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Issue #469 : : April 11, 2006 |
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C o n t e n t s Readers React:
Google Buys SketchUP (part 2) Below the Radar and other regular columns.
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Write the Editor. Donate to upFront.eZine through Paypal. Access nearly-daily CAD commentary at our blog: WorldCAD Access. |
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When Actify launched in 1997, it was another provider of 3D drawing visualization. The CAD vendors have taken over that market for themselves, and so the company now focuses on design communication -- more than just viewing and redlining, it involves providing 3D CAD models in multiple formats suitable for different kinds of users. Actify's Publisher reads the major formats, from A(utdesk) to U(gs), and then outputs them in PDF/U3D, JT Open, Office documents, and through the free Spinfire Reader. Support for JT Open is new, and I asked CEO Randy Ochs why it and not some of the others. He picked the UGS-supported format because it is big in the automotive industry. He noted that Autodesk's DWF is not big in manufacturing, and Dassault's 3DXML is still immature and is just a specification, not a standard. Whereas their .3D files were originally meant to be a lightweight viewing format, it's switched to a container format: throw in all the project documents for transport between clients. New this year is Actify DesignShare (built on Microsoft's SharePoint), a collaboration portal that sits on the firewall, allowing outsiders to access drawings and documents stored inside the corporation. New for SpinFire 8.0 is intelligent display of GD&T (aka PMI). Labels face the user (instead of being mirrored, as in Catia), and further away labels are dimmer. In addition, the assembly tree lists parts by GD&T label. Other new features include plug-ins for third-party development, exploded animation, selective cross-sections, volume comparisons of revised drawings, and summing of selected edge lengths. Readers
Respond (part II): Comments left by readers at WorldCAD Access: "Sketchup as BIM? No way! Still, the acquisition paves the
way for Google to get into the AEC market in greater degrees. They
could certainly develop it into something BIM-like, and here's hoping
they do. Revit needs the competition."
"Avatech Solutions < http://www.avat.com > has the Avatech Earth Connector as a free plugin for AutoCAD. It creates KML files from AutoCAD geometry. It doesn't work directly with custom objects in verticals like ADT, but there are instructions on what to do (essentially explode, explode, explode). "Anyway, this is the third CAD-related interop with Google
Earth that I know of. I'm real close to putting Earth on every desktop
as a standard Design application. Besides, it's way cool!"
"First thing to clarify is that we're really talking about Google Earth PRO. The free version (Google Earth) and the US$20 version (Google Earth Plus) are just fun toys, and their EULA expressly prohibits those free and very cheap versions being used for business. Google Earth Pro combined with the Premium Modules (Premium Printing, Data Importer, and Movie Maker) is what makes it compelling (and expensive) for use by design firms. When we bought our licences in version 2 (named Keyhole then), the product list price was $600 per year, with each module costing $299 each, per year -- an outlay of approx $1500 per licence PER YEAR. "The per-year cost is the important part to take note of here. The other relevant bit on licensing is that Google doesn't do network licensing -- concurrent or floating -- which is unfortunate for the manager (such as me) trying to implement such software tools in our business while trying to balance out the costs. "The ability to import data from GIS and elsewhere, merge it interactively with Google earth terrains, then create presentations, fly-ins and fly-arounds, becomes a compelling tool for our land planners and urban designers. "Most Google Earth users like to do live Google Earth presentations, where there have a series of placemarks; clicking them visually transitions smoothly from one 3D land view to another. Even in 2D aerial views, easily found with Google Earth, the ability to import data and overlay boundaries, circulation, GIS themes -- these make GE Pro version very appealing to our land planning staff and designers. "So why did Google buy SketchUp? Seems like an odd pairing to me, too, but I think it was a wise move for Google, particularly considering the way the SketchUp-Google Earth plugin is implemented. To use the plugin, you must have Google Earth and Sketchup running on the same computer; this will surely push Google Earth Pro sales. "Already, I have architects creating presentations using
Google Earth and SketchUp, and they WANT GOOGLE EARTH on their desktop,
instead of on a shared PC within the office."
"How anyone uses Google Earth + SketchUp is immaterial to
my point, which is that (a) there is no correlation between GE+SU
users and the open source community, because (b) there is simply
no way that millions of ordinary people are going to model their
homes for the heck of it, and (c) that data doesn't go back into
Google Earth anyway." Tailoring Visual Styles 'Tailoring Visual Styles' is the latest PDF e-book on AutoCAD 2007. ("What's Inside? AutoCAD 2007" and "Tailoring AutoCAD 2007" are the other two.) Visual styles involve dozens and dozens of options, some -- like backgrounds and ground shadows -- are not well-documented by Autodesk. So this new PDF book covers all that, as well as everything else to do with visual styles -- the Dashboard, the palette, all the system variables, and so on. US$11.10. 74 pages and 130 figures (it's very visual). You can view sample pages and the table of contents at www.upfrontezine.com/tvs -- and purchase it from there, too. A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I found interesting:
Placebase develops Pushpin LE to add support to Google's otherwise unsupported Maps API. http://www.placebase.com UGS ships its NX 4 CAD software on Linux. The company says they are "the world's first PLM software and services provider to offer a complete solution for the Linux environment." Linux and x64 are two of the technologies most requested by UGS customers. http://www.ugs.com/products/nx Robert McNeel & Associates releases AccuRender 4.0 raytrace and radiosity software for AutoCAD (US$/e495) at $/e100 for the next 90 days. New features include global illumination light dome, soft shadows, foliage density per plant, and blurry transparency and reflection. Eval version from http://www.accurender.com/download.htm Realworld Imagery releases a CD of high-resolution, 32-bit TIFF images: "Foreground Plants: Zones 8-12 Foliage" (US$99). http://www.realworldimagery.com Cyco Software makes its AutoManager Meridian Enterprise Connector software work with PDMWorks from SolidWorks. http://www.cyco.com Autodesk says that exporting IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) data from Revit Building is now certified by the IAI (Industry Alliance for Interoperability) at the IFC2x2 Code Checking View and Coordination View levels. [Ironic, given Autodesk created the IAI in the first place.] CAD Content's Visual Library shares CAD content over local servers and online. The library comes with Predefined Content, User Defined Content and Online Content capabilities. http://www.design-drafting.com IDELIX starts up its Small Independent Software Vendor program to make its Pliable Display Technology more accessible to software companies. http://www.idelix.com Register, then download a 30-day trial of AutoCAD 2007 at http://hub.autodesk.com/index.php/view/ch/ON/p/761.html Intergraph and TerraGo Technologies have a versions of MAP2PDF for GeoMedia and Digital Cartographic Studio. GeoPDF embeds geospatial data in PDF files, while the new MAP2PDF exports geospatial data from GeoMedia or DCS to georegistered PDF files with layers and feature attributes. http://www.terragotech.com
- - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
Seminars & Conferences ICEM European user group conference is June 1-2 in Berlin, Germany. USA conference is June 14 in Dearborn MI USA. Asia Pacific conference is July 4 in Tokyo, Japan. http://www.icem.com / Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates Roopinder Tara of Tenlinks.com fame launches his 'CAD Insider' Weblog at http://cadinsider.typepad.com and surprises us with his acerbic commentary. People/Companies on the Move ACS Software celebrates its 25th year in business, starting up "one year before Autodesk opened their doors." In 1986, the company shipped the first engineering PC-based EDMS system. AutoCAD dealer Hagerman & Company buys the Autodesk-related business of InterVision Systems Technologies. AutoCAD dealer Avatech Solutions intends to acquire Sterling Systems. ComCAD Solucoes em CAD/CAE/CAM has exclusive distribution of IronCAD in Brazil. Their Website, comcad.com.br, removes references to SolidWorks, keeps IntelliCAD, and doesn't mention IronCAD yet. Geomagic opens its first branch office, in Tokyo to support Japanese automotive and electronics customers. Lattice Technology moves to 155 Montgomery St., Suite 603, San Francisco, CA. Brand New CAD Books/eBooks "The National CAD Standard" vBook
"Doctor Walt's SolidWorks 2006 Workbook"
"SolidWorks for the Sheet Metal Guy - Course 2: Hole
Patterns and Notches"
"Solid Edge V18 for Designers"
"Tailoring AutoCAD 2007"
WorthWhile Web http://www.infotecbusinesssystems.com/wildlife/default.asp
Letters to the Editor Re: Alibre, the Marketing Machine "'Photo rendering', 'photo-realistic rendering' -- these were acceptable in the 90s, but with the high-end rendering engines available today, I'm a lot more critical about the rendering prowess of CAD software. Please urge CAD software companies to use more appropriate terms. "I would qualify Alibre's renderings as adequate for illustrations
but nobody would think these are photographs."
Re: Irontulips "Your piece on XYZ Cad Corp < http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2006/03/irontulips_dm_h.html > brings to mind Milo Minderbinder in 'Catch 22'. I'm fairly sure that some execs just won't get it! "Your own comment applies: 'Unless you don't get irony.
Or satire. In which case, you may be an American.' Can you quote
your own text in upFront's quote-of-the-week?" The editor replies: "Nope."
Re: AutoCAD 2007 "I haven't found too much on the 2007 file format. Have they changed the format so that there must be a Saveas to get into 2006 format 2004-2006)? "So if I get 2007, am I now a loner in the office? Is it
all or nothing for the office? With all those fantastic new elements,
like cubes and cones, I would think it would be." The editor replies: "The 2007 format is incompatible with earlier releases, so you need to use the 2004 translator included with AutoCAD. Solid models translate back with no problem; new objects, like the helix, section plane, and the new surface types, appear as proxy objects in AutoCAD 2006 and earlier." - - - "I enjoy your upFront eZine and your books."
"Great newsletter! I'm glad I found it."
"Been enjoying your wonderfully helpful ezine for a while
and wanted to say what a great service you bring to the industry." Notable Quotable "Businesses have an obligation to truthfully disclose the
content of their products -- whether in the food we eat or the entertainment
we consume."
Copyright 2006 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.00.
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