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DATACAD LLC
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Tel: (860) 677-4004 Fax: (860) 677-2610
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In last week's upFront.eZine, I wrote about the split between softTECH and Datacad LLC based on information from last April. This week, I spoke with Mark Madura about DATACAD's relationship with softTECH and its new o2c_Interactive! software. Mr Madura has been the president of DATACAD LLC since October 1996, when rights for the DataCAD product line were purchased from Micro Control Systems (formerly Cadkey, Inc). - - - Q: What's happened since the split with softTECH? A: Since last October, when the split occurred, we've been able to reach a settlement agreement whereby softTECH will be able to distribute SPIRIT 11 enhanced with features from DataCAD 9 and 10, and DATACAD will retain rights to distribute o2c and ArCon OEM technology.
Q: What's happening, then, with ZAC [Zone-based Architectural Construction]? A: As part of the settlement, DATACAD will retain a few specific technologies from SPIRIT such as o2c read/write and the ability to read SPIRIT/DataCAD Plus 9.5 files. As far as the ZAC system is concerned, we opted to develop our own object-oriented smart walls, instead of continuing with SPIRIT's wall system modeler.
Q: So, when is the next major upgrade to DataCAD 10 due (i.e. DataCAD 11)? A: Due in large part to the termination of DataCAD Plus 10 and the development of our own parametric technology, we're off our usual 15-18 month release cycle. While no release date has been set, we expect to deliver the next major upgrade to DataCAD 10 sometime in 2003.
Q: After your problems with softTECH, I was surprised to read you were working with their parent company's o2c technology. How come? A: To be more specific, we are sub-licensing the o2c and ArCon OEM technology from softTECH. Like most software developer relationships, however, it's a complicated story: mb Software AG of Germany (now bankrupt) was the parent
of mb America Inc., which had invested US$1.25 million in DATACAD
LLC back in 1999. mb Software also owned a portion of softTECH.
Dieter Heimlich, co-founder of softTECH, and president of
mb America, originally licensed DataCAD technology from Microtecture
back in the late 80s for distribution in Germany. My relationship
with Mr. Heimlich was formed around 1992.
Q: You are pushing o2c [objects to see] at a time when there are many other compact 3D file formats for use over the Internet. There's Graphisoft's GDL, Actify's SpinFire, SolidWork's 3D PartStream, and so on. What reason do you have for pushing Yet-Another-File-Format? A: We know there are probably a dozen 3D file formats, and we looked at many of them. We stayed with o2c because of our relationship to the company that produced it; it makes extremely small files compared with the others; and the freely-distributable player has an easy-to-use interface that includes Raytraced rendering. We've also built o2c_Interactive! around the o2c ActiveX control.
Q: Looking at the demo at your Web site, I like the way scenes can be changed. A: We call those "schemes," and plan
to make objects or assemblies part of a scheme definition in addition
to material, texture, and lighting.
Q: How much is o2c_Interactive!? A: It's currently a free, 30-day BETA download from http://www.datacad.com/o2c_Interactive! . Once it ships, it'll be US$99.95.
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