Deelip.com's Future-of-MCAD Series

Deelip Menezes this last week wrote a series of articles that ended up becoming a thesis on the future of CAD software for mechanical design. I'm not sure that he intended it this way, since you can detect the development of thought, going from one posting to the next.

In brief:

• "Real" MCAD was parametric-based since PTC burst onto the scene.

• Direct modeling was the underdog technology employed by CoCreate, IronCAD, Cadkey (KeyCreator), and others.

• Direct modeling was not taken seriously until SpaceClaim arrived. (Coincidence? Perhaps.)

• Since the arrival  of SpaceClaim, direct modeling was added to Solid Edge, NX, and is being added to Inventor and Pro/E, with something vague happening over in France with Dassault's software.

• That leaves SolidWorks and Alibre with no direct modeling roadmap.

Mr Menezes' summary: customers are being (will be) dragged into direct modeling by CAD vendors, much like the ribbon interface being forced upon them.

I recommend you read his series, the many comments, and muse upon them:

1. Inventor Fusion and SolidWorks Confusion
2. AutoCAD Fusion
3. Kernel Confusion and Legacy Models
4. GRANITE Cross-Release Interoperability
5. What is Digital Prototyping - Part 2
6. Kernel Conclusion
7. Direct Editing and the Future

Comments

[Kevin Quigley]

Ralph, it is not actually the case as SolidWorks has had direct face modelling capability for many years. I think the main issue here is direct face modelling with no callback to the history tree - SolidWorks Move commands add a feature to the history tree.

All of which is great but what many users want is better geometry creation tools not better geometry editing tools....

[CAD Software]

Any thoughts on advanced 3D visualisation capabilities integration, CAD Software design stands outside the "sales and marketing" lifecyle closer integration of the two is inevitable in my opinion.

[Dan Bana]

I guess the good thing about the History Free Modeling will be the easyer that the 3D Parametrical softwares will be. I believe more people will join use it, coz it will not need to many classes to learn.
Worst to Slidworks and Alibre that will come late on it.

[Devon T. Sowell]

As a 10 year SolidWorks User, I'd prefer software that was properly tested prior to release. SolidWorks' policy of Service Packs every 10 weeks is too much overhead.

I don't want to test and manage software, I want to design parts.

Devon