6, its Web-based document management and project collaboration software -- now supporting AutoCAD 2005 and full-text search engine that finds CAD files based on text within the files. www.equorum.com Bob McNeel reveals that new Rhino 4.0 technology includes history, features, G-Infinity blending, mesh tools, and unconstrained free-form deformation. www.mcneel.com And DotSoft updates XL2CAD 3.0 (US$85), their Excel-to-CAD software, with support for basic drawing shapes, single-text to single-cell links, linked export of properties, and the placing of blocks from spreadsheets, with coordinates. www.dotsoft.com Seminars & Conference The first conference for application developers interested in IntelliCAD is Sept 16-17 in Denver CO USA. [I'll be speaking at this event.] www.intellicad.org/WorldMeeting2004/ COFES2005 is April 14-17 in Scottsdale AZ USA. www.cofes.com GeoSpatial World 2005 is in San Francisco CA USA, April 26-28, 2005. The International Association for the Engineering Analysis Community is in Malta, May 17-20, 2005. www.nafems.org/congress Companies/People on the Move Syncroness opens a new product development center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Christopher Morin is appointed ceo of the Malaysian office. www.syncroness.com Market News Bentley Systems buys Haestad Methods; price not announced. And it also buys the AXSYS lines of software from Aspen Technology. Intergraph reports Q2 revenue of US$138.4 million, up 8.6% over a year earlier, and up 4.1% over Q1. The company has $354.6 million in the bank, and no debt. The lawsuits with HP continue. IMSI's Aladdin Systems division changes its name to Allume Systems, to satisfy a trademark lawsuit with Aladdin Knowledge Systems. New Web site is www.allume.com Total Q2 revenue at Dassault Systemes was e192.5 million, up 6%. The company was particularly proud that CAD revenue was up 26% in U.S. dollars. The upFront.eZine stock index is at /www.cadwire.net/to?upfrontezine/stocks WorthWhile Web www.bentley.com/en-us/corporate/opendgn/
Letters to the Editor Re: CAD Vendor Responses "The upFront.eZine research gives very disappointing results. I wonder, are users and magazine editors like you purely considered a hassle? It seems so. "It seems that most companies don't realize, barring the good exceptions, what an email support address really entails. When they furnish it on a Web site, they raise expectations. If they are not prepared to reply to all, they should state under what conditions they will reply -- otherwise the e-mail address is just another step in the process of alienating potential customers. "Dealing with new users is not that difficult: just ask them to register the first time. This sorts out the pranksters and, if you are uncertain about the intentions, you can ask a few pertinent questions. "What I have found most helpful in practice
is to create an open or managed news group. Monitor this group to
give relevant responses and thus help the customers or other enquirers.
A well-fed news group generates a wealth of information for you
and customers. Besides you can see what issues are real issues long
before they start hurting you financially." - - - Re: Autodesk vs IntelliCAD "When Cadkey was taken over by former
Autodesk people in the 1990s, the first question I asked the new
technology guy was, 'Why doesn't Autodesk publish the DWG format?'
His answer was a shock, but quite revealing. He said, 'No one knows
exactly what's in the DWG format, and, therefore, even Autodesk
can't document it.' "Autodesk should be ashamed. Here they
are, publicly disparaging the reverse-engineered technology used
in IntelliCAD (and provided by the Open Design Alliance), when they
used this technology in both their Revit and Caice products." "I am preparing my Master of Science thesis on computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and using PI-drawings as UI for them. The alternative for AutoCAD, IntelliCAD, is not totally clear to me. Studying the ITC Web pages I understood that programming with IntelliCAD is possible only by commercial members and that membership is not cheap. So actually IntelliCAD is a cheap alternative only for those users who do not need to program it using the IntelliCAD source code. I mean that with AutoCAD and ObjectARX technology that is possible for anyone having a full AutoCAD product. "If I understood correct the comparable
technique for AutoCAD's ObjectARX is in IntelliCAD only available
for commercial members." The editor replies: "IntelliCAD Standard (the cheaper version) can be programmed with scripts, macros, LISP, and ADS (they call it SDS). IntelliCAD Pro can be programmed with VBA. ITC members have access to the source code. ObjectARX is not available for IntelliCAD at all." - - - Re: Stock Splits "Actually the $43 is not split-adjusted.
Split adjusted would be something like $86, depending on what time
frame you are talking about." The editor replies: "Maybe I meant un-split-adjusted!" Mr Pratt responds: "Or post-split." - - - Re: DWF 3D "I noticed your reference and that of others to Autodesk's latest DWF Viewer, version 5. What is not stated anywhere by anyone is that it only views 3D files created by Inventor. What good is that to the majority who use AutoCAD? "Apparently something is in the works
for their other applications. I suspect a new DWF printer driver.
I wish they would match the numbers, but they've already used '6'
for DWF v6." The editor replies: "You're right; we completely overlooked AutoCAD's current inability to output DWF in 3D. I am guessing that Autodesk will release an extension for subscribers only." - - - Map 3D Slowdown? "I'm using Autodesk's Map 3D and I'm
noticing plot previews and plot creation times to be "extremely"
slow. I work with large (30-100MB) digital orthophotographs. Plot
previews or plot creation times that used to take 20 seconds in
Map 6 now takes over 3 minutes. Is anyone else experiencing slow
plot creation or preview times?" - - - How Do Sheetsets Fit into PDM? "Plan, plan, and plan some more. Consider
all the possibilities. But another consideration: how do SheetSets
fit into a company's PDM [product data manager]? This is what I
have to deal with: my group can hardly deal with xrefs, let alone
layouts." - - - Re: MicroGDS "I was very interested in your recent comments about GDS. I started using it in May 1980, and I'm still using it today! I reckon there aren't many of your readers who've been involved in CAD for that long, especially with the same system. "I am a consultant to a highly-customised user with 26 workstations in constant use. Nothing we have found yet can replace the way it is used in a very productive environment. "Keep up your good work, and continue
producing a valuable unbiased viewpoint." Spin Doctor of the Moment "There's an enormous amount of
technology in these things." Notable Quotable "Those who say they dislike dogma --
or 'certainty' -- tend to be liars, hypocrites, or simply wrong.
What they really dislike is the dogma of those they disagree with." |
|
Return to www.upfrontezine.com. Entire contents copyright ©2004 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. Article reprint fee $500. All trademarks belong to their respective holders. "upFront.eZine," "Talking About CAD," and "On your desktop every Tuesday morning" are trademarks of upFront.eZinePublishing, Ltd. Letters to the editor may be reproduced in an edited form for clarity and brevity. Opinions expressed in letters are not necessarily shared by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. |
This e-newsletter is shareware. You may read this free. If you would like to support the author in his work, we suggest a donation of US$25.00 to PayPal in the account of grabowski @ telus.net. Click here to make payment.
Reprint fee: US$500 |
.
