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Issue #453 : : November 29, 2005 |
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C o n t e n t s Book Reviews Below
the Radar, and other
regular columns. |
Write the Editor. Donate to upFront.eZine with Paypal. Access nearly-daily CAD commentary at our blog: WorldCAD Access. |
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There seem to be rumors about Adobe getting in to 3D. One CAD journalist(*) speculates that Adobe might ship an under-$1000 3D CAD product next year. Why? Adobe specializes in 2D. Its attempt to expand into 3D have been awe-uninspiring, such as adding U3D to Acrobat. My apologies to Bentley Systems, but really, U3D is a standard few use. (For a backward glance, read "Adobe to unveil 3D software" on CNET, dated March 2001. "Adobe is a thoroughbred. It can run laps and it's designed to get to the finish line," said an analyst about Adobe Atmosphere back then at news.com.com/2100-1040-254711.html ) Now, there is one scenario I could foresee: Adobe buys out Alibre, and gets its sub-$1000 3D CAD that way.
(*) See www.mcadonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=154&Itemid=1 Oops: Inventor vs SolidWorks Last week, I predicted: "I know, I know. I'm going to hear from you the oft-repeated accusation that over 50% are education sales, and so they don't count." And the prediction came true even before my bulk email software finished sending out last week's issue of upFront.eZine. But it was my fault. Partly. Brad Holtz of Cyon Research telephoned me to warn I was mixing numbers. Many other emailed and made comments on WorldCAD Access. I've posted an explanation on what occurred at worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2005/11/oops_inventor_v.html As soon as I was alerted to the problem, I updated the archive at upfrontezine.com and WorldCAD Access with the following numbers: CAD Software Brand Inventor SolidWorks Total Seats 511,300 452,000 Book Reviews It's been long time since computer books arrived at my doorstoop in batches. Ten years ago, bookstores overflowed with computer books, and at times you could even find some of mine. Here are three that arrived in the last few months. - - - SolidWorks
for Dummies If there's a problem with this book, its that it was written by an employee of SolidWorks. True, he'll have in-depth knowledge of the subject, but he's not going to be as forthcoming with software problems as an independent writer. The 342 pages covers the range of SolidWorks capabilities: templates, the user interface, sketches, parts, assemblies, drawing views, changes, and printing. I don't care for the Dummies style of cutsie writing, such as "This little darling began life as a sweep." Or cramming the topic to fit the Dummies format (The Part of Tens) -- it's why I turned down writing "Visio for Dummies." Despite the misgivings, Jankowski's book provides a good runthrough for those who are unfamiliar with the MCAD way of producing drawings. CD includes a demo version of SolidWorks. - - - Rendering
with MicroStation When Bentley Systems bought Haestad Methods, they also acquired a publishing company. Haestad had released a number of books on stormwater design, water distribution, and so on -- all using their software, of course. This formed the basis of Bentley Institute Press, of which 'Rendering with MicroStation' is the first new title under the new owner. The 436-page book starts with 3D space and how to control it visually. And then it goes through the stages of producing renderings: camera set ups, placing lighting, adding materials, types of rendering, and outputing the result. Lots of illustrations to show the effects of facet smoothing, gradient mapping, procedural textures, definitions of lighting angles -- all those picky details that ensure renderings turn out great. The drawback is that this $70 book shows its profuse illustrations entirely in monocrhome, and sometimes it hard to make out the before and after effects being described. And you have to wonder why the book's content is not included with the MicroStation documentation <g>. Nicely produced and well written. CD includes 1,500 textures and all of the book's examples. - - - VBA
for AutoCAD I have a confession to make: I don't understand event-driven programming. Being weened on FORTRAN, Pascal, BASIC, C, and LISP, top-down programming just makes sense to me -- start at the beginning of the code So I was glad when Paul Richard offered to send me his 447-page 'VBA for AutoCAD' book to help me figure out Visual Basic for Applications. You can create dialog boxes in VBA much more easily than AutoLISP's DCL coding, but the real point to learning VBA is twofold: (1) to access every nook and crany of AutoCAD and drawings; and (2) transfer that knowledge of VBA to other Windows applications making use of the so-called "macros." And so, the bulk of the book details how to access the nooks, with entire chapters on the subjects of layers, xrefs, entities, and more. Speaking of AutoLISP, the book makes frequent cross-references to that programming language first added to AutoCAD in 1985. I'm not sure that's helpful, because the two are s-o-o-o different. The Web site provides PDF files of chapters 5 "Creating AutoCAD Entities" and 11 "Blocks, Block Attributes, and Xrefs."
A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I found interesting:
ASVIC Engineering & Software of Australia offers add-ons to AutoCAD: MECH-Q Piping, Mechanical, Structural,and HVAC Ducting. Download demos from www.asvic.com.au/ Autodesk's DWF Viewer v6.5 now sections 3D Models, while the updated DWF Writer v3 has been optimized for SolidWorks 2005, Pro/E 2.0 [Wildfire, I presume], CATIA, Solid Edge, and NX. Download at no charge, after registration, from www.autodesk.com/dwf-publishing SYCODE udpates Terrain for AutoCAD, its terrain modeling plug-in for AutoCAD. Improvements include support for curves, bug fixes, and better removal of duplicate points. www.sycode.com/products/terrain_ac/index.htm Actify updates its SpinFire Professional or Actify Publisher importers for ACIS, CATIA V5R15, CATIA V4, I-DEAS Native, Solid Edge, SolidWorks 2006, STEP, Unigraphics [NX perhaps?], and VRML. www.actify.com ProgeSOFT.US offers free copies of ProgeCAD 2006 Professional to those involved in rebuilding of hurricane-wrecked areas of the United States. Fill out an application at www.progesoft.us Gugila releases GroundWiz, a procedural terrain map plug-in for 3ds max and VIZ from Autodesk. It uses layers combined with fractal algorithms to create natural looking terrain maps. GroundWiz Lite is the no-charge version; GroundWiz Full is $180 from www.gugila.com/products.html - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/ > Weblog:
Seminars & Conferences Autodesk University 2005 is Nov 28-Dec 1 in Orlando FL USA. (I'll be there on Nov 29-30.) www.autodesk.com/au SolidWorks World 2006 is Jan 22-25 in Las Vegas NV USA. (I'll be there Jan 23-25.) www.solidworks.com/pages/swworld/index.html
WorthWhile Web http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=103866
http://www.mcadonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=154&Itemid=1
Spin Doctor of the Momentx "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of
starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."
Notable Quotable "I really thought that Ajax was just a bathroom cleaner
[in December 2003]."
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