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Issue #612 : : July 21, 2009 |
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In this issue: SpaceClaim First to Anounce Touch Support Digital Prototypes Fail Toyota
Out of the Inbox, and our other regular columns.
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SpaceClaim First to Announce Touch Support ISpaceClaim will tomorrow announce that their 3D modeling software will support multitouch screens when Windows 7 ships this fall. Their press release gives these advantages to marking up your computer screen with finger grease (along with my snarky remarks):
They have a video of SpaceClaim working with multitouch at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdkxqgbXaSI (Tip: leave the headphones off.) I, for one, am fascinated to see if multitouch will be as revolutionary as the mouse was, or will fall as flat as speech input. (Here, I am thinking of think3, who some years ago rewrote the entire command structure, flattening it to accommodate speech input.) Which other CAD vendors will also announce multitouch for October? Links: Digital Prototypes Fail Toyota "That Toyota nugget is interesting."
"Autodesk founder John Walker addressed this problem back in 1991 in his entertaining essay Simulation Isn't Reality (http://ftp.fourmilab.ch/autofile/www/chapter2_89.html). Walker writes in response to the question of why computer models shouldn't replace physical testing: 'Because reality is richer than simulation, and experience beggars computation.' The editor replies: "It is an interesting problem, given (for instance) Autodesk's Andrew Agost's declaration that Inventor's simulation will become so good that mfg'ers will need to make only one prototype."
Mr Middlebook responds: "I don't doubt that improvements in simulation tools have reduced and will continue to reduce the number of physical models required. But one has to wonder whether [digital prototyping] isn't an example of the 'computational hubris' that Walker warned about. "In the end, it probably comes down to letting smart, experienced engineers and designers judge the scope of computer simulation results and decide how much physical testing is needed." Software from AEC Technologies runs on programs from Bentley, and target retail markets like kitchen, bath, and furniture:
Siemens PLM Software announces that Femap v10.1 will ship in August with:
http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/products/velocity/femap/index.shtml - - - The Modelur Team updates Modelur for SketchUp advanced manual editing of buildings, metric and imperial units, and export of urban control values to .csv files. No-charge beta signup at http://www.modelur.com Vero Software announces the imminent release of Machining Strategist v11 multi-axis CAM software that generates optimum roughing and finishing CNC toolpaths. The latest release supports VISI 17 and "the external interfaces have been aligned" for Parasolid v21 and Catia v5r19. http://www.vero.co.uk/ Objet Geometries has a new, no-charge add-in forSolidWorks 2009 called CADMatrix for assigning Objet model materials to multi-part, multi-material designs within SolidWorks. The add-in lets SolidWorks work with Connex systems that allows simultaneous printing of several materials with different mechanical and physical properties. http://www.objet.com/DownloadCenter ParaCloud releases GEM v3 generative design software that works with any CAD programs that supports OBJ or DXF formats. The new release includes added mesh subdivision tools, face editing and mapping tools, ribs, and more. Demo version from http://www.paraclouding.com/GEM/software-download (after registration). - - - These were some of the news items that were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com >:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski weblog <http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos >:
Hardware News EVGA Corporation has a dual monitor setup that makes sense to me. InterView (US$650) consists of two rotatable, thin, 17" LCD displays mounted on a single stand. In addition, each screen rotates 180 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees vertically. Resolution is 1440x900; includes a webcam, a mic, 3 USB ports, and common connectors including dual keyboard and mouse controls. http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=200-LM-1700-KR&family=Interview
Conferences "Talking About the Future of MCAD" Roundtable is Sept 8 in Moscow, Russia. isicad.ru/ru/articles.php?article_num=13181 (Takes place at 2.30 p.m. in the Vladimir conference hall of Sheraton Palace Hotel, 19, 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya St., Moscow, Russia.) I will be attending this event.
Letters to the Editor Re: Inventor LT Documentation "Did you follow the documentation link that the reader posted in regards to a manual for Inventor LT? I did, and Autodesk does provide documentation upon request for Inventor LT. There isn't a dedicated newsgroup for LT; instead the newsgroup for Inventor covers all of the flavors of Inventor. " The editor replies: "I did check for documentation before sending out upFront.eZine, but did not see an entry for Inventor LT." Mr Ellingson responds: "It was posted under other products if that helps."
"Always a good read, thanks for being successful with you e-zine and your e-books. As you have learned over the years, you must have a positive cash flow in order to keep writing for a living, yes? Imagine if you will, then, what financial pressure you would feel if you were to take upFront public -- you would have to write anything, as often as possible, in order to keep the money flowing, which keeps the shareholders happy, which ensures that you don't get voted out at their next meeting. "Now multiply this by $1 billion, and you get some sense of how the priorities are arranged at Autodesk. Mr. Renfrow should probably realize by now (after such a long relationship with Autodesk) that their first goal is to make money -- everything else is secondary. If he wants them to listen to him, he must become a shareholder." The editor replies: "Carl Bass announced at the beginning of his term as ceo that he would grow the company 15% a year. Kind of like CO2 limits, the goal been slipping lately, instead of gaining. "I, too, want to make money, but with the difference that I want to make enough to provide for my family. For 18 years now, that philosophy has work for me."
Re: AutoCAD 3D Performance "Have you got any information on AutoCAD's 3D performance? We are finding it quite variable and overall very disapointing, even with high end hardware." The editor replies: "I think that AutoCAD puts a heavy load on the CPU and GPU for 3D graphics. Even computers just two years old don't run Vista and AutoCAD as well as computer models released in the past year -- even when the specs seem similar."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "So how big is this next generation software race? Who knows."
Notable Quotable "If you have bigger players discussing a technology, there's a perception that something new has been discovered."
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