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Q&A With CEO Jesse Coors-Blankenship: On Frustum's Release of Generate for Windows

Issue #996 

 

by Ralph Grabowski Frustum did something wrong last month. They moved their cloud-based design software, Generate, from the cloud to the desktop. That's not supposed to be happening in our "post-PC" era, as former Apple CEO Steve Jobs infamously labeled it. The genesis of Generate is to topple traditional CAD by reversing the design process we've all used until now. Instead, Generate works like this (see figure 1.): Select the machine with which the part will be made (additive or subtractive). Specify constraints, such as an optional volume boundary, bolt holes, and expected stresses. Draw the part. Figure 1: Left: Part being simulated in Generate; right: finished part 3D-printed (all images sourced from Frustum) Except that in the case of Generate, the part is drawn by the software, not the drafter.  I spoke last week with Frustum CEO and founder Jesse Coors-Blankenshipabout the thinking behind the software, the move to the desktop, and the company's future plans. - - - Ralph Grabowski: You first released Generate as a Web app, running in browsers. Was it difficult to move Generate from a server to the desktop? Jesse Coors-Blankenship: The cloud is good for students and beginners, and for engineers experimenting without permission from the IT department. We are not abandoning our cloud product, this is an expansion of our product portfolio to meet the needs of the market. But we saw that it needed to be a desktop product to be fully functional. Windows allows real interactivity by using all available CPU and GPU[processors in the graphics board] power. Windows lets us show the software updating changes live as they are made to the model, even on a laptop. Grabowski: Someone like Autodesk would argue that the cloud has more compute power than the desktop -- as they put it in their implausible marketing slogan, "infinite computing." Coors-Blankenship: The cloud makes sense for batch processing, but our interactive approach to generative design does not require thousands of independent calculations the way that Autodesk does. In the future, as we begin to get into very large assemblies, interactivity may be difficult to achieve simply with desktop computing. This is where batch processing in the cloud may be more suitable. We imagine we could connect our Windows product to our cloud product at some point in the future, but for now we want to take advantage of all available compute power on Windows. Grabowski: Talk to me about the process of rewriting the server-based software to run on the desktop. Coors-Blankenship: We did not need to rewrite our core technology, TrueSOLID [proprietary modeling kernel]. Generate for Windows is a totally new application written in C++. (See figure 2.) The lazy approach of boxing up the Web product would not have allowed interactivity, so we started fresh. Figure 2: Generate for Windows showing volume boundary in light gray Grabowski: Did you write the Windows version in a way so that it could be ported to other operating systems?  Coors-Blankenship: Yes. Grabowski: You also have the TrueSOLID kernel that you license, but there are several new kernels on the market. Tell me how yours is different. Coors-Blankenship: We are also a component company, which is not all that common for a new CAD company, given the amount of energy it takes. In the past, we put most of our energy into TrueSOLID. Now that is has come to fruition, we are able to focus on productizing it with Generate. TrueSOLID is a generative design engine that consists of three parts: At the bottom is a geometry modeler, which is an implicit geometry kernel, based on volumetric modeling to handle indeterminate solutions. It does not use surfaces (b-reps) as most other kernels do. The modeler is what enables operations like freeform topology optimization, blending, and lattice forming. The next layer is our simulation framework, something we emphasized already in the early days; it makes use of multi-threaded CPUs and/or GPUs when available. Finally the top layer is the optimization framework that enables interactive generative design, design for manufacturing, and topology optimization. I predict that volumetric modeling will become more common. It hasn't been used much in the past because it can be computationally heavier, but for complex designs like lattices, it is better than surface modeling.  Another benefit to volumetric modeling is that it gets the 3D printing output directly from the volume data. This makes a lot of sense for additive manufacturing, which can handle a lot more geometric complexity than can subtractive manufacturing. ['Additive' manufacturing is like 3D printing, where material is added to make the part; 'subtractive' modeling is like milling machines and drills, which make the part by removing material from a stock piece of metal. 'Casting' and 'molding' make parts by melting metal or plastic and pouring it into a mold.] We can do STL, the lowest common denominator b-rep which is triangle mesh. Surface patches are still in process for topological design, but not for lattices as b-rep is not good for representing lattices.  Grabowski: You received funding from Siemens and they use your technology in NX and Solid Edge.  Coors-Blankenship: We provide their topology optimization (see figure 3), but not their lattice work.  Figure 3: Frustum technology running inside SimCenter from Siemens PLM Systems Grabowski: What are your future plans for Generate on the desktop? Coors-Blankenship: Following user requests on our latest Generate release, we will focus on lattices and modeling. We are still figuring out how to expose the implicit modeling, but it would certainly involve primitives, extrusions, and preset parts like bolts (from a parts library) for connecting the geometry. We are learning from our customers how to close the workflow, which we see being like this: specify the bolts (fixtures) along with some kind of envelop (optional) and physical requirements and manufacturing requirements, and then the software determines the part. Should infill be a part of it, such as lattices? That would be an option. We want to work more closely with all the [manufacturing] machines out there, allow the user to select the machine and get the ready-to-make part automatically with no retouching necessary. (See figure 4.) In the future, customers might tailor their Generate software to the five machines in the shop, enabling useful workflows and customization. Figure 4: A part modeled with the same parameters but designed for different kinds of manufacturing in mind In a future release, we plan to scale across multiple nodes [networked computers] to optimize any number of parts in an assembly. As a continuous-release product, we plan to ship updates each quarter. As we continue to update our offering, we are not interested in providing a traditional CAD solution. It can't be CAD, because that already exists. We are trying to shoulder into the market as the next generation of 3D design software. www.frustum.com   ARES KUDO: MODERN DWG EDITING IN THE CLOUD   ARES Kudo is the only online CAD solution offering a full set of 2D features to read, create, modify, and share DWG and DXF drawings. Nothing to install. It runs in your Web browser and your files follow you on any device. ARES Kudo is integrated with cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business -- and industry-specific solutions such as Onshape and Trimble Connect.  Visit www.graebert.com/areskudo to learn more and activate your own free trial at kudo.graebert.com The Rest of the News Some of the most recent posts on my WorldCAD Access blog: Frustum on Generate for Windows - Webinar Cambashi on CAE Opportunties - Webinar  MagicLeap's First Developer Conference - Webcast - - - David Robison at Design Master has this survey hack for busy people: Just answer the first two multiple choice questions, then click Next. Take the 9th annual BIM MEP survey at surveymonkey.com/r/WGY3SHF. View the results from last year's BIM survey by Design Master at designmaster.biz/blog/2018/02/mep-bim-2017-survey-results/  - - - Pointfuse adds cloud-based data processing service Pointfuse Bolt to its Pointfuse 2018 suite of laser scanning software that converts 3D laser scans into 3D mesh models. The Bolt Web service reduces processing times and IT requirements. http://pointfuse.com - - - COFES 2019 celebrates the 20th Anniversary by moving the event to Menlo Park, California from Sun 7April to Wed 10 April. More info from https://www.cofesinstitute.org/cofes2019 - - - Ex-Autodesk-er Noah Cole is now director of public relations at Siemens PLM Software. - - - To celebrate 20 years and 900,000 users, ZWSOFT has this multi-license offer: Purchase 3+ seats and get 20% off the full license and 1-year upgrade, with lifetime ownership. Email info@zwdirect.com for coupon until Oct 31. zwdirect.com/zwcad.html  - - - Free stuff, but only if you live in MA: "PTC Offers Free ThingWorx Starter Kit to Massachusetts Manufacturers, Fueling State-Wide Digital Transformation Efforts." Dunno about the 'fueling' bit, tho. - - - The other half of the Network Effect: "Computers fail differently than most other machines: It's not just that they can be attacked remotely -- they can be attacked all at once." https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/10/security_in_a_w.html  - - -] Bentley Systems renamed its software with the “Open” prefix, such as OpenFlows FLOOD. It's not that they've suddenly made their software open, as is traditionally understood, but renamed them to emphasize that the packages work with each other. Open, but closed. - - - This could be good for CAD vendors: "Over the past year through July, US manufacturing added 327,000 jobs, the most of any 12-month period since April 1995." - - - Brcisys is working with Hexagon Leica Geosystems to offer the CloudWorx for BricsCAD plug-in to turn point cloud data into models and linework. They say it is identical in power and function to the CloudWorx Pro for AutoCAD plug-in. blog.bricsys.com/cloudworx-bricscad-available/ - - - Synthesis company now provides free development and software for your first parametric master CAD drawing. The Synthesis software is regularly $495, and includes free support, and a week of development work. www.synthesiscompany.com/ - - - Here's my article on the Prague conference posted by Jon Peddie Research's GfxSpeak publication: "Open Design Alliance powers along beyond DWG -- A report from Prague: The ODA finds new opportunities in APIs and visualization." gfxspeak.com/2018/10/10/alliance-powers-beyond/  - - - For late-breaking CAD news, be sure to follow upFront.eZine on Twitter at @upfrontezine. Letters to the Editor Fyi, the link to nanosoft in your newsletter does not work very well. Chrome and Firefox show it as an insecure site. However, the site www.nanocad.comdoes work fine. I enjoy your newsletter BTW     -Pete Segal The editor replies: Normally I check every link, but I missed this one. It is interesting that they do not use nanosoft.com domain. Thanks for finding the error! - - - In your interview, Dr. Sarkar [ceo Vectoworks] mentioned, "We were among the five companies that first began this initiative, and we contribute ideas and bug reports." Do you know what the other four companies are? Do you think an IFC-to-Revit will ever be possible?     - Dave Edwards The editor replies: I think that Bricsys and Graphisoft are part of the five, but the actual list is not being broadcast. As for the IFC-Revit xlator, Open Design Alliance ceo Neil Peterson says, "Our IFC project is still in an early phase, but once it is finished we will be in a position to provide this type of solution based on our independent Revit and IFC SDKs. The priority of this issue among our members is not clear at this point, but from a technical perspective there is nothing preventing a solution in this area."   Re: Cambashi Webinar on CAE Opportunties The difference between CAE [computer-aided engineering] and CAD is that in CAE one size does NOT fit all. Every little company (and many of these are very small) has its own unique algorithm for a specific engineering process. Consolidating this industry via a CAD company (or holding companies like Hexagon) would be like playing Pokemon Go ... gotta catch them all!      - Randall Newton (via WorldCAD Access)   Thank You, Readers! Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: David Russell-Head: "Thank you for providing continuity during the upheavals in the CAD world." William Doran  Should you wish to support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are like 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.   Spin Doctor of the Moment "To best meet the needs of Canadians, LG Canada will not be releasing the LG V40."      - LG spokesperson     mobilesyrup.com/2018/10/04/lgs-v40-thinq-can-be-purchased-in-canada-through-bh/

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Q&A with CEO Dr Biplab Sarkar: On the Release of Vectorworks 2019

Issue #995

 

by Ralph Grabowski The Nemetschek Group is rather unusual as it owns the largest number of architectural CAD programs in the world: three -- as well as a dozen ancillary programs, such as for doing steel design and renderings. In the past, all were pretty much independent, but an initiative by the Group's governing board is asking that they work together. One of the three BIM programs is Vectorworks, which shipped version 2019 last month for Windows and MacOS. (See figure 1.) I spoke with CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar about it. Figure 1: Vectorworks 2019 on MacOS (all images sourced from Vectorworks) - - -   Ralph Grabowski: A few years ago, you adopted Parasolid as the modeling kernel for Vectorworks. This is rather unusual for an architectural program. How many functions in Vectorworks 2019 are powered by Parasolid? Dr Biplab Sarkar: All of them, even ones like selection and snapping. All low-level functions are handled by the Parasolid API [application programming interface], as well as all 2D and 3D functions. Everything. Grabowski: I think you are using the Revit-compatible API from the Open Design Alliance. As the ODA adds more functions, like parametric editing, how much of the API's functionality will you consider adding to Vectorworks? Sarkar: We are using the Revit import API now and will add export to Revit in the next version. We integrate as much as we need, so we won't be using everything the ODA offers. For example, we convert Revit objects to our own objects and so we don't need the ODA's parametric editing function. Grabowski: Do you contribute to the ODA's effort on Revit? Sarkar: Yes, we were among the five companies that first began this initiative, and we contribute ideas and bug reports. Grabowski: What is your philosophy regarding the Revit-compatibility API: is it for interoperability, or to replace Revit seats with Vectorworks?  Sarkar: We use it mostly for interoperability, especially the content. Much of what is available is in the format of Revit families. This is why we worked first with import, which coincided with the ODA's approach. Grabowski: Vectorworks 2019 does COBie [construction-operations building information exchange] bi-directionally, and you say Vectorworks is the only one to do this. How does a user benefit from it? Sarkar: We can create worksheets in Vectorworks, like Excel, with every object and its parameters. The usefulness of bi-directionality is that users can change values in the cells to change the objects. This saves five manual steps in making changes. Grabowski: I was looking at the '2D components hybrid objects' feature in the what's-new brochure (see figure 2); from the image, it looks like LODs [levels of detail] are at work? Sarkar: In prior releases, hybrid objects had only top views and 3D views; what is new in 2019 is the addition of side and bottom views, so it is more precise in replacing cut views with the proper 2D views. We also added LODs to increase and decrease the detail. Figure 2: Pages from the 'What's New' brochure Grabowski: Bluebeam [PDF creation, editing, markup, collaboration] is one of the Nemetschek Group companies. Is it integrated into Vectorworks for the first time with 2019? Sarkar: No, we first added Bluebeam's PDF workflow in an earlier release. This is where we recognize each other's Space objects. Now we added integration with Bluebeam Studio so that PDFs can be marked in the Studio and marked-up PDFs can be brought back into Vectorworks for further reworking. Grabowski: Also new is a link to AutoTURN Online. Normally it is a plug-in to a CAD package. What are the benefits to accessing it online, and is it available to your customers only with a subscription? Sarkar: You upload 2D drawings to AutoTURN Online, and then they do the vehicle simulations, with the results downloaded back to Vectorworks (see figure 3). This avoids the need for plug-ins. It's available to all of our users, and it includes a couple of bundles of vehicles. To get the full bundle, you need to subscribe to AutoTURN Online. Figure 3: AutoTURN Online results returned to Vectorworks Grabowski: Nemetschek Group consists of sixteen companies, which in the past did not particularly talk to each other. Is integration happening? Sarkar: Yes, it is happening. We are working with many of the sister companies on a common data environment. The CDE is a requirement for  the United Kingdom's BIM level 2 mandate. Grabowski: Your booklet on what's new in Vectorworks 2019 is 60 pages long. What's the main thing in 2019? Sarkar: The team did a lot of work on performance. Starting the 2019 program is much faster, file opens are 4x faster, navigation-- all are using multi-threading. Feedback from users is that they appreciate this more than the new functions! https://www.vectorworks.net/en/2019 ARES KUDO: MODERN DWG EDITING IN THE CLOUD   ARES Kudo is the only online CAD solution offering a full set of 2D features to read, create, modify, and share DWG and DXF drawings. Nothing to install. It runs in your Web browser and your files follow you on any device. ARES Kudo is integrated with cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, Box, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business -- and industry-specific solutions such as Onshape and Trimble Connect.  Visit www.graebert.com/areskudo to learn more and activate your own free trial at kudo.graebert.com Sponsor: Okino Graphics == 3D Conversion of Ultra-Massive 3D Models via DWF-3D & Okino's PolyTrans|CAD == One of the most refined aspects of Okino's PolyTrans|CAD software is in transforming ultra-massive MCAD models of oil and gas rigs, LNG processing plants, 3D factories, and other unwieldy datasets into Cinema-4D, 3ds Max, Maya, and Unity (among others).  What often takes days using blindly incorrect methods takes minutes or an hour with Okino's well-defined optimization and compression methods using its DWF-3D conversion system.  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 The Rest of the News Hey, the inevitable arc of technology isn't supposed to move in this direction! Until now Generate from Frustum ran in Web browsers only; now, it's on Windows desktop computers. Whereas Generate Web has limited feature topology optimization, Generate for Windows is full-featured -- well, at least for a v1 release.  Advantages of the new desktop version of Generate over the Web one include Imports native CAD Optimizes multiple bodies simultaneously Users define materials Uses CPU and GPU Interactively generates designs www.frustum.com/product - - - OK, so this is pretty interesting... A little over a year ago, Dassault Systemscrowed it had "won" Boeing, albeit in a five-year roll-out plan. When asked by financial analysts the areas of Boeing in which 3dExperience would cover specifically, Dassault was characteristically vague.  Now this: Boeing is extending it partnership with Siemens Mentor Graphics in electrical systems design, electronic products design and mechanical analysis. This would be one reason why Siemens paid $4.5 billion and a 21% premium to capture Mentor. In other Siemens PLM news, the company closed its acquisition of Mendix (AI-assisted coding), emphasizing that it did it in eight weeks -- a far cry from the l-o-o-n-g acquisition of Mentor. - - - The biggest stumbling block to IoT [internet of things] adoption is security flaws, and the first ones are finally being corrected by PTC: "PTC and SEC Consult identified and addressed three product security vulnerabilities in PTC’s ThingWorx Industrial Innovation Platform." When PTC speaks of "public transparency" (see figure below) they don't mean transparency to the public. Only PTC ThingWorx customers can view the security problems identified today, which is fair, but not exactly "public."  PTC earlier set up a public reporting system for finding bugs in its IoT software, called Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure: ptc.com/en/documents/security/coordinated-vulnerability-disclosure : "PTC will not pursue legal action for those acting in good faith and in adherence to the coordination instructions and guidelines." - - - Crazy territory, like in 2000. From WSJ: 83% of US-listed IPOs [initial public offerings] in the first three quarters of 2018 had lost money in the 12 month prior to going public. Yet their share price is up an average of 36% from their IPO price. - - -  2018 Trimble Dimensions User Conference is Nov 5-7 at the Venetian hotel in, where else, but Las Vegas. www.trimbledimensions.com/ PS: Musical entertainment at the Customer Appreciation Party provided by Foreigner. - - - For more late-breaking CAD news, follow upFront.eZine on Twitter at @upfrontezine. Thank You, Readers! Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Kochman Consultants (small company donation) Dairobi Paul  Should you wish to support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are like 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.   Notable Quotable "We’re looking for a future proof intervention that will help us to gamify the tipping point."      - Management Speak (@managerspeak) on Twitter

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ODA Conference 2018, Part 3 A Tale of Three Vendors

Issue #994

 

by Ralph Grabowski During the Prague conference held by the Open Design Alliance, I met with several CAD vendors. Nanosoft: nanoCAD 10 and 3DScan Nanosoft began in Moscow a decade ago with this proposition: write an AutoCAD workalike to give away free, and then charge for vertical add-ons, of which they planned many. Today, the software has one million installations. You still can get nanoCAD free, but the free version is four releases old; most of the many add-ons are in Russian, with some in English.  In the intervening years, the programmers created remarkable functions in their AutoCAD workalike. The Table command, for instance, doesn't just calculate a few spreadsheet-like functions but is a full database and BOM system. When raster images are placed in drawings, you can snap to their elements and erase portions. nanoCAD displays point clouds and IFC models.  In Prague, NanoSoft director of research and development Kirill Melnikovshowed me the new nanoCAD Pro 10 release and 3DScan add-on. (See figure 1.) Release 10, which comes after 8.5, is named in honor of their 10th anniversary. It adopts the now-common customizable ribbon, but a single button switches between it and the more useful toolbar/menubar interface. The UI gets the on-screen viewpoint and visual style buttons we first saw in AutoCAD. Automatic-saves save just the changes, making saves much faster. And catch-up functions like standards checking, multi-line leaders, 3D polylines, layer transparency, and regions are added.  Figure 1: nanoCAD Pro 10 showing its new UI and a point-cloud object NanoCAD 3DScan handles 2.5 billion points, which they say is what you'd get from laser-scanning an area of 20-30km. It clips, dynamically sections, and offers semi-automatic classification, such as the ground. It traces geometric objects, such as pipes, profiles, and planes, and it performs collision detection.  http://www.nanosoft.com   C3D Labs: C3D Toolkit On day 2 of the Prague conference, C3D Labs held an independent seminar about its kernel toolkit. The C3D Toolkit consists of a geometric kernel, a parametric constraints module, visualization module, and a data exchange module. Each can be licensed individually or as a group.  The highlight was a presentation from NanoSoft (see figure 2), whose nanoCAD Pro software had been running 3D modeling using the Spatial ACIS kernel from Dassault Systemes. For release 10, the Russian-language version will add the C3D kernel, but it won't be dual-kernel software like IronCAD. Instead, you switch between the ACIS and C3D kernels in the Settings dialog box. Figure 2: NanoSoft director of R&D Kirill Melnikov presenting at the C3D Labs seminar When NanoSoft considered a new kernel, it looked into the following issues: Interactions between nanoCAD and the new 3D kernel  Reading and writing the different format of the C3D structure  Handling associative links to b-reps Converting the 3D model and its links between ACIS and C3D Geometric changes to complex faces like fillets, chamfers, and lofts Differences in b-rep structures On this last item, NanoSoft programmers found that ACIS and C3D define certain 3D models differently, and so these differences had to be taken into account. (See figure 3.) Figure 3: Differences in how two different kernels define a cylinder NanoSoft initially found a significant cost to converting the data generated by the C3D kernel to the SAT data used by nanoCAD. But by working with C3D Labs, the delay was reduced to NanoSoft's satisfaction. NanoSoft summarized the benefits it found in each of the kernels. ACIS Advanced API with many complex-model construction methods Fast and simple implementation of user-defined attributes Simple rollbacks of changes Faster than C3D by 15-30% C3D Quicker development All-in-one toolkit with 2D/3D solver, import/export, and so on Faster technical support with direct contact with developers Lower cost than ACIS After C3D Toolkit is embedded into the Russian version of nanoCAD Pro, it will next year be rolled out to the English version of the CAD program. http://www.c3dlabs.com   Tailor Made Software: Custom Implementations A third company I met with in Prague is one of the oldest in CAD that is still independent. Tailor Made Software doesn't make software that you buy. Instead, corporations approach them to solve complex problems, such as the bank with several hundred thousand employees that wanted to see all the rooms in which their employees work, or could be working.  "There is a lot of data, and so the problem is how to view it," company head Scott Taylor told me. "We are building a solution for that: extract information that a user requires, and then display it visually by whatever criteria, such as by color, location, and so on." Taylor Made's solution is a tool that gets information from databases visually, which you then use in any way you want. AutoXChange is used by document management systems for viewing CAD files, and then outputs to SVG, PDF, and raster formats. (See figure 4.) Figure 4: Output generated using AutoXChange and CadViewerJS "We provide the front-end to these systems, such as for an international airport (uses DGN), a large US bank (uses DWG), and a large casino in Asia (also DWG). Some firms use PDF files as the drawing base, such as from scanned drawings, but it is harder to delineate rooms on PDFs," said Casper Harnung, vp of sales and implementation. The old system used by the airport took 10-15 minutes to return a result from the database; now it locates them nearly instantly, for example locating the owner of a keycard. AutoXChange automatically detects links and sets them up, such as areas in rooms, xdata, and names of blocks. "We create a link from there to their database. Click on a room and you get information about it. It doesn’t in fact have to be a room; it could be any area of a drawing, but our software is mostly used for rooms. Same for blocks in drawings," Mr Harnung said. The visual frontend is JavaScript viewer named CadViewerJS. It lets you use it like a CAD system to get information, clip views, and so on. The viewer is completely API-driven, so the UI is completely customizable by the customer. CadViewerJS displays CAD drawings in SVG format. Mr Taylor told me that SVG [scaled vector graphics] has matured, is an open format, and works uniformly on all browsers, on all platforms. "We added stuff to SVG but that does not break it. It lets us retain a significant amount of CAD data, such as selecting by blocks or selecting by layers -- which normally is not in an SVG file.  You can convert DWG to SVG to view drawings everywhere." (It replaces their earlier Java-based DWF viewer. The problems with Java are that it needs installation on the desktop, does not run on iOS, and fewer people are using it. A reminder that JavaScript has nothing to do with Java; it was just a name fashion at the time.) http://tailormade.com What Ralph Grabowski Thinks These three firms represent the many small firms that are successful, even as they operate out of sight of the bulk of the CAD industry. That they found a niche and are exploiting it successfully is truly delightful for me to observe. [Disclosure: I've produced tutorial videos for NanoSoft and C3D Labs.]   ARES KUDO: MODERN DWG EDITING IN THE CLOUD   ARES Kudo is the only online CAD solution offering a full set of 2D features to read, create, modify, and share DWG and DXF drawings. Nothing to install. It runs in your Web browser and your files follow you on any device. ARES Kudo is integrated with cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business -- and industry-specific solutions such as Onshape and Trimble Connect.  Visit www.graebert.com/areskudo to learn more and activate your own free trial at kudo.graebert.com The Rest of the News Open Design Alliance has begun developing a toolkit for IFC, the Industry Foundation Classes data model used by BIM software to exchange data. (IFC was developed by Autodesk for custom objects added to DWG Release 13.) buildingSMART has in charge of expanding the IFC specification. www.opendesign.com/ - - - CAD Exchanger announced that CAD Exchanger Cloud is out of beta now. cloud.cadexchanger.com - - - After launching two new wide-format printers earlier this month, Epson has two more in their SureColor line: 24-inch SureColor T3470 $2295 36-inch SureColor T5470 $2995 These two are faster and cost more than the earlier ones; print from inserted USB drives. epson.com/surecolor-t-series-plotters  - - - Canon Solutions offers PrinterLogic's serverless printing for universal printing without the need for print servers, through a centrally-managed. direct-IP printing platform on Linux, MacOS, and Windows. www.printerlogic.com/ - - - Nearly all CAD software is available as 30-day demos and some for 60 days. Siemens PLM Software offers a 7-day demo of NX for Design. The catch is this one runs on the cloud, so no download or install, but also no chance to see how well it runs on your computer. www.plm.automation.siemens.com/global/en/products/nx-trial.html  In other Siemens PLM news, the company finally has an OEM Development Toolkit version of  Solid Edge to develop custom solutions for customers. Details here: sie.ag/2MYJyMR - - - BetaCAE Systems releases v18.1.3 of its KOMVOS/ANSA/EPILYSIS/META suite: Updated translators for NX12, CATIA R28, Inventor 2019, Creo 5.0, Acis R27 Supports v1.6 THOR-50 and v3.2.x H3-95 dummies 32-bit OSes discontinued Bug fixes Details at beta-cae.com/news/20180924_announcement_suite_v18.1.3.htm  - - - The OPPO Find X 6.4" smartphone (that's the one with the pop-up camera) will be the first with 10GB of operating RAM -- more than most laptops. I wonder how big a CAD drawing can be displayed by it. It'll have 256GB storage RAM - more than some laptops. - - - Natasha Lomas has an extensive essay on how Facebook is deliberately conflating security with privacy in order to keep siphoning data we want kept private, without the irritation of government oversight.  techcrunch.com/2018/09/29/facebook-is-weaponizing-security-to-erode-privacy/ Why Google presents you with free news articles: By tracking which articles you click on, it gets a better idea of your interests, to be sold to advertisers. This gets around the wishes of those of us who tell Google to not personalize ads by tracking us through other means. - - - Here's the list of all the CAD Report articles I've written over the years for Design Engineering magazine: design-engineering.com/?s=grabowski - - - For late-breaking CAD news, follow upFront.eZine on Twitter at @upfrontezine. Thank You, Readers! Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Direct Dimensions Inc: "Read your newsletter every single week. Thank you for keeping us informed." Tom Lazear of Archway Systems: "Your research and insights continue to amaze me. Keep on keepin' on." Should you wish to support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are like 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.   Notable Quotable "In terms of [social media's] impact on what we’re doing, or their impact on the writers’ room, I try to put a firewall up and just go, 'You know what, it ain’t a democracy; we’re not taking a vote on this'."     - Ron D. Moore, writer, StarTrek series trekmovie.com/2018/08/10/stlv18-ron-d-moore-talks-star-trek-franchise-fatigue-writing-process-and-more/

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