Issue #1,073 | 9 November 2020 | The Business of CAD
by Ralph Grabowski
The problem in covering Bricsys' annual conference each year is the overwhelming amount information broadcast to attendees. Whereas some CAD vendors introduce a very few new functions each year, the much smaller Bricsys corporation generates hundreds of changes for its lone software program that handles general, mechanical, civil, and architectural drawings and models.
In other years, the info deluge was spread over two days; this year, over four hours. So, I'll report on a bunch of things that were announced, but not everything. You can view the recording at youtu.be/VnxrUoffY7k. For the official what's-new list, see the 31-page-long bricsys.com/common/releasenotes.jsp, which is updated with each point release.
Some 2,900 people watched the live event, about 6x more than attended in-person events of earlier years. Unlike many other CAD firms, Bricsys always runs their software demos live, with no pre-recorded interactions with the software.
Global Licensing
Bricsys has a new tag line, “Connecting people and companies that transform CAD, BIM, and mechanical design of today.” The company always has emphasized its unified approach in using a single CAD program with a single file format in which to store drawings and models. The only translation customers need to perform is on files coming from non-DWG CAD programs.
This year, the emphasis in the keynote was on the global nature of their software licenses. This is an issue, because some CAD vendors limit use of the software to the country in which the license was purchased.
Chief operating officer Mark van den Bergh reminded us that BricsCAD does not have named-user licenses, nor does it limit license use to single countries, nor does it force customers onto subscriptions. “One license for planet earth,” said Mr van den Bergh. As well, an office license can be used at home.
A testimonial from Mazda spoke of the company’s appreciation for global licenses. “The fact that we can use the same licenses overseas is definitely a factor.” BricsCAD is used by Mazda for drawings of production lines, and the company expects to move BricsCAD from 2D to 3D.
Rejiggered BricsCAD Lineup
"Sometimes 2D is more powerful, sometimes 3D is more powerful," Mr van den Bergh said, introducing the rejiggered software lineup.
BricsCAD Lite ($560) replaces BricsCAD Standard, and is at the low end with 2D-only drafting. Lite includes open LISP, which Bricsys says is 5x to 100x faster than other versions of LISP. Lite has advanced tech like machine learning with targets, but lacks BRX and other APIs, and so it is limited as to which third-party add-ons it can run.
BricsCAD Pro ($960) combines the previous BricsCAD Pro and Platinum editions to offer full 2D/3D direct modeling with 2D/3D parametrics. It is the base needed on which to run Mechanical ($1,700) to assemblies, to access the Communicator ($500) file translator, and/or the BIM module ($1,800). Prices are for perpetual licenses and are in US$.
BricsCAD Ultimate ($2,000) carries on from before, combining all of Bricsys’ software in a single package.
BricsCAD Shape (free) for 3D modeling is still included with any BricsCAD download, even after the 30-day trial ends.
All interact with 24/7, the company's subscription-based online collaboration platform.
BricsCAD Cloud moves from being free in BricsCAD to being available only to customers who purchase an annual subscription. This is not surprising, given that CAD vendors don’t get to rent space on cloud servers for free.
Bricsys Collective is the new name for third-party add-ons, of which 350 are available through the online store.
What's New in BricsCAD V21
Some new features in the 21st release of BricsCAD are catch-ups with competitors, while other new functions leapfrog ahead of pretty much any other competitor.
Some of the catch-up commands include the SetByLayer command for changing any property of objects on layers. LayTrans maps layers in imported drawings to office standards. Three-D meshes can have their smoothness adjusted from 0 (none) to 5 (maximum), and can edit individual vertices and edges. CombineText groups single-line text into Mtext; properties of imported ArcText can be edited.
Other new functions are clever. History is recorded per-entity in the Properties panel, so you can go back to change your mind about changes to specific entities.
Copy Array places multiple copies at once as an array.
Importing SKP files turns SketchUp meshes into blocks so that they can be manipulated more easily; as well, SketchUp materials are imported and so can be used by BricsCAD.
Externally-referenced drawings (xrefs) load in the background. When a drawing has many xrefs, you see them displayed one at a time as they load, as you work on other things.
Direct Modeling
Fillets and chamfers in direct modeling can have variable-radii curves and multi-angle chamfers. The manipulator lets us edit the curves and angles interactively.
Hold down Ctrl to push or pull during PushPull command. PushPull now works with constrained objects, such as interactively changing the size of a plate with several holes.
BricsCAD introduced L- and T-connections in an earlier release. If you have a bunch of pipes, valves, and Ts connected and you move one, the others move/stretch to compensate. V21 offers hotkeys to switch between connected and disconnected moves. Added to V21 is the ability to rotate connected elements
We saw a demo of the roof of a building being rotated. When disconnected, the trusses and walls stayed in place. With a connected rotation, the trusses moved along with the roof, while the walls stretched automatically to meet the roof line. V21 also adds real-time previews of these movements.
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Next week we have for you part 2 of the Bricsys Design Summit 2020, covering updates to its civil engineering, mechanical design, and BIM modules.
And in Other News
PTC plans to release Creo 7.0 in the coming months, featuring the first Atlas-based add-on — cloud-based Generative Design Extension (GDX) using technology from the Frustum acquisition; GDX works also with Onshape. Other Atlas add-ons could take five to ten years to appear, such as a cloud-based version of Creo.
PTC CEO James Hepplemann noted that Onshape revenues grew 80% year-over-year, and “landed over 700 competitive displacements, the majority coming from SolidWorks.” Dassault Systemes has 49,800 companies using Solidworks.
PTC’s 2020 revenues were $1.46 billion, up 17% from the year before; next year, it expects to take in $1.55 - $1.6 billion. The company, however, sits on $1.0 billion in debt. www.ptc.com
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3D Systems is unloading all of its subtractive CAM software, selling Cimatron and GibbsCAM to the SigmaTEK Systems division of Battery Ventures for $65 million. Six years ago, 3D Systems paid $97 million to acquire Cimatron-GibbsCAM.
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This reminds me when we used colors in CAD to specify plotter pen numbers: In KeyCreator MfgCAD 2021, face colors on 3D models become MBD [model-based definitions] data to signify manufacturing tolerances and hole types.
A fifteen-day free trial of KeyCreator is available from Kubotek3D: info.kubotek3d.com/products/keycreator/trial-request.
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Here are some of the posts that appeared recently on my WorldCAD Access blog:
You can subscribe to the WorldCAD Access blog’s RSS feed through Feed Burner at feeds.feedburner.com/WorldcadAccess.
Letters to the Editor
Re: Parallel Computing in CAD
Is there anyone providing CAD software that will work in a parallel computing environment?
- Roger Roberts, president-retired
Mid-West CAD, Inc.
The editor replies: Some CAD vendors have implemented some basic functions in parallel computing, such as loading files and performing renderings, but none have the full CAD package, nor is it likely this will ever occur.
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Hope you are surviving well during these crazy times! I was intrigued to see a guest editorial in your newsletter. What is the process to submit a guest editorial?
- A. S.
The editor replies: “Guest editorial” refers to any article not written by me. They are usually ones with specialized topics that I think are of interest to my readers.
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