u p F r o n t . e Z i n e

t h e   b u s I n e s s   o f   c a d
 

Issue #634 |  February 23, 2010  |  English Edition

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In This Issue

1. DoubleCAD XT Pro Takes on LT

    - DoubleCAD XT Pro Version 2

    - Improvements to Version 2

    - Not Available in AutoCAD

    - The Point to DoubleCAD XT Pro

 

2. SoldWorks World 2010, Part III

    - Interview with Christina Feist

    - Lunch with SpaceClaim

    - Interview with Rick Chin

    - Luxology Dinner

    - Day 3's Software Announcements Press Conference

 

3. Out of the Inbox, and our other regular columns

 

IMSI/Design's DoubleCAD XT Pro

CAD programs that are compatible with AutoCAD have had a shaky past, beginning with SoftSource's VDraft some 15 years ago. We've seen the ITC work hard to ship an end-user version of IntelliCAD v7 and Autodesk repeatedly attempt to sink the good ship ODA.

 

But in 2009, the market made a sudden change. We saw the release or announcement of Bricsys Bricscad Professioanl v10, Graebert ARES Commander Edition v1, and IMSI/Design DoubleCAD XT Pro -- all three of them strong contenders. They are strong, because...

And most of important of all for the AutoCAD work-alike market, is that there are now three independently developed software packages. We no longer have the weird socialist-style marketplace of IntelliCAD members cooperating yet attempting to compete; we have three true capitalist competitors.

 

DoubleCAD XT Pro Version 2

IMSI/design shipped the second release of its AutoCAD work-alike DoubleCAD XT Pro just before Christmas, the second release in one year. Like Google having a SketchUp Pro and a no-charge SketchUp, there's a DoubleCAD XT Pro ($695) and the no-charge DoubleCAD XT for personal and commercial use. This being IMSI/design, you know they will run some kind of promotion. For instance, for $695, you could get the $995 Corel Designer Technical Suite thrown in for free.

 

Doug Cochran is a DoubleCAD product manager, and Bob Mayer is chief operating officer. In a conference call last week, they told me that the emphasis of DoubleCAD is on 2D, even though it handles 3D.

 

"A better LT than LT" might be the applicable slogan. For instance, DoubleCAD XT Pro can read and display 3D files from SketchUp and Rhino, and then generate section and elevation views. I wondered if they might do the same for other 3D software, like SolidWorks? They would, but at this point the licensing cost for the Spatial translator is bit too much to handle.

 

Improvements to Version 2

DoubleCAD XT Pro v2 offers features still not found in AutoCAD 2010. In particular, they are faster than Autodesk at implementing the AUGI wishlist, such as these ones added to DoubleCAD v2:

Mr. Mayer jumped in at this point to note that osnap priority is an example of synergy between TurboCAD and DoubleCAD; IMSI/Design can borrow features from the mature TurboCAD.  For instance, the GPS2CAD utility for TurboCAD also works with DoubleCAD to import GPS data.

 

Another area of improvements is greater compatibility with AutoCAD's feel. Visual grips has been TurboCAD-like, but v2 adds AutoCAD quirks, like prompting for basepoints to move objects. Pressing spacebar now repeat commands, and pressing Esc exits any command. Colors can now be specified by ACI number (in addition to true colors), and support for CTB files was (STBs already were in v1).

 

The original version of DoubleCAD already opened, displayed, and edited ADT files; new to v2 is support for more kinds of roofs, floors, and so on. (Note that the free XT only has walls.)

 

New: Both have a file converter for batch conversion of files, but Pro handles 3x more file types. Handles vector and raster formats.

 

Not Available in AutoCAD

Mr. Cochran was keen to show new features in DoubleCAD XT Pro that are not available in AutoCAD. "Here are two, each are worth the cost of XT Pro alone for some users."

 

Drawing compare reads DWG, TCD, BMP, JPEG, and PNG files, and then shows the differences. By clicking buttons, you see drawing 1 or drawing 2 or the differences by red/blue colors, or -- and this is unique -- by blinking the differences in context.

 

Hatch pattern creator turns any thing that can be drawn into hatch patterns. Select objects, and you immediately get a preview the repeating pattern. Saved in PAT format; creates associative hatching. See figure 1.

 

Exploding viewports flattens any kind of 3D model to 2D. Whereas AutoCAD's flattener supports only 3D solids, DoubleCAD Pro works with any type of object.

 

IMSI/design plans to offer these and other Pro features as low-cost plug-ins for the free XT product this before summer.

 

The Point to DoubleCAD XT Pro

IMSI/Design targets DoubleCAD at LT users, who, in the case of XT Pro, pay twice as much for software that does half as much -- and in the case of free XT, pay nothing for something that is about as capable as AutoCAD LT. The idea is that AutoCAD LT  users can switch with little or no learning curve, and then get advanced features not available in LT, or even the $3,995 AutoCAD.

 

Because IMSI/design goes after the LT market, the emphasis is on 2D in both the Pro and free versions -- even though it works with 3D from ACIS, DGN, DWG, and others. In fact, IMSI/design's CAD software boasts what is probably the longest list of foreign file formats.

 

The company is seeing success with their one-year-old software, what with DoubleCAD XT being #1 free CAD app on downloads.com, even beating Autodesk's demo version of AutoCAD LT in weekly downloads. A universal installer downloads the Pro version, which runs for 30 days, after which it reverts to the XT free version, unless you pay for the Pro license.

 

(Hint: you can ask IMSI/Design to extend the Pro evaluation for another 10-15 days.)

 

http://www.doublecad.com

 

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SolidWorks World 2010, Part III

Interview with Christina Feist

My one interview with Dassault Systemes is with Christina Feist, she being the product manager for Simulia interactive simulation products. She told me that while SolidWorks comes with simulation tools  (named COSMOS) sufficient for most users, some users need more extensive testing, such as failure analysis, non-linear analysis, structure collapse, use of composites, and so on. That's where her divisions products come in, most of which are based on Abaqus.

 

The others include iSight, which optimizes designs through parameters like height or number of ribs. Eflini is the solver built into Catia; Engenious handles distributed computing. Our interview came to an end as her computer's battery began to die, and her voice began to go -- one too many interviews! http://www.simulia.com

 

Lunch with SpaceClaim

As I leave the convention center for the restaurant at which I am meeting SpaceClaim, I am struck by a strange feeling of unease. It takes me a few moments to realize what it is: this is the first time in 42 hours I have stepped outside. Where are the comforting walls? Why does this un-air-conditioned smell different?  

 

SpaceClaim is here to meet with SolidWorks, as well as journalists. Over a lunch of blackened trout, ceo Chris Randles describes the success his company has had over the last year. The company had stumbled out of the gate and back then I saw it as an unfocused launch; Mr Randles says he feels the software was launched early.

 

The last year has been terrific for them in two ways: (a) their revenues tripled in a recessionary year and (b) they hit their stride in defining the purpose of their software.

 

Consider SpaceClaim as pre-design software, says co-founder Blake Courter. Use it to mock up 3D models sufficiently to perform analysis with ANSYS (their official partner, who bundles SpaceClaim with their analysis software). Once the analysis says the design is OK, you import it into SolidWorks (or other 3D parametric modeler) and then generate the detailed design. SpaceClaim reads in data from all kinds of 3D modelers.

 

(As for actual revenues, SpaceClaim is privately owned, and so I don’t get to know such things. But they do have tens of millions to pay back to investors.)

 

On the way back to the convention center, Mr Randles and I discover a shared dislike of all things Disney, preferring to take our families to actual foreign cultures overseas. http://www.spaceclaim.com

 

[Disclosure: SpaceClaim provided me with lunch.]

 

Interview with Rick Chin

Due to a mix-up in rearranged schedules, I am able to squeeze in just 15 minutes with Rick Chin, he being in charge of product innovation at SolidWorks. Quickly, he outlines how he works. Beginning with a customer survey, he does not ask how they use SolidWorks; rather, he asks a generic set of questions, like what's important to them, what obstacles are they facing, and where do they want to be in five years?

 

From this list of pain points, he identifies priorities, and only then hunts for technology to solve the problem. In this way he identifies frustration customers have, problems that are important to them. He can't tell me the projects he is currently investigating, but earlier ones included:

    - eDrawings as a way to let SolidWorks users share drawings with others who do not run SolidWorks.

    - SWIFT as a features expert.

    - Sustainability, which determines the some aspects of the theoretical environment impact of the part being designed.

 

Luxology Dinner

Mr Chin and I break off our talk so that I can rush over to the dinner sponsored by Luxology down the block in Disneyland. The dinner is to introduce Luxology and its rendering technology to the assembled journalists at a fancy restaurant. Launched in 2002, the company's three founders decided on principles to distinguish their company from the other rendering software suppliers:

In addition to their own modo 401 rendering package (based on the Nexus engine), they  provide the rendering engine for SolidWorks and Bentley Systems. http://www.luxology.com

 

[Disclosure: in addition to dinner, Luxology also provided me with a coffee mug and wine breather device thingy that my wife looks forward to trying out.]

 

Day 3 Software Announcements Press Conference

The final day begins with the keynote introducing SolidWorks 2010. For a good overview, see Ricky Jordan's SolidWorks 2010, The Quick List at http://www.rickyjordan.com/2009/02/solidworks-2010-the-quick-list.html

 

Q: How will SoldWorks PLM be priced?

A: Not yet known; might be by subscription monthly or annually.

 

Q: How will third-party applications operate on the cloud?

A: There will be a cloud API.

 

Q: Do third-party vendors have to ride on SolidWorks subscriptions to access the cloud?

A: Not yet known how this will work.

 

Q: How should businesses prepare for the cloud?

A: Look at how CRM [customer relationship software] and Google Docs operate on the cloud. They should know that it will be cheaper to operate these data management services on the cloud than setting up and running servers and databases in their offices.

[This does not apply to many SolidWorks customers, who have 1 or 2 licenses and so no need to run servers.]

 

Q: How will the cloud affect resellers?

A: This will be a "disruption to their cash flows" but ceo Jeff Ray claims his dealers are the strongest in the world -- presumable of all CAD vendors -- and so will survive the change. He thinks resellers will like the cloud because there will be less customer resistance to adopting PLM services now.

[Later at LAX airport, I meet with three resellers who were less enthusiastic about their future than Mr Ray made them out to be.]

 

Q: Will the cloud version of SolidWorks be the only version in the future?

A: SW will run on local computers and the cloud for the foreseeable future, just like Dassault Systems kept CATIA V4 running. Jeff Ray added, "When the pain of the status quo becomes greater than changing, then they will."

Bernard Charles added, "The cloud is an inflection point, as are new form factors like iPod and iPad."

 

Q: What about mixed CATIA/SW design environments?

A: "Over time, we are committed to blurring the line. We are working as a single R&D team."

 

Q: Who takes responsibility for the cloud?

A: DS will own the cloud infrastructure, but over the next 18 months it will be a mix of external operators and DS's own servers. Must fight the perception that data is safer on the premises of companies themselves.

 

Q: What about ParaSolid [the solid modeling kernel used by SolidWorks and licensed from arch-competitor Siemens PLM Systems], which you do not own?

A: [Jeff Ray responded, but did not answer the question.]

 

"SolidWorks is committed to Enovia V6 as our backbone," concluded Jeff Ray. (Expect the initial version of SW PLM within a year.) Later, there will be Envoia V6-enabled products for the mid-market -- but all will be using the same backbone. No more data migration, he promised, but customers can continue using existing PDM software.

- - -

Next year, SolidWorks World 2011 will be in San Antonio TX USA. http://www.solidworks.com/swworld

 

[Disclosure: SolidWorks provided me with airfare, hotel accommodation, and meals.]

 

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Out of the Inbox

Luxion releases KeyShot realtime ray tracing program -- formerly know as HyperShot. There's a free upgrade to all existing users of HyperShot. http://www.keyshot.com

 

Altima Software launches Everest 2010 Visual Compare for identifying changes among DWG files, and then reporting the results in PDF or Everest Compare Package (.ECR) formats. http://www.altimasoftware.com

 

VariCAD announces the release of a new version of its 3D/2D mechanical CAD system. VariCAD 2010 2.0 features geometric constraints among entire solids, advanced tools for Boolean trees, improved DWG import, and more. 30-day trial version from http://www.varicad.com

 

Bentley Systems releases at no-charge Structural Synchronizer V8i and Structural Dashboard V8i for sharing structural model data and tracking revisions, including with Revit. http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Promo/ISM/downloads

 

Creaform ships v4 of its proprietary VxScan software for acquiring data from both Handyscan 3D laser scanners and HandyPROBE armless and portable CMMs in realtime and at the same time. http://www.creaform3d.com

 

Nemetschek AG's Cinema 4D's Maxon Computers lets you benchmark systems running up to 64 processor threads. Cinecbench 11.5 is a no-charge download for Windows and Mac platforms. http://www.maxon.net/en/downloads/downloads/cinebench/cinebench-115.html

 

And Zuken's E3.RevisionManagement module compares and document changes between projects created by its E3 electrical design software. http://www.zuken.com/e3

- - -

These were some of the news items posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>. now with 4,400 daily readers:

Seminars & Conferences

Rapidform Success Conference is Apr 20-23 in San Francisco CA USA. http://www.rapidform.com

SIMULIA Customer Conference is May 25-27 in Providence RI USA. http://www.simulia.com/scc2010

PLM Road Map 2010 is Sept 28-29 near Detroit MI USA. http://www.cpd-associates.com/index.cfm?content=include_conference10.cfm

 

People/Companies on the Move

Triad Software of Chennai, India has exclusively developed CAD/CAM/PLM software for 12 years now. http://www.triad-india.com  

 

Market News

Nemetschek revenues fell in 2009 by 10% to e135.6 million.

 

WorthWhile Web

http://www.businessinsider.com/736-of-all-statistics-are-made-up-2010-2

73.6% Of All Statistics Are Made Up

by Mark Suster

 

Letters to the Editor

Just wondered if you are aware of DXF2Papercraft <http://dxf2papercraft.sourceforge.net>. I have not tried it myself yet, as I mainly work in 2D plans and elevation for civil engineering, but I do have the odd 3D model around somewhere on the file system so when I get a bit of time I might give it a go. Can’t imagine it would be too easy to create a complex 3D object, but the simple ones should be good, cheaper than a 3D printer as well.

    I recently downloaded the alpha for Bricscad; looks good, though it has a few bugs (what did I expect, it's alpha), and I am waiting to hear from Graebert about the ARE beta. Love the newsletter each week, also Gizmos Grabowski. Keep up the good work.

    - Bob Shingler, engineering technician

    ATKINS

 

 

Re: The Cloud's Fundamental Flaw

    A short bravo from Austria. As a matter of fact, I was 14 when first working with a mainframe; yes, we had to punch cards; yes, I eagerly waited for low-price desktop computing, an Amiga, and up to today, I have the feeling that this was more freedom than ever offered by any PC or Mac.

    As an architect, I do regret the distance between idea and data, due to the introduction of CAD; I do regret the speed, and most co-workers just keep punching with more kilobytes of data and less well-sensed information; it becomes worse with every single program we had to introduce in the work flow; as a matter of fact, software limits itself to its proper splendor ("do everything with xy") in its proper light ("and we even have a render program") and people follow: I mean, most (younger) users believe regretfully that following a single evolution in software / hardware will make them more creative / more competitive in the long run.

    I delightfully follow your comments throughout the last years, and I agree totally with your point-of-view that so-called innovation does possibly empower only the distributors of software;  every new tool has made us more dependent.

    - Siegfried Hybner

 

 

I just noticed at SolidWorks World everyone was ranting about "The Cloud", and SolidWorks' commitment to running on the proven, reliable Enovia V6 backbone. By an amazing coincidence, Enovia happens to be a division of Dassault Systemes.

    - Bill

 

 

This phrase piqued my interest in today's uF.eZ: "Too much digital prototyping a trap -- Toyota." From what I've read, of one of the problems they had with the gas pedal (part II - mechanical): there was an issue that occurred under rare circumstances involving ice and dirt and wear on the mechanism.

    My feeling is that, even if the entire design process had been "real, tangible, hardware prototyping", that the issue they encountered would not have been model-able or discovered. There are design issues that cannot be predicted, and therefore not modeled before manufacturing -- regardless of the method used. Now, if Toyota had designed the gas pedal in New Hampshire, in winter, in an unheated, dirty garage, they may have seen the problem in advance :)

    - Jeff Hall, tech support

    Souhegan High School

 

Re: SolidWorks World 2010

Re your reference to Toyota's problems possibly being related to too much reliance on simulations: SolidWorks World included their "Model Mania" contest where participants could demonstrate their skills with SolidWorks software. Part of the competition included stress analysis, but my observation was that constraints had not been specified correctly.

    The analysis showed that the part was safe, but I believe it would fail. The part was basically a link with holes at each end. They constrained one end by circumferentially locking the bore at one end (as though it was glued to a shaft) and then applying a load to the hole at the other end.

    The problem as I see it is that in the real world the link would be relatively free to rotate on the shaft, except for the presence of a key between the shaft and the link. All restraining forces would thus be taken by one wall of the keyway in the link bore and not by the full circumferential area of the bore. This would be compounded even further by the stress concentration effect of the sharp corner at the bottom of the keyway.

    It doesn't matter how well someone knows software commands if they don't understand the real world.

    - Bill Fane

 

 

Hi there, just read your not so flattering review of our booth [in WorldCAD Access]. I respect your valued opinion in the CAD media world and am grateful for you previously posting our press releases on your website and in your newsletter.

    Our goal with the Kindle raffle was to attract VARs, Engineers, or Press rather than other show exhibitors that have no interest buying, selling or writing about our product.  

    - Kris Goldhair

    Citius Corporation

 

 

I have enjoyed your contributions to the CAD world for about 10 years now. I have noticed a change in emphasis from when I began (as a retired symphony musician) AutoCAD (1998). With the like of Ralph Grabowski giving more and more attention to SolidWorks, I am wondering what the future may hold for regular AutoCAD and Inventor, just to name a couple of big shareholders. Would you consider addressing this question in an upcoming upfront.eZine?

    - Laurie McGaw, formerly San Francisco Symphony trumpetist now Cadist

The editor replies: "Look for lots of Autodesk coverage later in March when the company releases its 2011 line of software."

 

 

Thought you might find this items of interest:

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/01/the-monetization-paradox-or-wh.html

    I still haven't made it through all the comments, most of which have made up a good conversation (I suppose because there isn't one answer just yet).

    - Merle Hall

 

 

Thanks for this bit (3D mice from 3Dconnexion now follow a designer's point of interest in SolidWorks automatically). It's about time those guys fixed their device for SolidWorks so that it does what it's supposed to, like with Inventor!

    - Chris Huminski

 

 

Thanks for including pdf2cad in your last issue. This says English version. Do you have a French version or any tips for me on good vehicles to get news out to the French CAD world? We have just vastly improved our French version of pdf2cad, opened and office and have a Web site up and running to support it (www.pdf2cad.fr). Now we need to find partners and end-users. I’d appreciate any advice you could give us.

    -  jean

The editor replies: Our other edition is in Japanese. If anyone knows of CAD publications targeting the French-language market, please let <jean@visual-integrity.com> know.

 

 

Spin Doctor of the Moment

The content of today’s conference call is NVIDIA's property and cannot be reproduced or transcribed without our prior written consent.

    - Michael Hara, svp investor relations and communications, nVidia, claiming copyright on words spoken by others.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/189155-nvidia-corporation-f4q10-qtr-end-01-30-10-earnings-call-transcript

 

 

Notable Quotable

The entire Internet is an apps store when you have a native web experience.

    - Michael Hara, svp investor relations and communications, nVidia.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/189155-nvidia-corporation-f4q10-qtr-end-01-30-10-earnings-call-transcript

 

Contact!

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Entire contents copyright ©2010 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. Letters sent to the editor are subject to publication. Article reprint fee: $250 and up. All trademarks belong to their respective holders. "upFront.eZine," "The Business of CAD," and "On your desktop every Tuesday morning" are trademarks of upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. Letters to the editor may be edited for clarity and brevity. Translations and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.

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