CADalyst articles from August 2004

CADalyst archives from August 2004

Where have all the CAD jobs gone? Today's job market demands diverse set of skills.(Editor's Window)(Editorial)
August 1, 2004... I HEAR THS QUESTION OFTEN these days from readers and Web site visitors, ranging from students considering a drafting career to 20-year AutoCAD veterans to CATIA users with automotive experience. Positions such as drafter and CAD operater are...

On its own: UGS previews upcoming releases of NX, Teamcenter, and add-ons.(Show Report)
August 1, 2004... In its first media presentation since it was sold by EDS to a group of investment firms, UGS made it quite clear that it's delighted to be an independent company. The separation was fairly straightforward because UGS was not fully integrated...

Building model benefits: design team tests Autodesk Revit on large projects.(Tech Trends)
August 1, 2004... In the Washington, D.C., division offices of DMJM Design (www.dmjm.com), more than 250 architects, engineers, and other building industry professionals tackle multimillion-dollar megaprojects for the United States government, universities, and...

Visualize this! Software to take your designs to the next level.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... Although I've reported on this industry for a number of years, I'm still fascinated by being able to turn an idea into a photorealistic image complete with textures, fabrics, and reflections and share it with someone else. This type of...

Alias Imagestudio 1.0 Alias Studiotools 11.(cadalyst labs review)
August 1, 2004... Alias www.alias.com Price: ImageStudio 1.0, $3,999; StudioTools 11, starts at $7,500 Alias is known for its 3D graphics technology, which includes both software and custom development and training for the film, video, game...

Autodesk VIZ 2005.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... Autodesk www.autodesk.com Price: $1,895; $445 upgrade from 2004/3.x Autodesk VIZ 2005 has many changes when compared with previous versions--some immediately visible, others not. With the release of Autodesk VIZ 2005, the...

Archvision Composer.(cadalyst labs review)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Just as we reached the deadline for this article, ArchVision (www.archvision.com) announced ArchVision Composer, a new application for adding RPC (rich photorealistic content) to 2D renderings and photographs. ArchVision Composer runs as a...

form*Z 4.5.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... auto*des*sys www.formz.com Price: $1,495-$2,390 form*Z is available in many versions for a variety of operating systems--great news if you're in a mixed computing environment or work with service bureaus that use different...

Piranesi 3.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... Informatix Software International www.informatix.co.uk Price: $750 Cadalyst has reviewed Piranesi 3 in past years, and it continues to be an important product for visualizers. Piranesi 3 differs from all the other applications...

NUGRAF Rendering System 4.1.2.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... Okino Computer Graphics www.okino.com Price: $495 The NuGraf Rendering System is a complete design solution. A speedy and capable renderer, it comes with top-quality converters and optimization tools for a broad range of graphic...

CAD Render Studio.(cadalyst labs review)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... CAD Render Studio, a newly released product from IMSI Software (www.imsisoft.com or www.cadrenderstudio.com), is targeted toward current CAD users, regardless of their level of expertise, who want to create 3D images for Web and print, perform...

AccuRender 3/4.(cadalyst labs review)
August 1, 2004... ACCURENDER 3/4 www.accurender.com Price: $495 FLAMINGO www.flamingo3d.com Price: $1,195 RHINO www.rhino3d.com Price: $1,195 PENGUIN (with AutoCAD or Rhino) www.penguin3d.com Price: $195 ...

Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0: new user interface makes powerful capabilities more accessible.(cadalyst labs review)(CAD/CAM software)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... WAY BACK IN 1994, I RAN Pro/ENGINEER on a DEC high-performance Alpha workstation--I can't remember what the specs were--under some flavor of UNIX. On one hand, I was impressed with the program's features and what it could do, but on the other...

Thinkdesign v9: hybrid modeler continues to innovate.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... ***** 2004 cadalyst LABS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Think3, an emerging leader in the midrange mechanical design market, offers an integrated product development environment for 2D and 3D MCAD design, PDM (product data management), and surface and...

Autodesk DWF Composer: design review and revision.(first look reviews)(file format conversion software)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... IN A MOVE THAT GIVES the DWF file format functionality comparable to rival Adobe's PDF format, Autodesk shipped Autodesk DWF Composer for viewing, markup, and revision of design files. In tandem with DWF Writer 2, this application is a powerful...

AcroXchange: convert PDF and illustrator files.(first look reviews)(file format conversion software)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... TAILOR MADE SOFTWARE'S AcroXchange converts PDF and Adobe Illustrator AI files from Illustrator 9 or later to a wide array of vector, raster, and Web-ready file formats, including AutoCAD DWG and DWF. AcroXchange is essentially a command-line...

Budgeting basics: now's the time to plan for 2005.(CAD Manager)
August 1, 2004... I'M OFTEN AMAZED AT how little attention is paid to departmental budgeting. Though budgeting isn't an everyday activity for CAD managers, it's one of the most important things you'll do this year to determine how successful you'll be next year....

Design optimization: MCAD tools help explore design options and improve systems.(MCAD Modeling Methods)(mechanical computer aided design)(Column)
August 1, 2004... MY TIME AS A PRODUCT designer began at about the same time that the first 80386 16-bit PCs ran the earliest versions of AutoCAD. As a young board designer, I relished in the newfound freedom that AutoCAD provided. No more redrawing old...

Multimedia presentation tools: show off your designs with these hardware and software favorites.(AEC From The Ground Up)
August 1, 2004... THIS IS THE FOURTH YEAR I've written about digital multimedia for presentations. For 2004, industry trends are heading toward high-quality digital presentations for presentation boards, the Internet, and CD-ROM and DVD. The emphasis is on real...

Object snaps--part 1: get the most out of the osnap options.(Circles And Lines)
August 1, 2004... OBJECT SNAPS ARE AN integral part of everyday AutoCAD drawing life. Drawing without them would be tedious and inaccurate. But are you using them to their fullest potential? Are you, heaven forbid, taking your object snaps for granted? Do you...

Data structures: VB and VBA offer two options: arrays and collections.(CAD Clinic)
August 1, 2004... This month is devoted to data structures. This isn't a computer science course, so let's define a data structure as a data holder--something that holds whatever data we need while our program executes. Visual BASIC and VBA use two basic data...

Tips from our readers: control your layers, date your drawings, and more.(Hot Tip Harry)
August 1, 2004... As I walked out of a cafe in Athens, Greece, I noticed the sun shining brightly off a little car. Who was leaning against it? Harry, of course. "Ever seen one of these?," he asked. "Little sucker gets 100 kilometers to the liter." I wasn't sure...