CADalyst articles from December 2003

CADalyst archives from December 2003

The new Cadalyst.(Editor's window: opinions, comments, and predictions)
December 1, 2003... Welcome to the new Cadalyst. Following last month's merger with Cadence, we're building what really amounts to a new magazine and Web site to serve you better. These past weeks we've been attending to immediate tasks such as getting the...

Cadalyst salutes 15 hot new products.(Editors' Wow!)
December 1, 2003... COMING UP WITH A SHORT LIST OF WINNERS for our semiannual Editor's Wow! awards gets more difficult each go-round. Selection is based primarily on the Wow! factor: Is the product innovative? Does it solve problems creatively? How distinctive is...

@Xi Computer MTower 2P64 workstation.(2003 Cadalyst Labs All-Stars)
December 1, 2003... REVIEWED 11.03, p. 12 In our November roundup of dual-processor workstations, @Xi Computer's Mtower 2P64 scorched our Cadalyst C2001 AutoCAD benchmark test to earn the highest scores ever seen at Cadalyst Labs. It outperformed the nearest...

Cornerstone P1750 220 CRT monitor.(2003 Cadalyst Labs All-Stars)
December 1, 2003... REVIEWED 09.03, p. 25 The Cornerstone P1750 220 CRT monitor earned five-star honors on the strength of its economical price--only $649--and industry-leading five-year warranty coverage. That's a full two years more than most vendors offer....

Autodesk AutoCAD Mechanical 2004.(2003 Cadalyst Labs All-Stars)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... REVIEWED 09.03, p. 34 Though most vendors are focusing their development efforts and marketing pitches on 3D design, Autodesk earns a nod for acknowledging that for many mechanical design applications, 2D works just fine. AutoCAD...

UGS PLM Solutions Unigraphics NX 2.(2003 Cadalyst Labs All-Stars)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... REVIEWED 08.03, P. 36 The latest version of a long-lived, comprehensive CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM solution, Unigraphics NX 2 is a key step forward in the process of merging Unigraphics with the I-deas product, also developed by UGS PLM Solutions...

Haestad Methods GISConnect.(Editor's Wow!)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... GIS Connect from Haestad Methods should appeal to organizations that use both CAD and GIS software--it links AutoCAD with ESRI's ArcGIS products. You can use AutoCAD to access GIS information contained in ArcGIS geodatabases and shape files....

3ds max 6.(Editor's Wow!)(software from Discreet)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... With 3ds max 6, Discreet acknowledges that the product remains popular for architectural design visualization. Many new features cater specifically to this market, in particular support for VIZ Render DRF files and enhanced DWG support. 3ds max...

Proficiency Collaboration Gateway 3.0.(Editor's Wow!)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Proficiency's Collaboration Gateway 3.0 adds many welcome features that further streamline the transfer of model and feature data from one CAD system to another. It currently supports exchange among CATIA V4 and V5, Pro/ENGINEER, Unigraphics,...

Oce TCS400 printer/scanner/copier.(Editor's Wow!)
December 1, 2003... Oce's TCS400 integrated large-format color print, copy, and scan system cuts down on headaches caused by trying to link together products from different vendors. Beyond the hardware, Oce's Power Logic Controller processes the next file in line...

Objet Eden330 rapid prototyping system.(Editor's Wow!)
December 1, 2003... Objet Geometries' new Eden330 rapid prototyping system achieves extremely fine resolution--16 microns--for its horizontal layers, enabling it to build walls as thin as 0.0240 (0.6mm). Build size is 13.40 3 130 3 7.90. Photopolymer resin is...

Adobe PDF format.(Editor's Wow!)
December 1, 2003... Instead of picking a specific product, we decided to salute the PDF format in general because of its growing popularity as a format for exchanging and archiving engineering drawings. Witness the many PDF-generating add-ons for CAD software from...

Avatech Proof Positive.(Editor's Wow!)(IProof Positive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... IProof Positive ($995) from Avatech Solutions tests Autodesk Inventor models, parts, and assemblies to make sure they conform to good modeling practices. You can test against several different standards files and set the severity level of...

ArchVision RPC format.(Editor's Wow!)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The RPC (rich photorealistic content) format, developed by ArchVision and implemented in an assortment of model libraries and plug-ins, dramatically cuts the polygon count of rendered images. As the camera moves through the scene, the RPC...

Informative Graphics ModelPress.(Editor's Wow!)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... For a free tool, ModelPress 4.0 from Informative Graphics provides an impressive number of features that help with transfer of 3D models via the Internet. ModelPress has two parts. You use the free Publisher to convert your CAD models into 3DF...

Delphi Horizontal Modeling.(Editor's Wow!)
December 1, 2003... This one's not so much a product as a process designed to help you squeeze savings out of your existing CAD products. Delphi Technologies hopes to commercialize CAD design processes developed at its Steering Manufacturing Development Center,...

@Last Software Sketchup.(Editor's Wow!)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... @Last Software at last released the next version of its Sketchup product for 3D conceptual design. A perennial favorite because of its intuitive approach to drawing, Sketchup works well with tablets and Tablet PCs, though they are not required....

Autodesk Building Systems 2004: stand-alone product takes building modeling to the next level.(cadalyst labs review)(Software Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 1, 2003... Autodesk Building Systems 2004, the fourth major release in Autodesk's building engineering modeling and drawing production series, contains applications for HVAC ducts and piping, plumbing, and electrical engineering. Like its predecessor,...

CAD Manager survey, part 2: CAD managers share software situations.(Manager's vpoint: CAD management strategies)
December 1, 2003... In last month's edition of Manager's VPOINT, I began to examine the CAD Manager 2003 survey by looking at hard data such as job titles, average salaries, and staff size. This month I examine trends in software and technology use. PRIMARY...

Lost in translation: understand data loss and how to avoid it.(Modeling: 3D solid modeling fundamentals)
December 1, 2003... This month's Modeling column is dedicated to Mark Boucher, an applications engineer with Mitutoyo America in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mitutoyo designs and manufacturers CMMs (coordinate measuring machines) and develops a CAD product called...

New tools deliver BIM data: building model yields valuable information.(AEC tools: master the architect's desktop)(including Autodesk's Revit and Architectural Desktop 2004, Bentley Architecture 8.1)
December 1, 2003... All the recent hype about BIM (building information modeling) piqued my curiosity about just how capable this generation of software is at producing useful information. Conceptually, BIM, a term coined by Autodesk and promoted by Jerry...

Did ya know? 30 quick tips and tricks you can digest in 15 minutes or less.(Circles and lines: all things AutoCAD)(Column)
December 1, 2003... I just finished a Webcast designed to help AutoCAD 2000 users catch up to AutoCAD 2004. In doing so, I was reminded of a number of cool tips and tricks that somehow fell by the wayside during the past few years. That said, I thought I'd use...

Splines to plines: AutoLISP converts splines with ease.(Autolisp solutions: reader-requested AutoLISP routines)
December 1, 2003... Eric Proulx requested an AutoLISP program to convert splines to polylines. The SPLINE-TO-PLINE.LSP routine converts splines to either lightweight polylines or 3D polylines, depending on the spline. If the spline is 2D (planar) and the...

Bend it like an expert: sheet-metal flat patterns made easy.(From the trenches: practical solutions to real-world problems)(using AutoCAD)
December 1, 2003... Few CAD users seem to know how to create a sheet-metal flat pattern with proper bend allowance. Except for those that use 3D CAD software that automatically creates sheet-metal flat patterns, most companies have their engineering departments...

Cadalyst's Autodesk University Partners.(Special Advertising Section)
December 1, 2003... AEC Design Group has revolutionized the Building and Construction Industry with its innovative CADPIPE software for creating design, installation, and fabrication drawings. CADPIPE provides state-of-the-art technology and user-friendly software...

Crazy crosshairs: how to find missing crosshairs and shortcut menus.(Autocad clinic: AutoCAD helpline answers your support questions)
December 1, 2003... I recently upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows 2000. When I bring up my Autodesk Field Survey software and open a drawing, my crosshairs are invisible. My pointer appears on my pull-down commands, but my crosshairs and pickbox disappear when I...

Tips from our readers.(hot tip harry)
December 1, 2003... $50 BONUS WINNER GO TO GOOGLE Tip #1912 Don't forget that you can easily access Internet sites from within AutoCAD. This menu macro brings up the Google.com search engine directly within the AutoCAD Tools menu. In ***POP6, add the bold...