CADalyst articles from August 1999

CADalyst archives from August 1999

Dialog Box.
August 1, 1999... Faithfully annoyed I have been a faithful AutoCAD user for many years and have just as faithfully upgraded at every turn. I was very disappointed that Autodesk saw fit to again eliminate the IGES translator from AutoCAD 2000 and charge...

Spatial updates ACIS, acquires Sven Technologies.
August 1, 1999... Continuing its tradition of six-month updates, Spatial Inc. announced v5.2 of its ACIS 3D modeling engine. New features include real time multiple- surface sculpting, improved blending interface, a new memory management component, and...

Autodesk posts free DWG viewer.
August 1, 1999... You can now download Volo View Express, a free viewer that supports DWG, DWF, and DXF files, at Autodesk's Web site: www. autodesk.com/volo. More than 30,000 users downloaded the 13MB+ file in the fifteen days after its debut on June 14. The...

1999 looms large for graphics boards.
August 1, 1999... This year should see record sales of add-in 3D graphics cards, according to research firm Jon Peddie Associates. The firm forecasts 1999 sales of 72 million boards, a 15.4% increase from 1998 sales. By the end of the year, close to 250 million...

Benchmark bonanza.
August 1, 1999... You can download graphics applications benchmarks and system test results based on Pro/ENGINEER v20 and SolidWorks 98Plus at www.spec.org/gpc/apc.static/ index.html. That's the Web site of the SPEC (Standard Graphics Performance Corp.)...

Autodesk realigns vertical market group.
August 1, 1999... Autodesk shuffled its market groups into four business divisions, each headed by an executive vice-president who reports directly to chair and CEO Carol Bartz. Bartz also resumes the post of president with the retirement of Eric Herr. Dominic...

Rapid prototyping sales on the slide.
August 1, 1999... Worldwide sales of rapid prototyping systems, also called 3D printers, dropped to 990 units in 1998 from 1,036 in 1997, according to a recent report from Wohlers Associates. This downturn follows on the heels of 32% growth in 1997 and 51% in...

Float that boat.
August 1, 1999... An array of industry vendors have hopped on board AmericaOne, a San Francisco-based challenger in the America's Cup 2000 sailboat race. Hewlett-Packard and Engineering-e.com, MacNeal-Schwendler's fledging e- commerce division, announced an...

Pro/E users win design prizes.
August 1, 1999... Caterpillar took top honors in the seventh annual Pro/AWARD competition at the June Pro/USER International conference in Dallas, Texas. The D9R Track-Type Tractor got the nod as the best overall entry among 514 designs. Other award winners...

Release watch.
August 1, 1999... Diehl Graphsoft began beta testing VectorWorks 8.5, an upgrade aimed mainly at developers rather than end users. The v8.5 beta will be available for download in "late summer" at www.diehlgraphsoft.com SolidWorks announced the prerelease...

450MHz system.
August 1, 1999... The Sys Performance 450A ($2,259) from Sys Technology, Inc., is powered by a 450MHz AMD-K6 III processor. It comes with 256KB full-speed L2 cache, 512KB L3 cache on the motherboard, and 100MHz processor bus. The unit uses twin Altec Lansing...

UNIX workstation.
August 1, 1999... SGI introduced its Octane visual workstations with 270MHz and 300MHz MIPS RISC R12000 processors. A system with a 270MHz processor, 2MB secondary cache, 128MB RAM, and a 4GB hard disk sells for $17,495. The same configuration with dual 270MHz...

Graphics card for CAD.
August 1, 1999... 3Dlabs, Inc., announced the 3Dlabs Oxygen ACX that uses the Permedia 2 graphics processor. Combined with Vibrant Graphics' Soft Engine 4 display- list drivers, Oxygen ACX features AutoCAD utilities, including bird's-eye view, PanBars, and...

220 monitor.
August 1, 1999... iiyama North America, Inc., released its VisionMaster Pro 510 220 TrueFlat CRT monitor ($1,200) with maximum resolution of 204831536 (noninterlaced) at 80Hz, 180031440 (noninterlaced) at 86Hz, and 16003 1280 (noninterlaced) at 97Hz. The...

CD-RW drive.
August 1, 1999... LaCie introduced the LaCie USB CD-RW 226 recordable CD-RW drive with up to 1.2MB-per-second performance. The USB makes the drive hot-pluggable-you can remove and swap the drive with others without restarting your PC. The drive mounts...

210 CRT monitor.
August 1, 1999... KDS USA announced the VS-21e 210 (200 viewable) monitor ($699). The VS21e achieves a 0.26mm dot pitch and a maximum resolution of 192031440 (noninterlaced) with a refresh rate of 75Hz. A single-button on-screen display controls contrast,...

Graphics accelerators.
August 1, 1999... The SR9 Series of graphics accelerators ($109-$189) from Number Nine Visual Technology come with 8-, 16-, and 32MB graphics memory and are compatible with Intel's upcoming AGP 43 motherboards. They support both standard CRT monitors at...

Workstation family.
August 1, 1999... Hewlett-Packard Company added the HP VISUALIZE P550 (entry-level $3,375) to its family of VISUALIZE Personal Workstations. All VISUALIZE workstations target the CAD/CAM/CAE and PDM markets and are manufactured under a build-to-order fulfillment...

Mobile printers.
August 1, 1999... Brother International Corp. announced a pair of portable color printers for laptop computers, the MP-21C ($299) and MP-21Cdx ($349). The MP-21C offers color output at up to 7203720 resolution. It accommodates a wide variety of paper sizes,...

Mark your calendar.
August 1, 1999... Siggraph '99 August 8-13 Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, CA 630/434-7779 www.siggraph.org/s99/ media-s99@siggraph.org Autodesk University August 12-14 Boston Marriott Boston, MA 888/397-0123 www.autodesk.com Autodesk University...

500 scanner.
August 1, 1999... IDEAL Scanners and Systems, Inc., released its SuperWIDE 50 color scanner solutions (pricing starts at $34,900) for photographs, maps, color renderings, posters, and artwork. The scanner is front-loading, supports both color and black and...

Pentium III Xeon workstations.
August 1, 1999... IBM announced its IntelliStation Z Pro workstations with up to two Intel Pentium III Xeon microprocessors running at 500MHZ (starts at $4,050) and 550MHz. The IntelliStation Z Pro features 100MHz front side bus and full- speed L2 cache, up to...

500MHz workstation.
August 1, 1999... Compaq Computer Corp. introduced the Professional Workstation SP700 with Intel Pentium III Xeon 500- and 550MHz processors. The system's new PowerStorm 600 graphics solution provides up to 64MB of local texture memory and features an on-board...

On the Job: One Step Farther.
August 1, 1999... An experiment in motion capture and 3D modeling comes to life in Ghostcatching, a collaborative work by new media producer Riverbed and Bill T. Jones, one of the greatest living solo modern dancers. Ghostcatching combines traditional...

DXF file translation.
August 1, 1999... Vdraft from SoftSource lets you read, write, create, and edit AutoCAD 2000 files without translation. Vdraft supports all AutoCAD entity types, including hatching, bit-maps, true ellipses, complex linetypes, rays, construction lines,...

3D imaging.
August 1, 1999... ABLE Software released 3D-DOCTOR 2.0 ($2,400) for 3D image visualization, volume rendering, and deconvolution applications by researchers and engineers. You can generate object boundaries from image slices, create 3D renderings, and import...

LT add-on.
August 1, 1999... DataVIEW LT ($299) from CAD Studio is an AutoCAD LT add-on to view, modify, and search database information linked to your DWG file. You can use DataView LT in any GIS, FM, or other application where you need to combine AutoCAD graphical...

3D visualization.
August 1, 1999... Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. introduced its E&S RAPIDsite photorealistic 3D visualization tool for in-context visual impact analysis. E&S RAPIDsite features 3D model construction and interactive viewing and exploration of a proposed...

Automation technology.
August 1, 1999... ARCHIBUS, Inc., released ARCHIBUS/FM v11 ($2,995 per user) facility management software. The software is embedded with Autodesk technology that lets you open any drawing saved in AutoCAD Release 14 format in ARCHIBUS/FM. Its drawing editor uses...

On the Job: Virtual Nuclear Testing.
August 1, 1999... Fakespace, Inc., supplied its latest technology to LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratory) for use in a Visualization Laboratory. This laboratory will develop and present supercomputer-generated graphics for scientific research programs,...

ADA accessibility.
August 1, 1999... Evan Terry Associates and Eagle Point Software released the ADA Design Assistant accessibility compliance software for ArchT ($195 for ADA compliance checking only; $275 for ADA plus four additional modules that adhere to the stricter of the...

3D CAD data.
August 1, 1999... DeskArtes introduced 3Data Expert to manipulate and convert surface and faceted models. The software detects and automatically repairs various mistakes in faceted STL models from IGES and VDA-FS files. You can position and scale models, split...

SolidWorks add-on.
August 1, 1999... EMT Software, Inc., introduced SolidMech 3.0 ($495; upgrades are $99), its parametric parts library for SolidWorks 98 and 98Plus. SolidMech is a parts library of fasteners, bearings, and steel shapes created from tables based on industry...

Shell software.
August 1, 1999... KNAPP TOOL DESIGN announced DRBLANK 2K (call for pricing), its 2D deep- drawn shell software for AutoCAD 2000. The DRBLANK system is a series of menu-driven programs that automatically determines the layout functions for any shape straight wall...

House + House.
August 1, 1999... Most major CAD systems now treat a building as a collection of 3D objects defined not only by their geometry, but also by other quantitative and qualitative attributes, by their "behavior" toward other objects, and by their varying display...

MICROCADAM-3D Now.
August 1, 1999... MICROCADAM, Inc., is headquartered in Burbank, California (www.microcadam.com). It is a wholly owned subsidiary of CADAM Systems Company (CSC) of Tokyo, Japan. The company's technology was originally developed within Lockheed and continuously...

MicroStation TriForma makes the most of 3D : Bentley's AEC modeler encourages you to do all your design work on the 3D model.
August 1, 1999... AEC software developers seem to move in roughly similar directions. Users want complete integration between 3D and 2D, and they want more architectural data than just geometry-materials, finishes, and so on. The way to provide this is in an...

IronCAD 2.0 provides 3D modeling power : 3D modeling and animation are the strong suits of Visionary Design System's MCAD product.
August 1, 1999... IronCAD advertises itself as "the next industrial revolution." It is certainly different from most of what I have seen in a 30-year design career that has ranged from pencil and paper through to Mechanical Desktop. Like most products in its...

VX Vision : New mechanical CAD package combines an interesting interface with robust modeling tools.
August 1, 1999... VX Vision is a midrange, next-generation CAD/CAM system developed by Varimetrix Corporation (Palm Bay, Florida). Introduced in April 1999, it runs on Windows 98/NT and Linux operating systems. Varimetrix, founded in 1985, introduced one of the...

Manage AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT in the same office.
August 1, 1999... We plan to devote some upcoming CAD Manager columns to questions of CAD program interoperability. How do you exchange drawing files between CAD programs? How do you manage multiple CAD programs in one office? How do you develop, implement, and...

Variable solid sweeps.
August 1, 1999... Welcome to the new Modeling column (formerly Modeling Mechanics) made possible by CADALYST's new extended coverage. Modeling covers solid modeling topics in multiple CAD/CAM systems. This month we take a closer look at the mechanics of variable...

Serious 3D Workstations.
August 1, 1999... This is our first workstation review since Autodesk released AutoCAD 2000, the first version that directly supports 3D OpenGL hardware acceleration. In addition, this is our first issue with expanded editorial coverage of "All Things CAD." To...

Observation deck.
August 1, 1999... Welcome to CADALYST's new look! Throughout you'll find all of your favorite AutoCAD material plus expanded coverage of "All Things CAD." And before you worry that familiar resources have disappeared, they haven't. Every month, you'll continue...

1999 CADDIES : 1999 CADALYST Image Awards.
August 1, 1999... Autodesk product users from all over the world entered their best work in this year's CADALYST Image Awards Competition, better known as the CADDIES. We received more than 75 entries, a bit down from last year, but the quality was better than...

Understand the Polygon command.
August 1, 1999... It was a dark and stormy night. Captain LearnCurve was reading the newspaper. Suddenly, a classified ad rang out. Lost: One parrot. Hmmm, that would make a good topic for this month's column. A lost parrot? Polygon. Ouch. Let's begin by...

Place a block along a polyline.
August 1, 1999... This month's request comes from Brad Janecka via Jeff Tippit, president of the Southern Plains AutoCAD User Group (SPAUG), located in the Texas panhandle. Be sure to visit the SPAUG Web site at www.spaug.org. This well-done site provides lots...

Master the Modifiers in 3D Studio VIZ.
August 1, 1999... Most 3D Studio VIZ users struggle with modifiers at one point or another. Even designers who use 3D Studio VIZ for months are often unclear about how modifiers work. Modifiers are quite unlike anything found in AutoCAD, Microsoft Word and...

Tips from our readers.
August 1, 1999... $50 BONUS WINNER Easy Views Tip #1543 [VU.LSP] This routine lets you quickly cycle through each defined view in your drawing. It doesn't require any special preparation and works with any view in any drawing. vu.lsp creates a list of all...

Pline problems.
August 1, 1999... We use AutoCAD Release 14 for drafting and design work and PageMaker 6.5 to create our company catalog. I Dxfout an illustration and bring it into PageMaker. When we had Release 10, I could explode ellipses and they would appear properly in...

ELSA Synergy II : Entry-level graphics card comes bundled with AutoCAD drivers.
August 1, 1999... ELSA's Synergy II OpenGL graphics card may change your feelings about entry-level graphics cards. The Synergy II performs well above its price range, which is less than $300 for the 32MB model and $239 for the upgradable 16MB version. ...

Scriptman99 : Automate your AutoCAD scripts.
August 1, 1999... Scriptman99 from PellaCAD, Inc., is a batch script processor. You write the script and nominate a directory of drawing files. Scriptman99 opens each drawing and executes the script. Voila! A straightforward and handy program if you need to...

LumaObject : This plug-in lets you add luminosity to your 3D Studio MAX/VIZ renderings.
August 1, 1999... When you render scenes in either 3D Studio MAX or VIZ, you sometimes want to make an object appear luminous. A third-party radiosity rendering application is the usual route to achieving this effect, but this solution can be cumbersome and...

XPlot Logger Pro : Plot-tracking software.
August 1, 1999... XPlot Logger Pro 3.8 from XAct Software Solutions is a small but useful AutoCAD utility that tracks plotting expenses. Every time you plot, XPlot prompts you to enter cost information, then adds an entry to its log file. XPlot tracks every...