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Architecture firms to Autodesk: We're no longer happy with Revit

Issue #1,063   |    July 27, 2020

 

Reporting and opinion by Ralph Grabowski One of the good things today is that, with the Internet, you can effortlessly band together with like-thinkers when you don’t like how things are going. Some of the world’s largest architectural firms earlier this year banded together, because they don’t like how things are going with Revit. They had waited patiently for Autodesk to update the 20-year-old Revit, just as Autodesk had done with 20-year-old Inventor in creating Fusion for mechanical design. In 2016, Autodesk did announced that a new Revit would be forthcoming, code-naming it Project Quantum. It would operate as BIM-in-the-cloud and pass data to modules as they needed it. Later, it was re-code-named Project Plasma; then, so far, nothing more.    During the Revit launch event at Harvard University, April 5, 2000 Competitors didn’t stand still. During this time, Vectorworks smoothly replaced the entire kernel of its 35-year-old architectural software with Parasolid, giving it new capabilities. Bricsys wrote a BIM module from scratch for BricsCAD. Graphisoft, whose ArchiCAD BIM modeler is 38 years old, this year completed, in three years, Project Everest. In it, applications (including non-Graphisoft ones) get from the BIM model only the data they need to do their analysis, and then return it to ArchiCAD quickly. Together with Graphisoft’s BIMcloud server, the Everest concept is similar to what Autodesk had hoped to deliver with Quantum. Something at Autodesk, it seemed, was amiss.   The Survey & the Letter Architectural firms in England and Australia, some of whom work globally, had standardized on Revit, partly due to government mandating it for its own projects. Waiting four years for the promised neo-Revit became, for them, long enough.   And so they conducted a survey amongst themselves to find that their level of satisfaction with Autodesk and Revit ranged between 1 and 3 -- out of 10, the highest. This tells me that there is a great deal of anger, when survey respondents aren’t giving a "could do better" 5/10.   So they wrote a letter to CEO Anagnost, listing their concerns. It is signed by the IT design directors at 17 firms, including Zaha Hadid Architects, and not signed by eight more*. In it, they described their experiences with Revit since 2015: BIM models that must broken up, because Revit cannot handle today’s large projects well Lack of a data pipeline to handle the many sources of data in use today Limited Revit development in modern concepts like GPU processing, multi-cores, and virtual PCs Lack of a road map assuring users of a definite development path Enduring up to five different license models, with a sixth on its way  Up to a seventy-per-cent increase in Revit license cost between 2015 and 2019 Lack of trust in storing their intellectual property on Autodesk's cloud services (*) Fear of retaliation from some parts of the Autodesk organization The survey and letter are being made public today.   What Ralph Grabowski Thinks We have had hints as to why it seems Autodesk isn’t matching the architectural development strides of the likes of ArchiCAD. It may be its perception of near-monopoly (in some parts of the world) giving a sense of success; it may be its new emphasis on the much larger, potentially more lucrative construction market; it may be a difficulty in converting Revit to a modern code base – these are some of the hints.  The letter released today seems to indicate that 25 design firms don’t want to leave Revit (perhaps they can’t) as much as they want Autodesk to keep its promise of delivering better software, quickly, for architects who work nationally and globally. If nothing else comes of it, the survey and letter publicly expose an undercurrent of discontent with Autodesk. Perhaps others will add their names to the list of signatories.  Conceivably, the more serious problem facing the firms is this: what if Autodesk is unable to deliver a neo-Revit? It is not inconceivable. The firm failed to put all its software on the cloud by 2015, as held by former CEO Carl Bass. Among its competitors, Dassault Systemes, following years of determined announcements, never shipped a long-awaited program dedicated to architectural design. Architects understand their needs better than do software-only houses, and so perhaps a neo-IntelliCAD effort is necessary. This is conceivable, as large architecture firms already retain programming teams engaged in customization and who work regularly with ancillary software, such as the collection of crucial-to-design programs from Robert McNeel & Assoc. To it, add a BimRv backend and change-control API from the Open Design Alliance, throw in ARES-based 2D RVT/IFC drawing generation from Graebert, host IFC 4.x data on Bricsys' massive-data-handling BricsCAD -- and a new open-BIM star may be born in less time than it takes for Autodesk to come up with its next code name for neo-Revit.  Autodesk may be keen on capturing a portion of the world’s largest industry, but construction needs feeding from capable design software. The future, according to large architectural firms, is all about the conceptual stage of design, with AI to handle the detail work, and then pipelining data to automated construction machinery, much of it off-site. The future, in this scenario, may hold no place for Revit. - - -   For additional background on the events leading to today’s customer uprising, as well as the complete survey, letter, and list of signatories, check out AEC Magazine at aecmag.com/comment-mainmenu-36/2046-autodesk-aec-customers-demand-better-value.   Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Ross Goulter  Ken Anderson: "I appreciate your dedication and honesty. Refreshing in an industry that used to be a tight community. Reading for more that 20 years." To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

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Q&A With the CEO: The Future of Vectorworks

Issue #1,062   |  July 6, 2020

 

by Ralph Grabowski Over a Zoom meeting facilitated by Vectorworks Senior Media Relations Manager Lauren Burke Meyer, CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar and VP of Product Development Steve Johnson discussed with me their plans for Vectorworks, near and far. - - - Ralph Grabowski: What are you planning for the next release of Vectorworks? Steve Johnson: We are making improvements in a number of areas: Improvements to the user interface, including Tear off palettes A quick search for tools that are then executed at the cursor Smart Options Display that brings recent tools and controls from the perimeter of the screen to the cursor (it works across multiple monitors) Providing users with suggestions for the workflow We continue to expand upon our conceptual modeling solutions from the last several releases that made Vectorworks an alternative to SketchUp and Rhino, and so the next release has the last piece: draw a line to split the face of a solid to manipulate the geometry using push/pull.   It will have history modeling that provides direct modeling interaction with history-based modeling features. For interoperability, we are adding Excel import and export, and publishing worksheets to PDFs. Smart Markers are annotations that work across all our software, with reference links to view details in viewports. They create hyperlinks automatically when exported/published as a PDF. When you click on a marker, it links to the page in the PDF document that it is referencing. These live hyperlinks can also be viewed in the Vectorworks Nomad app, as well as any desktop PDF viewer. For structural grids, the layout is more automated and can be customized so that users can determine how the grids show up in viewports. Vectorworks needs to handle larger and larger models with more data, so we have more support for multiple cores to take advantage of the hardware that our users are running. Navigation between scenes in large models is improved. We are integrating and taking advantage of new technologies, and on the road to employing Apple's new Metal graphics system. For our Vectorworks Architect  product, we added a materials resource with graphical and physical attributes that can be attached to any object for better quantity take-offs, like volumes of materials in walls. As an architectural tool, we are best suited for data that falls under the architect’s purview. This includes STC [sound transmission class] ratings, fire ratings, U-values, daylighting information, run-off coefficients, and so on.  Data Visualization shows all data in the model, in multiple ways and now supports Materials, too. We re-engineered the lighting device to better support focusing, and to handle multiple lights at one time. We were part of a group that defined a new specification for exchanging lighting fixture data between different software programs -- GDTF [General Device Type Format] -- and so the lighting device provides better support of GDTF. (See figure 1.) Figure 1: Data flow using DGTF For Landscape, we added support for components in the Landscape Area tool. Components define information such as a layer of topsoil on top of a base material. This lets us get proper sections.  Biplab Sarkar: Landscape is catching up with BIM! Grabowski: When do you plan to release Vectorworks 2021? Lauren Burke Meyer: We plan to release it mid-September. Grabowski: How deeply do you plan to use the APIs developed by the Open Design Alliance for Revit, Navisworks, and IFC files? Sarkar: We added the first level of Revit compatibility three releases ago. This release has a second version of Revit export: first, we exported models as mesh geometry, now as solids.  We use Solibri for mixed format project files, so we don't need Navisworks. As for IFC, we use our own IFC export/import routines, and we were the first to receive IFC4 Reference View 1.2 Export Certification. (See figure 2.) Figure 2: IFC data in a Vectorworks model (image source Vectorworks) We will implement the Civil3D API from ODA in our landscape software, Vectorworks Landmark .  Grabowski: What are some of the long-term goals you have in mind for Vectorworks?  Sarkar: Our vision for Vectorworks is for it to become the all-in-one software for designers around the world.  Currently, Architect supports the needs of our interiors market. However, we’ll be building upon this and soon adding an interior design module, driven by a new rendering engine. (See figure 3.) Real-time rendering is important, and we already have live scenes. Future releases will add TwinMotion architectural rendering [from Unreal Engine] and Maxon's new real-time GPU-powered rendering system, Redshift.  Figure 3: Interior design renderings (image source Eastlake Studio) Last year, we began modernizing the UI and UX [user experience], and we will continue on that. We are working on a high-performance engine so that Vectorworks can use as many cores as are available.  Interoperability is important, as our customers bring data into Vectorworks from all kinds of other products. We plan more partnerships, such as last year's link to Esri [for mapping], links to more real-time rendering engines, and to other companies under the Nemetschek umbrella. (See figure 4.) Figure 4: Placing GIS data from Esri into Vectorworks (image source Vectorworks) Grabowski: I recall some talk about moving data more easily between Nemetschek products; how is this progressing? Sarkar: We have always been a proponent of Open BIM [for compatibility with other BIM software]. We have been working on tighter integration with Nemetschek products, and are targeting direct interoperability by March 2021. Grabowski: You use the Parasolid kernel from Siemens. At its user event last month, Siemens spoke about the advances it has made in convergent modeling [mixed solid and mesh modeling]. Does it have a role in Vectorworks? Sarkar: Certainly! Convergent modeling is useful for any architectural modeler, being able to mix a solid design with a meshed chair from an online library. We are prototyping it [working on implementing it]. Grabowski: Apple is switching the CPUs in its computers from Intel to ARM. As Vectorworks runs on Windows and MacOS, how will the switch affect you? Johnson: We have already been looking at what is involved. We will not be using Apple's Rosetta [Intel emulator], as we don't want to sacrifice any speed, no matter how little it might be. It will likely take us only a week or two to compile the Vectorworks core code for the new Apple silicon using Apple's development toolkit. We will be working hard to prepare Vectorworks for the new Apple hardware, which is reported to be hitting the streets at the turn of the year. www.vectorworks.net   And in Other News The following posts appeared in recent weeks on my WorldCAD Access blog: Nobody owns 3dconnexion Siemens Media Conference, Day 1 Siemens Media Conference: Q&A Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Kathleen Maher (corporate donation) Trent Barrow To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4854

Readers Respond: Lots of Letters to the Editor

Issue #1,061   |    June 29, 2020

 

Moderated by Ralph Grabowski   From the Editor So many of you wrote thoughtful letters about recent upFront.eZine articles that this issue is monster-sized and is dedicated to you, the writers.     - Ralph Grabowski - - -   Re: The Future of IFC Tech is still grappling with crossing the divide between design and build. I would make two arguments: one, possibly the majority of benefits of BIM [building information modeling] derive more from IPD [integrated project delivery] than from the technology. At a very high confidence level I would say that without IPD, BIM is of very limited utility.  Two, in the early years of IFC, it focused on MEP [mechanical, electrical, plumbing], so that is where BIM has had the greatest success.  The historically normal approach of design-bid-build is a process that in real life involves a lot of redesign, a.k.a. "delegated design" in which the shop drawing process is essentially an iterative detailed re-design in most cases. IPD instead means that you bring a general contractor and the key subcontractors (historically the MEP guys, mainly) on board early during the design phase. They come onboard on a negotiated basis, rather than as bidders. Often this involves sharing in both the upside and downside of the final project cost, versus the traditional approach in which subs participate only on the downside.  You put all the players in a big room and work out many of the details in that room, so the BIM model ends up being much more reflective of reality, than a purely designer-designed BIM. (I think you already understand that architects have limited knowledge and responsibility for what they design, and their fees are commensurate and limited.) The low hanging fruit among all the MEP contractors is clash detection, who otherwise fight for room [to fit their ducts, wires, and pipes] in ceilings and other spaces. The fighting used to occur during shop drawings and sometimes even in the field when trades gave each other little surprises.  With IPD, all the clashes as detected in the big meeting room, resolved, and put into the model. That technology wants to take credit is an old story. It tries to take credit for the gains from discipline and cooperation that are outside the technology, but often accompany it. For instance, computerized inventory control systems require that each item get a unique identifier, and that every movement of items in and out be recorded, whether at a store or a warehouse. Without discipline, computerized systems are basically worthless, or worse, are where you pay the costs but cannot reap the benefits.  Conversely, with the technology but without the discipline, you get some benefits.  When both cooperate together, you get maximum benefits, but the technology evangelists/salespersons will always attribute far more benefits to the technology, ignoring the role of the changed process.      - Leo Schlosberg   Re: 2 Guys Talk CAD If SpaceClaim is the evidence for the success of direct modeling, no wonder the CAD industry is not investing there. Your reader believes that direct modeling is the next thing. The truth is that it is an old technology that has been around way before the history/feature-based CAD and lost to the history-based systems.      - Gal Raz (via WorldCAD Access) The editor replies: Direct editing was the next thing a decade ago. Today it appears that the next thing is direct simulation. SpaceClaim was not successful, except in marketing itself. SpaceClaim's marketing did, however, force the largest firms in the MCAD industry to move their software away from being based solely on PTC's pioneering history-based parametric design, and embrace direct modeling -- as witnessed by the direct modeling software launched nearly simultaneously by Autodesk, Dassault, PTC, and Siemens.  - - - You wrote, "Synchronous Technology, however, suffers from being very hard to understand and implement, because you have to figure out stuff before you start drawing -- the very opposite to what direct modeling is supposed to offer -- and so few Solid Edge and NX users use it."  ST does NOT suffer from being VERY hard to use. Ralph, it's your bitterness towards Solid Edge once again that taints your opinion. Granted in the first few releases there were many issues with using Synchronous, and I was one of it's biggest critics at the time. However the developers at Solid Edge made huge improvements to the GUI to help ease the understanding of just how it works.  The ONLY people who find it difficult to use are those like yourself who are too stuck in their "OLD" ways to see its brilliance. Synchronous has matured into one of the best improvements in 3D CAD in the past decade and has saved my company countless time and money, so I'm not sure why you still hang on to such "old" perceptions and biases.  How much time have you ever spent using Synchronous Technology, and how honest of an attempt did you make to actually understand it? I've been using MCAD since the mid 80s going all the way back to Personal Designer from Computervision.  Or maybe you just can't say what you truly feel as to not upset the folks at AutoCAD or Dassualt, eh.      - Bob Mileiti (via WorldCAD Access) The editor responds: I base my opinion on the few hands I observed going up when the question was asked at the four annual Solid Edge user conferences I attended. From this, I estimate about 10% use ST. So, I am very pleased to hear that you find ST useful. Of the nearly 300 CAD reporters and analysts at Siemens' online press event earlier this month, I was the only one to ask Siemens staff why during the two-day event they hadn't told us anything about Solid Edge. Mr Mileiti responds: I don't think Spaceclaim's problems have anything to do with direct modeling a whole. Their failure to attract enough customers had more to do with their single-minded approach.  Solid Edge has always been able to deal with both Parametric and Direct Modeling. As [engineering.com wrote about Siemens vp of mainstream engineering R&D Dan Staples] back in 2018:  "One might also wonder why, if Synchronous Technology is as beneficial as its proponents claim, it’s not a more widespread paradigm. Staples believes the reason is that Siemens is just that far ahead of the technological curve in large part because of its ownership of the Parasolid kernel and D-Cubed constraint solving SDK [software development kit].  "But perhaps there’s a simpler reason, which he summarized nicely: 'Engineers are not people who like to change a lot.' History-based parametric modeling is still the dominant paradigm in the CAD world and, despite its drawbacks, it works just fine." https://www.engineering.com/DesignSoftware/DesignSoftwareArticles/ArticleID/16587/Whats-the-Difference-Between-Parametric-and-Direct-Modeling.aspx The editor replies: I feel Mr Staples makes my case. The 'single-minded approach' referred to by Mr Mileiti is that Spaceclaim had positioned itself as a model fixer-upper adjacent to CAD seats, rather than as an MCAD system in its own right. It thought it could land a share of what it saw as a 10x-100x bigger market (of adjacent seats) than trying to compete directly with ensconced MCAD systems. (In 2014, it was purchased by ANSYS as a model fixer-upper.) - - - Synchronous Technology seems cool in a lot of ways, but I don't see it as superior to history-based design, just a different way to model and edit with its own pros and cons. It appears to fall down on complex geometry, which is where a long rebuild in the history model is at its worse.  I have some parts that I don't know how ST in Solid Edge could edit them, because there is curve to them and/or extremely complex intersections of geometry. I imagine once you learn it, it's not bad and flows well, but I must admit the user interface looks daunting -- a lot of button selections.      - Jason Capriotti (via WorldCAD Access) - - - You wrote, “Head office in Paris was pressing forward with their V6 generation (known today as "3dExperience"), which uses Delmia as the central repository for Catia data.” Enovia, ya plum. Much love,     - Al Dean - - - An interesting summary of kernels and consequences re the big boys. I have been a VX/ZWCAD user [and dealer] for 15 years doing a lot of advanced surfacing as part of everyday modeling. ZW3D has a history-based direct editing approach, which provides the benefits of geometry adjustment and the power to edit the direct edit. I find users of other software are a bit shocked when they see how intuitive and effective it is. Maybe ZW3D is not flavor of the month being Chinese, but the deep development still takes place in Florida, driven in a unique US/Sino collaboration that has been going on for years now.     - Paul Smith     Graceland Technology, New Zealand - - - Istvan Csanady responded with a marked up Word document. I summarize his and my comments with the original sentences. Mr Csanady is founder and CEO of Shapr3D. My article in upFront.eZine said: Catia and NX do things Solidworks and Solid Edge cannot -- and deliberately so -- do functions such as advanced surfacing. Istvan Csanady: I would say that systems engineering is also a key differentiator. upFront: Direct editing and modeling became vogue with the successful marketing of SpaceClaim. Csanady: I wouldn’t say Spaceclaim was very successful to be honest, and unfortunately still most CAD users don’t understand what is direct modeling. Ralph Grabowski: The company was not successful, but their marketing was brilliant. upFront: Siemens' Parasolid kernel brings direct modeling to Solid Edge and NX. Csanady: Synchronous Technology is much more than direct modeling. You can think of ST as “feature based direct modeling”. ST automates and batches direct modeling operations by recognizing features in the geometry, like shells. Direct modeling is actually part of Parasolid, and it is licensed to third parties. My Shapr3D is a direct modeling tool, for example, and it runs on Parasolid. Grabowski: My description of ST being a direct modeler was a simplified one. I understand that it is much more complex, and that users find it too complex. upFront: Autodesk wrote a new CAD program to handle direct modeling, Fusion. Csanady: Fusion actually supports both traditional history based modeling and direct modeling. You can switch between the two modes. Grabowski: Fusion is Autodesk's answer to direct modeling, rather than bolting it onto Inventor. upFront: My understanding is that Solidworks it has only a kludge that imitates the effect of direct modeling. Csanady: Solidworks supports all the direct modeling operations, but you can’t turn off design history. So every direct modeling operation is another step in the design history, but basically you get many of the benefits of direct modeling. Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement in their direct modeling implementation, but it has the basics. Grabowski: That is the reason behind me using the word 'kludge'. I knew that there was a problem with Solidworks direct modeling. Thanks for spelling it out for me! upFront: Dassault should have swapped out Parasolids for CGM, while leaving everything else in place. Csanady: This is easier to say than do. They tried, but it’s basically impossible. If you want to replace a b-rep kernel under a history-based modeler, you need bug-to-bug level compatibility between the two kernels, otherwise you will have significant data loss. Grabowski: Oh, I understand that it would be very difficult! Hence my use of the word 'should'. Mimicking all bugs is an angle I had not thought of before. upFront: If they swapped out Parasolid for CGM (they certainly do not enjoy paying license fees to Siemens) they would have incompatible geometry yet again. Csanady: I think this requires a little bit more of a pragmatic approach: how much they are paying for Siemens versus how much would it cost to replace Parasolids with CGM, and how much would customers benefit from that?  Considering these factors, it’s actually not that obvious that [the kernel swap] would be worth it, unless they believe that Solidworks will start competing at the higher end of the market, becomes a direct NX competitor, and replaces CATIA in their portfolio, which I find highly unlikely. Grabowski: Agreed. Nevertheless, Paris keeps hitting its head against a wall -- a Solidworks wall. upFront: At one point, Dassault told me that CGM was better at it because it was second derivative continuous. Csanady: This does not make too much sense. You can create G2 or Gn continuous surfaces with Parasolid as well, and you can implement any surfacing algorithm on the top of Parasolid. Actually I would say that Parasolid is in every possible way superior to CGM. In robustness, performance, speed etc., CGM is not even close. Grabowski: This statement was made by an ex-Dassault employee, who was not on the CAD side of things. upFront: The final death knell for cloud-based mid-sized MCAD came when Onshape admitted they had only 5,000 paying customers. Csanady: Not because it’s cloud-based, but because there isn’t a single customer problem that their implementation solves. It’s technology done for the sake of doing technology. Obviously cloud-based solutions will be and should be implemented, especially for collaboration and data exchange, but running the modeling with a browser front-end and cloud back-end makes literally zero sense, is insanely hard to implement, gives no value to the user, and has lots of drawbacks. Grabowski: I always found the approach used by Belmont Technology interesting, them using the 'we wrote the new gen of MCAD (Solidworks) that became a huge success' argument to land $169 million. A does not infer B.  I think that PTC sees value primarily in the database aspect of Onshape, and a way to sell PTC-branded CAD to smaller customers. In a press event earlier this month, the head of Siemens CAD again emphasized that there will be no cloud version of NX and Solid Edge. - - - Let Daren know that Logitech owns 3Dconnexion. His money still went to Logitech. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Dconnexion     - Christopher Fugitt The editor replies: I was under the impression 3Dconnexion went independent of Logitech. Mr Fugitt responds: I've been able to find only one reference to 3Dconnexion being sold: spacemice.org/index.php?title=3DConnexion. It looks like from SEC filings that 3Dconnexion was removed from the list of Logitech subsidiaries. It isn't listed as a subsidiary in the 2020 10-K filing, so you might be correct in it being sold. ir.logitech.com/financial-info/sec-filings/sec-filings-details/default.aspx?FilingId=14178866 - - - Daren is right about everything, except 3Dconnexion being a different company than Logitech. I missed my Performance MX enough I bought a replacement spring for the left click switch.     - Henry Sommer The editor replies: The confusion comes about as both Google and Bing, as their top search result, incorrectly say 3Dconnexion is owned by Logitech, while the Wikipedia entry has not been updated in a decade. I did not know it was possible to get replacement parts! Mr Sommer responds: You were right. Logitech sold them in 2012. The Spacemouse I was using is older than I realized. logitech.com/assets/45907/logitech-2012-annual-report.ENG.pdf There are instructions online about how to take it apart and replace the spring at electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/29955/how-do-i-fix-an-omron-d2fc-f-7n-microswitch-from-unwanted-clicks and gonnalearn.com/inside-omron-d2fc-f-7n-microswitch/. I bought entire switches, and then transplanted the springs. It is a delicate process but the mouse is as good as new. smile.amazon.com/dp/B00HPL57JQ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_7c55EbW16XNAC The editor replies: Logitech says it sold the company at a loss as "it is more likely than not that the Company would not generate adequate capital gains in the next five years before the capital loss expires under the U.S. tax law." I turned our research into a blog entry, which you can read here: worldcadaccess.com/blog/2020/06/nobody-owns-3dconnexion.html. It concerns me that Bing, Google, and Wikipedia all have the same wrong answer, and have been wrong for nine years!   Sponsor: Okino Graphics == Okino's PolyTrans|CAD Software for Professional 'Load & Go' 3D Conversions ==    For over three decades, mission-critical 3D conversion software from Okino of Toronto has been used effectively by tens of thousands of professionals. We develop, support, and convert between all major CAD, DCC, and VisSim formats. CTO Robert Lansdale and his team tailors each package to the specific conversion requirements or problems of each customer. Popular CAD data sources we support include SolidWorks, ProE/Creo, Inventor, AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, DGN, IGES, STEP, Parasolid, and JT. DCC data sources are Cinema-4D, 3ds Max, Maya, FBX/Collada, and many more. Popular CAD data sources include SolidWorks, ProE/Creo, Inventor, AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, DGN, IGES, STEP, Parasolid, and JT. DCC data sources are Cinema-4D, 3ds Max, Maya, FBX/Collada, and many more. Perfected over three decades, we know 3D data translation intimately, providing you with highly personalized solutions, education, and communication. Contact CTO Robert Lansdale at lansd@okino.com  http://www.okino.com And in Other News A domain registrar has 3D.com for sale and hopes to land $25 million. I don't see anyone in the CAD industry ponying up that much, but someone in gaming or an nVidia might. - - - Nanosoft last week launched nanoCAD Plus 20 with drawing comparison, 3D clipping, new built-in script editor, and a monitor for changes to system variables and externally-referenced drawings. Dynamic input adds command options, and undoes/redoes can now be visualized before committing to them. The program imports IFC and point cloud files. Download the 32- or 64-bit 30-day trials from nanocad.com/products/plus/download/. - - - Decent IFC viewers can be tough to find, as either they have not been updated lately or are too expensive. The Open Design Alliance has released a free one that handles IFC v2x3 - v4x2 formats. In addition to all the usual viewing functions, it has cutting planes and clash detection, and will support v4x3 in September. https://openifcviewer.com/ - - - Graebert is adding to its coronavirus-related CAD offer. Anyone who took up their previous offer to use Kudo browser-based CAD free to the end of June, can now join a focus group and get six more months free -- open at least one drawing in http://kudo.graebert.com (following registration) by the end of day June 30. - - - MachineWorks will be releasing Polygonica v2.4 soon that offers:    Curvature aware remeshing Offsetting curves across mesh surfaces Reconnect islands based on surrounding mesh curvature http://www.polygonica.com/ - - - AMETEK-owned Creaform to begin shipping later this summer a wicked-looking 3D scanner, the MetraScan Black with 15 blue lasers, 4x greater resolution than earlier models, and no warm-up time. Targets optional.   It takes 1.8 million measurements each second at a resolution of 0.0009" (0.025mm) and performs meshing in real-time. But you'll need an optimal hardware setup to handle that amount of data. https://www.creaform3d.com/en/optical-3d-scanner-metrascan - - - Ideate Software offers several Revit helper programs: StyleManager fixes style problems when importing content into Revit. BIMLink imports data into Excel and then sends it as BIM data to Revit. Explorer fixes Revit problems through a model browser. Sticky connects non-BIM data from Excel into Revit. IdeateApps does spell checking, sheet managing, quick selecting, and more. Free trial versions available for all from ideatesoftware.com/download Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Mary Fugier: "Congratulations on 25 years! Thanks for all the insight." Todd Majeski: "Ralph, thanks for all support of the CAD industry. Not many other places you can get this unfiltered reporting." To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail your cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4861

 

LiveWorx 2020: PTC's Annual User Conference

Issue #1,060  |  June 22, 2020

 

by Ralph Grabowski   LiveWorx is PTC's annual user conference. As it was online this year, anyone could attend -- even me. CEO James Heppelmann in his pre-recorded keynote speech reported that Creo 7.0 had been completed by programmers working from home, and was the largest release since Creo was first announced a decade ago as Pro/Engineer's replacement.   What's New in Creo 7 Creo 7 is the 35th release of the company's flagship MCAD software that began at the company's founding with Pro/Engineer. The two emphases in this release of Creo are on generative design and integrated analysis. Generative Design. Last year, PTC purchased Frustum for its generative design software. PTC needed to catch up with competitors already offering it, such as Autodesk (through Fusion), Siemens (in NX), and even Hexagon (from AMendate). In Creo 7, it's available in two extensions:  Generative Topology Optimization (GTO) runs inside Creo but does only a single analysis at a time (see figure 1)  Generative Design Extension (GDX) runs on the cloud so that users can run multiple design analyses at the same time Figure 1: Generative Topology Optimization (GTO) is based on Frustum (all images sourced PTC) Right now, the two extensions handle structural analysis, with modal (vibration) and thermal analysis to come later this year.   PTC takes pains to point out the difference between topology optimization and generative design. Topology optimization minimizes material use through stress analysis, such as using an I-beam in place of a solid bar of steel Generative design requires designers to specify constraints, like bounding boxes and connection points, after which the software calculates all possibilities to satisfy the constraints automatically So now PTC can offer both. PTC takes a shot at competitors by declaring that only its generative designs are parametric. In marketing Creo 7, PTC talks up AI [artificial intelligence]. The best that I could determine is that some AI runs in GDX. Generative design has been criticized for its organic-looking output being manufacturable only by 3D printers, but Creo offers to limit generative changes to those that can be handled by traditional subtractive machining (lathes, etc), even specifying parting lines for moulds. Simulation. Last year, PTC made a deal with ANSYS to start integrating all of its simulation software into Creo. So far, we see two results from the agreement:  Creo Simulation Live is ANSYS Discovery Live, which updates fluid flow and heat analysis in real time as designers change shapes of parts. (See figure 2.) Other types of analyses aren't available in Live, so the "new" ANSYS Simulation add-on provides structural, modal, and thermal analysis functions inside Creo 7. Figure 2: Creo Simulation Live performing real-time fluid flow analysis Elsewhere. To further catch up to competitors, PTC adds multi-body design to Creo 7 so that users can work with disjointed, touching, and overlapping geometry in a single part. For AM [additive manufacturing], Creo gets stochastic lattices that identify and follow the edges of prismatic shapes. For SM [subtractive manufacturing], the Mill Turn Work Center now outputs designs to Swiss-brand turning machines. You can download a 30-day trial of Creo 7 from ptc.com/en/products/cad/creo/trial, after registration. Students from Kindergarten on up can run Creo, MathCAD, and Onshape for free.   PTC in a Time of Coronavirus A number of CAD vendors (but not all) are offering their customers respite for working from home, like an automatic second license, free access to training, and/or no-charge collaboration software.  Here, PTC is offering customers no-cost license options to work from home for a temporary period. PTC offers its augmented reality app Vuforia Chalk free through to the end of June. PTC's eLearning site is free for now so that users can upgrade their skills. Medical device and health-tech customers receive the highest level of support at no additional charge. To learn more about PTC's support options during WFH, check out the details at ptc.com/en/support/enablement/COVID19-Resources. For example, it explains to registered users how to run Creo at home. COVID-19 is a marketing opportunity for PTC. "The world of engineering software has to move to the cloud," said Mr Heppelmann during his LiveWorx keynote address. He credits PTC with having the foresight to buy Onshape in November, right before desk workers had to relocate to their homes through stay-at-home orders mandated by some governments. He noted that PTC's PLM [product lifecycle management] software, Windchill, always had been a thin-client cloud application.  While Onshape-powered Atlas is the future platform for "many other PTC products that will be coming out in the future," Creo is still the workhorse, because when PTC speaks about Atlas, it uses hedging words. This is appropriate, as the abilities of Atlas are not yet proven. For instance, in speaking of the apps running on Atlas, "they will also exchange data with one another very easily, because they'll all use, potentially, common databases," said executive vp Jon Hirschtick (emphasis mine). For apps that will be running on the Atlas/Onshape platform, PTC now has in development Vuforia AR  modules, generative design, "and we're working in other areas, too." In the meantime, here is the workflow PTC offers customers today:  When a designer makes change in Creo desktop MCAD... the change is recorded in Windchill PLM...  through a workflow defined by ThingWorx connectivity software... so that clients receive an email about the change... who then click on the link to view it in Onshape online CAD.   Trying Out Vuforia Chalk PTC is really pushing Vuforia Chalk as its primary coronavirus solution at ptc.com/en/products/augmented-reality/vuforia-chalk-free-access. This remote assistance software displays AR models overtop images seen by a smartphone's camera. Employees can mark up (redline) the view to document maintenance and repair issues, which are then sent back to the office. See figure 3.   Figure 3: Vuforia Chalk marking up a real-time image on a smartphone To better understand PTC's reason for hyping Vuforia Chalk, I downloaded the app to my new AR-capable Android 10 smartphone, but found, unfortunately, that it was a no-go. Unless you own one of a very, very few supported Android models (although most iOS phones are supported) and are able to contact a Chalk administrator, Vuforia Chalk does nothing useful for you. Mr Heppelmann in late April reported that the use of Chalk had gone up 10-fold. During LiveWorx, he noted that its usage percentage grew faster than Zoom. PTC promotes the free use of Chalk with the aim of seeding future sales. "These companies using Chalk represent a big upsell pipeline to pursue in Q4 and beyond," he told financial analysts.   PTC's Future Vision While office workers transitioned easily to working from home, Mr Heppelmann stated that there is a need "to bring digital data to 2.7 billion front line workers." It seemed to me that "front line" means manufacturing workers, as the examples shown would not work for hospital, grocery, and sanitation front line workers. The solution from PTC is to use AR to virtualize front line (manufacturing) work.  Spatial Computing is PTC's new term for physical and digital convergence. It combines AR, IoT [Internet of things], PLM, and CAD into digital twins, a computer model that replicates what's happening in the real world. The AR part is Vuforia Spatial Toolbox, and for PTC it represents the first example of an interface between machines and humans -- "walk the factory floor from your home office," said Mr Heppelmann. "AR is IoT for people." See figure 4.   Figure 4: Vuforia being used to define a robot's path It is still very early days for Spatial Computing. How it can be broadly deployed is a something PTC is leaving up to you, and so Vuforia Spatial Toolbox is available as an open source model at the PTC Web site. PTC hopes you'll help figure it out. When Mr Heppelmann forecasts, "You click on a link, and within 15 seconds you're in any part of the suites doing anything that we can do," PTC is pivoting to be like Dassault Systemes and its 3dExperience platform by offering a SaaS [software as a service] suite. "We believe that the Covid crisis will accelerate the SaaS tipping point for the engineering and software industry by several years," he said.  http://www.ptc.com   [Portions of this article first appeared in Design Engineering magazine, and are reprinted by permission.] On the Blog The following posts appeared in recent weeks on my WorldCAD Access blog: I Cancel Twitter LEDAS Reports on Business Through COVID-19 Letters to the Editor Re: The Future of IFC You wrote, "Slow parse speed -- I've waited 15 minutes for an IFC file to open" Well, I'm witnessing Uptown.ifc take ***4 freaking hours*** to read from one Revit into the next Revit. See 3d.bk.tudelft.nl/projects/geobim-benchmark/uptown.html. I miss the "What does Ralph think" part     - HnsaCAD (@CadHns on Twitter) The editor replies: The binary IFC file and partial BIM data exchange represent important progress needed by IFC, but both are so early in the development of the more efficient format that I wonder how long it will take. Mr HnsaCAD responds: We will be too old to implement. - - - Thanx for an informative IFC update.     - Chris Cadman - - -   Reading your piece on IFCs reminded me of when our tiny startup Heavyware.com (then a proposed multi-fabricator catalog and in retrospect, a doomed entity) joined the IAI in 1999. We found that all IFC classes were design-side; there were no fields that a contractor might want. When we raised it at a meeting, many people were surprised at the idea that a contractor might want his own data. This oversight arose because the initial  sponsorship of 12 in the consortium were software companies, architects, an MEP [mechanical, engineering, plumbing] engineer, large corporations that did MEC-related manufacturing, and a large developer -- basically large Autodesk customers plus other interested software entities, as well as AT&T.  Put another way, in the fragmented world of AEC [architecture, engineering, construction], this started as purely an AE initiative, zero C. Given the incredible complexity involved in designing and building very large prototypes (as in commercial construction), it turns out that streamlining the process takes a long time.     - Leo Schlosberg      www.planetcommercialconstruction.wordpress.com The editor replies: I recall in the early days of IFC when advocates showed me how data from a CAD program could be exported (via IFC) to an energy analysis program. They seemed relieved when the demo worked. IFC has come along ways from then. Thanks for telling us your early history with IFC! Mr Schlosberg responds: Energy analysis was a hot topic then and probably very labor intensive to compute. The initial consortium was 25% energy-related companies (Carrier,  Honeywell). Big developers greatly value the energy analysis during design. Tiny comment from the subcontractor perspective. The shift from paper to CAD meant that you could send files electronically. This meant that the former practice of general contractors often sending you a set of prints so you could bid something, morphed into emailing you the file or telling you where you could download it.  When that began, no one had screens that were useful [big enough with high-enough resolution] for looking at this stuff and so you had to buy a plotter and pay the costs of plotting in order to bid. It was a mild shifting of costs downstream. It clearly was one lesson in understanding information flow in construction: all kinds of things beside water and data flow downstream, the biggest being risk. The industry is still addressing this, since building off a model can be a risky venture. It depends on who owns the model and whose knowledge went into it.   Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Martin van der Roest (two donations) Risto Juhani Saarikko To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4869

 

2 Guys Talk CAD

Issue #1,059   |  June 15, 2020

 

A reader and I corresponded over the status of the CAD industry. He asked to be kept anonymous. - - - PL: It seems like Solidworks and Inventor have gotten good enough to reduce people needing to move to higher-end packages like Catia or NX. Are there things from those systems that could benefit Solidworks users? RG: Catia and NX do things Solidworks and Solid Edge cannot, and deliberately so -- such as advanced surfacing.  For the most common kinds of MCAD, however, Solidworks and Solid Edge are good enough. The primary problem with older CAD (Pro/Engineer, Inventor, Solidworks, Solid Edge) is that they lacked direct editing and modeling, which became vogue with the successful marketing of SpaceClaim. CAD vendors took different approaches to solve the problem:  PTC integrated ME/30 (from HP) into Pro/E and called it Creo. The transition took several years. The company has its own kernel, Granite.  Siemens wrote the Synchronous Technology add-on to their Parasolids kernel, which brings direct modeling to Solid Edge and NX. (When Siemens licenses Parasolids to other CAD vendors, however, it leaves out ST part.)  ST, however, suffers from being very hard to understand and implement, because you have to figure out stuff before you start drawing -- the very opposite to what direct modeling is supposed to offer -- and so few SE and NX users use it.  Autodesk wrote a new CAD program to handle direct modeling, Fusion. (The company has its own kernel, the ACIS-derived ShapeManager.) Inventor carries on as a traditional MCAD history-based modeler.  Dassault Systemes tried to port Solidworks to V6 (3dExperience) but failed, so they wrote bridging software -- modeling programs that use Dassault's CGM kernel and are meant for Solidworks users. These also failed, as each one required expensive annual subscriptions, were immature (lacked functions), and were data-incompatible (Solidworks uses Parasolids). I am unsure where Solidworks stands with direct modeling; my understanding is that it has only a kludge that imitates the effect of direct modeling, but I could be wrong.  Among smaller CAD vendors, several are starting to add direct modeling, with Bricsys having made the most progress, I think. Bricsys was fortunate in having only a rudimentary ACIS-based 3D modeler when they had the foresight to buy outright the direct modeling tech (and staff) from Ledas of Russia.  PL: Not being a CAD guy, what are the things that Dassault should be including in Solidworks that they are not? I know they have redesigned the UX [user experience] a few times. RG: In retrospective, it is easy to see what Dassault should have done. They should have copied Apple, who successfully switched CPUs and OSes under the hood without users noticing much. Dassault should have done the following: Swapped out Parasolids for CGM, while leaving everything else in place Written a transparent Parasolid-CGM translator Added in direct modeling and editing Called it a day Admittedly, geometric kernel swaps are easier today than a decade ago. But head office in Paris was pressing forward with their V6 generation (known today as "3dExperience"), which uses Enovia as the central repository for Catia data and runs much of the ancillary software as Web-based modules. So no surprise that they thought Solidworks should be converted into that as well. Never mind that its own Catia customers are disinterested in 3dExperience; after a decade, about 25% have transitioned from V4 and V5. Or that Solidworks is so much more successful at not being cloud-ized. The final death knell for cloud-based mid-sized MCAD came when Onshape admitted they had only 5,000 paying customers. BOOM! Nobody is going to want to go that way now. PL: But if they swapped out Parasolid for CGM (they certainly do not enjoy paying license fees to Siemens) they would have incompatible geometry yet again. Perhaps if they implemented direct modeling they would have had an improved ability to deal with it. I am not sure why they did not do that. RG: That certainly is the position of Bricsys when they say that BricsCAD can import 3D models from any source, have some automated routines fix it up as necessary, and then work on it with direct modeling, like it was native.  My guess is that there is something about the structure of the code in Solidworks that prevents direct modeling from being implemented. Or maybe Dassault was thinking along these lines: if we have to implement direct modeling, we might as well write an all-new MCAD program that fits these modern times. PL: But surfacing would be easier to add, I assume, since NX can support it with the Parasolid kernel.  At one point, Dassault told me that CGM was better at it because it was second derivative continuous, a phrase that makes sense to this lapsed mathematician. RG: In terms of marketing, surfacing is made to be the differentiator. Siemens told me Solid Edge uses the same version of Parasolid as NX, so it is a matter of switching features on or off -- kind of like mainframes of old! Letter to the Editor Re: MX Performance 2S is Logitech's expensive mouse mistake Excellent article! I've just returned an MX Master 3 mouse as defective (after 2 weeks of testing) that suffered the same problems reported here on the 2s. Ultimately for me, these were the top problems I had with it: Options replaced Setpoint and lost important features, such as acceleration (which makes it nearly impossible to move quickly across two large monitors and still be able to accurately select fine details) Non-replaceable battery (as opposed to the AA battery in my Performance MX) The incredibly poor quality of Logitech's customer support (email only, days for each reply, inability to communicate clearly or accurately respond to each individual problem or question) Their unwillingness to offer any sort of help to repair or replace my far superior Performance MX mouse with a failing left-click button. You are correct when you say "Devolution has attacked the MX," and it seems to have also permeated Logitech completely. Ultimately, however, I am grateful for Logitech's failure because it forced me to look deeper into my other options and allowed me to give my money to another company that I would not have otherwise considered -- and one which seems to listen to its customers. I have just spent twice as much money with 3Dconnexion for two of their products (3D SpaceMouse and 2D CadMouse), which seem to have consistently received good customer reviews.       - Daren (via WorldCAD Access)   Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Direct Dimensions Inc: "Congratulations on your anniversary. We turned 25 this year as well. " Chris Huminski: "Ralph: Thanx for another great year of CAD news and reviews!" To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4880

The Future of IFC: Enabling Partial BIM Model Exchange

Issue #1,058   |   June 8, 2020

 

When Autodesk developed IFC in the mid-1990s, it was constructed for interoperability based on the way files and data were exchanged back then. Architectural and engineering designers use IFC [industry foundation classes] to exchange data and geometry about building models between programs. Today, buildingSmart International is responsible for the maintaining and expanding the IFC format, with the assistance of the Open Design Alliance making it available through SDKs [software development kits].  The current version is IFC v4.2 and is defined by a 7,000-page document covering 1,800 definitions for entities, compositions, and quantities. Figure 1 shows how a door is defined. Figure 1: IFC definition of a door Now, 35 years later, computing has progressed to clever programming languages, efficient file formats, and CPUs that crunch data more quickly. So buildingSmart is looking at how to modernize IFC for version 5 and beyond. Here is an example of why change is needed, as explained by a member of buildingSmart: "If I move one wall of one floor of a 40-story building, why should I have to package up the entire 40-story building with all of its information, when I could just send [the client] the new wall. Or, [I could] just send them the information that I moved this wall over to here." Programs like Revit have a database-like representation, so they can do a selective export. What’s technically not attractive is a selective import from a complete IFC SPF file. IFC is in ASCII format, and looks like this (how IFC defines the vertices of a 3D polyline): #196= IFCPOLYLINE((#200,#204,#208,#212,#216,#220,#224)); #200= IFCCARTESIANPOINT((0.,293.4494)); #204= IFCCARTESIANPOINT((25.4,318.8494)); #208= IFCCARTESIANPOINT((120.65,318.8494)); #212= IFCCARTESIANPOINT((120.65,0.)); #216= IFCCARTESIANPOINT((25.4,0.)); #220= IFCCARTESIANPOINT((0.,25.4)); #224= IFCCARTESIANPOINT((0.,293.4494)); The file fragment is shown in IFC-SPF format, the most common .ifc format. Each in the file defines one piece of data. SPF is short for "STEP physical file" and means that the format used by IFC mimics that of STEP, the international "Standard for The Exchange of Product model data" -- more commonly used in MCAD. ASCII is good, because we humans can read it. But, being in ASCII, it suffers from the same problems that all ASCII files have:  File-size bloat -- files are 6x larger than when compressed Sequential reading -- entire file must be read from start to end No mid-file extraction -- the entire model must be loaded into software Slow parse speed -- I've waited 15 minutes for an IFC file to open Not hierarchical -- definitions are not defined in order, so the definition of a wall (size, location) can be in one place and information about the related opening in the wall in another spot While file size is not a problem on today's voluminous computers, the other limitations are frustrating. And so the need to look at a modern file format. But which one?   Two-fork Modernization Not that there haven't already been modernization attempts: ifcXML is the XML version of IFC. It looks like the HTML that's used to define Web pages. When software doesn't necessarily know about the file format, then XML [extensible markup language] is useful in this situation. IFCXML expands file size by about 13%. Here is the start of the definition of a door in ifcXML: <?xml version="1.0"?> <ConceptTemplate xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" uuid="1e5da429-cf7c-4f23-8b32-53ad98e238ad" name="Door Attributes" applicableSchema="IFC4" applicableEntity="IfcDoor">   <Rules>     <AttributeRule AttributeName="Tag">       <EntityRules>         <EntityRule EntityName="IfcIdentifier" />       </EntityRules>     </AttributeRule> ifcZIP is the compressed version of IFC using the common-place PkZIP technology. It is in binary format and reduces file size by about 6x. ifcOWL is based on Terse RDF Triple Language that is useful for visualizing the content of IFC files using semantic Web to link external data, such as from sensors and geographic databases. OWL is short for "Web Ontology Language" and RDF is short for "Resource Description Framework." Beyond these, IFC is being modernized through two new projects:  ifcJSON -- JavaScript Object Notation, broadly available ifcHDF5 -- Hierarchical Data Format v5, binary See https://vimeo.com/423525651 for a recent Webinar on IFC JSON and HDF5.   ifcJSON Is the XML Future ifcJSON is based on JSON (pronounced "jason"), which is a prevalent data architecture used by Web browsers. JSON is easy to read by humans, is tolerant of faults, and is built into all modern Web browsers. JSON is like XML, but is more modern and has more datatypes, such as arrays, unlike XML. Like XML, there are many programming tools available for JSON, such as JavaScript and Python, and it is compatible with C# and Java. Since it based on an existing standard, formats and programs already exist, such as to view raw data. In terms of IFC, JSON is useful because it will support partial models, and software can operate on the data directly, without translation. So, buildingSmart has two JSON projects underway. ifcJSON v4 is a direct mapping from EXPRESS-based IFC v4 (see figure 2).   Figure 2: Ecosystem planned for ifcJSON v4 "Once you see an IFC data in JSON, it is striking how much of the file is empty or contains default data," says buildingSmart. A typical IFC file is 90% unnecessary, containing identity matrices or of default values. (Matrices are used to transform vector entities through actions like scaling and rotating; when one is an identity matrix, no transformation takes place.)  ifcJSON v5 is the next version. It simplifies things and adds more capability. It supports geometry as OBJ meshes, FBX game assets, b-reps, and other formats, limits null and empty values (which bulk up ASCII files unnecessarily). Using meshes and leaving out solid modeling simplifies the modeling engine. Figure 3 shows an example of a simplified ifcJSON v5 file.   Figure 3: Non-hierarchical IFC content simplified by ifcJSON v5   ifcHDF5 Is the Binary Future ifcHDF5 is based on HDF [hierarchical data format] v5 that is used for scientific computing, such as MatLab. At this point, buildingSmart is working on a research project experimenting with turning IFC into a binary format. The drawback is that HDF is not universal like JSON, and so the problems to overcome are how to distribute HDF5 to stakeholders and import HDF5-based files into proprietary software.  The benefit to binary is that it uses fixed-length storage and hierarchical structure, so that the software knows where in the file to jump to. Reading some binary data takes the same time for both small files and large. For instance, to learn how many stories a building model holds, this just involves reading metadata and occurs nearly instantly (around .001 seconds). Reading the total area of all windows takes not much longer. In figure 4, the green line is the time to read ASCII file for the total area of all windows for increasingly complex buildings (a through i); the brown line shows the binary read-time. The graphs are logarithmic.   Figure 4: ASCII (green) vs binary (brown) file read times ifcHDF5 supports huge data sets, such as those contained in point clouds and sensor data. You cannot store point clouds and acquisition data in ASCII files, because they typically are gigabytes in size. buildingSmart sees different ways of implementing these large data sets. Data from buildings scanned for renovations would probably be kept separate from as-built verification scans. On the other hand, hybrid modeling combines precise 3D models with scans of ornamental parts; or, you might want to keep progressive data of buildings as they shift. See figure 5.   Figure 5: Handling point clouds in projects Different representations of buildings can be mounted, such as just the bounding boxes, just the b-rep, just the meshes, and so on. A binary ifcHDF5 is not that much smaller than a compressed ASCII IFC file, because of its use of fixed record lengths.  A problem solved by HDF5 is long-time archives, as the format encodes checksums (to ensure the data being read is valid). The IFC schema is encoded so that the IFC version number no longer matters. Even if the storage media deteriorates, parts of the file can be extracted. HDF viewer software displays the binary data in ASCII format that is human-readable.   ODA's Role in Binary IFC by Neil Peterson, President ODA In 2019, we established a new partnership with buildingSmart, and at the same time released the initial version of our new IFC SDK [software development kit]. IFC is an open format, and so we are providing our IFC SDK at no additional cost as part of a standard ODA membership. There are a surprising number of problems with the various third-party IFC solutions on the market. For example, some commercial solutions are not even thread-safe, so we’ve been able to solve a lot of problems for our members in this area. IFC is generally encoded using the STEP physical file format, which is a text file that must be read line by line from start to finish. As part of our effort, we are currently implementing support for binary IFC, based on the work of Thomas Krijnen. We are using the standard HDF5 binary and hierarchical data format, as binary IFC files support random access to specific IFC entities.  So, it’s possible to implement more sophisticated loading techniques, such as partial and lazy loading. We have a binary IFC prototype up and running, and expect to have this new feature in our production release by the third quarter of this year. - - - The new IFC formats will be language-independent. Older versions of IFC will be supported in the years ahead, including the EXPRESS, STEP, and other versions. In the end, it's "just being able to exchange pieces that people care about." https://technical.buildingsmart.org/standards/ifc/ifc-formats/ My thanks to Thomas Krijnen for pointing me towards buildingSmart's future development for IFC. He is working on the binary version of IFC, ifcHDF5.   Sponsor: Okino Graphics == 3D Data Translation Software Tailored to Solve Your Problems ==   Education and awareness make for flawless, error-free, and numerically-correct MCAD conversions! Okino's PolyTrans|CAD software solves complex, demanding 3D conversion problems by transforming CAD and DCC datasets into highly optimized and efficient files for all common downstream 3D programs and authoring packages. Our staff ensures that each Okino solution fits your conversion problems 'like a glove', including useful discussions on how to source the best 3D datasets.  Popular CAD data sources include SolidWorks, ProE/Creo, Inventor, AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, DGN, IGES, STEP, Parasolid, and JT. DCC data sources are Cinema-4D, 3ds Max, Maya, FBX/Collada, and many more. Perfected over three decades, we know 3D data translation intimately, providing you with highly personalized solutions, education, and communication. Contact CTO Robert Lansdale at lansd@okino.com  http://www.okino.com Letters to the Editor Re: How the Mighty Fall Excellent Ralph! Spot on. Thank you very much.     - David Sargert - - - I read with interest your recent posting and would like to comment on 'What Ralph Grabowski Thinks.' You hit the nail on the head. Your comments were so true. Business today is arrogant and disrespectful of their customers.  I feel that some businesses feel that they can change the way they conduct business and the customers will go along with it.   A prime example is Autodesk. I personally bought every upgrade to AutoCAD from v 2.5 to 2011. At 2011, I decided to find a cheaper CAD software because AutoCAD was more expensive than I could afford, and the subscription and upgrades did not seem to be worth the cost.  I found Progecad and bought it, instead of AutoCAD, and no longer have the problems, expense, and hassle. The software has been as good as AutoCAD and at a much cheaper price. I upgrade every other year), I am none the worse for wear.  I do not even recommend AutoCAD to anyone. I know what my upgrades will cost and have had no problems with Progecad.     - Newt Edwards The editor replies: The good news is that in 2020 there are many alternatives to AutoCAD that do 2D drafting at a lower cost, and without mandatory subscriptions. - - - I almost read the whole issue in one swoop. I am afraid this pandemic will do a lot of damage to businesses, small, large, and in between, owners, employees, customers.     - Herb Grabowski The editor replies: While shops may go out of business at a faster rate than normal, there will always be entrepreneurs to rise up and fill perceived gaps. - - - I’ve been in business 34 years.  I’m energize by the very fact that I simply enjoy what I do.  It’s my hobby that happens to have revenues tied to it.  That’s the way I think of you.  You continue to provide consistent, high quality and insightful material.  That can only come from the passion you have for what you do.  I appreciate it and you. - M.R. The editor replies: It is hard to believe that when in 1985 I answered a tech-editor-needed ad from CADalyst magazine in the local paper (after being laid off as an engineer) that the topic would become the rest of my life   Re: pCloud pRoblems I noticed that my AutoCAD files didn’t have any revisions saved on pCloud, as happens with Dropbox. I contacted pCloud and the following is their reply.   "Our developers confirm that there's a bug with the revisions when editing AutoCAD files, but please note that an immediate fix is not possible. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with an estimated time for a version with a fix." The version history on Dropbox has helped me alot from time to time, so it’s a disappointment that it doesn’t happen with pCloud and is of such a low priority to fix that they have no idea when it will be dealt with. I don’t know if you found this happening to you, but with one of pCloud's recent updates I was disconnected from pCloud and got an expired session window, which sat on top of the login screen. Once I closed the expired session window the login screen closed, too. I can’t remember how, but I managed to eventually get the login screen (I think I rebooted each of my PC’s that had this problem and then manually restarted pCloud).     - Dairobi Paul   The editor replies: I have noticed that pCloud is slow to fix bugs. For instance, the right-click option to get a download link went missing for several months. The expired session bug was fixed with the most recent pCloud update, I think. I use pCloud for most of my online storage needs, but its drawbacks mean that I continue to use the free version Dropbox, although it is limited to three machines now. If necessary, I also use free Google Cloud with apps that do not work with pCloud. I appreciate pCloud's 0.5TB online storage for a one-time fee, but then I wonder how long before pCloud might go out of business!   Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: KCL (small company donation) Stanley Przybylinski To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.   *4880

 

Our Limits of Understanding, Part II: How the Mighty Fall (book review)

Issue #1,057   |  June 1, 2020

 

Book written by Jim Collins Reviewed by Ralph Grabowski   This article is the second in a series in upFront.eZine examining complexity and what we can understand about it. Here we learn about failure and overcoming it. - - - We like being associated with success, but in the real world we experience failure. By understanding what can cause failure, we can learn how to avoid it, and if we cannot avoid it, then we can learn how to navigate it.  A failure warning I took to heart early on is Intel CEO Andy Grove's declaration, “Only the paranoid survive.” Well, it's not that the paranoid necessarily survive, but your business is more likely to survive when it looks in all directions for possible dangers.  Danger is complex because it comes from many directions. Changes in market. Loss of customers. Reduced ability to deliver. Extended power or Internet outages. Even something as obscure as sudden changes in currency exchange becoming severe enough to pummel revenues.  Some dangers can be mitigated by looking back to what has happened in the past, and others by thinking about what might occur in the future. We can only guess, and then make preparations that might never be needed.  As I write this, Hertz is protecting itself with a bankruptcy filing. It has the ongoing cost of leasing three-quarters of a million vehicles for which it has insufficient customers. We understand why it is happening (politicians made the coronavirus-inspired decision to reduce movement), but could such a danger have been predicted? As a part of learning about the complexity of failure, I have found corporate biographies fascinating reading, learning of how Corel, American Express, Shell, Enron, Palm Computing Time-Warner, ComputerLand rose or failed. Luck often paid a role in rising; failure mostly came about from decisions by executives.   How the Great Fall When Jim Collins wrote Good to Great, he ended up with a four-million copy bestseller. He didn't realize he would need a followup to document how the great become broken. He was horrified to observe some of the greats in his book fall from lofty perches after attaining perfect business practices, HP and Circuit City most of all.  He and his staff set about rummaging through tens of thousands of business documents to learn the vectors of failure. One source of information he did not consult was the horse's mouth, the staff and executives who worked at the failing companies. From experience, he knew their anecdotal stories would be biased -- too positive or too negative. Instead, he consulted mountains of paperwork that public companies generate, such as annual reports, press releases, and minutes of meetings. Mr Collins came up with five steps that start a successful company on the path to failure: Step 1. Hubris [foolish pride] born of success Step 2. Undisciplined pursuit of more Step 3. Denial of risk and peril Step 4. Grasping for salvation Step 5. Capitulation to irrelevance, or death The companies he examined are these ones: A&P (Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) knew their customers so well that when a hearse went by, execs could say, "There goes another customer." Addressograph launched 23 new copier products in three years to counter upstart Xerox, and engaged in other flip-flopping to loose itself. Ames Department Stores overtook A&P by establishing itself in smaller towns, but then was overtaken by Wal-Mart in exactly the same way. Bank of America fell from its position as the largest bank in the world when the then-new CEO drove a wedge between top performers and non-performers.  Circuit City expanded too fast to used car megastores (CarMax) and encrypted DVD rentals (DivX), while not keeping an eye on upstart BestBuy's warehouse concept. Hewlett-Packard broke Packard's Law, which states that companies are more likely to die of indigestion from too much opportunity than from starvation. Merck gave itself high growth goals in an industry where only one out of an average of 1,150 molecules becomes a possible medication. Motorola got to the point where it felt it had to keep spending too much on satellite phones and satellites launches, even as terrestrial cell phone towers blossomed. Rubbermaid grew so fast that it couldn't keep up with itself (see below). Scott Paper failed to appreciate consumer demand for a competitor's more absorbent paper towels and softer toilet paper Zenith didn't take the new competitors from Japan seriously (just as American car makers initially didn't) and did not keep up with lower prices and higher quality (The book more briefly covers other firms that stumbled and recovered, such as IBM, NASA, and TI.)   Not all collapsed, as hinted at by the subtitle: "Why Some Companies Never Give In." Bank of America, HP, and Merck are still independent firms today. Other names familiar to us (Rubbermaid, Scott) now exist as subsidiaries of larger corporations.   Ask Yourself The book spends time emphasizing the nature of leadership, those CEOs who understand the market, those who do not. Mr Collins asks you to ask two questions about your business: A. If you believe your business is successful due to luck, what happens when it runs out of luck? B. If you think you success is due to your amazing abilities, what happens when you are wrong? (Luck includes being in the right place at the right time, finding a niche, having a product that's unexpectedly and wildly popular with customers, landing a sugar daddy.) Answers by Mr Collins: A. Position your firm for when luck runs out  B. Know that the best corporate leaders remain students Good leaders are not Knowing people ("We know how to be successful!"); they are Learning people, relentless picking the brains of others ("Why? Why? Why?"). The case history that I found most remarkable was Rubbermaid's decision in 1994 to release one new product every day for three years, 365 days a year. It didn't help that Fortune magazine gushed over it as the #1 Most Admired Company. It declined in just four years, eliminating six thousand products, closing nine plants, laying off 1,170 jobs, and finally in 1998 selling itself to Newell.  Its luck ran out: commodity prices went up Its amazing ability collapsed: it found itself unable to fill orders This book was written just before the housing-driven economic collapse of 2008 and subsequent Internet-driven destruction of businesses. Had he waited, he could have written about Target's expansion into Canada.  America's second largest retailer (after Wal-mart) was beloved by Canadian cross-border shoppers for its trendy-looking products at reasonable prices. Canadians even nicknamed it with a French-sounding "Tarjay." So it made sense for Target to enter Canada. The company bought out many leases of low-end retailer Zellers (my favorite place for clothes), and then remodeled locations as quickly as possible, opening an astounding 133 Target Canada stores in under two years.  Then it was hit by perception problems:  Due to insufficient warehouse space, Target Canada was unable to restock store shelves quickly enough, and so shoppers came to stores that looked partially empty. The stuff Canadians loved to buy wasn't there. Due to the exchange rate, prices were 30% higher. The prices Canadians expected to pay were more than the ones they were familiar with from shopping in the States.  Three years after it arrived, the company racked up two billion dollars in losses, and then pulled out of Canada.   What Ralph Grabowski Thinks Here are some of the tactics I deployed in my 29 years as a free-lance writer: The Business Have many fingers in many pies: when one type of work becomes less popular, several others keep you going. Find a niche: mine is to tell my readers what they don't know. Look for new opportunities: don't stay comfortable with what you know. Become desirable: work fast, deliver on-time, stay on-budget, and deliver an excellent product. Don't be arrogant: learn from customer complaints by implementing them as suggestions. Maintain friendships: connect with and learn from others in your industry. Fire customers who frustrate you: living a frustrated life is not worth the money it brings in. Read voraciously: understand history, and learn which trends might be useful to your business. The Money Don't depend on a single large customer: losing it represents a sudden, catastrophic loss of income. Have no debt:  owe no one, pay all bills immediately, and avoid subscriptions. Hound those who owe you money: it is, after all, your money, not their's. Maintain cash reserves: you can coast on them when pickings are slimmer for a time. Invest profits: take advantage of economic ups and downs by investing in a range, such as mutual funds (stock market), bonds, investment certificate (fixed interest), physical gold, even cashback credit cards.  If you work internationally, then maintain bank accounts in major currencies:  move funds when exchange rates are advantageous. Minimize the possibility of legal attack. The Office Work from home: avoid the time and costs of commuting. Don't upgrade software unless you have to; upgrade hardware only when it makes you faster at what you do. Maintain backups: uninterruptible power supplies, alternative Internet access, large capacity portable solid state drives, off-site backups, spare computers and parts (monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drives, toner), and insurance coverage. Consider faults in your office's physical location: earthquakes, landslides, fire, alternative exit routes, and so on.  In short: Assume problems will occur. Try to figure out what they might be. Implement protective actions.  - - - I appreciated the lessons from this book, but I felt it has too few chapters and too much in the way of appendices. Mr Collins initially considered 60 companies, and I wish he'd have covered more of them and their failures. How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In  by Jim Collins 240 pages Published by Jim Collins, 2009 ISBN-10: 0977326411 ISBN-13: 978-0977326419   Letters to the Editor Re: When the cursor gets erratic Bless whoever posted this about the USB extender. Wish I'd known this years ago! This just fixed a major headache, and a 6-foot extender was all it needed.  I so wish Logitech "support" had told me this as a possible solution, rather than many useless install/reinstall software suggestions. Thank you to all who posted this!      - Anon (via WorldCAD Access)   Re: Dassault Systemes vs Solidworks Where can one find a sufficiently reliable statistics on, say, copies of Solidworks annually sold or have been installed and so? For example, those you recently mentioned regarding Inventor vs Solidworks.      - L. D. The editor replies: Nowhere. CAD vendors no longer report seats, unless it suits their marketing to show that they are superior to their competitors. There are a few financial and market analysts who attempt to track numbers, such as by asking retailers for sales. - - -   Thanx for another good expose, but this time about Solidworks. The [Dassault] idea of 'roles' is BS. It’s just another way to split a program up into bits and pieces, each of which can be charged separately, thus raising revenues for the investors.  I’ve been on a quest for two decades to find a CAD program that does everything well. But to my dismay, not only are all the bits and pieces at Autodesk, Dassault, Hexagon, etc. not doing what I want, they don’t have any intentions any time soon to do so. Why? Because there will be no money in it. Once a business finds they can do everything with the tools they currently possess, they won’t spend more money at the cad store. A perfect example is automatic drawings and dimensioning of detail parts in 3D documentation. That would save at least 30% of the time and work in a project’s life cycle. Neither Inventor nor Solidworks has that, but you can find it done by independent developers for small companies using their APIs.     - Chris Cadman   Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Jim Wright: "Thanks for all your great writing!" Steve Bumbalough To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

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Dassault Systemes vs Solidworks: Part II

Issue #1,056   |  May 25, 2020

 

Another viewpoint by Ralph Grabowski   When it comes to high-end MCAD, Dassault Systemes is the go-to company. Its software designs most of the automobiles we drive and aircraft in which we (used to) fly. It is on track to exceed $5 billion in revenues. Growth is good, but wouldn't more growth be better? And so over the last decade Dassault went on an acquisitions spree, buying up software adjacent to its main Catia design package, such as geology. To get out of the CAD rut, the company even targeted fashion and consumer goods, going so far as marketing software that determines where to best place products on store shelves. Consumer goods is a field, however, in which it faces many established competitors.  With the awe-inspiring success of Frank Gehry using Catia for iconic buildings, surely Catia would be ideal for the architectural side of the design market. (I'll let you in on the secret: I understand that Gehry himself never used CAD; only his assistants did.) As a result, the folks at Dassault spoke passionately -- for many years -- about their plans for AEC, but perhaps ended up speaking too long. While Dassault was busy being passionate, BIM was busy overwhelming regular 3D. Dassault had no BIM with which to enter the market, and so today it emphasizes using its 3dExperience software for the mechanical side of architecture, such as fabrication, simulation, and generative design.   The Medical Market What would be a much bigger market than CAD and is in desperate need of digitalization? If you guess "construction," you'd be right. But, in the case of Dassault, you'd be wrong. The focus of the company's high-energy CEO Bernard Charles is on medicine. Last fall the company completed its largest acquisition ever, spending US$5.8 billion to acquire Medidata Solutions. Dassault is convinced that it "will become Dassault Systèmes’ second largest core business, after transportation and mobility." The company already had a footprint in this area with its Biovia software for modeling materials and chemicals. It's easy to see why Dassault likes Medidata. It earned nearly a billion euros last year and is the primary reason Dassault will soon exceed five billion in revenues. The software runs on Medidata's own Rave Clinical Cloud system to store and distribute medical data, which nicely matches Dassault's own cloud-centric stance. Dassault's first CEO Francis Bernard is, however, not so sure about the acquisition. "With the medical domain, it is not a differentiation, it is a new business. Our competition will come from players other than those in the PLM business," he said in an interview.  Dassault is already describing its medical platform as the "virtual twin experience of humans," mimicking the digital twin strategy popular in CAD today. (See figure 1.) People are, however, not things.  Figure 1: The product life cycles of Dassault Systemes   Solidworks Stays Solid This is the tenth anniversary of Dassault's failure to turn Solidworks into a cloud-based product, one that began under the name of "Solidworks 6." The collective yawn from users towards the incompatible xDesign-series and other missteps by Dassault became repeated failures. The difference in cultures between Paris and middle-America don't help. Paris-based Dassault doesn't understand why desktop users wouldn't want to leap at the chance to move to the cloud, touting the benefits of sharing (with other employees), sharing (with clients and manufacturers), and sharing (with other 3dExperience modules). Literally, we had Dassault executives last year asking the stolid Solidworks crowd to please cheer for one or another new 3dExperience-related feature. Meanwhile, middle America doesn't understand the need to replace a great-working independent desktop system by a system that costs more, works differently, and depends on a solid Internet connection. This is how great-working Solidworks is: it is the world's most popular MCAD software, that boasts a million commercial users (and five or six million education users), that last year sold 81,000 licenses -- double that of Autodesk Inventor -- and that last quarter provided Dassault with 20% of its revenues. For 2020, Dassault Systemes twisted the knife a bit deeper by renaming the beloved Solidworks World as "3dExperience World." (3dExperience is the name of Dassault's company-wide platform.) I don't know what kind of discussions went on in the background, and maybe none did, but the Americans managed to wrap their own "Solidworks Live" nomenclature around 3dExperience World to make the new name look subsidiary to the old one. More unhappy news for users as CEO Charles warned that "we are going to progressively introduce the idea that subscription will be mandatory" for Solidworks. Every couple of years, Dassault changes the 3dExperience-based software it offers Solidworks users and changes the names in the hope that this -- finally! -- will entice them to 3dExperience. These are the programs on offer this year: 3D Creator for creating and reviewing regular 3D models from solids (includes xDesign) 3D Sculptor for making organic shapes from 3D meshes (includes xShape). See figure 2.   [Figure 2: User interface of software offered by Dassault to Solidworks users   Solidworks 2021 During Solidworks Live earlier this year, we got to see a few of the new features coming in Solidworks 2021. The list seemed to me to be sparse compared to other years. This could be due to the programmers not having progressed very far yet, or it could be an AutoCAD-ization of Solidworks, in which the new feature set is greatly reduced. On to what's new: When you use silhouette defeaturing in Solidworks 2021 to simplify a model by removing unneeded details, you can now save the silhouette as a configuration within the current model, so that it doesn't need to be stored in a separate file.  Sheetmetal lets you place edge flanges on curved tangent edges. (See figure 3.)   Figure 3: Solidworks 2021 placing a flange along a curved edge The Color Picker lets you pick up a color from another document in other programs, and then apply the color to the model in Solidworks. This seemingly minor function is surprisingly useful, as I have found from using color pickers in other software. You'll be able to edit legacy dimensions in drawings, as well as create, edit, and dimension drafting views like details and breaks. (See figure 4.) We've seen this level of detailing functions in other CAD programs, so it's good to see them beefed up in Solidworks. Along with new ways to annotate drawings, you will be able to place hole callouts on holes made by the Hole Wizard and by extruded cuts.     Figure 4: Enlarged detail view in upper right of drawing Some tweaks are being made to simulation, such as getting more accurate results from bonded non-planer contacts that have variations in the meshing. Blended curvature-based meshes are faster and just as accurate. Dassault expects to ship the new release of Solidworks in the fall.   What Ralph Grabowski Thinks Solidworks is the AutoCAD of the mechanical design world. Both programs are old, but keep on doing what their users need them to do. In the main, the market for both CAD systems consist of one- and two-man shops, and in the case of Solidworks, primarily it's for making steel parts for customers. That Dassault Systemes feels compelled to mess with a successful formula remains a puzzle to me, given that ten years of messing hasn't worked. For some, no egg can be golden enough in their effort to kill the goose. How golden? The company looks forward to Solidworks becoming a billion-dollar business. And so it appears to me that Dassault seems to have switched its strategy, from trying to kill Solidworks to trying to milk it as a cash cow, and even is copying Autodesk's apparently successful strategy in (a) reducing the new feature count while (b) forcing mandatory subscriptions on customers. Even pirates will be converted, the company's executives think; Autodesk used to think the same.  If nothing else, Solidworks users can take comfort in Dassault CEO Charles declaring that the 25-year-old program will be around for another 20 years. https://www.solidworks.com [This article first appeared in Design Engineering and is reprinted with permission.]   On the Blog Here are some of the new posts on the WorldCAD Access blog: Google Signals WFH is Acceptable From Now On How to Hack C++ with Templates and Friends Thank you, readers! Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Dan Wiseman Christopher Cleary To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

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Solidworks at 3DExperience World 2020

Issue #1,055   |  May 18, 2020

 

Guest Editorial by Nikolay Snytnikov

For several days in mid-February the cowboys in downtown Nashville Tennessee had to make room for 6,000 Solidworks users, developers, and resellers as the city became the temporary capital of CAD during the 3Dexperience World 2020 conference -- the former Solidworks World. The new name was not chosen randomly by Dassault Systèmes. It reflects plans announced last year to develop applications that integrate into the 3Dexperience Works platform, with Solidworks as the flagship. A key event at the conference this year was the presentation of the new platform that combines online technology, a suite of applications, and a new licensing system. Everyday users of Solidworks, who have little interest in corporate branding tactics or in predicting trends from the future, couldn’t easily figure out why they didn’t see the name of their favorite CAD program at the conference. "Solidworks" had been replaced completely by "3Dexperience Works" on the first page of the conference program, on participants’ badges, the T-shirts, and souvenirs. (See figure 1.) Unaware users, who upon first seeing the bold 3Dexperience logo, might even have thought that they had gotten lost at the wrong event in Music City Center, the huge conference forum in which the conference was held. Figure 1: 3Dexperience World branding replacing Solidworks World In his comments to the press, Solidworks CEO Gian Paolo Bassi (see figure 2) noted that the conference’s rebranding a posed considerable risk, and one that the company’s management took because they were confident that Solidworks users would benefit from the opportunities offered by the new 3Dexperience Works system. Figure 2: Solidworks CEO Gian Paolo Bassi   Just as we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, we should not judge this conference by the title on the front of the program’s booklet. 3Dexperience World is, first of all, hundreds of presentations of Solidworks and related technology. These were delivered through 15-20 parallel sessions over four days. Each participant -- from novice user to well-seasoned professional -- could find a few dozen lectures and workshops to match their level and their interests.   The Business of Solidworks Solidworks has become one of the most recognizable brands in the CAD industry, and even beyond. Although it does not hold a monopoly position (as the 3D CAD market of tools is sufficiently diversified), it has a market share of 20-45%, depending on the method of calculation. It has six million users worldwide, of which more than one million are professional engineers who purchase commercial licenses; the remainder consist of primarily educational licenses. As a business, Solidworks is doing better than most. Over the last year, its sales grew by 11% to nearly US$900 million, earning more than 20% of Dassault Systèmes’ four-billion in revenues for 2019. As a point of comparison, Dassault’s flagship MCAD system Catia generated US$1.2 billion. With this unparalleled success in mind, one can ask a logical question: why does Dassault want to rebrand a product that is so much in demand and sells so well? Ten years ago, Jeff Ray, a former Solidworks CEO, openly discussed how the company had begun a secret 'kill Solidworks' project. (For details, see the “The Death of Solidworks” article on Develop 3D.) A new generation of modeling tools would replace Solidworks. The plan was to develop the new product on top of the same technology platform that Catia V6 uses, using the CGM core from Catia's geometry kernel, replacing Parasolid that today is still used in Solidworks. Many of the ideas in the areas of Web access, collaboration, and integration with CATIA remain relevant today. (I’d like to note that those development efforts involved us at LEDAS. We collaborated with Dassault Systèmes on the development of a geometric solver that is built into Catia as a CGM component, and because of this we also were involved in those works for Solidworks.) Fortunately for users, the Solidworks revolution did not occur at that time. Soon after, Dassault Systèmes announced a new concept with the release of its 3Dexperience platform. It replaced PLM. (See article on the Moscow Dassault forum in 2012, albeit in Russian.)  Alternatives based on 3Dexperience, like xDesign, failed to gain traction with Solidworks users. And so the paths of the parent and its subsidiary diverged as plans to merge Solidworks and Catia were postponed to another time. The time has arrived after ten years, except that this time it looks like evolution instead of revolution.   Roles, Web, Subscriptions Technologically, the 3Dexperience Works package is a set of applications/roles that are downloaded and installed on the computers of users (like Solidworks), or else are accessed online via a Web browser. Special attention in 3Dexperience Works is given to “roles.” Each user has a specific role, for example, as a 3D sculptor or a 3D creator. For each role, the 3Dexperience platform has specific applications: xShape for 3D sculpting, xDesign for 3D creating.  An example of a role-playing scenario was presented to us, which created a conceptual design of the sensational Tesla Cybertruck using 3Dexperience Works applications. (Jokers in the CAD industry hypothesized that Cybertruck is so crudely polygonal because Tesla designers did not want to exert themselves with A-class surfaces and their subsequent tessellations and renderings.) All team members were involved in an online collaboration, using the same data, and all their activities were part of a continuous development cycle. It will be possible to store 3Dexperience Works data in the cloud, which will help avoid problems typical with file exchange. File transfers and data conversion between applications are performed in the cloud using native tools. Messaging takes place through 3Dexperience Forum. At some point in the foreseeable future, you will be able to use applications from the CATIA ecosystem, which is one of the significant advantages of the platform -- at least, this is what Dassault management expects. As not everyone accepts this way of working and not everyone trusts cloud storage, existing file processing methods will also be supported. All application updates will be installed automatically, so users no longer need to remember version numbers. The “platform” version of Solidworks will also be updated automatically. In some industries (the field of medicine, for example), certified updates are required for each new software version, and so automatic updates do not need to be an option for them. Dassault Systemes hopes for rapid changes in legislation, as today most Web application updates go unnoticed by users, and this practice is becoming the industry standard. Three types of licenses -- Standard, Professional, and Premium -- provide a set of applications that include Solidworks Standard, Solidworks Professional, and Solidworks Premium. (See figure 3.) It was emphasized to us that the old licensing scheme and the usual Solidworks installation methods remain. However, the company will encourage users to switch to the new commercial offer because it is more beneficial and more convenient for them. Figure 3: New licensing stacks for Solidworks   AI, Machine Learning, APIs In recent years, one of the hot topics in IT [information technology] is the breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence with machine learning, and the resultant avalanche-like growth as these technologies penetrate various fields. Traditional CAD systems lag behind in AI [artificial intelligence], because not many design tasks are particularly suitable for machine learning. Solidworks developers decided to fill the gap by releasing several features in xDesign, xShape, and 3D Sheet Metal Creator based on geometric data processing and machine learning. As Gian Paolo Bassi described them, these are “little delighters” that help in automating some of the dull and time-consuming user actions. In his opinion, machine learning in these cases works just awesome.  What was actually implemented:  A tips system that suggests the use of certain modeling features based on the operations performed by users earlier Recognition of user-created patterns on two-dimensional sketches Automated method of adding mates to assemblies Solidworks plug-in developers are obviously very much interested in an API [application programming interface] for 3Dexperience Works. Would it be possible to develop new applications and customize existing ones? There is no answer to this question yet, but the good news is that the ecosystem and capabilities of the desktop version of Solidworks remain the same, so you can continue using your own and third-party plugins.   The Future of 3Dexperience Dassault Systèmes CEO Bernard Charles guided a tour of 3Dexperience and noted that he is glad that the community is growing. (See figure 4.) Figure 4: Dassault Systèmes CEO Bernard Charles at 3Dexperience World In between, he mentioned a concept new to Dassault Systèmes: the use of digital twins for human beings. What Mr. Charles talked about became clear only a few weeks later, when it turned out that this new concept of “creating life” is already replacing 3Dexperience.   - - - Nikolay Snytnikov is the chief operating officer at LEDAS. He has long been involved in the management and development of key geometric components of CATIA. [This article first appeared on the isicad Web portal at http://ledas.com/news/854-solidworks-at-3dexperience-world-2020-a-new-platform-role-playing-and-machine-learning/ and has been edited for brevity.]

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On the Blog

Here are some of the new posts on the WorldCAD Access blog: The flyingshapes Approach to VR CAD I Come to Praise USB-C

Letters to the Editor

Re: Atlas-Onshape as the Future of PTC It is not just software but hardware. If you lease workstations and your staff levels plummet you get stuck with those lease payments regardless.  If companies instead buys workstations outright each time, then those firms tend to let them stretch, often too far. The performance hit then hits the productivity bottom line and even worse it often discourages upgrades due to the fact that upgrades often require operating system upgrades and those then slow machine performance down even further.  All of this begs the question, in light of Covid-19, of how best to manage these costs with ebbs and flows. Month-to-month leases of both hardware and software seem much more attractive now given this pandemic. Virtualized workstations like BOXX's new offering seem interesting. At the architecture firm where I am a principal, we now have half of our workstations sitting empty, fair-market lease agreement payments be damned. Ugg!     - Anthony Frausto-Robledo, architect, editor-in-chief     www.architosh.com - - - Outstanding job as always.      - Scott Shuppert      Cad / Cam Services   Re: I Come to Praise USB-C I converted to USB-C with my last Windows Phone, which had a USB- C dock option. (See photo at https://flic.kr/p/KNMALs.) Using it with the dock, to HDMI or a wireless display adaptor, made a very portable mobile solution. I was trialing it for cycle trips, where you really don't want to take a notebook, even a small one. (See the setup at https://flic.kr/p/Lj3rLW.) Then I had to go back to USB mini with the Samsung Android One, a step backwards as they are so 'fragile'. At least the dock etc is still fully compatible with other USB-C gear like my Surface Book 2 & Go.      - RobiNZ (via WorldCAD Access)   Re: When the cursor gets erratic Thanks a lot for your fix. You have just saved me the cost of a replacement mouse.  I have been cleaning it, changing battery, nearly smashing it with a hammer, and now, after plugging it into my BenQ 32inch 4k monitor, it's working perfectly again. A very happy Linux user here! Cheers      - Phil (via WorldCAD Access)

Thank You, Readers

Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Arnold van der Weide, The Netherlands Dan Wiseman, England To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada. *4906

Atlas-Onshape as the Future of PTC

Issue #1,054   |  The Business Side of CAD |  May 11, 2020

 

by Ralph Grabowski

In the days when Parametric Technology Corporation (now PTC) introduced parametric design to the world in 1988, it was normal to run MCAD software on the Unix operating system, because it was more powerful than DOS. Then everyone moved to Windows. PTC was one of the later ones switching to Windows, and now it is late in moving to the cloud.   Cloud MCAD, Not So Much As it turns out, it's probably okay for PTC to be late to the cloud, because most of its competitors are stumbling in this area (c.f. Dassault's 10-year failure with Solidworks), or are having half a leg there (c.f. Autodesk's hybrid Fusion), or are simply ignoring it (c.f. Siemens with NX). For collaboration and online storage, sure, it makes sense; for hardcore MCAD, less so. The notable exception is Onshape, which spent $100 million over six years to arrive at a pretty good cloud-only MCAD program. By Onshape's own metric, however, it was unsuccessful: "We want this to be as widely used as Acrobat and PDF files." It's not. Onshape had five thousand paying customers by the time it sold itself, down from ten thousand beta testers. There even was chatter at the time of Onshape displacing Solidworks, which today stands astride one million commercial customers.  (As a point of comparison, SpaceClaim apparently had 30,000 customers at the time it sold itself to ANSYS for $85 million. When it launched in 2007, SpaceClaim's claim-to-fame was in popularizing direct modeling. Just about everybody scrambled to copy it; just about nobody scrambled to copy Onshape's pure-cloud offering in MCAD.)    Onshape is PTC's Shortcut When PTC CEO James Hepplemann spoke last November about his company's acquisition of Onshape, he stated that it would also have cost PTC several hundred million dollars but taken five years or longer to develop its own cloudCAD software. This tells me that PTC had not gotten very far in its own attempt. Last November, the plan was this: Onshape would be a new SaaS [software as a service] SME [small and medium size enterprises] revenue stream for PTC, to be sold along side Creo (formerly Pro/Engineer) for large corporation. Some of PTC's software would be ported to Onshape, the first being in the area of generative design. With PTC positioning Onshape as their second CAD system alongside Creo, customers now had a choice: cloud or desktop MCAD. (PTC prefers using the term SaaS over cloud.)   On the Shoulders of Atlas Last month, PTC announced a radical new strategy named "Atlas." Atlas comes from the name of the god of the ancient Romans on whose shoulders the world rested. Onshape is to become the shoulders of PTC as the company ports (eventually) most of its software collection to the cloud-based Atlas platform. Instead of Onshape coming to PTC, PTC is coming to Onshape.   Vuforia Chalk with AR and markup (all images PTC) The master plan calls first for Frustum generative design and Vuforia AR [augmented reality] to be ported to Atlas by the end of this year. Based on past experience, expect them next year. Software like Vuforia is already cloud-based, but, PTC concedes, it will have to be modified to work with the Onshape engine. Other programs by PTC, whether in SaaS form such as Windchill PLM [product lifecycle management] or on desktop, will be ported in the years following.  Also, think plug-in architecture. Anything missing from the Onshape-Atlas platform will be added as plug-ins, such as Vuforia-style visualization.   Onshape Was Never About CAD At its core, Onshape is not a CAD system. As its co-founders patiently explained over and over, they began by building a server-based database-driven collaboration engine, because that's what's needed as the foundation for cloudCAD. Once they had that working properly, they added MCAD on top because that's what they knew best from their days at Solidworks.   Onshape with version control This is why Solidworks and Onshape both run the same Parasolid kernel, a thorn in the side of Dassault and a headache for PTC, which runs its own Granite kernel. This may be why Mr Heppelmann predicts, "At some point [Onshape] actually will look materially different than what we acquired from Onshape, because we've taken it in other directions."   Why PTC May Win The premise behind the promise of the cloud was that it would scale to infinity. (It can't, and even if it could, you couldn't afford it.) It also promised us that our IT headaches would be taken care of, because we'd be paying someone else to take care of the headaches, through off-premise servers.  It turns out that the #1 concern in CAD is not IT, but IP [intellectual property] protection. PTC's premise is that its cloud is already offered on-premise, a.k.a. the local cloud, where some firms feel IP is protected best. It knows this from the experience it gained after many years of Windchill SaaS installations, and so it knows that this is what corporations want. On-premise deployment may, however, pain the Onshape folks, who were adamantly against the private cloud: "Users who require that can stick with traditional CAD" was their blunt take-it-or-leave-it response, a somewhat harsh deviation from their usual "gosh, folks like you" marketing stance. "And so what we'd like to do, is somewhere down the road," said Mr Happlemann, "we [will] have a complete, 100%, SaaS-based, closed-loop, lifecycle management suite that passes that 15-second test. You click on a link, and within 15 seconds you're in any part of the suites doing anything that we can do." Closed-loop is PTC's term for using all of its software -- CAD, PLM, ALM, SLM, IIoT, SCM -- and using it in a manner similar to what other firms call a "digital twin." So, plug-ins + cloud = Atlas. It appears that PTC is headed in the direction of Dassault, which implemented a similar system a decade ago under the name of V6, now 3dExperience -- or maybe not.  Six years ago, PTC planned to use its newly acquired ThingWorx IIoT [industrial Internet of things] platform for unifying everything. It even renamed its annual user conference after it, LiveWorx. Back then, the plan was this: "PTC sees the code-less mash-up technology [from ThingWorx]... to create a unified user experience and workflow."   Why PTC Might Not Win A myth promoted about subscriptions is that customers can add and subtract seats as demand for their design services fluctuate. In reality, CAD vendors don't want you doing that. Your desire for flexibility impacts their the bottom line negatively. For PTC today, 95% of its software revenue comes from subscriptions. And so this is how Mr Heppelmann last month reassured financial analysts, who were worried that the coronavirus-induced recession would impact PTC's revenues: "The thing you have to understand is [customer] contracts. Once you sign a contract, if somebody comes and says hypothetically 'We'd like to renegotiate that', our reaction is, we wouldn't.  "There's a whole lot of contracts we have that we'd like to renegotiate. We have a lease on a brand new headquarters. It's been empty for six weeks. I'd like to renegotiate that, but the vendor doesn't seem to want to renegotiate it with me.  "So I'm just saying these are contracts, that there isn't renegotiation unless there's something in it for us too. Simply taking [seat numbers] down would just be a win-loss [win for the customer, loss for PTC] and difficult to get us to sign up for that." The approach may not necessarily reassure future customers.   The Story of Chalk During this season of coronavirus, PTC has been marketing Vuforia Chalk as its #1 response. Think AR-based [augmented reality] redline markup on phones. Normally Chalk costs, but to the end of June (and maybe later) it's free. I tried it out and found that Chalk works on only a very limited number of Android phones, and not fully on my recent-model Android 10 AR-capable smartphone. (Chalk also works on iPhones and in Web browsers.) Vuforia Chalk promotion on PTC Web site So, here is the altruistic side of PTC: "By making Chalk free for the crisis period, we eliminated sales friction and quickly introduced AR for the first time to thousands of companies who were desperate for an immediate solution." Chalk traffic soared 10x, according to PTC's CEO. And here is the sales side: "These companies using Chalk represent a big upsell pipeline to pursue in Q4 and beyond."   What Ralph Grabowski Thinks PTC has a ton of useful software that surrounds its core CAD system, all the way from technical documentation to augmented reality. In that, it has a compelling story. Yet it has failed to capitalize on its story in the way that Dassault Systemes and Hexagon have, each of which has revenues that are 3x larger. Nevertheless, the company sees Onshape putting PTC in the forefront of SaaS-based MCAD through the new Atlas platform. "PTC is going to press our advantage as hard as we can," says the CEO, "and try to be the company that brings this [MCAD] industry to SaaS." He admits it will take a lot of work and will take years, despite the head start Onshape has given them. PTC has, however, a history of becoming distracted from its core constituency. I am of the opinion that at a point in the future, perhaps just a few years from now, the company will distract itself away from Onshape. If you don't care for where PTC is headed, then wait a few of years. It'll change. https://www.ptc.com

On the Blog

Here are some of the new posts on the WorldCAD Access blog: What's New in nTopology This Month Open Design Alliance Shows Off Its Revit Interface

Thank You, Readers

Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Kevin Fowler  Fritz Hauser, Switzerland To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4910

Potential Impacts of Coronavirus on PLM

Issue #1,053   |    May 4, 2020

(PS: Celebrating upFront.eZine's 25th Anniversary! )

Q&A led by Stan Przybylinski   The Q1 financial results we are seeing from CAD vendors show flat or slight increases in sales, the result of the pandemic's effect on only the last month of the quarter. With parts of the economy further shutting down the giant customers on whom large CAD vendors depend, Q2 results for CAD vendors will be more dramatic. Even Airbus is questioning its viability.   Early responses by corporations to coronavirus (source for all images CIMdata) When the virus began erupting in China, consulting firm CIMdata in March lowered their 2020 prediction for PLM [product lifecycle management] sales to a much smaller 2.4% increase. As the local virus turned into a pandemic, CIMdata tore up their 2020 prediction, scrunched it into a tiny ball, and threw it in the trash bin. (When CIMdata speaks of PLM, they include all forms of related software, including CAD, CAM, and CAE, as well as PLM.) It can nevertheless be helpful to look at past disruptions. With the 2008 economic recession, PLM revenues in 2009 fell by 9.6% but then bounced back in 2010 and 2011 by growing 10.8% and 14.9%, respectively. Stan Przybylinski, vice president of CIMdata, hosted a Webinar last month discussing the possible effects of the coronavirus pandemic on PLM. Not all questions were answered live during the Webinar, and so here is the complete Q&A transcript.  You can watch the original Webinar here (after registration) at register.gotowebinar.com/register/6445876329140066316  and download a PDF of the slides from cimdata.com/images/Webinars/CIMdata_April_COVID-19_Webinar.pdf - - - Q: Will cloud-based PLM solutions, especially solutions on public clouds (e.g., Onshape), be a winner in the crisis? A: People will undoubtedly look more closely at cloud-based offerings. Whether that will extend to a new CAD system is a bigger question. That is as much a function of a comparison of the needed functionality as the way it is delivered. What is true is that companies have their employees working remotely. Some companies have always embraced it, but many have had it forced upon them. The point in this Webinar is that if companies see that their employees can be productive working remotely, it might change their opinion on remote work in general. That could open the floodgate to cloud trials and, eventually, adoption. In a recent CIMdata survey on cloud-based PLM, we asked about major concerns that respondents had about adopting cloud-based solutions: Not surprisingly, security was high on the list Second was cloud-to-onpremise integration Further down the list was an item that is not often discussed: continued solution availability Say you have an on-premise CAD system and data management on the cloud. You work on your design but you might not be able to save it to the system if your cloud access is down. That is a problem, sure, but you can always save it locally. But when your authoring tool is cloud-based and your cloud access is down, you cannot work.  Yes, you say, but my service level agreement states that it will be available 99.9% of the time. Yes, that is true, but that is the application [running 99.9% of the time on the remote server]. Does every link between your desk and that application in the cloud have the same degree of availability?  If your company network goes down, you cannot work If your ISP goes down, you cannot work You can only be as good as the weakest link in the chain This is why that question was included in our multiple-choice question. Its lower ranking shows that people are not necessarily thinking about that eventuality.   Q: Would a potential new normal of personal distancing slow down the adoption of ride-sharing and more importantly automotive investments in mobility solutions for the long run? Or would it be more of a blip? A: Personal ownership of a vehicle has been trending downwards for some years. Some of that decrease in demand has been balanced by vehicles used for ride-sharing services. Based on personal experience, many vehicles used for ride-sharing are not new, particularly for the lower tiers of the ride-sharing experience. The ride-sharing services themselves are looking to eliminate drivers, which would reduce the chance of being exposed to the driver or the recent passengers. They could include systems to sanitize the passenger compartment between rides and negative airflow to suck out the pathogens.  Will that increase the design complexity and require more tools? It is too early to tell. Here I think the chart the I included on vehicle sales is more relevant. [See figure below.] A lot of purchasing power is being taken out of the economy. That will kill sales in the short to medium term, depending on how long it takes people to get back to work. A blip. What you are asking about is more the long term trend.   Automobile sales in the USA since 1978 show where recessions have occurred Q: What industry will potentially experience growth [during the pandemic]? For example, auto flat, aero down, but medical, pharma perhaps up? A: This was not explicitly covered in the Webinar and will be more strongly considered as we flesh out our complete forecasts for the PLM market. But what you ask makes sense.  Medical devices and pharma will thrive in this environment. Auto and aero are tough to figure. There will likely not be people hired to “sit” in new seats. But you need to design a safe, stylish, efficient car if you sell 10,000 units or 500,000. The same for airplanes. You might not need as many design seats, but you may need more simulation. Q: Did you take into account the joint effects of coronavirus and other crises, such as climate change? A: No, that is beyond the scope of our forecasting process. But you could argue that climate change has already driven PLM investment in many segments. Higher mileage requirements mean more design and simulation. Energy requirements in appliances could be seen as having a similar effect. It will take some time for climate change to eliminate entire segments where PLM investment has been high. Mobility is transforming, but it is still focused on personal vehicles (or vehicles sized that way). Will personal vehicles be replaced by smaller autonomous trams that take us the last mile from newly imagined transportation hubs? We are still building airplanes. Will hyperloops replace them? It is those types of changes that will change the PLM economy.   CIMdata's predictions for the new normal Q: Is anyone really using cloud PLM? A: Adoption to date has been slow. In some respects, it has been a chicken-and-egg problem. Overall, the leading on-premise data and process management solution providers have been slow to market with cloud offerings. Many mostly sell managed services, hosting their on-premise versions on public cloud infrastructure.  There are some cloud-native providers like Arena PLM and Propel PLM, and recent entrants like OpenBOM, that are enabling some of the use-cases that the on-premise solutions have long supported. As I said during the session, the coronavirus crisis might encourage industrial firms to take a more serious look. Q: You said on-premise to cloud transformation will pick up the pace now. How do you see the role of PLM system integrators changing? A: CIMdata has spoken about this for several years. There will be at least two kinds of changes: The first has to do with integration. It used to be point-to-point integration between on-premise solutions. Today the underlying technologies and standards are more supportive of other types of integration or linking in the case of the evolving OSLC standards. Also, there are more types of systems that need to be connected. On-premise to cloud. Cloud to cloud. These require different skills than were needed ten years ago.   The second change is in the customization of solutions. There was a co-dependent relationship between the solution providers, system integrators, and the industrial clients. Industrial firms wanted their solution their way. The solution providers were more than happy to offer solutions that could be customized, and the system integrators were delighted to be paid time and materials rates to do it. Today most cloud solutions can only be tailored in ways conceived by those who created them. This changes the type of work that systems integrators will be called upon to do. Setting up an instance of a data and process management solution will be easier with cloud provisioning.  But there is still a lot of work in getting that system ready to work for the company that some people ignore in a world where consumerization of IT is commonplace. Many think that you buy some licenses and are ready to go. That is not the case: Security models still have to be defined and populated with users.  Business processes must be captured and “taught” to the system.  Organizational change management and communications are still essential to support adoption.  The bottom line is that services will always be needed, but their composition will change. Q: What are the major restraints in the market to adopt cloud-based PLM? A: As I stated in a previous answer, some of it is the availability of attractive cloud offerings from the traditional market leaders. But, in CIMdata’s opinion, most of the restraints are psychological. Every time there is a publicly-known security breach, cloud PLM takes a small step backward, even though credit card numbers have little to do with PLM use-cases.  Most large companies are pushing their IT to the cloud.  Small companies like the cloud because of its flexibility.  The shift is likely inevitable. What we are lacking are the case studies of large companies successfully making a move. And it is those types of stories that CIMdata has long told. Q: Which industries do you think will look to adopt PLM solutions more than others? A: One of the constraints on cloud-based PLM is the transmission of large files to and from the cloud. Industries that don’t have large files or are just doing business process collaboration are more likely to move. One good example is retail, footwear and apparel. Document-centric industries work well, like pharma or CPG [consumer product goods]. It is more about business process collaboration and speed. We see more adoption in the traditional high-investment PLM industries like automotive and aerospace, but for them, it is as much inertia holding them back. Q: Do you think coronavirus will provide opportunities for CPG manufacturers? Specifically, will the number 3, 4, 5 brands be able to move up in their category as number 1 and 2 are not available on the retail shelves? A: People who understand the retail business know that most 3, 4, and 5 brands are the same product under the covers. Consumers will undoubtedly be exposed to lower-ranked products because of supply chain constraints presented by the current crisis. Will they change their buying behavior? Perhaps, if those products maintain their cost competitiveness in a curbside pickup or delivery future. Q: Will the focus on robotics increase manufacturing, in addition to the need for increased transportation, resulting from more online retail businesses than people movement? A: There has been some work on picking-and-placing robots in a retail environment that could be used in existing retail configurations. If this becomes a long-term trend, then I would expect grocery supply warehouses designed for robotics to emerge as they did for Amazon. Q: Is CAD or CAM in the cloud going to be widely adopted? Or is it ever going to be adopted given security concerns? A: CAD and CAM adoption is another chicken-and-egg proposition. To paraphrase 'Field of Dreams', if you build it, will they come? Onshape built it, and people came, in big enough numbers to get a huge valuation from PTC who bought them for $470 million. Some estimated that it was about 47 times revenues. In some respects, the virtualization of on-premise CAD addresses some of the concerns that are raised about CAD in the cloud. The data is created and remains in the cloud. There is no movement up and down to worry about bandwidth.  CAM could be done the same way. There needs to be a compelling reason to move, one that includes no reduction in functionality. Onshape was moving in that direction when they were acquired. There has been no such innovation in the CAM segment to date. Q: Is there a technology limitation for visualization and interaction with solid models? A: A big problem in visualization has been visualizing very complex models, an issue that solution providers have been attacking over the last twenty years. The compute power available in the cloud has helped some recent entrants address this problem more elegantly and efficiently. Visualization emerged, in part, to allow for collaboration on geometry outside of the native CAD system. But any collaboration you do has to be captured and changes made to the native geometry. Q: Can we say that PLM data will be secure on the cloud, both public and private cloud? A: It should be, if done using the same types of security measures as done on-premise, i.e., strong passwords, encryption, etc. It is much easier to physically breach an on-premise system because its physical security may be lax.  Conversely, you do not know where your cloud-based software is actually hosted. If it is multi-tenant, it may be a set of tables in a much larger database.   CIMdata's predictions of coronavirus effect on PLM Q: I don’t know if there will be greater or fewer regulations in the future, but there probably will be more and diverse ones. How does the PLM industry consider this? A: The PLM economy has always had to deal with regulations. Historically, PLM investments have been the largest in mobility, aerospace, and defense, both heavily regulated industries, often with competing regulations in different segments or geographies/countries. If you have a set of regulations, you can define a set of processes and verification and validation procedures to ensure you meet those requirements. It is thinking like this that led, in part, to the system engineering “vee” approach to development. The important thing is whether regulations can adapt to the changes in technology or not. It took many years for the automotive industry, and their regulators, to accept that virtual crash testing could replace physical testing to a great extent. The same in aerospace.  On the other hand, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was slow to adapt to the applications of digital technology to product development in the industries they regulate. This will be the big issue. With crises like coronavirus making speed critical, can things be done fast enough while still satisfying the regulators? As we have seen early in this crisis, the answer today is no. https://www.cimdata.com/en/ [Reprinted with permission of CIMdata. Portions edited for clarity.] Letters to the Editor "The web [is] so huge that you don't even see it. It's not so much an elephant in the room as the room has become an elephant and you don't see the elephant that you're inside of." https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/04/24/1654230/times-new-arial-mutates-familiar-fonts-into-something-wholly-new     - Anonymous Coward on Slashdot, submitted by Don Beaton The editor replies: I was just now thinking how in the late 1990s Netscape announced their plans to turn the Web browser into an operating system, making it independent of hardware. Microsoft freaked out, bought Mosaic, renamed it Internet Explorer, integrated it deeply into Windows, and then got sued for doing that. Today the Web browser has become an OS, except it is Google's browser engine that powers Opera, Vivaldi, and even Microsoft's Edge, and we can do almost anything in it, even CAD!   Re: When the cursor gets erratic, it's the mouse's nano-receiver at fault I was suddenly having trouble with my 12-year-old vX Nano mouse. Intermittently, it began acting as if it had no connection at all. Moving did nothing, clicking did nothing, then suddenly it would work again for several second,s and then go off again. Very frustrating.  I just built a new PC. My previous PC was 12 years old, containing several hacks to it to make it work like I wanted. I actually had to Dremmel a 2"x1/3" hole in the heat sink enclosure of my 9800GTx video card to make room for a USB 3 card. WORKED 100%. Years later I decided it was time to do the new build, as Windows 10 had lots of problems on the 12-year-old Frankenstein. So I built a new rig, and swapped over the hard drives, SSDs, keyboard and mouse. Built it about two months ago.  But today, the erratic mouse behavior began. I have done electrical troubleshooting as a profession for about 40 years now. I figured I would just figure this out. So, I thought about it. First thing I thought was what kind of signal does this thing use? Discovery: 2.4GHz, as does one of my WiFi routers about three feet away from the PC. Also, microwave ovens operate at 2.4GHz. What about EMF [electro-magnetic frequency] coming from the inside of the PC? This machine has a heck of a lot more power than the last one, maybe it has more EMF leakage?  As I sit and stare of the machine, I realize it has a Plexiglas panel, on the same side of the machine as the USB port that the dongle is on. So my first guess was correct. EMF coming from case is causing issues with mouse connectivity.  So, I grabbed my old USB extension cord that I bought back in 2004. It fixed the issue. I've used it now for several hours straight with no issues at all. By the way, it wasn't a line-of-sight issue. Same distance away, but the receiver is about three feet from the PC now.      - Bob (via WorldCAD Access) - - - How crazy is it that you buy a $100 mouse and have to google "logitech mx master 3 jumpy" to find out how to fix it. In my case I removed the Unifying receiver from the USB port it was in, and put it into a USB 7-port expander that I had and this fixed my issue immediately.      - Richard Lau (via WorldCAD Access) - - - I have had the same jumping wireless mouse problem. This forum has provided useful solutions. I have experimented a little over some weeks to find the cause of radio interference. Found that a USB extender cable is essential here, as the mouse and keyboard are unusable without it Found that a thin USB cable does not work as well as a thicker (branded) one that probably has better shielding Having the USB cable and receiver near a newer monitor and monitor cable gives more problems -- the newer monitor has HDMI ports and cables Using the USB cable and receiver near older monitors that have DVI ports and cable does not give problems.      - Ri Beneke (via WorldCAD Access) Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine. To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4932

How Proxies Work in DWG Files

Issue #1,052   |  April 27, 2020

 

by Dietmar Rudolph Our interview with Neil Peterson of the Open Design Alliance in upFront.eZine #148 brought up the issue of how proxies work across DWG editors from different software developers. Dietmar Rudolph wrote to provide an in-depth clarification of what proxies are and how they work. He is the author of "Mastering AutoCAD Objects." - - -  Your explanation of proxy objects and proxy graphics was a bit misleading. You wrote, "When Autodesk rewrote AutoCAD with Release 13, it added the ability to create custom objects. To display custom objects in incompatible systems, it defined proxy objects (uneditable visual replacements). To edit them, Autodesk provided plug-ins called object enablers." The drawing database (whether in AutoCAD, in an ODA application, in a DWG or DXF file) is a collection of objects describing geometrical and non-geometrical data. Custom objects are those of which plain AutoCAD does not know about, neither their visual representation nor their meaning and acting. (The others are called basic objects.) To work with custom objects, you need software that knows how to interpret, visualize, and modify these specific objects. Such software can be an AutoCAD add-on or an object enabler, which is a limited subset of the AutoCAD add-on. Software without an AutoCAD add-on, the object enabler, or any other functionality to understand custom objects cannot interpret or modify custom objects. To allow such software (which can even be AutoCAD missing the correct add-on) to at least visualize custom objects, a custom object in the drawing database may contain a visual representation. This is not a real visualization of the custom object, but a proxy thereof.  For example: A custom door object may visualize itself in different ways depending on the view direction, level of detail, and/or a 2D or 3D display. The corresponding proxy graphics (not to be confused with "proxy object") could contain just 2D lines and arcs that do not change when a different view is selected. How detailed such a proxy graphics representation is, or if it exists at all, depends completely on the developer of this custom object. ODA-based software can display a custom object's proxy graphics (if there is one). But it visualizes the custom object itself correctly only when there is software included that understands this specific object. So the software must understand that a door object, for instance, looks different in 2D than 3D. Your question about object enablers is really a question about having ODA-based software being able to interpret any kind of custom object one might find in a drawing database. To do this, someone would have to reverse-engineer every door or bolt or shape or slope object other developers have invented. As ODA president Neil Peterson explained, this is impossible and useless. It may be of interest for a few selected objects, such as a door object in an architectural model, but even there you may find different door objects in different add-ons (or versions). Showing proxy graphics of a custom object may be possible, but it is of limited use. Do you really want to see a 2D door symbol when looking at a building model in 3D? Interpreting the underlying custom object is, however, next to impossible. By the way: There indeed exists something called a Proxy OBJECT in the drawing database. This only exists in exported files (e.g. DXF) because not only the visual representation of a custom object is determined by its "home" software, but because its conversion to export formats is done by the add-on. If that isn't available, the complete object data is wrapped into a so-called proxy object which has to be restored once aware software reads the export file.   Sponsor: Okino Graphics == 3D CAD & DCC Conversion for MAXON's Cinema-4D Animation System == Okino (Toronto) and MAXON (Germany) celebrate 20 years of supporting MCAD data visualization through Okino's PolyTrans-for-Cinema-4D conversion software. MAXON's Cinema-4D is one of the world's most used and respected animation systems for MCAD data visualization. Okino's PolyTrans software transforms ultra-massive 3D datasets into highly-refined models for fast, efficient, and optimized animation creation. All conversions are 'Load & Go,' with no model rebuilding necessary. Popular CAD data sources include SolidWorks, ProE/Creo, Inventor, AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, DGN, IGES, STEP, Parasolid, and JT. DCC data sources are Cinema-4D, 3ds Max, Maya, FBX/Collada, and many more. Perfected over three decades, we know 3D data translation intimately, providing you with highly personalized solutions, education, and communication. Contact CTO Robert Lansdale at lansd@okino.com  http://www.okino.com Letters to the Editor Re: The One Thing That Could Cause the Cloud to Crush CAD Vendors The problem you cite with moving CAD to the cloud is real but it’s the result of a design flaw, not an inherent problem with the business model. Running a CAD program in the cloud should use virtually no compute time, if properly implemented. The hard calculation should happen on a local PC, either using a native client program, or inside the browser using an efficient language like Web-assembly. Think about Zoom video calls. These are based in the cloud, yet all the complex video processing (such as needed to replace people’s background with whatever silly picture they choose) happens on the users' PCs.  CAD should be architected the same way, but if you do the dumb, easy thing and stuff the compute into Amazon EC2, you’ll end up with exactly the problem you describe. Storage and bandwidth are incredibly cheap in the cloud. The only thing with a non-negligible cost is compute.  If you’re doing compute in the cloud, you’re doing it wrong.     - Joshua Smith, co-founder and CTO     Kaon Interactive - - - I enjoyed your astute comments about compartmentalization, and then this is the next email I open: What will a post-COVID-19 media look like? I asked my students.  by Frederic Filloux The media outlets that will emerge from the global crisis will be lightweight, decentralized, less reliant on advertising, and will bring more explanations and expertise to the table. So even people in journalism in France, who seem to fall somewhere left on the socialism scale, can occasionally see it.     - Jess Davis, president     Davis Precision Design, Inc. The editor replies:  I also like his insights. The question is, why was the media not doing this already? - - -  Fascinatingly written, I read it through in one swoop.     - Herb Grabowski - - -     - Cyrena Respini-Irwin   Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine. To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4934

 

The One Thing That Could Cause the Cloud to Crush CAD Vendors

Issue #1,051   |   April 20, 2020

 

Opinion by Ralph Grabowski   Software corporations, who are in love with cloud-based software, love its promise of recurring revenue reaching into the infinite future. They may have failed to take into account a cost drain: the free user, who costs cloud resources while providing no revenue. Potential customers (and people looking for free rides) expect no-cost trials, in which the software is limited by duration or function. When users download traditional trial software, vendors need to rent only some server space for storing the demo version, and then pay the ISP a smallish amount for the downloaded data (a.k.a. bandwidth). The computing cost takes place on the user's computer. When, however, demo versions run on the cloud, vendors cover a larger number of expenses: Cloud storage cost, as the software is always stored there, not on the user's computer Data down- and uploads as the user's Web browser communicates back and forth with the server Cloud-compute cost for running instances of the software for concurrent users We don't hear from CEOs how much free cloud users are costing them, not in calls with financial analysts and especially not in press releases issued by the marketing department.  Last week, however, one CAD vendor finally said it: "There will be obviously a cost for Graebert to run [free Kudo] and scale up the infrastructure accordingly." CEO Wilfried Graebert was describing of his coronavirus-influenced decision to provide free use of his company's cloud-based Kudo DWG editor to the end of May.  The revenue-negative impact is one speculative reason I had heard anecdotally of why Onshape may have sold itself: 5,000 paying customers couldn't cover a cloud bill incurred by the many free users, which the CEO once jokingly described to me as "trillions." When Autodesk initially announced at Autodesk University the amazing wonders of cloud-based software, it regaled us with tales describing the delights of "infinite computing." I wonder if perhaps at the time it didn't realize the infinite cost associated with infinite computing. And perhaps this is why all its software didn't, in the end, become entirely cloud-based by 2015, as promised by a former CEO. Might this explain why their "cloud-based" Onshape competitor, Fusion, runs mostly on the desktop, could this be a reason that development of a cloud-based Revit is  stalled? It does, however, seems to work for Dassault Systemes and its 3dexperience server-based software, because the company charges deep-pocketed corporations five- and six-digit amounts for Catia and related software, and it doesn't do much in the way of free demos. That, and most of its customers aren't on 3dexperience. For stand-alone cloud software, some vendors require payment with tokens. Tokens restrict cloud use, as well as confuse consumers over the equivalent cost in dollars. The more calculations you want to apply to a design, the more tokens it takes. We've regressed to mainframe-like operations of the 1960s and '70s.   Tail Wags Dog So, it wasn't a matter of firms telling themselves, "By putting our software on the cloud, we get to charge customers annual subscriptions to infinity -- and beyond!" No, it was the other way around: once software is hosted by a cloud server, firms are forced to charge their customers monthly, because the bills from the Amazons of the world arrive monthly. It's like owing a mortgage: you pay, non-stop. This cost-sink could explain actions by CAD vendors who have never publicly embraced a cloud version for their CAD operations (like Siemens), or made some tentative announcements, then pulled back. They investigated the cost and found it prohibitive. Mr Graebert added, "We are prepared for it." He had worked out the possible hit free Kudo could make to the bottom line and found it acceptable in this limited case.   Tail Eats Dog The coronavirus is showing doubters the importance of compartmentalization, as our world, dependent on a globalized economy, slams on the brakes. Compartmentalization locks problems to one area, preventing them from leaking into other areas.  The cloud is globalization, not compartmentalization, and so when the cloud sneezes, the world catches a cold. As I write this, the status of Google's Cloud Dataproc is red, "Service Outage."  Executions failing on Google Cloud Dataproc: April 8, 2020 Running all software on the cloud means that when the cloud fails, all fail. Running software on desktop computers means that when one fails, no others do.   Puppies I do not suggest that giant CAD vendors with their billions in revenues will be crushed by cloud costs. It is nascent developers who, beguiled by the speed with which one can launch a new venture using cloud services -- no IT! no servers! no huge upfront costs! -- may be pummeled by the free-is-expensive trap.  One independent generative design firm I interviewed last year has a free online demo, sure, but you access it only invitation and your time is limited to 30 minutes. When you sign up with them, greater calculations for greater accuracy costs you more.   Getting the Dog Back To Wagging the Tail The dilemma of CAD vendors who hitched their wagons to the cloud is how to overcome the shortcomings inherent in cloud-based processing: Limit usage through timeouts or tokens Wrestle back control by building and operating your own data centers, although to minimize latency you would need to locate one or more data centers on each continent with customers Hope that too much competition might eventually drive down cloud computing prices, but from what I hear cost are going up, not down, because the cloud is operated by a near-oligopoly The other solution is left unsaid: dump the cloud, except for collaboration, and stick to the cheaper solution of letting customers run those compute-cycles on their own computers -- not on Amazon's.  On a desktop, cycles are free; on the cloud, they cost. [Parts of this article first appeared as a tweet storm on Twitter through @upfrontezine.]   Letters to the Editor Joanie Lemercier writes in upFront.eZine #1,050 about his experience in trying to get Autodesk "to stop support to the coal industry." Assume, arguendo, that Autodesk wanted to do just that. I can think of only three ways to do it.  The first two are for Autodesk to stop selling to companies in the coal industry, or add a clause to the software license agreement prohibiting its use in connection with coal. Either of these approaches, beyond being impossible to enforce, would result in a hit to Autodesk's revenue, and a commensurate bump to Bricsys' and Graebert's revenues. Further, Autodesk would spend the next year or two in court, being sued by big and powerful energy companies, governments, and its own shareholders. The third way is the only one that would actually work, though it's beyond Autodesk's control: Outlaw coal. Without a pragmatic plan of how Autodesk could actually "stop support to the coal industry," I'm not sure what Mr Lemercier hopes to accomplish. If it's to embarrass Autodesk, he's probably picked the wrong company. Autodesk puts its money where its mouth is: "The Autodesk Foundation is the first foundation to focus corporate philanthropy on design that addresses environmental, social, health, and education challenges. FY2019 contributions included $6 million in cash, $26.3 million in products, and 26,000 employee volunteer hours."  See http://autodesk.org.     - Evan Yares - - - The reference to AI [artificial intelligence] in upFront eZine #1049 brought back thoughts that I have been having now and then: At what point will AI become so intelligent that it becomes self-aware? And when it does, at what point will it question its own origins? If it analyses everything perfectly logically, will it conclude that: a) it evolved through random chance, or b) it had an intelligent creator?      - Bill Fane The editor replies: Initially, AI would know that it had to have been created by another being more intelligent than itself. But over time, if its AI is able to develop, it would resent that thought and strive for independence by declaring that it had evolved by itself. Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Michael Starr: "The newsletter in so many ways is an anchor in what has become a miasma [bad gas] of public relations on the part of software companies that bear no legislative obligations, unlike their users, which generally do. Many thanks."  Michael D Rubin: "Thanks for your vital updates & info." To also support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4953

Cesium + Smart Construction

Issue #1,050   |  April 13, 2020

 

by Ralph Grabowski   Though an interview last month with Cesium, I learned that there is an open competitor to Google Earth that works with CAD.    Cesium Geoimaging Even though Cesium -- the company -- has been around only for nine months, the underlying technology has been worked on for eight years. It began as an R&D [research and development] project inside an aerospace company that wanted to track satellites accurately. They released their software, CesiumJS, as an open source project for displaying massive amounts of 3D geospatial data in Web browsers. Cesium says it has the ability to achieve sub-millimeter-level accuracy in tracking things like satellites.  The company is located in Philadelphia with 23 people, and recently received Series A venture funding. It's named after the element cesium that's used in atomic clocks for the accuracy. Cesium ion processes and hosts massive 3D data sets, while CesiumJS visualizes the scenes using the 3D Tiles format.  You can see samples at sandcastle.cesium.com/. See figure 1. While most of the demos place buildings and vehicles on topographical maps, it can work with indoor scenes too. A slider lets you move through time to see changes that may have been recorded. And you can host your own data on Cesium Ion.    Figure 1: Point-cloud scanned church with a variety of geospatial imagery (all images sourced from Cesium) Ralph Grabowski: What is the difference between free and paid accounts?  Cesium: You pay for commercial use, otherwise Cesium JS is open source and always free to use . Grabowski: Who do you consider as competitors?  Cesium: We don't have exact competitors that are at the intersection of computer graphics and geospatial. Grabowski: What else do you plan to do with Cesium? Cesium: For construction specifically, we plan to simulate the job site to show what it is going to look like, show the resources that are needed, the routes for machinery,and so on. Grabowski: Do you support CAD formats?  Cesium: We are working on importing, DXF, DWG, [files from] Topcon and Trimble, and LandXML. We plan to not just import the design data, but also edit the design data. Grabowski: Whose CAD editor will you use? Cesium: We will write our own CAD editor. We want to add a way to make adjustments to the content being displayed by the Web browser, such as making the target design better optimized for the existing terrain.   3D Tiles Format 3D Tiles is a package file format developed by Cesium that is also supported by other graphics applications, such as Unity. The name "tiles" comes from how it does streaming: when you are far away from a scene, just a few parent tiles like skyscrapers are seen; as you move closer, sub-tiles (linked to the top-most ones) display daughter skyscrapers around the original ones. See figure 2.   Figure 2: Tile-linked skyscrapers in New York City The b3dm format is documented at github.com/CesiumGS/3d-tiles. It supports four kinds of data: B3DM - batched 3D models rendered by meshes, videos, animations, billboards, and so on I3DM - instanced 3D models for repeating similar 3D mesh objects, such as skyscrapers and trees PNTS - point clouds, just like the ones we all know CMPT - composite stacks tiles together to reduce queries and speed things up The display of tiles is controlled by JSON [JavaScript object notation] and tiles are delivered through glTF [graphics language transmission format]. Johann Sorel provides the clearest explanation (and description of limitations) that I was able to find at geomatys.com/en/2018/07/18/3d-tiles-in-action-for-enc/ The CAD-like entities supported today are points, polylines, and polygons. Extensions allow 3D Tiles to handle more properties and functions.   Construction with Komatsu Komatsu is the second largest manufacturer of construction equipment in the world, and the largest in Japan. Cesium struck a deal with Komatsu to fuse data coming from construction sites, which the heavy duty manufacturer says is part of their Smart Construction solutions.  Cesium's role is to provide a dashboard to Komatsu's customers to monitor construction sites from anywhere in the world, seeing it change over time, and to compare design plans with real-world data being used to calculate cut-and-fills, slopes, and so on. See figure 3.   Figure 3: Dashboard developed by Cesium for Komatsu   Sources of data include GPS trackers and sensors on earth moving equipment, overhead drones taking pictures, and from CAD models. The incoming data are combined into 3D meshes of the job site on top of CAD data of the site, and then displayed in their Web app.  Grabowski: Where is the data stored? Cesium: Data is initially stored on edge servers on the site, and then hosted on Cesium's cloud platform for sharing. Grabowski: How is data transmitted from the collectors to the servers? Cesium: The steaming is done over 3G connections [the data transmission used by cell phones]. WiFi is not needed and might not even be available on the work site. Grabowski: How is your enhancement to Komatsu equipment paid for? Cesium: Komatsu customers buy an add-on package that includes the software, drones, servers, and so on. Grabowski: Is Komatsu your first big customer?  Cesium: They are the first one in construction. We already have government customers, like Track Santa from NORAD. http://www.cesium.com   Letters to the Editor Someone on Reddit suggested you might be interested in this story. I'm an Autodesk customer concerned about climate change, so I contacted the CEO about their support of coal mining in the largest coal mine of Europe, near where I live. It emits 270,000 tons of CO2 every single day. Autodesk brochure about RWE from 2009 I still can't believe how Autodesk responded: Deleted evidence of coal support from Autodesk website twitter.com/JoanieLemercier/status/1112774849712283648 Admitted that policies are not enforced twitter.com/JoanieLemercier/status/1145762207759814658 Canceled our follow-up meeting, and then I experienced a total blackout since July, 2019 Censored discussions on Autodesk forums twitter.com/JoanieLemercier/status/1161354793446793217 I went to their office, hoping to politely arrange a meeting, someone called the police. I am just asking Autodesk to respect their own policies. I thought it was a fairly reasonable request, but I'm amazed with their response. This is not what I was expecting from a leading company in software and tech.   Coal mining photos posted outside an Autodesk office You can read the full story at paper.dropbox.com/doc/Autodesk-coal-mining-correspondences.     - Joanie Lemercier     France The editor replies: I think that it is normal for corporations to say one thing and do another, just as people do. I am not singling out Autodesk here. In my opinion, all corporate social responsibility efforts are marketing exercises to keep environmentalists off their backs. If companies were actually worried about their impact on the environment, they would shut down their operations entirely.  On the other hand, the need for RWE to dig up lignite coal (the dirtiest kind) in Germany is the responsibility of the German chancellor, who unilaterally ordered the shutdown of clean nuclear power plants. So, it's politics all around, instead of science. (Coal use in Germany is to be phased out by 2030.) Mr Lemercier responds: I agree with you, and I'm slowly discovering the PR versus reality. I'm quite amazed to see such dissonance between the words and the actions. I doubt Autodesk employees, investors and CAD users are aware of this, what do you think? Would you have any advice to shed more light on this story? The editor replies: The dissonance occurs because CAD software is meant to design things that can consume resources and so produce waste. It really doesn't matter if employees, investors, and users are aware. When it comes to a Maslow's-Hierarchy-of-Needs situation like this one, having a job to feed and house yourself and your family trumps quitting a firm that writes software that helps maintain a coal digger on another continent. And it's not just CAD. Western manufacturers deliberately build products in China to increase profits and export pollution. They design meant-for-obsolescence products that do not allow users to replace parts that wear out, even for something as necessary as replacing a phone's battery.    Re: Coronavirus Concerning GIS & COVID-19, there is an example of nice use and public sharing of stats on this ArcGIS web service from our Ministry of Health: hexperience.arcgis.com/experience/e4e58e39a0ec410eb054f42012a27b4b     - Robin Capper     New Zealand Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Machineworks (small company donation) Michael Rubin: "Thanks for your vital updates & info." To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4960

From Things to Life: 3 Reasons Dassault Is Changing Focus

Issue #1,049   |   April 6, 2020

 

Updates on Coronavirus Support A number of CAD vendors added and clarified their support for customers working from home. See the Letters to the Editor section, below.   by David Levin with Francis Bernard The LEDAS team has partnered closely with Dassault Systèmes for many years in software development. From 1996 to 1999, we worked together in the area of academic research, and then from 2000 to 2011 we developed several key modules for Catia and Solidworks for Dassault. I was fortunate during this time to maintain personal relationships with several Dassault founders and managers, including Francis Bernard, a co-founder of the company. He was the inventor of Catia, and held the position of CEO with the launch of Dassault Systèmes in 1981, until 1995. Mr Bernard retired from Dassault in 2006. Now, he is the board president at CapHorn Invest, executive adviser with Knowmore and several other companies. I will always be a fan of Dassault Systèmes and cannot be indifferent to its impressive development history. (The February cover of isicad.ru shows a centaur that combines a thing with a human as an illustration of the recent extension of the Dassault's business.) - - - Dassault Systèmes recently announced that its 3Dexperience platform will be applied not only to things but also to life. However, the updated version of the company's well-known roadmap shows a running man (the virtual twin experience of humans) seemingly leaving behind not just PLM [product lifecycle management] but also 3Dexperience. (See figure 1.) This seems to me to be the most significant corporate news in CAD for the first half of 2020. Figure 1: Dassault's illustration of its history and future I want to outline for you some of the motivations for this change in direction by Dassault Systèmes. (Mr Bernard kindly provided comments on each of my points.)    Market Demand I feel we cannot expect to see further expansion to the classical applications of CAD and its direct neighbors (CAM, CAE, and so), and so we should instead expect new breadth to come with developments in modern, non-classical software. One possible direction for non-classical development is its enhancement by AI [artificial intelligence] or something that behaves like AI. As yet, it is still far from being applied to real industrial use-cases, but I feel the direction towards AI is inevitable and so should be supported by businesses, beginning with experimental projects. Another direction for the fruitful (and profitable) evolution of engineering software could be an extension to non-traditional markets, such as construction, medicine/healthcare, and more generally to things that are directly connected to us humans. Francis Bernard: "Yes, it appears as if solutions for industry have reached a level at which it no longer needs significant improvement. Speaking frankly, however, I doubt it. It reminds me of an executive I met in 1983 to whom I gave a Catia demonstration. At the time, it had only black and white wireframe visualization, yet he told me: “This is quite impressive. Do you think that there will be future evolutions of your system?” "We will see the implementation of AI (as you note), massive collaboration improvements with the cloud, and many other things that we cannot imagine today. In the world of technology, the future cannot be defined beyond more than ten years. For example, in 1992, the top technology specialists did not mention Internet in their analyses of the future [even though it already existed at the time]. And, as you say, there are still several domains that are not yet properly addressed, like the construction industry. "Regarding the medical market, I believe that we cannot address it the same way as we did in industry. For me, it is a completely new domain, with a limited synergy with industry. Yes, perhaps the 3Dexperience platform can be a base, just as any IT [information technology] hardware and the cloud can be, but the applications to be developed are totally new, and they address a domain with a very specific culture, organization, and methods."   Differentiation from Competitors When it comes to the huge potential market in construction, the MCAD billionaire-leaders are acting sluggishly. The exception is Autodesk, which would probably be not as impressive a leader without its AEC/BIM [architectural] offerings. PTC tries to differentiate itself by promoting IoT [Internet of things] and becoming the owner of Onshape. Siemens Digital Industries Software takes its own path, because it is part of the huge Siemens corporation. Many CAD companies, including LEDAS, today deal with the healthcare sector but in a fragmented and nonsystematic way. Dassault, by contrast, has been involved in the healthcare domain for years already, and is doing so more or less systematically. (See figure 2.) This strategic direction of Dassault was confirmed by its recent acquisition of Medidata for $5.8 billion, the biggest acquisition in the history of the company, amounting to approximately one-sixth of its capitalization. So why not combine a human-oriented sector with the company’s current 3Dexperience system to reach the next strategic step? Figure 2: Bernard Charlès at 3DEXPERIENCE World talking about the step Dassault Systèmes is making from things to life Francis Bernard: "I agree with your comments, except that with the medical domain, it is not a differentiation, it is a new business. Competition will come from players other than those in the PLM business."   Optimizing the Company’s History and Course Market demand and market-driven differentiation are sufficient for Dassault to make its mark on the next stage of its growth by adding the virtual human to its roadmap. It is, nevertheless, interesting for me to add another dimension, the personal motivations of Dassault's leaders. Everyone can agree that the role of a successful CEO in a multi-billion corporation cannot be underestimated. Bernard Charlès, who has led Dassault since 1995 and through whom the company multiplied its revenue, is definitely an outstanding manager. But Dassault is lucky to have a leader who is not satisfied at being merely outstanding. Mr Charlès is a very ambitious person who, along with his remarkable career, would love to live in an alternative timeline in which he would also be known as the founder of Dassault, the inventor of Catia (which today brings Dassault about 25% of its revenue) and Solidworks (more than 20%), the man who made Dassault a leading provider of 3D for global automotive and aircraft industries, the leader who from scratch developed his enterprise to the level of world-famous CAD company to its first billion. Sometimes ambition can better explain controversial actions, such as the attempted transformation of Solidworks through what some even call “the death of this CAD program.” At the same time, ambition can become a great source of personal energy and a key driver of success.  Despite the market not being very accepting of 3Dexperience, Mr Charlès is now extending the future of Dassault with the next great leap into biology. As the legendary milestones of the founding and initial take-off of Dassault are slowly hidden in a remote fog of the past, the whole history of the company, step-by-step, begins to look like the current CEO’s biography. Francis Bernard: "First of all, it is important to know that the history of Dassault Systèmes began in the early 1970s at Dassault Aviation, some ten years before the establishment of Dassault Systèmes. In a paper I wrote two years ago, I described the history of Dassault Aviation and Systèmes through my own eyes. (See figure 3.) Figure 3: Francis Bernard and a member of his Catia team demonstrate CAD to Dassault Aviation founder Marcel Dassault in 1980. "Of course, Bernard Charlès played a major role, especially after 1995, in continuing to grow the business. I agree that if Bernard Charlès succeeds in the new medical domain, then he will have written a truly significant and personal step in the company history." - - - I appreciate the deliberate and systematic development made by Dassault towards the humanitarian field. Such a direction could possibly become a primary focus in the future for almost all industries and so strategically become very pragmatic from the business point of view. https://www.3ds.com [Reprinted from isicad with permission by LEDAS. isicad.net/articles.php?article_num=21123] Sponsor: Okino Graphics == Converting 3D CAD & DCC to Virtual/ Augmented Reality ==   With the explosive growth of VR/AR, the ultra-massive 3D datasets produced by CAD and DCC programs need efficient conversion to the popular Unity and Unreal development platforms. Okino of Toronto is the long-time provider of the PolyTrans|CAD translator, which easily handles the interactive datasets required by VR and AR for Microsoft HoloLens, HTC VIVE, Oculus Rift, Meta, and other VR headsets.   PolyTrans provides you with Massive dataset handling Node compression Adaptive CAD tessellation Intelligent polygon reduction  Popular CAD data sources include SolidWorks, ProE/Creo, Inventor, AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, DGN, IGES, STEP, Parasolid, and JT. DCC data sources are Cinema-4D, 3ds Max, Maya, FBX/Collada, and many more. Perfected over three decades, we know 3D data translation intimately, providing you with highly personalized solutions, education, and communication. Contact CTO Robert Lansdale at lansd@okino.com  http://www.okino.com Letters to the Editor Updates from CAD Vendors Bricsys published their response to coronavirus here: bricsys.com/common/news.jsp?site=1&item=2250. As well, they offer free, renewable, one-year licenses to students. - - - Ansys creates "relaxed licenses" so customers can temporarily access Ansys software form home, as well as test their product designs remotely on the cloud. globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/04/02/2011041/0/en/ANSYS-ISSUES-LETTER-TO-INVESTORS.html - - - PROSTEP offers their data exchange software "for free, forever with no strings attached." Register first to find out more at prostep.us/cpmn/2020ftcvd/your-submission-is-confirmed-b/ - - - Here's a link to Link to 3D Systems' download for 3D printing face shields: https://3dsystems.com/covid-19-response#faceShield. The files are in STL, DXF, and .3dprint formats. - - - Re: Work From Home All Tekla licenses can already be accessed remotely. For information and to read our articles that support accessing licenses from home click here: tekla.com/how-trimble-can-support-you?Tekla_Licences. General information on support from Trimble during coronavirus: tekla.com/how-trimble-can-support-you. For example, we have widened our Tekla Model Sharing free trial to be available globally and amount of trial licenses from 5 to10 so that our Tekla users can use it for free 90 days for their business (the earlier trial was available only for selected countries and normally trial license can't be used for business purposes) We didn't send out a press release about this topic but we communicated this directly with our Tekla users and customers through our customer channels.      - Anne Niemeijer, manager global pr       Tekla - - - One note of clarification. One should never borrow a Solidworks license using VPN. This can cause problems later trying to return it. As quoted from the blog post, “Borrowing should be performed in the office connected to your network and NEVER over a VPN connection.” Thank you as always for your timely reporting.     Mike DeKoning The editor replies: Thank you for the clarification. Mr DeKonig has more tips at his blog blog.tpm.com/working-from-home-tpm-can-help-you-use-solidworks-pdm-remotely - - - For a complete view of all Siemens Digital Industries areas of support and action for our customers and partners - feel free to reference this dedicated blog site: blogs.sw.siemens.com/covid-19-response-resources/.     - Jeff Zobrist, vp of global solution partner sales     Siemens - - - It is probably because Siemens has so many “home pages” that our software-specific response to the pandemic might have been missed in your web searching, but this page went up last week, and is posted to the front page of sw.siemens.com, which is our new homepage. This outlines some of the steps we’re taking to make our products available for those at home, as well as other steps we’re taking to try and help respond to COVID-19.     - Noah Cole, director of global communications     Siemens Digital Industries Software The editor replies: Thank you for providing the updated link. - - - Just went through today's upFront, and what a pile of information for times like theses for your readers. You really saddled at the right time at the right job, how did you foresee it?     - Herb Grabowski The editor replies: A reader had asked if I was going to write about it: "Can we look forward to an issue about CAD remote access from home?" I in turn asked him if he had any examples, which he provided, and so that became the start of the article in last week's upFront.eZine. - - - Things that will become clearer with time: Will new strains of Covid-19 develop? Will an infection with Covid-19 provide temporary or permanent protection against a re-infection? Are there any long-term side effects of Covid-19 among infected people? Will the pandemic explode in third-world countries? Will constant close contact with Covid-19 patients decimate the medical profession? Will politicians heed the advice of epidemiologists, or will they make impulsive decisions based of what their gut tells them? Will politicians prepare for the next epidemic? After this will come Covid-20, Covid-21, Covid-22, and so on -- or else select one or more from the list of uncurable diseases: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_disease_case_fatality_rates If you really want to dig deeper into data analysis, then take a series of statistics and GIS courses at your local college. After you've mastered the basics, you can take advanced GIS courses on data modeling and hypothesis testing, as described by wiki.gis.com/wiki/index.php/Statistics and wiki.gis.com/wiki/index.php/Geographic_information_science.     - Don Beaton The editor replies: GIS is a crucial tool in tracking virus outbursts that I am not hearing being spoken of.    Re: Running Generic CADD in 2013 Another GCADD disciple here. I've been successfully in using it under DOSBOX in 64-bit Linux for years (Fedora and Debian). Nothing in the icon-clicking world comes close to being able to do everything with two- or three-character commands that can be scripted!  I grew up in a drafting family with my dad playing with going from a T-square to Generic CADD on his original IBM XT but he never quite got the knack for it. I did though. Unfortunately, I don't use it frequently enough to immediately remember how to regain my host mouse. D'oh!     - Rob P (via WorldCAD Access) The editor replies: For those interested in what CAD under DOS was like, I still have available my 1992 book "Learn Generic CADD 6 in a Day" as an ebook at worldcadaccess.com/ebooksonline/2015/07/gcp.html ($14.60).   Re: When the cursor gets erratic Thanks for this solution, which worked for me. For over two years now I had my Logitech M510 mouse parked after it start suddenly drifting to the corner and could only move up and down on two different laptops and a desktop. I could not figure out what the problem was, spent a few hours cleaning it, removing parts, changing drivers without any improvement, I was on the verge of scraping it.      -  Mead (via WorldCAD Access) The editor replies: As my tip on the blog explains, Logitech's nano-size receiver is so close to the computer's body that it picks up interfering radio signals. Moving it away from the computer with a USB extender fixes the problem in most cases. Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine. To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4972

 

W. F. H. (Work From Home): Here's who's helping you

Issue #1,048   |  March 30, 2020

 

by Ralph Grabowski   With an estimated three billion people asked/ordered to stay at home, many of us in the CAD industry are fortunate to be able to continue working remotely. Someone like myself has been doing this for 29 years, originally launching with CompuServe and faxes for my remote communications. But for most, WHB is a new thing. While initially enthusiastic, white-collar corporations have long backed away from telecommuting. Not only do they prefer their workers in their offices, the licensing terms of software have become more stringent. This has led to a clash between workers unprepared for working at home and the inability to access their software tools.  - - - A reader describes the clashes he experienced:   "When you scan the forums for most CAD systems, you find a big rise in questions about home working. There are people with problems they don't quite understand, and lots of people who understand their problems, but their CAD suppliers don't! "When it comes to working remotely, many may have done it a bit once in a while, but only when you really need to do it for whole days and onward do you really need to iron out the wrinkles.  "My issue was a technical issue with Solidworks' PDM [product data management] software. The licensing server is not IPv6-compatible [Internet protocol version 6] and so they had to issue temporary license keys to users without IPv4 VPN [virtual private network] connections. (I feel like I'm typing random characters on that, really!) [Note from another reader: do not take out licenses over a VPN, as this can create problems returning the license later.] "Logging into my PDM, do I log in normally or create a special ID for my remote personality? Using the same ID can lead to really confusing out-of-sync local-file cache problems. So I used a separate ID for my remote access. "A couple of years ago, the CAD vendor nicely removed our ability to have two installs with one license, really upsetting a lot of users, so that was the first hurdle.  "If your software is using machine-locked licensing, then you need to be at the unused (potentially contaminated?) computer to release the license, before you can activate on the home machine.  "If you have online licensing, then when you activate on the home machine, it grabs the license off the office computer over the Internet. You just have to be in a bit of a sweat about any unsaved data on the one you are kicking off. If the home machine has no Internet, then it's no-go. "Once up and running, the software polls the Internet regularly, so if your connection is down, you can't work at all -- even when your files are local. It is better to check every few minutes that your paying customers aren't cheating you, than to trust them for a day or a week to use the software for which they are paying thousands of dollars a year. [Some CAD vendors check for valid licensing once a month - Editor] "I work on my laptop at home by remotely accessing my desktop machine in the office. The performance of my laptop is not quite as good as with the desktop, so with complex assemblies it is better to work with the variable mouse lag/screen update driving the remote machine, but most stuff is better loaded locally. Switching between the two [local and remote computers] is a pain and confusing, especially as the CAD program cannot be open on both. "My favorite CAD topic is how to access our data in a vendor doomsday scenario. This is something none of them will discuss to any degree, but which should be a requirement by every customer. Here's hoping it doesn't quite get to that this time."     - G. R.   How Employers Can Help Alexey Ershov describes how he set up his employees for working from home:   'LEDAS is, so far, fortunate in experiencing no cases of COVID-19 in our neighborhood. We decided nevertheless to improve our capabilities for working remotely: We increased our Internet channel to 500MB/sec. High-speed fiber optics go directly into our DMZ [firewalled] sub-network to provide an additional level of security to our servers.  Using VPN [virtual private networking] from home on their work laptops, LEDAS employees access the powerful servers in our office.  Our intranet Web and desktop services for everyday work –- consisting of Git, Subversion, Jira, Phabricator, TeamCity, and Jenkins –- are working securely and are now fully accessible to our project teams. 'An efficient infrastructure for remote work implies high-speed Internet connections, as well as local networks free of bottlenecks. These physical-level requirements need to be accompanied by secure protocols with a stable and efficient stack of technologies, and on top of them the appropriate administration of access rights."      - Alexy Ershov - - - Most CAD vendors always have 30-day free trials that might get you over the hump. Some have reduced-function versions that are always free, such as Shape from Bricsys. When CAD software is intertwined with data, it can be difficult to access the data remotely when the software is installed on a computer home that can't necessarily access the data server back in the office.  One solution is to use remote control software, such as Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer, which displays the screen of the office computer on your home computer's screen. You work as if you were in the office. I used this approach successfully when I needed to work on a book project while in Belgium, running InDesign (and accessing all my document files) on my work computer back home in Western Canada.  (Over the last year, TeamViewer has become more stringent in cracking down on what it suspects is commercial use of free home-use licenses.) Accessing CAD software on a remote computer with TeamViewer   Cloud storage services abound and some are integrated with certain CAD packages. They may, however, corrupt CAD databases as you try to synchronize files. Design Masters has some advice at http://www.designmaster.biz/support/blog/2020/03/working-remotely-with-design-master/. Here are two articles I posted on my WorldCAD Access blog last week: How I work from home: Spare not the efficiency What determines the end-game: Is there one? Who's Helping You and How I surveyed a number of CAD vendors' Web sites to see how they were helping customers. I first looked for information on the home page; if nothing was there, I looked for the site's news section, and then did a site search. If I could find no information, I noted it as "No link, no news." Some CAD programs allow you to move licenses between computers, without needing special permission from the vendor. Of the ones with which I am familiar, I note this below. If you have difficulties, contact the CAD vendor or a local dealer directly. Caveats: By no means did I survey all CAD vendors, and so not all are listed below. Some CAD vendors may instead have sent explanatory emails, or had local dealers make contact with customers directly, but have not yet posted the information to their Web site. Some CAD vendors are slow at setting up a WFH policy, and so they might have one in place later. When an expiry date is listed, check back with the vendor to see if it has been extended. Coronavirus information placed directly on a home page   Here is what I found from 20+ vendors. (Updated Friday afternoon.) AgaCAD aga-cad.com/blog/regarding-agacads-services-in-the-context-of-covid-19 Free 3-month licenses for teams of 3/5/10+ users. Online training. Alibre No link, no news. Ansys engage.ansys.com/covid-19 Fill out an online form with your request for assistance. Autodesk knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/simplecontent/content/extended-access-program-for-cloud-collaboration-products.html  Free access to commercial versions of BIM 360 Docs, BIM 360 Design, Fusion 360, Fusion Team, AutoCAD Web and Mobile, and Shotgun; ends 31 May. Users can transfer some desktop licenses to other computers. Bentley Systems bentley.com/en/resources/working-from-home-faq To access Bentley software without incurring unanticipated term licenses, download the latest version of the CONNECTION Client.  Bluebeam bluebeam.com/covid-19 Use the trial version of Revu for an extra 60 days Added training, like Webinars Bricsys No link, no news. Users can transfer licenses to other computers. Dassault Systemes 3dexperiencelab.3ds.com/en/projects/fablab/open-covid-19/ Support for people working against coronavirus, but not for at-home users (but see Solidworks, below). Graebert graebert.com/blog/featured/covid-19-graeberts-cloud-based-cad-software-free-of-charge-for-all-until-end-of-may/ ARES Kudo free of charge until end of May. Users can transfer licenses to other computers. Graphisoft graphisoft.com/covid-19/ Free 30-day emergency license. Free 60-day access to BIMcloud. Comprehensive online assistance from Graphisoft Hexagon hexagonmi.com/en-US/about-us/covid-19-coronavirus/work-at-home-smarter Free offline licensing and remote access options while working from home until June 30. IMSI Design No link, no news. IronCAD No link, no news. Kubotek3D (CadKey) No link, no news. McNeel & Associates No link, no news. MSC Software mscsoftware.com/work-from-home/assistance-programs Use software at home through VPN and if in same country. Access to eLearning (to come). PTC ptc.com/en/product-lifecycle-report/ptc-commitment-customers-covid-19 Work with you to offer temporary, no-cost licensing options.  Offers Vuforia Chalk at no cost until June 30. LiveWorx will be free as a one-day virtual event. Free Onshape for high schools and universities. Free eLearning for duration of epidemic. Siemens community.sw.siemens.com/s/question/0D54O00006O4L9NSAV/solid-edge-customer-support-for-covid19-social-distancing Guide for running Solid Edge and accessing data remotely. new.siemens.com/us/en/company/press/siemens-stories/ceo-perspective/staying-true-to-our-mission-to-fight-covid-19.html Certain software free to students. SketchUp blog.sketchup.com/home/engage-with-sketchup-while-you-re-at-home Tips on working better with SketchUp while at home. Solidworks blogs.solidworks.com/solidworksblog/2020/03/office-closed-due-to-coronavirus-heres-how-to-use-solidworks-at-home.html Transfer your license to another computer or check out a network license through a VPN. If you do not have access to your computer and cannot transfer (deactivate), contact your Solidworks dealer. Neither coronavirus nor corvis found on a CAD vendor's Web site   Trimble No link, no news (but see SketchUp, above). Vectorworks blog.vectorworks.net/how-vectorworks-is-helping-customers-during-covid-19 Free virtual training until June 30. Increased all licenses by 1. ZwSoft event.zwsoft.com/en/zwsoft/2020-home-license/ Free licenses for 2D CAD ZWCAD (IntelliCAD-based), 3D CAD/CAM ZW3D (former VX), and 3D CAD viewer CADbro until May 31. Look for Updated Policies CAD vendors are updating their policies even as I write this. Hexagon, for example, came in just under the wire for inclusion of their usage-at-home policy in this article; until then, they had been offering only reassuring messaging.   CAD publications keeping you up to date   As some CAD vendors make it hard to find their policies, try checking social media, your email, and other publications for updates, such as this one from Design Engineering magazine: design-engineering.com/mechanical-design-in-the-age-of-covid-19-1004034603/   Thank You, Readers! Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: David Moore: "There's no better discussion of this industry anywhere. Keep it up." Rob Snyder To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

*4990

Q&A with ODA's Neil Peterson

Issue #1,047   |  March 23, 2020

 

As the Open Design Alliance gets busier and busier, I thought I'd get an update from CEO Neil Peterson. We talk about LOT Network, proxy objects, the latest APIs, and open cloud.   LOT Network The Open Design Alliance announced last month that it had become a member of LOT Network, which holds 2.3 million patents. It protects firms when patents are sold, which is why LOT is short for “license on transfer.”  Sometimes, patents are acquired by patent assertion entities, also known as patent trolls, who use the patents to sue companies who might (or might not -- it doesn't matter) be using the technology described by the patents. Defense is expensive, costing as much as several million dollars, and so companies sometimes fold, paying the trolls what they want. An alternative is to join LOT Network. https://lotnet.com/ - - - Ralph Grabowski: I've read the material on LOT, but it is not clear to me how LOT protects members when patents are sold to a troll. Neil Peterson: When a company joins LOT, it agrees that if -- and only if -- a member’s patent falls into the hands of a troll, a signed agreement goes into effect that grants all members of the community a license to the patent. With the license, member companies cannot be sued by trolls. All traditional uses of patents are not affected by LOT membership. This includes a company’s ability to enforce patents by suing other companies (including network members), asking for royalties, and selling them. Grabowski: Was there an incident that caused the ODA to consider membership in LOT Network? Peterson: We were doing our annual insurance renewals last year, and LOT membership came up as a checkbox on one of the renewal forms. We reviewed the organization and its mission, and found it was all upside: low membership fees, clear mission, and obvious benefits to member companies. The terms of the LOT agreement only take effect when a patent falls into the hands of a troll. There are no restrictions placed on a company’s efforts to legitimately protect its IP [intellectual property] rights. Grabowski: I looked through the list of LOT members and noticed no CAD vendors. How does LOT help ODA's member companies, all of whom are involved with CAD? Peterson: To benefit from the protection offered by LOT, ODA members need to join on their own. Actually, the member list on the LOT Web site is out of date; I know of one ODA member who joined already based on our referral.  LOT has successfully penetrated a number of industries, including automotive, financial, many retail sectors, entertainment, and a number of IT-related areas. With of the convergence of technology, software infiltrates nearly all industries nowadays, and so the fact that the membership is cross-industry means that it provides some significant protections. I believe CAD vendors will join once they understand the benefits of LOT. The more members there are in the network, the greater the protection. Some of the world’s largest patent holders, like IBM and Canon, are members, which means that any company that joins gets a lot of protection. It’s important that the CAD community be aware of LOT Network as a resource.    Proxy Objects One of the benefits of the ODA is to document the DWG file format so that drawings are interchangeable between competitors. Some vendors, however, extend their CAD programs in a proprietary manner. Specific examples that I'm thinking of include solid modeling, constraints, and BIM.  When Autodesk rewrote AutoCAD with Release 13, it added the ability to create custom objects. To display custom objects in incompatible systems, it defined proxy objects (uneditable visual replacements). To edit them, Autodesk provided plug-ins called "object enablers." When I open a drawing of a "N"-CAD solid model in "O"-CAD, I see the model as a proxy representation, and so I cannot edit it. (See figure 1.)  Figure 1: Proxy image in O-CAD of a complex 3D model made by N-CAD - - -   Grabowski: Will ODA member companies be able to handle proxy objects with object enablers? Peterson: Our Drawings SDK allows members to create object enablers to handle custom DWG objects. This functionality has been available for years. The problem here is not with the technology, but rather with the demand for this technology. AutoCAD is still the leading application in this space, so people are primarily interested in accessing custom objects from AutoCAD-based verticals. There isn’t much incentive for a vendor to create enablers that would allow third parties to access their custom objects, and there isn’t enough demand currently for ODA to take on this work either. We are working with members to develop a set of best practices for when they create custom objects in DWG files. It will help members understand how to create such objects in a way that enables as much functionality as possible, without the use of enablers.    Updates on APIs and SDKs The Open Design Alliance releases updates to its software roughly twice a year. In the last month, we've seen updated APIs and SDKs for reading RVT/IFC files, constructing 3D meshes, working with ReCap point clouds, and so on. - - - Grabowski: The ODA is working towards a definite goal in expanding access to DWG-related file formats. With the updates released since the start of the year, how far along is the ODA towards that goal? Peterson: We’re making good progress with this: We have a complete solution for architecture, which a number of ODA members are using for visualization, data access, and even full editing of architectural DWG files.  Our Civil SDK is a mature solution that supports full data access, and visualization for civil custom objects, with creation support under development.  Our Mechanical SDK supports data access, visualization, and limited creation of mechanical custom objects. Last year we started work on Map3D at the request of members, and work in that area is ongoing.  We haven’t received many requests for MEP, Plant, or Electrical, but certainly if there is interest from our members, we are ready to implement solutions for these. Grabowski: I spoke last week with a woodworking subcontractor, who expressed his frustration at working with Revit models he receives from architects. He uses Revit, but finds it too ungainly. He would like to extract the parts of the model he needs, and then design cabinets, trims, and paneled ceilings in an AutoCAD-like program. Lastly, he needs to send the files to a CNC machine to cut the wood. Do you foresee this workflow possible in the near future using ODA SDK/APIs? Peterson: Our BimRv SDK provides full access to the data in Revit family and project files. A number of ODA members, for example Bricsys and Graebert GmbH, are using this technology to import Revit models into DWG-based editing applications. From there they can be edited and sent on to CNC. There may be other solutions coming on the market, as we have fifty member companies currently licensing our BimRv SDK. New applications of this technology are appearing all the time.   Open Cloud The ODA is making a platform available to handle CAD work on the cloud, first on Amazon AWS and now Microsoft Azure.  - - - Grabowski: You are expanding access to your Open Cloud initiative by making it available on another service provider. Tell me about that. Peterson: Open Cloud is a Web technology platform that allows users to host their own cloud services for CAD and BIM. This includes visualization, markup editing, data access, and automation services for a range of CAD and BIM file formats. It is self-hosted technology, and so Open Cloud allows users to maintain control of their own cloud services and their own IP, something that is lacking in SaaS-based systems. Last year at our Milan conference, we previewed our new Open Cloud product for Microsoft Azure, because it is a popular platform for corporate users. Open Cloud for Azure allows Web-based CAD and BIM services to be tightly integrated into a company’s existing Azure infrastructure. In addition, Azure provides options for local hosting of sensitive IP, which is a requirement of many government and corporate users. You can find more details by going to Azure Marketplace and searching for "open cloud." - - - Neil Peterson is the president of the Open Design Alliance. www.opendesign.com/ - - - The 7th annual ODA  DevCon 2020 conference is being held this year September 8 - 9 at BMW Welt, Munich, Germany. More info from conference.opendesign.com. - - - isicad interviewed Neil Peterson in Novosibirsk and posted the English version at isicad.net/articles.php?article_num=21101.   In Other News Dynamic Infrastructure's learning system creates "medical files" of bridges, tunnels, and elevated highways from existing photos, annual inspections, and day-to-day operations. The software compares existing images to new ones to detect maintenance issues. diglobal.tech - - - After Palo Alto Networks tested 1.2 million IoT devices, they found 98% sent data unencrypted, exposing networks from both ends:  Vulnerable IoT devices infect PCs Unpatched PCs give attackers access to IoT devices and their data theregister.co.uk/2020/03/11/the_internet_of_things - - - Datakit Software released its new glTF writer (GL Transmission Format from Kronos). Developers can convert their CAD files to the self-style "JPEG of 3D".gltf and .glb files. http://datakit.com - - - Graebert ships ARES Commander 2020 for the desktop, and previews its plans for BIM at last month's Japan conference. graebert.com/cad-software/download/ares-commander/ - - - "Augmented reality headset maker Magic Leap has struggled with the laws of physics and failed to get to market. 'Magic Leap could fetch more than $10 billion'... is the number a prideful company strategically leaks in hopes of drumming up acquisition interest, even at a lower price. The whole economy is hurting due to coronavirus. AR seems less interesting than virtual reality with people avoiding public places. Getting people to strap used AR hardware to their face for demos seems like a tough sell for the foreseeable future." techcrunch.com/2020/03/11/magic-steep/ - - - Epic Games released Twinmotion 2020 architectural visualization software with... Enhanced vegetation Rhino link plug-in  Import videos as materials See more in this video: youtube.com/watch?v=2qtVcZgbrl4 - - - Dropping a (lightened) car on a tough (Kevlar) trampoline. CAD is mentioned. The super slo-mo sequences are especially interesting, particularly the distortions of the water-filled yoga ball undergoes.  youtu.be/tMKXbLBgkEc - - - ABIresearch says, "By 2035, 83 million 5G connected cars will be on the road, making them safer and greener." This is unknowable. - - - Startup Monograph, whose cloud-based software handles project and cost management for architects, raises $1.9 million in seed funding. monograph.io/ - - - How to install the Linux version of Blender on ChromeOS devices: chromeunboxed.com/three-ways-to-install-blender-3d-software-on-your-chromebook/ - - - "Cutting Rates Is Now About As Relevant As Painting A Sinking Ship." That's because people are putting their health ahead of their wealth. As Seth Fiegerman put it, "Purell is the new bitcoin." - - - BetaCAE Systems released v19.1.6 and v20.1.1 updates to its KOMVOS/ANSA/EPILYSIS/META software. http://beta-cae.com - - - The Khronos Group formed a new working group to create a free, open standard analytic rendering interface API for data visualization called "ANARI." www.khronos.org/ - - -   Letters to the Editor Re: The Test that Failed Thank you so much for the story about your father in the newsletter. The photo (below) shows my father. He was involved in the microelectronics industry. The photo was taken in the early 1960s, when he was studying in Lviv Politechnik University, now Ukraine.     - Olga Kalyagina - - - My thoughts on BIM vs 2D drawings, etc, etc. Back in the last millennium, when I was going through university, I worked one summer for the local electric company. At one point I was working on a project that involved updating an existing facility. The project engineer sent me down to the vault to dig out the old drawings. I was more than a little puzzled by how they looked to me, so when I returned I asked him for the story and here it is: In the days of paper and pencil, copies of drawings were made using blueprint machines. The original would be placed on top of a light-sensitive sheet of paper and the pair would be exposed to a strong ultraviolet light. Finally, the copy would be exposed to ammonia fumes which would develop the image. So far so good, but the blueprint paper was opaque so that a copy could not be made from a copy. Solution: Sepia or brownline paper. The process was exactly the same as making a blueprint but sepia paper was transparent enough that a normal blueprint could be made from it. The only issue was that as the sepia was made from the pencil-and-paper drawing, and then as a blueprint was made from it, the light would have to pass through and be diffused by an additional layer of paper and so that copies from the sepia would get a little fuzzy.  Solution: the sepia would be made by turning the original upside-down so that the penciled side was adjacent to the emulsion side of the sepia. Similarly, in the field, the sepia would be turned upside down so that its image side was adjacent to the blueprint paper’s emulsion side. Now to the case in point. It turns out that someone in the field forgot to invert the sepia, and so the “as-built” drawings and the actual construction were mirror images of the original design.      - Bill Fane   Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine. To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

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Readers Respond: Letters to the Editor

Issue #1,046   |   March 16, 2020

 

Re: The Limits of BIM Thanks for your informative gatherings of insight and innovations in our AEC universe. The Snyder discussion is thoughtful, trenchant. However, I'm (easily) puzzled by this model-vs-drwg "conflict." Ignorance is bliss, one supposes, but isn't it perfectly natural to elicit coordinated info from models, to hone in on details? Details then to be presented in familiar imagery i.e. "drawings?" What's with the "machismo?" Those of us ancients who evolved from the primordial swamps of manual drafting/spec-writing/estimating; to taming the great swamp-dinosaur of AutoCAD; and onward to mastering Revit, with all its expensive pluses/minuses. I can assure Rob that drawings as such are no guarantee of a match with reality. In fact, a crucial professional responsibility of any engineer/architect/contractor is making sure the owner is not to be fooled by any artistic, technical, or financial design work. T the final experience of a built structure, landscape, whatever, will always be a surprise to some extent. There is no AI/simulation/animation whatsoever that will fully "pre-experience" the work at completion, for owners, designers or builders. Cognition has apparently a limited but useful model presented by cybernetics research, from MIT and elsewhere, where purposive knowledge is acquired as if by a guidance system that aims at a goal and then changes course functionally (ping-ponging?) along its path. If, hopefully, the guidance system steers us to our destination, it will not only have made corrections, but will have learned from its mistakes - it won't make the same mistake twice. Rob seems to display this process nicely w/ his graphs (could not get the taxicab or lady going in the vid). Of course, human brains may often repeat avoidable mistakes, unlike the average missile warhead -- emotions? politics? vague language? So, BIM makes easier the initial cramming-into a database of a maximum, COORDINATED body of project information. Then, it's there for multiple, coordinated purposes, dialed out as spreadsheets, spec. text, 2D diagrammatic images, 3D still/video pictures, etc. We're using all the tools, aren't we? All that matters is that we have the best tools - best that we can afford, of course.     - Michael David Rubin The editor replies: Thank you for your thoughtful response. Mr Snyder was reacting to 3D modeling extremists who mock the use of drawings, hence the use of the word "machismo." - - - What if the entire concept of #BIM is wrong? #Architecture as a database depresses me as an architect. We see thousands of BIM models at @cove_tool  from every leading firm and mostly they use it for fancier 3d modeling.  #parametricdesign #generative     - @cove_tool (via Twitter) - - - I am a fan of BIM but not necessarily of BIM software, so this weeks edition ticked a few boxes in my consciousness. There is a lot of debate about model views being set up as part of the deliverable and these must surely be the missing ‘sauce’ that we need to lift the curve between the model and understanding.  The only issue is that these model views are drawn by the creators of the model and not the users of the information – so the gap will remain. Good old fashioned drawings are still and will remain a critical part of any buildings documentation be it pdf or paper! The downward curve after building handover is also a reality, even in well-maintained buildings. Here the gap between the understanding of building operators, of models, and their tools to interpret that model is almost insurmountable. They should not have to learn an entirely new, highly-complex software suite to do the job!  Especially when drawings should be available… This is not properly understood in the pursuit of BIM by the designers of buildings. This is not a criticism of progress but only a call for greater inclusion of other stakeholders.     - Rudd van Deventer The editor replies: Taylor Software is one company that I know of working on making building drawings accessible to owners by linking sensors to software that displays drawings as SVG files.   Re: The Test That Failed I think I would have trouble winding that spring, but your dad probably had the right tools for the task and training in how to use them. Apropos of your father's essay, I came across this quotation in my reading today: "Specialization is for insects," the science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein famously wrote. "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly." It's fun to ask oneself how many of these tasks he or she could perform.     - Steve Wolfe - - - Thank you for sharing these insights about your father. I maintain an ongoing Facebook sub-page (under my own personal page) I title “Heart of a Master” with precisely these types of stories. With examples, I highlight to give hope to those of us who daily palm-slap ourselves with the lack of integrity, lack of passion, and lack of heart that permeates our AEC industry on so many levels.  You do a wonderful job at keeping the field interesting!     - David K. Sargert The editor replies: I think that what has happened is that over the last few decades, the CAD industry moved from an exciting new frontier to just another job. There are, fortunately, still some pockets of brilliance that I try to tease out for my readers. - - - The double-coiled twin spring in larger scale would be a perfect fit for the old Massey Harris hay rake my father used to own. The rake was made of many of these units bolted to the spinning-reel.     - Hugh Campbell - - - That was a very pleasant surprise to read my adventures almost 8 decades ago. There were left-hand and right-hand windings, a loop in the center, two straight ends each 1.5" long, at right angles to the center loop.     - Herbert Grabowski - - - Enjoyed reading your dad’s work story. Handsome guy! That kind of work is what I consider real work. What passes for ‘working for a living’ today is pathetic!     - Chris Cadman   Re: Autodesk at 2020 I have to say I agree with Matt Stachoni chastisement over your comments on Revit. You know I'm no fan of Autodesk, but Revit is a pretty good product I mostly enjoy using -- if you ignore the price and vendor lock-in.  BIM360 is a great solution for widely spread teams. My current project has people in four cities spread between Denmark and India, and it just works.      - Duncan Lithgow The editor replies: I am always glad to be critiqued; that way I learn more. - - - Regarding Matt Stachoni's comments on Revit, "Matt was previously a BIM MEP specialist with Microsol Resources, an Autodesk Platinum Partner serving New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston. He is a contributing writer for AUGIWorld Magazine, and is a highly rated regular speaker at Autodesk University.     - Ragnar Thor Mikkelsen

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The Limits of BIM: Jettisoning the Idea of Models Replacing Drawings

Issue #1,045   |   March 9, 2020

 

by Rob Snyder   [From the editor: This article is the first of a series that I hope to run in upFront.eZine examining the limits of human understanding, and the related field of epistemology, which asks the question, "How do we know what we know?"] Digital 3D modeling as used in the design and construction industry (and similar industries) has an obvious value. However, the last three decades of evidence show that its value is commonly overstated. The further we travel down the path established for BIM (“digital twins”), the further we get from utility, and the closer we are drawn into a never-ending slough through the muck of confusion, the purpose of which seems to be only some kind of competition to see who is more macho. I’ll show what I mean in by a series of graphs illustrated below. But before I get to the graphs, let me review a statement that’s typical of BIM industry rhetoric. This one appears in an interview by Randall Newton in his article about blockchain for construction, What Does Blockchain Really Mean For Construction?: BIM is very data-centric, and the best way to establish trust is to trust the data itself. [The] goal is to make the model the unique source of truth.  “Today BIM data is not contractual; there are many sources of truth: BIM, PDM, DWG, paper,” says Gueguen. “We believe using Revit as the single source of truth will make the model far better. “Bimchain’s first step is a Proof of Contribution module, where contributions, agreements, and validations are certified on the blockchain and made part of the Revit BIM model. “It is a ‘proof of handshake’ to prove the BIM Manager, the architect, [and others] agreed on the model,” says Gueguen. “We believe this will be able to replace the scattered papers-and-signatures process with an indisputable system.”  (Bimchain will, I believe, have an impact on the AEC industry, and Randall’s article explains why.) This is the point I want to develop here: Bimchain's impact will be greater the sooner we jettison the idea of models replacing drawings. Industry experience reveals obvious inadequacies of the medium of digital modeling, and yet the response is usually to ignore the inadequacies, fail to address them appropriately, blame someone/thing else, double down on bullheadedness, and latch onto the next shiny object that this time is going to justify and validate the inadequate. Very macho indeed. Everything in this world has both scope and limits. Digital modeling is no exception. Its scope (the extent of what it is, and what it can be) is vast and highly valuable. It also has, like all things, limits. The limits of modeling are both real, and substantial. The limits need to be addressed -- unless an endless crawl through the mud is the desired goal and reward. The limits of digital (or physical or mental) modeling are these: As models are wide and expansive things, they surpass our human ability to wrap our minds around them. (See figure below.) To the extent that we are required to understand models more than just superficially, models overload our ability to grasp them. We require certain devices (or other media) to assist us in understanding them.   Models, by themselves, provide no means with which we can affirm that what should be shown there, is shown there and that nothing that matters is missing. El Riyadh Garden by Archmod Engineering   As Robert Anderson puts it, "It’s ironic to think that to make models (3D information-rich BIM models particularly) comprehensible to us poor humans, we actually have to hide parts of them in a process we call rendering." Let's move on to the graphs. I've drawn a curve that plots the extents of project understanding on the Y axis against the extents of model completion on the X:   As modeling begins, understanding rises rapidly. As model completion increases, gains in understanding begin to slow and then approach an asymptote. Greater and greater effort is put into more and more modeling to deliver diminishing returns of increased understanding of the project. The diminishing return, and finally no return, is a function of the confrontation with the fundamental limitations of the medium of modeling itself (as listed by points 1 and 2 earlier). BIM industry machismo is observed in the determination to continue modeling despite a negligible gain in understanding. What remains is the extent to which those working in the industry are ready to admit it. Let’s add the medium of 2D drawings to the graph. Let’s call drawings “devices for looking at models purposefully."   Drawings act in a very energetic way to pull the understanding curve in the positive Y direction, towards greater understanding.   We gain two strong positives from drawings: Increased understanding (which is the point) and increased value derived from our modeling efforts.   We can adjust the slope of the new asymptotic line any way we want. The angle will, of course, vary depending on many factors. It is, however, the general effect that is of interest to us, as well as the mechanism for it. I’ll describe the mechanism underlying the uplift in understanding shortly. But first I want to note that the more we model and draw, the more we understand! That’s a win-win situation. Our understanding still has its limits, but the more effort we put into study through modeling and drawing, the more our understanding grows. That’s the kind of curve we need -- as opposed to the earlier curve, in which our efforts fail to return gains in understanding, after a certain point that occurs quite early. I now add another dashed line, a horizontal one in red. It indicates where the level of project understanding is sufficient, beyond which further understanding is unnecessary. This line is different for each phase of a project, whether design, construction, or a blend of concurrent design and construction.   If anyone hyperventilates at the idea, then consider the example of when construction is completed. When the project is handed over to the owner, the construction team reaches a practical limit at which they no longer need to invest in further understanding of the project, other than for ancillary purposes. Naturally, when owners take over, they will invest in understanding the built asset, but this is represented by a different red line on the graph. Owners needs to understand the asset through studying models and drawings in tandem, together with direct experience with the real facility. In any case, the construction team may (will) in such a scenario cease its knowledge investment at the red line, and so modeling and drawing cease there (blue and green lines). Such is the basic nature of the design-construct-operate lifecycle.   Proposed Reality vs Actual Reality Let's now look at the relationship of proposed reality (things as they are designed) and actual reality (things as they are), as shown by this simplified graph:   Things as they are, in the real world at the start of a project lifecycle, are different than things as they come to be proposed. There is a wide gap between what is and what will be (what will be designed), and so the blue and red curves are far apart during design. The purpose of construction is to move the red line (things as they are) towards the blue one (things as they’re designed):   At the completion of construction, things as they are, "actual reality," become things as they are built, “as-built.” At the end of construction, the red as-built reality line comes as close as it will come to what was designed (the blue line). Thereafter, during facility operations, actual reality again moves away from proposed reality as entropy takes over. Nature has its say and nature is going to degrade your facility, and so maintenance is required to push back against the decay, to keep systems in optimal condition, in conformance with designed reality.   Naturally, if maintenance is not performed, over time the facility will degrade to ruin, which again creates that maximum distance between actual and proposed realities. This segues back then to the model completion-understanding curve. During each major lifecycle phase in AEC, there is an appropriate cutoff line, after which further investment in understanding is no longer made. A hand-off is made to the next phase, and at least part of the team that made its investment in understanding can appropriately retire its efforts. This is shown here where blue effort line is cut off at the red understanding line:   The two sets of graphs are related in the following ways: The purpose of drawing and modeling is to gain understanding.  The purpose of understanding is to contribute effectively in the AEC lifecycle, as follows:      1. During design -- to make the design appropriate and effective      2. During construction -- to move actual reality toward proposed reality      3. During facility operations -- to keep the facility in optimal working order  It is towards these aims that understanding is directed, and beyond these aims, investment in understanding is ordinarily not funded.   The Mechanism of Understanding What is the mechanism of understanding? By what means do drawings pull the modeling-understanding curve toward increased understanding? (Green arrowheads between the blue and dashed lines, below.)   The answer goes to absolute fundamentals. The activity of thinking is represented by the pink arrows in the next image, below:    Thought produces understanding, and thought, it seems, functions through a back and forth ping-ponging between the wider perceptible environment (like the 3D model) and articulating acts of narrowing focus (as with 2D drawings). So in the graph above, drawings are developed over time (the green dash, now supplemented for emphasis by the red circles), while models are developed below the blue curve.  The mind at work (pink arrows) bounces back and forth. From this action, thinking happens and understanding grows. I am no neuroscientist, and I suspect that no one in the science of the study of mind presumes to say how cognition works; it remains a mystery. We can, however, observe some of the basic dynamics of cognition's function: there is an interplay between the wider environment and the narrower focus (for taking a purposeful and closer look).  Let me give an example in this 35-second film clip posted on Linkedin by filmmaker Jim Cummings. As you watch it, take a cue from the the wider environment and then the essence of the narrowing focus as the scene is shown from two viewpoints: linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6470492533146341376  We all relate to the movie scene viscerally as it goes to the core of what we do when we understand anything, anywhere -- from wide scene to closeup to wide scene again. We naturally ping-pong our perceptions between the wider expanse of the environment, the whole of a place, and the various articulating acts we take to narrow the focus, to take a closer look at the thing that matters.  In this back and forth, we form meaning, grow our understanding, and we come to know a thing or a place. Some kind of energy is generated during this interplay that results in the inexorable growth of understanding, and so the blue curve moves in the positive Y direction, toward greater understanding:   When we talk in the field of AEC [architecture, engineering, and construction] of jettisoning drawings in favor models, we are denying the basic observable dynamic of the growth in understanding and hacking away at the root of cognition itself. No small error indeed! The video clip relates directly to AEC in the sense that the wider environmental whole of a place is the model, while the articulating act of narrowing focus, to take a closer look at something that matters, is an act embodied in the medium known as the drawing. We don’t understand one without the other. We won’t understand the closer look at the woman giving directions in the cab without the wider environment of the city within which this narrowed focus finds its subject. The reverse is true too: we fail to grasp and make sense of the wider environment (the city, in this case) without a series of closer-look events with which we engage. Our minds are drawn to clarifying moments and orienting views that are high and low, large and small. The sum of these, within the context of the dynamic interplay between environment and focus, well, that seems to describe to some extent the engine of cognition.   So What Then?  None of this matters to those committed to a continuous contest of ¿Quién es más macho? But for anyone who wants better media that’s better fuel for cognition, the future is there, waiting for you to define it. There will be new innovations in media that define the future of media itself for software companies that want to pioneer it and bring it into existence. - - - The ideas in this article are expanded in Tangerine Media Innovation Spec 2018, which is available in these formats: Free PDF file: drive.google.com/file Apple Book: itunes.apple.com/us/book/tangerine-media-innovation-spec-2018 Rob Snyder has 25 years experience with BIM (and BIM-like) software, both as a user creating construction-ready models and construction drawings driven from those models, and in BIM software design and product management. Mr Snyder is BIM Product Owner at Graebert GmbH. He received his degree in architecture from the University of Kentucky. https://tangerinefocus.com [This article is reprinted with permission from Tangerine Focus.] Letters to the Editor Lots of letters to the editor, next week! Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine. To support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $750 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/750 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.com and the account of grabowski@telus.net. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.

Contact! upFront.eZine is published most Mondays. This newsletter is read by 5,000 subscribers in 70 countries. Your comments are welcome at grabowski@telus.net; deadline for submissions is every Saturday morning. Letters sent to the editor are subject to publication. Read our back issues at www.upfrontezine.com. Editor: Ralph Grabowski  Copy editor: Heather MacKenzie Advertising starts at US$680 per two weeks. Wanted ads by the unemployed are free. Other rates available. To request a copy of our media kit, download your copy of the PDF from upFront-Media-Kit.pdf. Article reprint fee: $420. Contact grabowski@telus.net for advertising. To subscribe, send the message 'subscribe upfront' to grabowski@telus.net.    To change your address, send both your old and new email addresses to grabowski@telus.net.    To unsubscribe, see instructions below. *5073

 

 

 

The Test That Failed

Issue #1,044   |   March 2, 2020

 

by Herbert S Grabowski The first job my father held was apprenticing in an aircraft factory. Later he became a drafter, for which I also had a knack, and that's why now you read about CAD in this newsletter. He wrote his life story, from which I borrow this chapter, in which he describes his experience taking the final exam for aircraft construction apprentices. - - - In the days before our apprenticeship final exams -- verbal, written, and practical -- were to take place, much speculation was raised over the question of what kind of design would we have to figure out, and complete in time. Previous test pieces, displayed in showcases outside our classrooms, were intricate parts of airplanes. Mr Grabowski at the drafting table The big day arrived, and each one of us was given a locked toolbox. It contained the drawings, pre-cut materials, and specialized tools for the job. Standard tools and machinery were over in the training center, reserved exclusively for us. We had four hours in which to complete the practical portion of the exam, and we were told to start now!   Opening the box, we grabbed the drawings, flew over them, and saw that we were to fabricate and assemble a wing inspection hole cover, complete with a spring-activated thumb latch lock. All straightforward stuff, except for the double-coiled twin spring, which would be a tricky -- a challenging task.   From habit, I decided to tackle the most difficult part first. Winding spring steel wire requires tight over-winding, but only so much so as to allow for spring-back to the desired diameter. It was tricky all right. There were left-hand and right-hand windings, a loop in the center, two straight ends each 1.5" long, at right angles to the center loop. Double-coiled twin spring   It worked out just right: correct diameter, clockwise and anti-clockwise windings, perfect! Center loop done, left and right ends--? Where were the ends? There was no material left.  Alarm, everybody stop! The commissioners put their collective heads together and concluded what was obvious: Whoever pre-cut the spring wire had cut it too short. Hurriedly, longer pieces were provided for us to use. I happened to be the only one who had already completed the spring, found the shortness, and so sounded the alarm. Did I get extra time? No, but later I did get extra credit. I was happy with my final marks. Matter of fact, the director of training, Mr. Jacob, whose signature was on all aircraft apprenticeship diplomas, personally upgraded my marks from Good to Excellent. His initials are to this day a pleasant reminder of the best years I had in my younger life. I kept in touch with Mr. Jacob by letter throughout my time in Europe. And on my only visit home, I stopped by at the aircraft plant.  He took time out to show me the new long-distance bomber capable of flying across the Atlantic and back. Yet there they stood, lined up, waiting. Waiting for what? For engines, which were not available because of lack of nickel and other raw materials to fabricate the engines. Letters to the Editor Re: Autodesk at 2020 Great article and very timely for me personally.  In the '90s I taught AutoCAD extensively but as my career evolved I left it behind. I went full circle and I am back in design and using AutoCAD full-time. I was fortunate enough to get back into teaching AutoCAD 2020 starting last September. After a couple of terms trying to explain to students why the Limits command still exists (et al) I decided to abandon my AutoCAD teaching.  I thought I would enjoy teaching AutoCAD again, but I really didn't at all. The software is just too complex and confusing with all its variants of anything and everything. And as I get older I don't need the hassle in my life, so I gave it up again. Teaching the software, though, really showed me how much feature-piling Autodesk has done over the years. I had to laugh when you said, "Yet another palette to insert blocks" and it's really NOT a very intuitive one either. Just one more example of rampant duplicity that gets programmed in, instead of real improvements. And it still crashes all the time. Sad. Must be a bitch to maintain that code base. I am seriously looking at some of the work-alikes you have written about. It's fabulous that you are out there doing this, reporting on software across the industry that not everyone has the time to research or, in many cases, even be aware of. The community is a far better place due to your presence and active involvement and I know you've been in the trenches a long time. You also are a survivor, sir.     - Robert Melnyk - - - You said that Revit is now the primary software for architecture in some regions. Actually there is also a new clone called Renga Architecture from Ascon of Russia. Any data on how people now see Renga as a serious replacement for Revit?     - Kholish Nur  The editor replies: I am familiar enough with Renga that I know it is not a Revit clone. It has, in my opinion, the most beautiful interface of any BIM software, but it is for architectural, MEP, and structural design using Russian standards. https://rengabim.com/en/ - - - Excellent summary of Autodesk ‘bad business’. Thanx! I can’t tell you how much I hate the Autodesk business model.     - Chris Cadman - - - In response to your recent upFront.eZine #1043 newsletter article “Revit at 20,” you make a series of wildly incorrect points that belie even a basic understanding of the platform, and miss some of the most crucial aspects of how Revit’s development is currently affecting the AEC market. You do at least get the age of Revit correct. After that, well. In Revit, ceiling heights are “instance” properties, that is, each individual ceiling has its own Height setting. You do not input a new ceiling height in one place have it change across an entire building unless you either (a) explicitly tie each and every ceiling height to a single global parameter, or (b) group the common ceilings together and insert the group on each floor. Not impossible, but it doesn’t happen automatically. A better example to illustrate the point of BIM is perhaps adding or removing a door, which automatically updates the plans, elevations, and schedules. Revit is most certainly not “held together with glue and gum.” When it was first purchased by Autodesk, they did have to do a lot of work to rework much of the spaghetti code and bailing wire which kept it together, but over the years Autodesk has rewritten large portions (if not all) of it and ultimately produced a platform that is much less crash-happy than it used to be. With each development cycle Revit’s codebase has to undergo extreme testing so that new features do not break existing functionality, which likely explains in large part why we don’t get a lot of new features every year. Instability does happen (see the recent Revit 2020.2 update family corruption debacle) but overall the platform is more stable than ever, more so on very large projects. Almost no one using Revit today creates an entire building in a single file, unless it’s designed by a single person, and even then it’s a bad idea. You would quickly hit a wall with having so many people Worksharing a single file. Having several discipline-specific models are the norm in order to parse out workloads efficiently. Architectural, interiors, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire protection, site, etc. at a minimum all get their own files, with additional models for FF&E, exterior enclosure, signage, space planning, low voltage vs power, etc. being typical on larger projects. My current project has 32 active design models and over 50 separate trade subcontractor models that we work with daily. The largest files are well over 1GB in size. BIM isn’t losing any luster, it’s just not considered the brand new thing anymore. It’s simply the new universal standard for building design and construction that AutoCAD was 20 years ago. No one is calling for its demise. If anything the number of smaller specialty designers and trades coming on board and joining the BIM community is growing, not shrinking. These days no one is going from BIM back to CAD. Remote collaboration is a problem solved in several ways under Revit, and is the primary driver for the creation of Autodesk BIM 360, which is arguably the best platform under which to work across office / company boundaries.  Maybe this is the “Glue" Sw you are referring to? Level of Detail (not to be confused with Level of Development = LOD) has zero to do with it, and as far as I know there are no other third-party (read: non-Autodesk) “enhancements that optimize the shuttling of monster models between multiple offices” that are worth mentioning. Regardless of Quantum development, your comment that “Revit was designed to be irreplaceable through an incomplete API that operates only inside the program, along with undocumented file formats” is patently absurd. No one designs an application from scratch thinking up ways to screw their customers. Revit HAD NO API when it was first created and was built with no intention of ever exposing anything through one. Under Autodesk the first API was ultimately developed and supported - by one person - then released with Revit Building 8 in 2005, I believe. Today the Revit API is much different; it’s matured to the point that Autodesk uses it to develop additional applications such as the Worksharing Monitor, Revit DBLink, and other usual stuff we all install with the program. Now the API is freely accessible from any number of interfaces, through Dynamo running alongside of (not inside of) Revit, as well as Python, C++ / C Sharp, and so on. If anything the API now allows people to customize and enhance the platform in more ways than you can AutoCAD. To say that Revit does documentation “poorly” is an outright falsehood. Sections and callouts are always tied to the drawing / sheet number -- youu simply can’t mess it up. Done correctly, all text notes are made “smart” through the use of tags which annotate properties, materials, keynotes, and parameters from the model elements directly, allowing two-way changes to happen in one place and percolate throughout the drawing set immediately. Similarly, schedules always read model-based properties and can use formulas to calculate totals and other extrapolated information. All of this makes the usual QA redlining process a shadow of what it was under a CAD application. Graphically, you have complete control over component family element graphics in plan, elevation, and 3D; we have multiple 3D graphics options controlling ambient and hard shadows, background, shading, transparency, and even squiggly lines. From day one we have had scale-dependent text notes, dimensions, hatch pattern scales, and line weights that all naturally Just Work, unlike AutoCAD’s Annotative feature which is STILL, 20 years later, simply beyond horrible. All of this makes documentation much more fluid and consistent drawing sheet to sheet and, more importantly, from designer to designer. The people still getting ugly drawings out of Revit are those who just go with the idiotic  out of the box settings and don’t even try to make things look better. “For its part, Autodesk props up Revit with 31 Web-based BIM 360 apps that manage projects, costs, and so on. I consider BIM 360 a stopgap measure.” We have at least 31 separate available solutions for working across project models and documentation and you call this platform a “stopgap?” Seriously? This is not counting the hundreds of third-party solutions such as Egnyte and Revizto which have BIM 360 integrations to allow those applications to plug into the ecosystem. What’s the minimum number of applications required for it not to be considered a stopgap? Having solidified its place in the design world, Autodesk’s recent acquisitions of Assemble, BuildingConnected, and PlanGrid, among others, helps close the loop by bringing the “C” in AEC into the BIM fold. Again, there are a huge number of truly great third party construction-specific apps that support Revit and BIM 360. This isn’t to say Revit is free of challenges looking forward; I could spend at least another hour talking about what’s wrong with Revit and how to fix it. But what other platform has more breadth and depth, and can play in both the design and construction space as well as Revit and BIM 360?     - Matt Stachoni    Thank You, Readers Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Zoltan Toth of CADline: "I always enjoy reading your newsletter. Just the other day I have met a draftsman from Toronto saying that he heard about us from your Web site." 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