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issue #555 : : april 15, 2008 |
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In this issue: Readers
Respond:
3dconnexion Updates SpaceNavigator for Notebooks
Out of the Inbox and the other regular columns. |
Write the editor. Make him smile! Through Paypal, consider donating $25 in support of upFront.eZine. Or else... We're trendy. We have a Weblog. WorldCAD Access. |
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Readers
React: "What if SketchUp impact on CAD was (so far) limited because it is really not much more than a toy? A beautiful toy but a toy nevertheless. "And what if the impact of SketchUp on CAD is actually that it promotes CAD as a whole exactly because it is a toy? People try it for free and those happy with a toy keep it; those wanting more go find something else that can produce professional work. All this will have an impact (positive) on several companies' sales but not be easily traceable back to SketchUp. "Hey, maybe this is where this miraculous 20% growth is
coming from."
"If you are referring to SketchUp's impact on mechanical CAD, or their approach to modeling tools, then I'll agree that their impact hasn't been enormous. On the other hand, a number of both AEC CAD and smaller MCAD developers have added a SKP file import filter to their programs. "But Google has also had a significant impact in a number of verticals. Architects, interior designers, members of the film industry, or people doing set design have all found SketchUp tremendously valuable for conceptual design. (That's why we developed IDX Renditioner: to provide quality photorealistic rendering for those groups to present their conceptual designs in emotionally impactful ways that close the sale.) "So although it may not have had a big impact on traditional CAD developers, it has had a big impact on many of their customers. "Finally, aren't companies like SpaceClaim and Autodesk
attempting to adopt SketchUp push/pull-like tools?"
"Not sure who you were referring to when you said, 'Although many CAD vendors now have free versions of software, I don't think this was a result of Google making SketchUp free. Or maybe it was.' "For reference, Google acquired SketchUp in March 2006. There was not a free version of SketchUp until after the Google acquisition <www.sketchup.com/?sid=5>. "Alibre release Alibre Design Xpress in August of 2005, a good eight months earlier. While I don't know all the details related to why Google released a free version of SketchUp, I don't think it is too bold for me to claim that we influenced their decision to do this. In other words, they copied Alibre, rather than the other way around. There were many cases of extensive discussions on the SketchUp user forum discussing Alibre Design Xpress and what we were doing so we know Xpress generated a decent amount of visibility at SketchUp. "We've had over 500,000 downloads to date and it is widely
used today with many continuing to use the product who will never
move to the paid versions of Alibre Design. We still get close to
10,000 downloads a month."
"SketchUp might make inroads by attracting new designers or designers-to-be when they are first starting out. For example, a local college teaches interior design students to use SketchUp along with some of the more traditional tools. Hobbyists creating game 'mods' (modifications) now often use SketchUp instead of 3DS Max or the defunct GMax. "If new designers are comfortable with SketchUp, they may
bring it with them into design offices. By the back door, if necessary.
It's kind of like the old Apple get-'em-while-they're-young strategy." - - - In related news, the Open Geospatial Consortium approves Google's KML v2.2 [keyhole markup language] format as an open standard for geographic data. (Google acquired Keyhole, whose technology became Google Earth.) Several CAD packages already read data from KML files -- as well as from SketchUp SKD files. www.opengeospatial.org/standards/requests/45 3dconnexion Updates SpaceNavigator for Notebooks Creating 3D user interfaces is a difficult business, which is why 2D continues to predominate: 2D mouse, 2D display, 2D printer, et al. 3D seems to be like voice recognition: always possible, rarely implemented. Logitech's 3dconnexion division has been working r-e-a-l-l-y hard at getting its 3D mice accepted by users in 3D environments: CAD, games development, GIS, and so on. I admire their tenacity. The primary problem is 3D's complexity. I have before me the shortcut card packaged with 3dconnexion's latest SpaceNavigator for Notebooks. The card shows the movements for panning left/right and up/down, and zooming in/out. I can follow that. But then I'm lost, for I cannot differentiate between tilt, spin, and roll. There's a reason I use a three-button mouse: three functions is all I can remember. One solution in handling the 3D mouse is for me to ignore tilt, spin, and roll. But then there is the secondary problem: ubiquitousness. Even Windows Vista SP1 lacks native support for 3D input devices, despite its "Wow!" message. I'd like to use the SpaceNavigator to scroll through Web pages, and pan/zoom images in PaintShop Pro. I think it'd beat repeatedly twirling the wheel on my 2D Logitech mouse. But I can't. 3dconnexion has to fight the hard fight of getting software developers to support its 3D input devices one by one. And that's too bad. But, bit by bit the company makes progress: Beginning in mid-April, the Second Life virtual world will support 3dconnexion. And Tech Soft 3D's HOOPS v16.1 integrates support for the line of 3D mice. Briefly then, what's new in the latest edition of SpaceNavigator for Notebooks:
(The somewhat larger SpaceNavigator PE is still available for $59. As are the SpaceExplorer for $299 and SpacePilot for $399.) Solid Modeling Solutions is offering grants for teachers and researchers using NLib, its NURBS-based geometry modeling library. Deadline is May 1. A sample value of the grant is $3125 per object license per year. Contact Jim Presti at jpresti@smlib.com The CAD Society, the industry association of CAD users, launches a new campaign to boost membership, offeringthousands of dollars in possible discounts under the new president Michael McGrath. Annual fees for individual professionals is $40. www.cadsociety.org Siemens PLM Software delivers ParaSolid v19.1 modeling components with support for 64-bit Mac OS X Leopard. www.siemens.com/plm CadCourse has full-screen (1024x768) demo movies of new features in TurboCAD v15 for online viewing. www.cadcourse.com Actify releases SpinFire Professional v8.3 with Draft Angle Analysis plug-in. www.actify.com - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski <hworldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/> Weblog:
Seminars & Conferences Aras Community Network International is May 7 in Downers Grove IL USA. www.aras.com/ Jon Peddie Research's IDTV Conference is in Taipei, Taiwan on May 14. www.jonpeddie.com/events/multimedia_may2008.shtml Cyon Research's Congress of Engineering Software 2009 is April 16-18, 2009 in Scottsdale AZ USA. www.cofes.com
Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates www.AllAboutAutoCAD.com offers tips and tricks for AutoCAD users.
People/Companies on the Move Microdesk announced is the first Google Authorized Training Center in the United States. Training is for SketchUp and Google Earth. JETCAM International signs Delcam-Ural of Ekaterinburg as a new reseller for the Russian market. Vladimir Vlasov is the technical director.
Market News ASCON reports 2007 revenues of $26.8 million, up nearly 100% over the previous year. The Russian CAD vendor sold 8,000 licenses of KOMPAS-3D and KOMPAS-Graphic, 50% more than all sales in its 10-year history. The company plans to continue growing at 30-45% annually.
WorthWhile Web http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080409/tc_nm/olympics_torch_dc_2
Letters to the Editor Re: JPR Says CAD Grew 20%; I Disagree "Love reading your newsletter; enjoy the tone you take and
the way your general insights cut thru the bs. Am skeptical myself
that CAD mkt grew >20%."
"After your analysis, I can think of better ways to spend
my $5000! (grin)." - - - Re: Orange More Important Than Green "Life is good to us [in Sweden]. While the Germans struggle
with snow, our parks are blooming. Hurray for the global warming!
We save thousands of $ in heating." - - - "Thanks as always for your incredibly informative newsletter."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "If you look back into the mid 80s, there were no discreet
graphics cards."
Notable Quotable "When will our economy begin to recover? Not until US homeowners
wake up and realize that their houses are worth what all assets
are worth: what someone will pay for them."
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