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Issue #591 : : February 7, 2009 |
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Autodesk Fuses 3D Modeling One day, Inventor will fuse parametric and direct modeling. But the day is not yet. Autodesk is showing the result of two years of programming: direct editing (aka dynamic modeling or non-history modeling, the kind of stuff for which CoCreate, SpaceClaim, CadKey, IronCAD, Ashlar, and Rhino are well-known). Their demos show a number of features that we are already familiar with, but that Inventor does not do (yet): a. Interactively creating and editing parts with nearly no interaction with the traditional user interface of toolbars and menus. b. Importing a transmission casting from PTC, adding a parametric part, and then interactively adjusting a boss to match the part. c. Getting a real-time preview while adding a round array of bolt holes.
What is different here, though, is directly modeling a parametric part, and then bringing it back into the parametric environment through some kind of importing process. Inventor figures out which operations were carried out by direct modeling, and adds equivalent-in-parametric-operations nodes to the history tree automatically. In addition to direct modeling, Fusion also represents a new user interface for Inventor users: a circular array of context-sensitive buttons that hover near the cursor. (I found it ironic that the demo boasted of ignoring the traditional user interface, which in this case means ignoring the brand-new ribbon interface!) Autodesk's vp of CAD/CAE for Manufacturing Solutions Andrew Anagnost declared SpaceClaim's direct-modeling-only to be a dead-end -- unless they add parametrics. He was similarly unimpressed by vendors who take an either/or parametric-or-direct approach. He didn't mention any by name, but Siemens and PTC come to mind. I agree with Mr Anagnost's proposition that MCAD software has to handle both direct and parametric editing; neither camp will win. I agree also that models must be able to switch between editing modes. But here's the but: Fusion won't be in Inventor 2010. Maybe not in Inventor 2011. Later this year, several Fusion beta versions will eventually become available for public download. Mr Anagnost emphasized the "rolling out" and "letting customers test it" nature of his company's new technology. This could be seen as a sign of unstable software. Or of losing customers to Solid Edge and NX, which offer integrated direct editing right now through the mystery of Synchronous Technology. Or of software so important to Autodesk's future in the MCAD business that it has to be done right. Whatever the underlaying reason, it gives competitors like Dassault and PTC a year to also get it right.
PS: The blogging world was curiously quiet last week over the official Fusion announcement. Perhaps it was in reaction to the strange time of day we were released from our keep-quiet agreement with Autodesk: "UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 4:05 PM ET on Wednesday, February 4, 2009." Or maybe because it was already "leaked" by Autodesk last December < autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2008/12/autodesk-shows-inventor-fusion-at-au2008.html > A blogger who didn't write about it last week told me, "They did not disclose a lot more than what we already knew. People have speculated all that they could; now they need use the software to comment further." That day is many months away. Where's IntelliCAD Headed? On his deelip.com blog, India's Deelip Menezes has been tracking the antics of DRX/not-DRX/BRX [drawing runtime extension] through articles like 'The Future of DRX' and 'ObjectDRX'. He reports on one member of the ITC [IntelliCAD Technical Consortium] who has broken DRX, and on another who extended it. Similarly to the DRX split, we see some ITC members going their own way with the IntellICAD software itself, adding features and commands faster than the mother corp can. There's Bricsys and its version of "IntelliCAD V7," along with a bevy of third-party apps connecting through BRX/. There's ZWCAD Software and its 150 Chinese programmers promising Five Star service. And progeCAD churning out a broad range of add-ons licensed from third parties. - - - The whole IntelliCAD idea is a form of socialist-capitalism. "Anyone" can share in the common code, yet resell it for a profit in competition with fellow clubmembers. Cooperating on development, competing in the marketplace. The ITC calls it "co-ompetition," but can it work out for the long run? The "it" is both the levels cooperation needed to stay members, and the level of competition sufficient to make the profits required to remain in business. (When sufficient years have passed, someone needs to analyze what Visio had wrought.) - - - It's been a decade since the IntelliCAD code was handed over to the ITC. I sense that some members have figured out that things need to change; they need to break out of the peloton. 'Til now, IntelliCAD's primary marketing feature was the 'value proposition'. "We're cheaper than AutoCAD, so why aren't you buying us?" sums up the attitude. This resulted in the licensing of software in the order of a hundred thousand -- instead of a hundred million, the number that Economics 101 would have dictated. What ITC members need is a _differentiating_ value proposition. Some ITC members have begun to understand that their purpose in life is to answer a different question. Potential customers are asking, "What are you doing to solve my specific design problem?", instead of "How little can I pay for AutoCAD-similar software?" An ice cream stand offering 31 flavors sells more than one offering 31 buckets of vanilla, especially on days that aren't hot. Which is why members need to compete with each other, not cooperate. At the upcoming SolidWorks World 2009, Synergis Software will be previewing their Adept document management software. A new task pane lets you search, sign-in/out, open, insert, and replace components. The pane reports the "Where Used" status about parts, assemblies, drawings, and configurations. www.synergissoftware.com TactonWorks is showing TactonWorks v4.2 interactive design customization software that works inside SolidWorks. You can create layouts of different products in the same assembly. www.tacton.com solidThinking is hoping that SolidWorks users will consider its solidThinking v7.6 software for conceptual design with its NURBS modeling and construction tree. The free SolidWorks plugin should help. www.solidthinking.com/collaboration Geometric Technologies is previewing CAMWorks and DFMPro at SolidWorks World. CAMWorks 2009 has new features and cutting strategies for 2- to 5-axis milling, turning, and wire EDM. DFMPro v2 validate sheet metal designs. www.camworks.com and dfmpro.geometricglobal.com QuadriSpace invites you to bring your 3D files to their booth, and then create documents, illustrations, and animations with its Document3D Suite. Save $200 with code SWW2009 when ordering online from www.quadrispace.com/store/index.htm Zuken's E.WireWorks does all kinds of electrical wiring inside SolidWorks: schematics, cable harnesses, and panel layouts. This solution integrates electrical design with SolidWorks 3D CAD software. www.zuken.com [That's what I love about SolidWorks World: I learn about companies with exotic names of whom I've never heard. "Zuken." Say it in the German manner, stretching and curling the tongue inside your mouth.] Sigmetrix is showing CETOL 6 Sigma, its mechanical variation analysis and tolerance optimization software for SolidWorks. www.Sigmetrix.com - - - iCADsales.com releases the first progeOFFICE module linking progeCAD 2009 Professional with Office apps. progeTABLE inserts Excel spreadsheets as tables in progeCAD -- fully formatted. www.icadsales.com Autodesk announces that AutoCAD 2010 will features parametrics, geometric and dimensional constraints, and 3D mesh modeling. Due to ship in late March. www.autodesk.com/autocad . [Whenever I read "2010," I think of Arthur C Clarke's 2001-followup book, "2010" -- not to mention the 2010 winter olympics in the neighboring town of Vancouver.] IMSI/Design starts distributing DoubleCAD XT (an AutoCAD LT work-alike) at no charge from www.DoubleCAD.com . It features self-aligning blocks, self-healing ADT-compatible walls, and SketchUp file compatibility. Metso Automation decides on Bricscad V9, licensing "several hundred copies" as well as porting its process control software to BRX, the ARX work-alike from Bricsys. www.bricsys.com SYCODE keeps pumpin' them out. This week it's ten import and export filters for Bricscad, such as SketchUp, STEP, Rhino, and HPGL plot format. US$95 each. www.sycode.com Delcam's new NC-Checker software confirms the accuracy of machine tools using standard probing equipment. www.delcam.com ITI TranscenData releases CADIQ 6.0 3D CAD model validation software. It identifies shape and fit problems, and it validates 3D CAD geometry, part features definitions, and assembly product structures. The output is a 3D PDF file with side-by-side views of the wrong and right ways to do it. www.transcendata.com/news/iti/articles/Jan09_CADIQ60_release.php And LEDAS notes that three thousand people have downloaded the free beta of their Driving Dimensions plugin for Google SketchUp. Beta 4 is available from www.drivingdimensions.com - - - These were some of the news items that were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com >:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/ >:
Hardware News PNY is running NVIDIA's Quadro FX 4800 graphics board at SolidWorks World with 192 parallel processor cores, 1.5GB GDDR3, and 76.8GB/sec memory bandwidth. www.pny.com
People/Companies on the Move Corel is celebrating its 20th birthday with an international design contest and a special edition of their CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4. Grand prize is a Roland VersaCAMM VP-540 printer/cutter. www.corel.com The CAD Society picks Rachael Dalton-Taggart as their interim president and Ken Feitz as vp and treasurer -- until the AGM [annual general meeting] later this year. Lattice Technology appoints Chris Vodanovich as national account manager for the Americas. Mr Vodanovich is the former senior account executive at Mercado Software.
Letters to the Editor Re: Spectacular Software Fails; Goes Mainstream "Your article reminded me of a similar story. This was around 1994 when AutoCAD 13 was just released and had started to receive the bad name which it deserved. An Indian company (now a major global player in CAD technology) had already launched a product in competition with AutoCAD. It was natively Windows-based and far ahead of AutoCAD, as far as capability was concerned. "During that period I switched jobs. Both companies both were major accounts, and I (as CAD coordinator) very strongly recommended replacement of AutoCAD with this product. Mainly because of its advanced features, but also because I didn't (and even today don't) like the monopoly of a single product / company. "Before doing so, I asked the directors if they were willing to standup to the technical, commercial, and political competition, and be there for me until the very end. They nodded a big 'Yes'. Unfortunately, within a year or so, the Indian company abandoned the product and we had nowhere to go except AutoCAD. "That's why you probably have no hesitation in saying 'there is nothing for sure -- except maybe AutoCAD'. "We expect many more similar article like this one from you. Keep them coming."
Re: The Dream of a Low-Cost Provider "I read with interest the bits on possible moves to low-cost CAD in the present times. I'm sure that is the trend. "PTC's statement in your report, that their customers can't opt out of their subscription without getting kicked to get back on later, indicates the attitude of the biggies that will lead to their decline. "At the lower end of CAD I have noticed a major upswing in the serious professional use of TurboCAD instead of AutoCAD, and now TurboCAD training is my major focus. It's just that businesses were not prepared to trust such a cheap system when they were brainwashed to the contrary. "And I think the efforts of such as Autodesk to push clients into subscription contracts will only serve to steer people more to look at alternatives. No one wants to sign into a locked-in situation these days. Who wants to be forced to keep paying for software while the usage of it is going through a downturn? "Better to step off the train if the supplier forces it that way, and then seriously consider whether you should ever get back on that particular train when things pick up again."
"In the case of the AutoCAD customers we have worked with, the switching costs are more than made up for by increased productivity and reduced costs in other areas. Also many of them continue to use AutoCAD for older projects that are still in maintenance, but use Alibre Design for new projects. "Wanted to see if you had seen this article. It seems relevant to last week's newsletter. online.wsj.com/article/SB123335678420235003.html "
Re: 3D design technology is much more productive than 2D, this has been proven many times by the ExpensiveCAD vendors, including Autodesk for Inventor. "Euclid is obsolete." - - - "Many thanks for your Ezine over the years."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "We've got some ideas, but right now we think the products there are inferior and will not provide the experience to customers that they're happy with."
Notable Quotable "YAHOO = Yet Another Hiring Over and Out"
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