CADalyst articles from May 2002

CADalyst archives from May 2002

CAD. . . gobbling up jobs, one at a time.(Column)
May 1, 2002... A year ago on this page I raised a ruckus by suggesting that within five years CAD applications would eliminate the need for drafters. By automating the drafter's tasks, the power of CAD is placed directly in the hands of designers, where it...

Dialog box : Readers talk to us.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2002... Subscribe now In response to "Subscribe now, and we'll throw in--," March 2002, I challenge Autodesk to answer: "Why is CAD software not selling like it used to?" For the subscription approach for software in the CAD market to be...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2002... In February 2002's AutoCAD Clinic, the line to undefine 3D Orbit should read: (command "undefine" "3D ORBIT") (princ) In "On the job" in March 2002, p. 14, the equipment pictured is used for cutting hay, and the auger is used to feed...

Intel, Intergraph settle one processor patent suit.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... As a result of court-ordered mediation, Intergraph and Intel settled a patent infringement suit pending in U.S. District Court in Alabama. The companies signed a cross-licensing agreement. Intergraph will transfer certain patents to Intel, and...

MSC.SOFTWARE TO BUY MECHANICAL DYNAMICS.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Simulation software developer MSC.Software (www.mscsoftware. com) plans to acquire Mechanical Dynamics (www.adams.com) for about $120 million in cash. Mechanical Dynamics produces ADAMS software for building and testing virtual prototypes and...

BRICSNET SELLS ARCAT CATALOGS.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... ARCAT, Inc., a new company comprised of former Bricsnet executives, acquired all assets of The Architect's Catalog from Bricsnet. Bricsnet is divesting its architectural CAD assets to refocus on the real estate and facilities management market....

CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY PURCHASES GRAPHICS CARD VENDOR 3DLABS.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Creative Technology, a developer of digital entertainment products such as Sound Blaster and NOMAD Jukebox, acquired graphics card maker 3Dlabs for about $170 million. 3Dlabs will continue to supply, support, and develop all of its product...

CAM CONTEST.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Surfware (www.surfware.com) announced two contests for Surfcam users worldwide. The SURFCAM parts contest is open to all commercial and education customers, and another contest is for 2D Free customers. Deadline for both competitions is June...

Mergers.(NetClerk Inc. acquired by PermitWorks)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Online permitting site NetClerk Inc. was acquired by PermitWorks, a division of the Builders Information Group. The company's Web site for building permit and code information will launch in June.

BUSINESS.(Graphisoft appoints new CEO and Softsource returns to web site)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Graphisoft appointed Ray Small CEO, replacing founder Gabor Bojar, who will continue to serve as company chair and participate in formulating the company's strategy and vision. SoftSource has returned to www.softsource.com after spin-off...

PRODUCTS.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... EDS awarded Certified Select status to 33 applications that integrate with Solid Edge 11. ESRI will add support for the Microsoft Tablet PC to its ArcGIS family of software. Future versions of Raindrop Geomagic's Geomagic Wrap point...

ALLIANCES.
May 1, 2002... EDS and PTC signed a technology exchange agreement under which they will share toolkits and exchange end-user products to improve interoperability between their PLM (product lifecycle management) solutions. RAND Worldwide will market and...

OTHER.(benchmark for systems running Solid Edge 11.0)(SolidWorks introduces training program)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... SPEC/GPC's Application Performance Characterization group (www.spec.org/gpc) released a benchmark for systems running Solid Edge v11. SolidWorks introduced the SolidWorks Retraining Program, which gives unemployed design engineers a free...

HARDWARE : MOBILE WORKSTATION.(Dell Precision Workstation M50)
May 1, 2002... Dell Computer Corp. announced the Precision M50 (pricing starts at $3,599), a new mobile workstation designed for CAD, digital content creation, GIS, and other uses that require optimal 3D OpenGL graphics performance with ISV certification. The...

HARDWARE : 3D PRINTER.(Stratasys Dimension)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... The Dimension ($29,900) 3D printer now available from Stratasys creates solid models in durable ABS plastic with two selectable surface-finish options. Its Catalyst software drives the system from workstations with Windows NT/2000 via a...

HARDWARE : CRT MONITORS.(Hitachi V810 and V900)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Hitachi America Ltd.'s V series of CRT monitors includes the V810 ($609) 210 and the V900 ($255) 190 monitors. Both units feature a maximum resolution of 160031200 at 75Hz refresh rate, a three-year warranty, and EasyMenu onscreen controls that...

HARDWARE : 190 CRT DISPLAY.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... The SyncMaster 950b 190 Invar shadow-mask monitor ($219) from Samsung offers a maximum resolution of 160031200 at 68Hz and a 0.22mm dot pitch. The display measures 17.30 3 17.80 3 18.10 (w3h3d) and weighs 41.8lb. Drop-down on-screen controls...

HARDWARE : VACUUM METAL CASTING MACHINE.(MCP Systems released its MetCast process MPA 300)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... MCP Systems released its MetCast process MPA 300 (call for pricing) vacuum metal casting machine. The machine replicates production properties of aluminum die-cast alloys. Its complete turnkey system produces metal parts from a wax master in as...

NDES 2002.(National Design Engineering Show )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The National Design Engineering Show is but one part of National Manufacturing Week, an annual show that from March 18-21 drew 35,784 visitors to view products from 1,600 exhibitors. We found more than enough to grab our attention in the...

SOLID MODELERS.
May 1, 2002... Autodesk Inventor v5 ($5,195) improves its handling of legacy 2D data to offer unmatched support for DWG files. It also adds new tools for sheet-metal and machine design. Underneath it all, Inventor's adaptive technology offers a refreshing...

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT DILEMMA.(Adept 5.0 and AutoManager Meridian)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Cyco Software's AutoManager Meridian document management software ($1,500) features new wizards and other tools to speed up deployment while maintaining its powerful customization capabilities. Users can choose either Microsoft SQL or Oracle as...

ANALYSIS, DATA EXCHANGE, NURBS MODELING.(ANSYS' DesignXplorer)
May 1, 2002... ANSYS' DesignXplorer module (pricing not available) adds design optimization capabilities to ANSYS' DesignSpace structural and thermal analysis program, which runs inside SolidWorks, Inventor, and many other CAD programs. Users set parameters...

HARDWARE HONOREE.(Stratasys Dimension)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Stratasys' Dimension 3D printer packages rapid prototyping capabilities for desktop use. The price ($29,900) should attract users who previously were unable to afford in-house rapid prototyping. The printer creates ABS models measuring up to 80...

NINE HONORABLE MENTIONS.
May 1, 2002... Bom.com is a Web-based service that creates a single bill of materials that is shared by users throughout a product's lifecycle. Its new SolidWorks Integration Adapter will help it become an integral cog in a company's design process. ...

SOFTWARE : SCANNING SOFTWARE.(WIDEimage 2.4)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Contex Scanning Technology's WIDEimage 2.4 (call for pricing) wide-format scanning software scans, views, prints, and extracts color features. It supports Windows 98/NT4/ME/2000/XP and works with all current Contex scanners. WIDEimage scans...

SOFTWARE : VISUALIZATION AND DESIGN.(TurboCAD 8.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... TurboCAD v8 ($99.95) and TurboCAD v8 Professional ($499.95) 2D and 3D CAD software from IMSI offer enhanced rendering speed, materials in draft rendering, and a new LightWorks rendering engine. Both support OpenGL-compliant acceleration cards...

SOFTWARE : DESIGN SOFTWARE.(from Ashlar-Vellum)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Ashlar-Vellum announced Graphite Professional Drafting ($995) to facilitate rapid drawing creation and design iterations for production (see February 2002, p. 47). Neon 3D Publishing ($495) uses 3D engineering models to create models,...

SOFTWARE : WIRELESS 2D AND 3D VIEWING.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... GiveMePower Corp. introduced PowerCAD Viewer ($99), PowerCAD CE Classic ($249), and PowerCAD CE Pro ($495). You can transfer data wirelessly to and from desktop systems and networks. View, mark up, edit, create, and collaborate on designs and...

SOFTWARE : R2V CONVERSION.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... R2V ($1,495 per license, $960 educational) is automated raster-to-vector conversion software from Able Software for mapping and GIS. The solution converts TIF, GeoTIF, BMP, JPG, and other images to a vector file format. You can register raster...

Daratechsummit 2002.
May 1, 2002... Held in New York City on February 25-27, the daratechSUMMIT 2002 workshop attracted more than 700 attendees and 38 vendors. With a focus on product creation strategies, this conference brings together most of the CEOs and technologists from...

SOFTWARE : PLOT TRACKING.(Print Audit 4 .0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Print Audit Inc. released Print Audit 4 (starts at $115 per seat, volume pricing available), a plot tracking and auditing solution. The software is customizable and makes it easy to forward your plotting and printing costs to your customers,...

SOFTWARE : FULL COLOR, TEXTURE FINISH.(VIZually Rich 2)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... The VIZually Rich 2 ($595) from Adris Ltd. operates with Autodesk Architectural Desktop and lets you apply full-color textures, finishes, and materials to CAD drawings that you can display or animate in a proposed environment, such as 3ds max...

SOFTWARE : CAD ESTIMATING SOFTWARE.(CAD Integrator )(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Timberline Software's CAD Integrator (call for pricing) transfers information from CAD drawings into a Timberline estimate. The application uses IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) language to define CAD objects and their associated attributes....

SOFTWARE : 3D MODELER.(AEC Studio)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... REALVIZ's AEC Studio ($1,999) photorealistic graphics and visualization solution combines ImageModeler, Stitcher, and MatchMover into one package for Windows. You can create photorealistic 3D models from photographs and integrate 3D objects...

SOFTWARE : CNC WIRE-EDM.(GibbsCAM Wire-EDM )(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Gibbs and Associates' GibbsCAM Wire-EDM (call for pricing) provides 2-axis to 4-axis programming for CNC wire-EDM machines. It supports parallel, full-height tapered, and tapered with land-cut types. You model EDM parts and scale, rotate, and...

SOFTWARE : SHEET-METAL FABRICATORS.(ProFab)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Applied Production, Inc., released ProFab (call for pricing) sheet-metal CAM system that now directly interfaces with SolidWorks, AutoCAD, and CADKEY to automate programming your CNC punch press. This new version features streamlined menus and...

SOFTWARE : COMPUTATIONAL FLUID.(CFX-5.5 )(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... CFX, a division of AEA Technology, unveiled CFX-5.5 ($20,0001 per year) computational fluid dynamics software that provides a wide range of new models, meshing tools, and a new postprocessor. Its new models include a multiple frame of reference...

ON THE JOB : DIGITAL ATELIER SCALES UP WITH DELCAM'S REVERSE ENGINNEERING PACKAGE.(CopyCAD)
May 1, 2002... Digital Atelier, is a model- and pattern-making operation for the Johnson Atelier, a U.S.-based school for sculpture. J. Seward Johnson Jr., a sculptor and the scion of the Johnson & Johnson medical products fortune, founded the Technical...

ON THE JOB : PROCESS MAKES PERFECT.(using CopyCAD)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Asked if working with CopyCAD has provided new insights into the nature of sculpture, Rannou replies, "Absolutely, yes. Now we can really optimize the skeleton [a fabricated metal framework called an armature] and where it will go. CopyCAD lets...

ON THE JOB -- THE FUTURE: ON-SCREEN SCULPTURE.(using products such as PowerSHAPE)
May 1, 2002... Maquettes have been around as long as there have been sculptures, but their days may be numbered. "Because CAD tools are so powerful and quick, the next generation of sculpture students will start with data files instead of maquettes," Lash...

SOFTWARE : MECHANICAL DRAWING APPLICATION.(CADKEY GraphX v20 )(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... CADKEY Corp. debuted CADKEY GraphX v20 ($1,800; includes one year annual update contract) advanced mechanical drawing software for drafters, mechanical design engineers, and manufacturing engineers. GraphX v20 lets you create accurate drawings...

SOFTWARE : OPTIMIZATION SOLUTION.(PAM-OPT )(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... ESI Group's PAM-OPT (call for pricing) optimization software automates simulation and analysis for engineers on UNIX. PAM-OPT adapts to nonlinear outputs that you may encounter with ESI Group's other simulation packages and any other analysis...

SOFTWARE : 3D SOLID MODELING SOFTWARE.(Pro/DESKTOP Express)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Pro/DESKTOP Express (free) parametric solid modeling software from PTC offers collaboration capabilities within the company's Pro/ENGINEER product development environment. The program supports native file geometry transfer and associativity...

CALENDAR.
May 1, 2002... A/E/C SYSTEMS June 3-6 Find techology solutions for all aspects of the asset lifecycle. Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, CA 800.451.1196 www.aecsystems.com Geospatial World 2002 June 10-12 GeoSpatial Users Community...

Architectural Caddies Winners AIM High.
May 1, 2002... The more than 200 entries in this year's architectural CADDIES Image Awards realized new levels of excellence. Six Cadalyst contributors who served as judges (p. 30) thought the work was overwhelmingly good. Bill Burchard was "impressedby the...

A variety of viewers for everyone.(Evaluation)
May 1, 2002... The original concept for this roundup of drawing viewers emphasized non-CAD users who need to view CAD drawings on a workstation from a local drive or network, not Internet capabilities. As is often the case, plans were changed somewhat by the...

Volo View 2.(Evaluation)
May 1, 2002... Volo View 2 Autodesk, Inc. 4.5 stars out of 5 Volo View is Autodesk's own drawing viewer and as such offers full DWG file compatibility. That said, Volo View is not a speedy viewer when compared to the others in this roundup. In fact,...

AUTOVUE PROFESSIONAL V16 FOR WINDOWS.(Evaluation)
May 1, 2002... AUTOVUE PROFESSIONAL V16 FOR WINDOWS Cimmetry Systems, Inc. 5 stars out of 5 Cimmetry Systems offers several versions of AutoVue that vary in capabilities and cost. Basic AutoVue ($395) lets you view and print 2D CAD, vector,...

AUTOMANAGER VIEW V3.2.
May 1, 2002... AUTOMANAGER VIEW V3.2 Cyco Software 5 stars out of 5 Cyco AutoManager View v3.2 is the latest iteration of an application that has been popular with CAD users for quite a few years. AutoManager View is fast. It tied for top honors as...

IntraNETIX.
May 1, 2002... IntraNETIX IDEAL.com IntraNETIX's database connectivity is the real strength of the product, making it not merely a simple viewer or drawing manager, but a flexible business tool. IntraNETIX enables secure viewing and printing of...

Myriad 5.2.(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Myriad 5.2 Informative Graphics Corp. 4 stars out of 5 Myriad 5.2 from Informative Graphics offers many of the same tools as a CAD program--zoom, pan, rotate, redline, markup, filter, manipulate layers, and measure. Myriad also...

FastLook Plus v10.(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... FastLook Plus v10 Kamel Software, Inc. 5 stars out of 5 FastLook Plus has been around forever. Not content to sit on its collective laurels, Kamel Software has continued to improve and modify FastLook Plus, adding a wealth of...

WiseVIEW v4.
May 1, 2002... WiseVIEW v4 Samsung SDS America 5 stars out of 5 WiseVIEW's file management functionality is very good--it lets you search through the text of DOC, PDF, and markup files--and exceeds what many other viewers can do. Samsung SDS says...

CAD2View Pro.(CAD2View Pro)(Evaluation)
May 1, 2002... CAD2View Pro SoftCover International Ltd. 4.5 stars out of 5 I tested SoftCover International's CAD2View Pro ($199) during the beta stage of its development and was quite impressed with the company and the product. A 2D drawing...

ViewCafe 2.0.
May 1, 2002... ViewCafe 2.0 Spicer Corp. ViewCafe is a collaborative tool for sharing information between partners, suppliers, and customers specifically within the context of information review. ViewCafe is designed for users focused on...

Bentley's MicroStation V8 forms base for trio of AEC tools : Separate packages handle architectural and structural design.
May 1, 2002... Two years in the works, MicroStation V8 implements direct support for the AutoCAD DWG format and eliminates a number of historical limitations. MicroStation V8, essentially a complete rewrite of the program, shipped in late September, and...

Wildcat III 6110 : Next-generation 3D graphics.(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Recently 3Dlabs released the Wildcat III 6210 and 6110, the latest additions to its professional line of graphics cards for workstations. Based on third-generation Wildcat technology, initially developed by Intergraph, the 6210 (less than...

NVIDIA Quadro4 900 XGL : Ultimate 3D performance.(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... The Quadro4 900 XGL is NVIDIA's top-of-the-line professional 3D graphics card built around its next-generation Quadro4 XGL graphics accelerator. There are two other Quadro4-based cards: the entry-level 550 XGL and the midrange 750 XGL. NVIDIA's...

Set the standard : Use AutoCAD 2002's new tools to apply your CAD standards.
May 1, 2002... These drawing files are driving me nuts! The layer colors and linetypes are all wrong, the text styles don't match our standards, and the dimension styles are messed up. Whatever shall I do? Plotting probably causes more grief than any other...

Protect your code : Visual LISP provides two ways to secure your AutoLISP programs.
May 1, 2002... If you spend a lot of time developing, debugging, and testing your AutoLISP programs, you'll want to secure your work. AutoCAD 2000-2002 gives developers a good alternative to the old AutoLISP protection method, which anyone could decrypt. The...

Shortcut woes: xline echo -- Also, add oblique text to linetypes.
May 1, 2002... I added these shortcut lines to my acad.mnu file in the ***ACCELERATORS section: ["F"]'ZOOM;E ["H"]^C^C(command "_xline" "h")(princ) The first line does Zoom Extents as it did in AutoCAD Release 14. However, when I type the letter...

Tips from our readers.
May 1, 2002... $50 BONUS WINNER DUCT CALCULATIONS MADE EASY Tip #1793 [DUCTCAL.LSP] and [DUCTCAL.DCL] Ductcal calculates duct velocities, pressures, sizes, and so on, for rectangular and round ducts. It even calculates equivalent rectangular...