CADalyst articles from March 2001

CADalyst archives from March 2001

GENERAL SOFTWARE : Sales automation.(Heide's Intent)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Intent ($800-$1,500) from Heide Corporation is knowledge-based software for sales and engineering automation. Intent lets you automatically generate AutoCAD designs and drawings based on user input and predefined design rules. You can create...

GENERAL SOFTWARE : Document management.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Synergis Technologies announced Synergis Adept ($795 per seat) software to manage engineering drawings across the Internet. Synergis Adept features an Internet Explorer browser client, a client/server database option, improved workflow, and...

GENERAL SOFTWARE : Symbol conversion.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Hitachi Software's AutoSymbol ($4,000) locates and converts symbols in paper drawings during raster-to-vector conversion. AutoSymbol for AutoCAD extracts the complex data identified as symbols in paper drawings into AutoCAD blocks. AutoSymbol...

GENERAL SOFTWARE : Network plotting.(eQuorum's Plot Station)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Plot Station (call for pricing) from eQuorum streamlines plotting on your network and lets you control plot output. You can plot without launching the CAD application and store and submit plots in ordered sets. You can capture, track, and...

MARK YOUR CALENDAR.(Calendar of Events)
March 1, 2001... GIS 2001 February 19-22 Vancouver Trade & Convention Center Vancouver, B.C., Canada 303.544.0594 www.gis2001.com South-Tec 2001 February 20-22 Palmetto Expo Center Greenville, SC 800.733.4763 www.sme.org/greenville...

Architectural Desktop taps into the Internet.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... AutoCAD 2000i introduced an assortment of Internet tools that are also accessible through the various vertical products that run on top of AutoCAD. The tools first appeared in Architectural Desktop Release 2i as six new icons on the mail...

Attribute attitudes.
March 1, 2001... Scott Loadman of San Antonio, Texas, e-mailed a request to turn text into an attribute. He has seen many routines that change attributes into text, but none that go the other way. The routine should retain the text characteristics of the...

Dialog Box : Thoughts from our readers.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2001... PWB, please? Our company uses a third-party program inside AutoCAD for PWB (printed wiring board) design. Why doesn't Autodesk offer a PWB design product? Autodesk, any plans? -- Clyde Sprowl via Internet Paper space update...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2001... The manufacturer of the Levity Collection featured in November's Design Spotlight (p. 38) is Herman Miller, www.hermanmiller.com. PocketCAD Viewer is now $139, (January, p. 52). The Activault file manager (February, p. 14) is a...

Can Autodesk beat the bandwidth barrier?(Autodesk Streamline)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... This month Autodesk announced a new product for sharing design data across the entire manufacturing enterprise. Autodesk Streamline enables a designer to customize information contained in CAD drawings to suit specific needs--for example,...

Web sites automate part production tasks.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
March 1, 2001... Many times, you face more than just the normal design hurdles in getting a design manufactured. Often, the CAD data available to deliver to manufacturing is out of date and can't be used by modern 3D manufacturing processes. And when you have...

AEC collaboration.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Projectmates (pricing starts at $200 per month) from Systemates is a Web-based collaboration service designed for architecture, engineering, and construction industry team members to collaborate via the Internet. Features include an advanced...

Project collaboration.(Meridian Project Systems ProjectTalk)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... ProjectTalk.com from Meridian Project Systems is an online project management and collaboration tool for building and construction professionals. ProjectTalk provides a centralized location to manage the lifecycle of a project. ProjectTalk...

Content management.(Documentum's 4i eBusiness Platform)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Documentum announced its 4i eBusiness Platform (call for pricing), an XML-based eBusiness content management solution. The Platform includes multilingual support, automated delivery of content to multiple channels such as Web sites and wireless...

Project management.(Integrated Development Enterprise's IDfinancials and IDweb 3.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Integrated Development Enterprise, Inc., announced IDfinancials ($75,000 per server) Web-based product development software and IDweb 3 ($2,500 per seat, $170,000 per server) project management software. IDfinancials lets you measure product...

AEC, CAM, CAE SOFTWARE : Sewer system analysis.(Pizer's Hydra 6.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Pizer Inc. announced HYDRA 6 ($1,250- $12,500) software for analysis, design, and management of storm, sanitary, and combined sewer systems that works with AutoCAD Releases 12-2000. HYDRA 6 includes an integrated new 32-bit hydraulic analysis...

AEC, CAM, CAE SOFTWARE : Drawing utilities.(Robert Steltman's Point Groups)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Robert Steltman Inc. announced Point Groups ($30), a new set of utilities for Land Development Desktop 2 and higher. Point Groups creates points from the source drawing, grouping by descriptors. Options let you remove points by descriptors,...

AEC, CAM, CAE SOFTWARE : Engineering add-on.(Ansys' DesignSpace for Inventor)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... ANSYS announced DesignSpace for Inventor (call for pricing), with associativity and assembly support for Autodesk Inventor. DesignSpace offers engineering process wizards that provide step-by-step guides to find stress, deflection, factor of...

AEC, CAM, CAE SOFTWARE : Modeling features.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Secure Surface Machining Technology (SSMT) is a suite of surface machining features in Pathtrace Systems, Inc.'s EdgeCAM 5 (call for pricing). Features include z-level roughing and finishing, parallel lace, and constant cusp height finishing....

MCAD SOFTWARE : Part splitting.(SplitWorks 2001)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... SplitWorks 2001 (call for pricing) software from R&B, Ltd., reduces the time to split plastic parts into cores and cavities and add side cores, pins, and electrodes from within SolidWorks software. SplitWorks incorporates algorithms to generate...

MCAD SOFTWARE : Part testing.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Moldflow Plastics Advisors 5 ($7,000 for Part Advisor, $13,000 for Part and Mold Advisor) from Moldflow Corporation identifies critical manufacturability and quality issues, then recommends appropriate actions. Moldflow Plastics Advisers 5 lets...

MCAD SOFTWARE : 2D-3D modeling.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... CADKEY Corporation announced CADKEY 19 ($1,995) with new customer-driven features for hybrid modeling and blending, 2D drawing and detailing, data translation, display, and graphics. The software includes six new CADKEY dynamic extensions...

MCAD SOFTWARE : Part assembly.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... SPI released Sheetmetal Desktop 5 ($2,400 per license) for the design and manufacturing of parametric sheet-metal parts and assemblies within AutoCAD 2000i and Mechanical Desktop 5. You can create and modify parametric solids through an...

MCAD SOFTWARE : Assembly modeling.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Autodesk, Inc., announced Autodesk Inventor 4 (call for pricing) large assembly modeling software. New features of Inventor include reduced file sizes and DWG compatibility. Among new sketching enhancements are automatic dimensioning and...

MCAD SOFTWARE : Metal modeler.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... AutoSM (call for pricing) from Radan CIM Inc. lets you design and unfold sheet-metal models inside Mechanical Desktop. AutoSM provides you with tools to construct Mechanical Desktop models of sheet-metal components. AutoSM uses Radan's advanced...

On the Job: CAD breathes new life into medical products.(Company Operations)
March 1, 2001... Lone Star Medical Products of Houston, Texas (www.lsmp.com), manufactures injection-molded plastic products, aluminum and stainless steel products, and a line of plastic bubble-like operating environments. To help other surgical device...

GENERAL SOFTWARE : 2D and 3D solution.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... IMSI announced TurboCAD v7 Professional ($399.95) and TurboCAD v7 ($99.95) 2D/3D CAD solutions. Both versions feature more than 250 2D and 3D tools to create and edit drawings, advanced dimensioning, 2D and 3D Boolean operations, and...

GIS & AEC : Topographic maps.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Maptech announced Terrain Navigator topographic map software ($149.95 per region). A new 3D feature lets you see two images side-by-side, one in 3D and the other as a flat map. You can also view the entire map in 3D from any angle and...

GIS & AEC : 2D piping.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... AutoPLANT 2D Piping (call for pricing) from Rebis is a 2D production piping drafting program for use with AutoCAD Release 14-2000i and Architectural Desktop. 2D Piping is designed for rapid layout and drafting of 2D piping, structural steel,...

GENERAL SOFTWARE : File security.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... CADlock, Inc., announced CADlock 3.3 ($249 for single seat license) drawing file security software. The new version adds support for AutoCAD 2000i and AutoCAD LT. CADlock produces secure drawing files that you can password protect and program...

GENERAL SOFTWARE : Editing tool.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... PixEdit 5.1 (call for pricing) from ELAN GMK is a raster editing tool that lets you edit, convert, view, and print monochrome and color raster documents. PixEdit supports multilayer and multipage file structures and native and high-performance...

GENERAL SOFTWARE : Model builder.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Eos Systems announced PhotoModeler Pro 4 ($795) software that uses photographs to build 3D models and measurements. New features include full NURBS curves, edges, constraints, new surfacing functions, improved single photo project capabilities,...

On the Job: Solid Edge helps business boom.(Company Operations)
March 1, 2001... Emerson Electric Company division White-Rodgers (www.white-rodgers.com) designs and manufactures thermostats, valves, and controls for residential and light commercial applications, including gas hot water heaters, dryers, and furnaces. Most of...

HP, MSC.Software push Linux options.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Hewlett-Packard and MSC.Software announced an alliance to provide complete Linux-based systems to engineering professionals. Hewlett-Packard has a new division dedicated to support use of the Linux operating system. HP LaserJet printers all run...

PTC offers short-term licenses.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PTC now offers a rental program for its Pro/ENGINEER software. Short-term licenses--30 or 120 days--are available through its online store at www.ptc.com. PTC expects the licenses to appeal to existing users during periods of peak workflow and...

Intergraph buys MARIAN software.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Intergraph's Process & Building Solutions division acquired the MARIAN business unit from debis Systemhaus Industry GmbH. Intergraph will offer MARIAN materials management software to customers in the process manufacturing and power generation...

Business.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Moldflow (www.moldflow.com) has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire Branden Technologies, Inc., a developer of software and hardware systems for real time process and production monitoring in the plastics and die-casting industries....

Alliances.(News Briefs)
March 1, 2001... Autodesk signed a license for worldwide use of FLEXlm electronic software licensing technology from Macrovision Corporation. According to International Data Corp., more than 50% of software revenue will be delivered using electronic licensing...

UTILITIES TO KEEP TABS ON PLOTTING COSTS : Plot-tracking software automates data collection and billing.(Technology Information)
March 1, 2001... Plot tracking software has grown more sophisticated in data handling, reporting, and tracking prints and plots since our review last year (February 2000). The four applications reviewed here range from those that work only with AutoCAD to those...

Plot Minder 2.1.5.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... CAD fx, Inc. 4 stars out of 5 Plot Minder 2.1.5 tracks plot information from AutoCAD Release 14 and 2000 using a customized Microsoft Access database. Plot Minder adds extra fields to AutoCAD's plot dialog box, which are automatically...

Print Suite 2.0.4.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... Infinity Squared Technologies Inc. 5 stars out of 5 Print Suite 2.0.4 lets you track AutoCAD plots and all other application prints to any Windows printer. Print Suite tracks jobs in the print spool immediately before they are sent to...

Argos 3.5.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... Sepialine 5 stars out of 5 Argos has two application components for tracking plots. When plotting from AutoCAD, the Capture module automatically prompts for information such as job phase and billing status. The Argos Manual Entry...

SmartPLOT 3.6.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... Technesis 5 stars out of 5 SmartPLOT 3.6 from Technesis lets you track plots directly from AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, and MicroStation. In addition, the SmartPRINT component lets you track all prints from any Windows application. SmartPLOT...

Reviewer's Report Card.(Product Information)
March 1, 2001... Customization/ Functionality reporting (Importance factor) (33) (32) CAD fx Plot Minder 2.1.5, p. 33...

HARDWARE : 800MHz desktop.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Acer America Corp. announced the Veriton FP2 desktop (prices start at $2,099). The Veriton FP2 uses Intel's 815E chipset with embedded audio, 10/100 Ethernet, and graphics, and supports the latest Intel Pentium III processors. Standard features...

HARDWARE : 19.60 LCD display.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... The FlexScan L771 ($5,599) from Eizo Nanao Technologies Inc. is a 19.60 LCD display. Features include a 160031200 UXGA native resolution, 16.7 million colors, full screen scaling, 1708 viewing angle, and dual video input. The monitor also...

HARDWARE : Cordless accessories.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Logitech announced the Cordless Freedom line of radio-based cordless keyboard and mouse combinations. Logitech Cordless Freedom Pro ($99.95) is a contoured cordless keyboard that offers a split keyboard layout, multimedia keys, and the Cordless...

HARDWARE : 1.4- and 1.5GHz desktops.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... The HP Pavilion 9795C Home PC ($2,199) and HP Vectra v1800 Business desktop (call for pricing) from Hewlett-Packard Company feature the Intel Pentium 4 processor. The Pavilion 9795C (pictured) comes with the Pentium 4 1.4GHz processor, 128MB...

HARDWARE : Graphics card.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Appian Graphics announced the AppianX four-port ($899) graphics card, which powers up to four displays from a single slot. The AppianX features the Appian AGX, a multimonitor graphics processor, and both analog and digital output ports. The...

AEC, CAM, CAE SOFTWARE : 3D design.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Chief Architect 7 ($895) from Advanced Rendering Technology, Inc., provides solutions for architectural design and drafting. Chief Architect helps builders, designers, and developers create working drawings and accurate 3D models. Realistic...

AEC, CAM, CAE SOFTWARE : Plan measurement.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... GTCO CalComp announced QuikRuler II ($249) software for Palm handheld computers. When used with a GTCO CalComp Roll-Up Digitizer, QuikRuler II provides a lightweight, accurate measuring system for plans that measure up to 360 3 480. QuikRuler...

Automatic leader.(Questions and Answers)
March 1, 2001... When AutoCAD introduced the leader option for dimensions, I was delighted. However, I want the leader to position itself based on the selection order of points, as the dimension text does when space is not sufficient. For example, when I select...

ADT 3 answers users' needs : Across-the-board improvements push product toward maturity.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... When you open the manual for the latest version of Architectural Desktop, it looks just like the manual for Release 2/2i, except for the 3 in a little circle. As you read through it, though, you are pleasantly surprised: a myriad of changes and...

DataCAD Plus for AEC : New rendering and parametric utilities strengthen DataCAD Plus' 3D appeal.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... DataCAD has long been an architect's favorite--all the way back to DOS. DataCAD 9.51 ($995), the base product, includes the old Visual Reality 2 rendering package from Micrografx. Basic DataCAD offers 2D drafting with some 3D modeling. At twice...

A lifesaving design.(Product Information)
March 1, 2001... Few things are more challenging to a designer as making something that saves human lives. Such a product has many objectives--each of them vital--but above all, it must safeguard its user. When Johnstone Safety Products (Oxford, UK) designed...

FlexScan T962 : 210 flat-screen monitor.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... The Eizo FlexScan T962 is a 210 flat-screen CRT monitor designed specifically for desktop publishing and CAD/ CAM/CAE applications. Viewing area is 19.60 diagonal, and the dot pitch is a fine 0.24mm. Scanning frequencies range from 30-130KHz...

SpinFire : 3D publisher and file viewer.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... What if you need to share a 3D CAD model with several people throughout the world who use a different CAD system, or no CAD system at all? What if everyone involved needs to measure, annotate, and section the model? For all designers who have...

Tips from our readers.(Product Support)
March 1, 2001... $50 BONUS WINNER Layer descriptions and table Tip #1688 [LAYDESC.DVB] and [LAYDESC.LSP] This VBA routine lets you assign descriptions to layers. I developed it to help document our company's layer standards. It automatically...

State of the MCAD Industry : Where are we now and where are we going?(Industry Trend or Event)
March 1, 2001... How would you know that an article on the state of the MCAD industry from five years ago wasn't about the present if you left out telltale clues such as the names of companies that have since disappeared? Most of the buzzwords and the...

Mechanical Desktop 5 draws on 2000i : Sheet-metal design and surfacing are even easier.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... I have some good news and some even better news. The good news is that Mechanical Desktop 5 adds many new, useful features. The really good news is that the basic functions, menus, and toolbars remain virtually unchanged. That's right--you...

Autodesk starts location services division, buys Gentry Systems.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Autodesk made several announcements in the GIS arena. The company launched a Location Services division, which will provide a development platform and point-of-location applications to wireless carriers and other companies that provide...

Daratech predicts collaboration boom.(Industry Trend or Event)(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A recent PPM edition of market research firm Daratech's CAD/CAM/CAE: Survey, Review, and Buyer's Guide estimates that worldwide spending on engineering collaboration tools topped $185 million in 2000, a 63% increase over the previous year. EAI,...