CADalyst articles from June 2004

CADalyst archives from June 2004

Keeping the civil data chain intact: object-based 3D civil software matures.(AEC From The Ground Up)
June 1, 2004... When PC applications first became accessible to civil engineers and surveyors in the early 1980s, many began to seek field-to-finish solutions. Firms sought ways to collect field survey data digitally, send data to designers for use in an...

Watch Web services: they may not cure every interoperability problem, but they promise to facilitate data exchange across platforms and applications.(Editorial)
June 1, 2004... Though the latest version of MicroStation--V8 2004--is barely out the door, Bentley Systems previewed its future development directions at its annual user group meeting in May. We'll review V8 2004 next month, but Bentley's roadmap is worth...

A startup success: Alibre design 3D modeler: finds niche with low price, online support.(Tech Trends)
June 1, 2004... April 2000--the heart of the Internet collaboration boom. You remember the days. You couldn't attend an industry trade show without encountering dozens of new startups that promised unparalleled productivity over the Internet at low or...

2004 mechanical CADDIES take the stage.(Cadalyst caddies image awards)
June 1, 2004... Each year, our mechanical CADDIES design competition draws more and more excellent entries. In this and in our AEC competition (May 2004), students continue to amaze us with their talents. We look forward to the design work these folks will do...

Cadalyst salutes noteworthy new hardware and software.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Once again it's time for Cadalyst's semiannual awards gala, in which we recognize the top products we've seen in the past six months. The All-Star awards salute the best of the best--the most outstanding among all products that earned five-star...

Monitor.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Monitor Hewlett-Packard L2035 LCD display Reviewed February 2004, p. 17 In this 20.1" display, HP managed to combine both the fastest response time and lowest price of any monitor in our roundup review (the Dell UltraSharp 2001FP...

Single-processor workstations.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Single-processor Workstations @Xi Mtower SP Polywell Poly 900NF3-FX Velocity Micro ProMagix A/V/D March 2004, p. 10 The three top systems in our single-processor workstation roundup cluster so closely on the price/...

Wide-format Scanners Contex.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Wide-format Scanners Contex April 2004, p. 14 As in the March workstation review, we have a cluster of Highly Recommended units, but in this case all but one come from the same vendor. Consequently, Contex earns all-star honors...

CAD Software AutoCAD 2005.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... CAD Software AutoCAD 2005 May 2004, p. 26 Who'd have thought that after 20-odd years of development, Autodesk could come up with something as dramatically different as the new sheet set functionality found in AutoCAD 2005? Though...

KollabNet.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... KollabNet is a new product, currently in beta testing, designed for what Igal Kaptsan, vice-president of product engineering, calls "knowledge accounting." It captures design requirements and best practices through links to spreadsheets, Word...

Product Sight FindView.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Product Sight calls its FindView products a manufacturing search engine that can search files for data such as part numbers, text, and dimensions. Its SyncroSpec product manages and controls the process of product development, revision control,...

TechSmith Camtasia Studio 2.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... TechSmith's Camtasia Studio 2 ($299) is a versatile screen-recording and production package that produces highly compressed, high-fidelity Macromedia Flash and streaming media output. You can use it to create application demonstrations,...

e-SPECS.(2004 All-Stars)(e-SPECS)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... InterSpec's e-SPECS automates the drudgery of preparing construction specifications. It's a harbinger of the kind of downstream automation promised by intelligent object-based CAD software. E-SPECS extracts product and material requirements...

Anzwerz.(2004 All-Stars)(Anzwerz)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Anzwerz is a broadly applicable Web-based information management system that can be used to organize project and design documentation. The hosted solution is designed to be a less costly alternative to traditional document management systems....

Baren-Boym ShapeWorks.(2004 All-Stars)(Baren-Boym )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Baren-Boym offers ShapeWorks, an attractively priced add-on for creating NURBS surfaces inside SolidWorks. You can import 3D DXF, 3DS, ASC, RAW, OBJ, and LWO files, as well as point-cloud data in text format. ShapeWorks includes free-form...

AimaSoft EntraLink.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... AimaSoft, a longtime Autodesk developer, showed an intriguing new product called EntraLink at SolidWorks World. Unlike client PDM (product data management) applications, it automates interoperability between CAD software and enterprise...

HP Performance Tuning Framework.(2004 All-Stars)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... HP's Performance Tuning Framework is like having your own desktop IT person. It analyzes the hardware and software configuration of an HP workstation to ensure that it's set up for stable and reliable operation. The tool accesses an online...

Architectural Desktop 2005: Autodesk's updated architectural tools make a strong team.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
June 1, 2004... After reading his obituary in a newspaper, Mark Twain said, "The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated." So is the hubbub I've heard about the impending demise of Autodesk Architectural Desktop. Since Autodesk acquired Revit two years...

Autodesk Inventor 7 and 8: rapidly evolving solid modeler adds 2D drafting and document management tools.(cadalyst labs review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
June 1, 2004... A big problem with writing reviews on the latest version of Autodesk Inventor is trying to keep up. The company churns out new releases every six months, so while I'm here writing about releases 7 and 8, release 9 will be out by the time the...

Sharp LL-T2015 LCD: 20.1" flat-panel monitor.(first look reviews)
June 1, 2004... Sharp Systems of America introduced the LL-T2015 LCD, a flat-panel 20.1" UXGA monitor. With a fast 16ms response time, it's designed for demanding applications such as CAD and visualization. The LL-T2015 can accept input from three different...

More about AutoCAD sheet sets: learn how data fields can tie sheet sets together and replace block attributes.(CAD Manager)
June 1, 2004... This month, we finish our discussion of sheet set configuration in AutoCAD 2005 by explaining how data fields can tie sheet sets together and how to eradicate block attributes from your title blocks. We started the task last month with an...

MCAD Design Collaboration: tools and tips for connecting design teams.(MCAD Modeling Methods)
June 1, 2004... Design collaboration is one area of MCAD technology where the dreams and wishes of designers are actually coming to fruition. Designers have traditionally had a hard enough time collaborating with a partner in the next cubicle, let alone...

ArchVision[TM].(Premier Caddie Sponsors)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... ArchVision[TM] is the leader in image-based content creation, management and delivery solutions. Products include a growing library of RPC[TM] content ranging from people, trees, shrubs and fountains to image-based automobiles and office...

CAD today.com.(Premier Caddie Sponsors)(CADtoday.com)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... CADtoday.com is a provider of A/E/C CAD content, including thousands of 3Dsymbols[R]--high quality, yet low cost, ready-made and custom-order 3D models in file formats for all major architectural CAD programs--as well as thousands of 2D A/E/C...

Hp invent.(Premier Caddie Sponsors)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... HP Designjet large-format printers deliver fast, professional results for engineers and architects. Their reliable, high-speed performance easily handles last-minute changes or peak workloads. Only HP combines superior line quality for...

Partner programs.(Premier Caddie Sponsors)
June 1, 2004... Boost booth traffic and generate valuable sales leads with print and online marketing packages that reach the industry's core buyers in the most recognized and trusted publication in the market. * AIA * Bentley User Conference *...

Dimension[TM].(Premier Caddie Sponsors)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Dimension 3D Printer offers a fast, low-cost alternative for building functional 3D models. Dimension models are built layer-by-layer using ABS plastic and enable you to test form, fit and function. Once you see and feel designs come to...

Step Savers in AutoCAD 2005: these (sometimes subtle) improvements help you work faster.(Circles And Lines)(Product/Service Evaluation)
June 1, 2004... Because I've been touring the United States and Canada doing presentations about AutoCAD 2005, it should be no surprise that it's on the forefront of my brain. Consequently, I'm going to digress from my paper space articles to write about some...

Part 2: tables: from Excel to AutoCAD; create a table style and draw a table.(CAD Clinic)
June 1, 2004... Last month we started the new CAD Clinic off by learning how to use VBA to retrieve data from Excel. To catch up, see the column online at www.imaginit-tech.com. Now that we've connected to the Excel spreadsheet data, we need AutoCAD 2005 to...

Tips from our readers: routines to help you handle layers, change colors, and more.(Hot Tip Harry)
June 1, 2004... Still wearing his fedora and overcoat, Harry plopped down in a chair and exclaimed, "You'd think after 20 years of this we'd figure out a single good way to handle layers." I stared at him from my C++ coding haze. He handed me a CD-ROM. "Layer...