September
28, 2004
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- - - C
O N T E N T S From
the Editor A
Short History of 3D CAD at Our Company Press Tour
With a Difference 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.
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From the Editor Four hundred issues of upFront.eZine! If published in book form, this e-newsletter would amount to a 4,400-page book bearing 1.5 million words. (By coincidence, this month also marks the 19th anniversary of editor Ralph Grabowski writing about CAD -- and being paid for it. He began in September, 1985 as 'CADalyst' magazine's first technical editor.) Thank you, readers, for maintaining your keen interest as we present the "The Business of CAD" week after week. And thank you, also, to those who support us financially through donations and advertising. - - - Sometimes our newsletter is blocked by IT departments, just because. For instance, we have a half-dozen subscribers at CoCreate who no longer get upFront.eZine: "A message sent by this account comes from a domain or host not allowed by this mail server. If you have any questions please contact postmaster@cocreate.com." You can guess what happens when we complain to the Postmaster -- the exact same response. Oh those clever IT people! An email to CoCreate's pr firm, RuderFinn, resulted in a promise to look into the problem. A Short History of 3D CAD at Our Company by L.A. Our medium-size consulting engineering company in South Africa specializes in mining work. We produce 2D drawings in AutoCAD, but accommodate client requirements to use alternative software. - - - My first project at this company was a platinum concentrator. We used the 3D mechanical CAD software required by the client. We battled massive file sizes: it could take hours to open a model, and even longer to produce a 2D draft. We had guys working night shift to use quiet server time. We found a continual problem with linking the model to the draft; when we broke the link (to give more flexibility on the drawing), then all further model changes were lost. As the job moved into the construction phase, the 3D CAD software was installed on-site, but the site crew hardly used it -- preferring the paper drawings. I worked on-site for a few weeks. Whenever I opened the model, a crowd gathered around my monitor, but tended to wander off when it took 20 minutes to do a refresh. It proved difficult to convince the site guys to buy-in to the 3D concept; it did not help when head office made the site's system read-only. The project was finally completed without too much trouble, apart from the normal hiccups like the electrical guys running cables through the pipe reserve. - - - Around this time, our company decided to offer customers a 3D package as part of our services. After much debate over the best software to suit out requirements, we chose Intergraph's PDMS. An authorized training center sent teams of trainers to train eight of us in all aspects of the program. (I was designated for 2D and isometric drafting training.) We spent three months in non-stop training -- not a good idea, as after three weeks we suffered from information overload. Unfortunately, the local training office closed down shortly after our training ended, and now all communication is from the United Kingdom. At this time, the big project we had been hoping for was postponed (and eventually canceled). The projected role for PDMS was curtailed, and we all ended up back on a project with the former 3D CAD software. Our company installed the latest top-of-the-line IBM black boxes, which did help with modeling time. It also helped to have a cup of tea while waiting for the model to update. The company wanted to try out PDMS before our skills were lost, and so a client was offered a portion of the job to be completed on PDMS at no additional cost. The client accepted, but as we started this project we realized just how little we knew. The training never seemed to cover the problems that arose. Simple stuff, like trying to insert the client's logo. After days of effort, we traced over it with 2D lines. Database setups were a black art that took us weeks to sort out. We managed to get the model looking rather good. We used the Review module to put together a flythru that really impressed the client. We attached textures and colors to the model, and even got the client to signoff snapshots of the model as Approved for Design. As we progressed from modeling to producing 2D drafts, the wheels fell off. Our 2D drafts were of such poor quality that the chief draftsman would not allow them out the office. We battled to put together a set of decent drawings. It took us weeks to build a general arrangement. In the end we ran out of time; we had to hand over the drawings to the AutoCAD guys, and they knocked out the drawings within a few days. The Isodraft package was better -- at least our isometric drawings were issued for construction -- but some of the final isos were touched up with black pens, because I couldn't get the package to do what I wanted. We spent hours on the phone to the UK help desk, but they rarely gave us a solution. Usually, we got a workaround or a question in reply: "Why do you want to do that?" The job is now in construction phase, and I'm emailing JPEGs to the site office. We offered the next phase of the job to the client (again for no charge) but they declined. Of the eight guys that took the original PDMS training, four have left. Of the remaining four, we tried to take over their portfolios, but unless we get a job that dictates we use PDMS, then it looks like it will be shelved. - - - From my experiences, I have these questions: Q1. Do 3D jobs still need to follow the normal route of producing general arrangements, and then 2D details and isometrics? Q2. Do companies using the 3D concept produce 2Ds from the model, or do they use AutoCAD (or similar) for the drafts? Q3. Has anyone ever produced a good PDMS 2D general arrangement comparable to, say, an AutoCAD drawing? Q4. Do 3D modelers have to be multidisciplinary, or does a piper only do piping, and a structural guy only structures? - - - I always wonder if the best 3D guys are IT specialists with a bit of drafting knowledge, or "drafties" with a bit of IT knowledge. I fall into the latter category: I can spot the difference between 150# and 300# flanges at 20 paces, but I don't know how many zeros there are in a tetrabyte. (L.A. is a drafter at a South African consulting engineering firm whose name he'd rather not make public.) Press Tour With a Difference A software company last week went on a media tour with a difference. Rather than trot out the latest revision of their software, this company's CEO and press relations guy came to north-western reaches of the continent to meet two-on-one with editors of different specializations: one in AEC, one in mech CAD, and myself as the CAD generalist. The company wanted to know how to better market their viewer products into different CAD disciplines. - - - Their first question, over dinner at the local Milestone's restaurant, was, "What is the most exciting thing you've seen in CAD over the last six months?" I looked blank, and then puzzled: most exciting thing? Sorry, there is no such thing in CAD right now. Disappointment across the table. There isn't much that's exciting these days. CAD vendors copy each other's features. Autodesk's newest major product, Civil 3D, is based on AutoCAD, while innovative software, like ArchStudio and Actrix, have fallen by the wayside. Instead, let's concentrate on your company, I suggested:
- - - We had a good discussion. After dessert, they climb into their red Mustang rental car, and in the rain head back to the United States to catch an early morning flight back home. Below the Radar A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that we found interesting: - - - MASS Systems launches FM Desktop software that uses AutoCAD and Access for facilities managers in small to medium-sized enterprises. http://www.mass-systems.co.uk DesignCAD 3D Max (US$99.95) is up to release 15, and features raster support. Also available: 2D-only DesignCAD Express ($49.95). http://www.designcad.com Journey Publishing has a student edition of PTC's Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2 for US$199.98. http://www.ProEStudent.com Raindrop Geomagic's Qualify 7 now handles geometric dimensioning and tolerances, and turbine blade analysis. http://www.geomagic.com Okino ships six updated CAD importers based on PTC Granite v3 technology. Granite Pack (US$395) handles ACIS SAT, IGES (from solids), ParaSolid, Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/DESKTOP, STEP, and VDA-FS. http://www.okino.com/proe.htm COSMOS releases COSMOSDesignSTAR v4.5, which offers nonlinear contact analysis. http://www.cosmosm.com HOOPS Product Suite 11 includes Direct3D, advanced texturing, and market-specific functions for CAM and CAE. http://www.openhsf.org UGS launches NX DesignLogic for embedding design knowledge and engineering rules into NX product definitions. http://www.ugs.com CoCreate Software releases OneSpace.net 2005 for collaborating on design projects. http://www.onespace.net Spatial Freedom has a spatial controller that's 60% cheaper: the Astroid 6000 features a "scroll hat" that acts like a mouse wheel with left/right scrolling. http://www.spatialfreedom.com VISTAGY launches EnCapta 3.0 software for creating engineering environments that capture, structure, and communicate non-geometric design data for product definitions. http://www.vistagy.com QuadriSpace introduces Publisher3D for creating printed, animated, and interactive 3D documents. http://www.quadrispace.com Spicer now has a Linux version of its ViewCafé software. ViewCafé Linux Server for Red Hat Linux provides document handling, load balancing, and format loading. http://www.spicer.com And H. Edward Goldberg offers Web collaboration courses in the use of Architectural Desktop, VIZ, SketchUp, and the integration of these with other AEC software products. For further information, contact h.e.goldberg@verizon.net Seminars & Conferences The International Symposium for Engineering IT (ISEIT 2004) is at the Omni Hotel Westside in Houston TX, Oct 18-19. http://www.iseit.com ACS Software hosts three-day training for installing, supporting, and managing AutoEDMS: October 20-22. http://www.acssoftware.com Bentley Systems' BE Conference 2005 is back at the Baltimore Convention Center, May 8-12, 2005. http://www.be.org People/Companies on the Move Ron Kuhfeld is the new public relations manager at Bentley Systems. Leica Geosystems appoints Nicholas Bloch as head of corporate communications and press relations. Helmers Publishing selects Brian Vaillancourt as publisher of "Desktop Engineering" print magazine. TraceParts purchases the European business assets of web2CAD AG. Brand New CAD Books/eBooks "Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire for Designers
Release 2.0"
"Tailoring AutoCAD 2005" WorthWhile Web http://www.loftcube.net/
Spin Doctor of the Moment "Every possible definition of diversity is embraced by Kodak." -
Jim Blamphin, manager of corporate media relations, not explaining
why Kodak fired an employee for disagreeing with the 'Kodak Values'
that emphasizs diversity of opinion. Notable Quotable "Open the iPod and play The Doors, HAL" -
Anonymous Coward on slash.dot |
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