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Issue #476 : : May 30, 2006 |
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C o n t e n t s Google Maps-like Viewer for CAD
Autodesk
07Q1 Conference Call
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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GoogleMaps-like Viewer for CAD Programmers at AfterCAD of Vancouver, Canada have figured out how to apply AJAX technology to CAD -- short for "Asynchronous Java And Xml." The result is similar to what you see in Google Maps: once the CAD drawing appears in the Firefox or IE Web browser, you can zoom and pan the drawing, as well as add redline markers and notes. Entering text displays a balloon with a simple word processor. Kenny Wong of AfterCAD explained to me what happens behind the scenes: his software reads the CAD file, and then converts it into raster tiles. Several versions are prepared, one for each zoom level. (This could be expanded to prepare multiple viewpoints of 3D drawings.) The tiles are stored in a folder, which becomes the URL for the drawing. Viewing the drawing brings up the tiles. Tiles are overloaded around the edges to allow "real-time" panning. Zooming forces a reload of the next group of tiles with their zoomed-in view. When redlining, changes are saved back to the server. The programmers at AfterCAD have figured out how to toggle CAD layers on and off, and have applied for a patent on the technology. Clearly, this is strictly a viewer and redliner; no editing of the drawing and no walkthroughs of 3D drawings. The point to the exercise is to eliminate the plug-ins usually necessary for viewing DWG, DGN, DWF, et al -- the support nightmare of IT departments. Right now, DWG, SVG, PDF, and raster files are supported, with the DGN format planned for the future. Despite the AfterCAD name, it is not limited to CAD, because the same treatment can be applied to any raster image. A Linux or Windows CPU license costs US$1,995, which then serves up raster and converted CAD images to anyone who connects, along with the base markup tools. Later this summer, a CAD management system version of the software is expected to be available.
Interacting with Google Maps & Earth There are two ways for AfterCAD to interact with Google Maps: (1) populate a Google Map annotation with an InSite Diagram link; click the link, and new window appears with the InSite Diagram. (2) use VML to draw the outline of the CAD file right on Google Maps and then link it from that. As for Google Earth, the company is working on AfterCAD Explorer that exports images to KVM format. The company claims their technique will be a brand new way to integrate CAD files with Google Earth -- one that that even SketchUp doesn't do. You might know the AfterCAD company by its previous name, Savage Software. They specialized in SVG files -- as in SaVaGe, get it? Link: www.aftercad.com
Last week Bentley Systems shipped the XM upgrade of its MicroStation V8 software. The V8 is short for "version 8" and the XM is apparently meaningless. Kind of like the FX on the back of Infiniti automobiles, I guess. New features include these items:
If you pay for Bentley's Select subscription service, then you can download the software now -- but you probably already knew that. More info for unSelect-ed persons at www.bentley.com/en-US/Promo/XM+Edition/MicroStation+XM.htm Carl Bass is now the new ceo, and this was the first quarterly conference call that he presided over: "While there may be changes at Autodesk as I take the role of ceo, I expect most of those changes will be evolutionary in nature, rather than revolutionary." He noted that former ceo Carol Bartz had gained the respect of Autodesk employees, the investment community, and other business leaders; customers were not mentioned. He continued with the familiar 3D-is-our-future theme: strong sales of AutoCAD and LT fuel strong opportunity for 3D revenue. Both are called "2D" despite enhanced-3D being the primary feature of AutoCAD 2007. While revenues for the quarter were at an all-time high for Autodesk, profits plunged during the quarter after employees cashed in $16 million worth of shares, and Autodesk had to pay out $11 million in the patent dispute case which they co-lost with Microsoft. The patent claimed to enable software registration while preventing piracy [koff, koff; see Bass's comments on piracy rates later in this article]. Prices for new releases were raised for the first time in 14 years, a generalization when you consider that the price of LT has nearly doubled in the same time. Another claim that needs to be qualified: that 2007 versions of software have a higher penetration rate than any previous release. This must be balanced with larger numbers of subscribers, who get new software automatically. Later it was noted that subscription 'attachment' (new subscribers) and renewals rates were the highest yet. 3D represents 20% of revenues [when I do the math, I get 46%]. Commercial seats shipped in the quarter:
He noted that Autodesk is still early in converting "2D" users (90% of AutoCAD users have not switched), as well as targeting users of competitive systems. No details on how Autodesk intends to get users of competitor software to switch. Advanced systems (Alias) revenue declined 20% because customers are switching from expensive SGI workstations to cheaper Linux boxes. The uncertainty of SGI's bankruptcy also having an effect, Mr Bass admitted. Revenue will be impacted for several more quarters.
Paraphrased Q&A Q: Japan is strong economically; Adobe had a good quarter there. What's your issue [of poorer sales] in Japan? A: If you look at companies more comparable to us than Adobe, then you see more similar patterns. Historically for us, Japan has been a very 2D market, has not done as much for 3D, so some initiatives just have not come up to speed as fast as in other parts of the world.
Q: What is going to get you double-digit growth over the next 4-5 years -- double the company by FY2011-12? A: To do twice as much business, we need a larger channel [of resellers]. Some in existing places [geographies], some in the emerging economies. We've also talked about, not only the capacity, but the capability of the channel, and as we push more 3D products, we need to increase the specialization of the channel.
Q: Over the last two fiscal years, you roughly doubled the number of subscribers to 800,000 or so. Do you think you can double the subscriber base again over the next couple of fiscal years? A: We haven't given any prediction about the size of the base. But you will see it continue to grow.
Q: What are the signs that the animation business will rebound? A: It's the involvement we have with our major customers, and looking at accelerating development of movies and games.
Q: What are you doing to reduce piracy and increase paid-for software? A: The most effective thing we found is that fighting piracy is an enormous opportunity. In countries that pirate the least, the piracy rate is 30%; in places with extreme piracy, it exceeds 90%. It is unusual to be in a business were so much of your product is being stolen. Countries go through different [sic] cycles in their respect for intellectual property. They begin with a callous disregard, and over time recognize that if they want to advance their own industries, that they need to have IP [intellectual property] protection. You see that in places like India and China. Being the #1 product is good for us, because as people begin to legalize, we will get more than our fair share of the business. Another trend is that as multi-national companies do business in China, India, and Eastern Europe, they are carrying forth their idea of protection of IP, and insisting on it from their partners.
Q: What is driving the strength in Europe? A: They have really latched onto 3D for productivity.
Q: Are they market-share gains [in Europe]? A: Absolutely. We continue to grow faster than our competitors, so we are gaining market share.
Q: 3D is up 50%, but had been up 100% in other quarters. Any reason for the deceleration? A: I think over time we will get better trend data. There are a lot of dynamics in the quarter, and I would not take that as a trend of where we are going.
Q: You raised prices recently. What is the response you've been receiving from the channel? A: It seems to be the first act that the new ceo of this company seems to make [laughter]. We raised the price in a modest way, and have had almost no response at all, from the channel or from our customers.
Q: Why are you more bullish for the second half of the year? A: We looked at currency impacts.
Q: You added advanced 3D to AutoCAD 2007 to expose customers to the possibilities of 3D. Have you seen any impact from that? A: It's still early. You hit right on the motive: when you have 2D users, you want them to get familiar with 3D. AutoCAD has had 3D for a long time, we've just modernized it, and made it easier to move [to Inventor]. We are going to continue to use our 2D products as a way to educate people, not only about 3D, but all about model-based capabilities. Link: www.autodesk.com/investor
A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I found interesting:
Kubotek USA has new shape design tools for its KeyCreator MCAD software, including curve deform, deform surfaces and faces, reshape, smooth, and re-cover. The added tools are free to subscribers; KeyCreator itself is US$3,500. www.kubotekusa.com/shapedesign IMAGINiT Technologies releases IMAGINiT Builder 3D ($U795) developed by Cadsoft. The company is one of Autodesk's largest resellers, and sees this 3D AEC CAD software as a way to introduce smaller companies to 3D and BIM (building information modeling), and then [ahem] upgrade to Autodesk's Revit. www.rand.com/imaginit/can/software/imaginitbuilder.htm CADLock updates CADVault for AutoCAD v4.1 digital rights software with support for AutoCAD 2007 and improved performance and forward compatibility of secured content. Everyone can download it at no cost from www.cadlock.com/download nPower Software announces Power Translators Pro for importing large CAD models and assemblies into 3ds max and Viz. www.npowersoftware.com/translators/ptoverview.htm Spicer releases ViewCafe 4 with live document conferencing, which can be integrated into ECM and PLM systems for document access, markup, and filing. www.spicer.com - - - 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:
Hardware News Matrox Graphics is shipping its TripleHead2Go box that lets notebook computers display graphics on three monitors. www.triplehead2go.com Seminars & Conferences Ecobuild Federal, AEC-ST Federal, Sustainable Industry Buildings Council, and Green Building Institute are all together in Washington DC on Dec 5-7. www.ecobuildfederal.com
WorthWhile Web www.urbaneagle.com/data/index.html
Letters to the Editor Re: View22 "I started to check out View22's CAD-like offering with the kitchen design program, but stopped when it needed to download and install an ActiveX control. "If I'm installing a new control, I'm no longer running as a browser. There have been a number of CAD-like programs that either have been, or could easily been made into controls, such as Viso, Actrix, and Volo View. Some of these would have been a rather large download, but they would have run in a browser. "There's nothing new about running a large control in a
browser."
"Regarding View22 I think you misunderstood what Carl Bass was saying. I bet Carl thinks Web-based CAD is possible by the View22 yardstick: Autodesk has been doing it for years with DWF and MapGuide. "What I think Carl was talking about was doing CAD with *only* what a standard HTML web browser (what we call "zero client") provides. The View22 solutions involve users downloading and installing client side "thick" viewers -- an ActiveX control installed by a CAB package. "As such, View22 is not a true zero client: it is running client-side code similar to a desktop application. While the View22 approach has merits (and is similar to Autodesk's Web-based DWF and MapGuide technologies) the approach doesn't work in situations where the user will not or cannot install the ActiveX plug-in. "AutoCAD can be run as an ActiveX control in a Web page. That would imply Web-based CAD by the View22 yardstick, but I doubt it is what Carl was talking about. "The promise in the future is that Web browsers will become
much more powerful such that they don't just handle dumb HTML. You
can see that progression with XAML in Vista. A Vista browser can
perform many more client-side activities without the user installing
extra software. If future Web browser platforms become as
sophisticated as current desktop operating systems, then there won't
be any difference in abilities between a zero-client Web application
and an installed desktop application. If that happens, Carl statement
won't be 'wrong', it will just be irrelevant since we won't be using
'dumb' HTML browsers." - - - Re: Adobe Acquires TTF "It wasn't until I read Adobe's press release that I learned that TTF means 'Trade and Technologies France.' Until then, I thought it meant TrueType Font. Knowing of Adobe's ventures with PostScript Fonts, this made perfect sense to me. "One of my first professional technical papers came back
to me marked UNA, which meant 'Use No Abbreviations'." - - - Re: AutoCAD 2007 "We find the AutoCAD upgrade program way too expensive, and we get little additional value from each upgrade. At first, Autodesk was able to coerce us into upgrading, but it's proven too costly. "We have migrated some users to ACAD LT with some third-party support programs. All the new software actually worked out cheaper than the AutoCAD upgrade price. "The majority of the users are going to sit tight with their older, non-upgradable versions of AutoCAD -- and a copy DWG Gateway for opening and saving to newer versions of AutoCAD. We are currently evaluating progeCAD with two of our draftpersons. "These days AutoCAD become that huge Swiss Army knife with
the 20 something blades and tools. Unfortunately, I still only need
the pen-knife blade and nail file. To me, it's a waste of money,
in both software and hardware, to keep buying the ever expanding
AutoCAD."
"Our company just purchased 12 seats of BricsCAD for that
reason. After a 6-month trial, we decided the cost difference was
better spent on bonuses and computer upgrades for our hard-working
staff." - - - "Thanks for the terriffic e-zine and your encouragement
which comes each week. Keep up the good work." "Thanks for the ezine! Great job!" "A handy read of what's cooking in the CAD business."
Notable Quotable "You tell a man, 'I am sorry you had such bad weather the
last day of your journey, and were so much wet.' You don't care
sixpence whether he was wet or dry. You may talk in this manner;
it is a mode of talking in Society: but don't think foolishly."
Copyright 2006 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.00.
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