WorldCAD Access

Roopinder Tara lists his Autodesk University 2011 hits & misses, continued

by Roopinder Tara, Tenlinks.com Part 4: Autodesk's Strategy is No-Strategy Maybe for the millionth time Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk, is questioned about the strategy of giving away software, or making it really cheap. The analyst who asked this question at the media Q&A session no doubt considered such a strategy suicidal. It was much easier to understand an Autodesk that sold AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit or some other vertical product that sold for thousands of dollars and provided huge margins. But now Autodesk is as likely to brag about software that is downloaded by the millions but sells for 99... Read more →

Judge closes law suit against TransMagic, et al

Back in April, WorldCAD Access reported on a law suit between a Boston architect and a trio of companies. One of the three, TransMagic, specializes in translating CAD data. In http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2011/04/hauled-to-court.html, I wrote: Transmagic uses LTL's Sheriff utility, which "phones home" user details, such as their IP address, computer MAC address, email address, and Transmagic software activity. The idea is to determine whether customers are failing to follow licensing terms, such as when someone uses the software beyond its 7-day trial period or installs it on multiple computers. As long as Transmagic tells users they are taking this info, and... Read more →

Roopinder Tara lists his Autodesk University 2011 hits & misses

by Roopinder Tara, Tenlinks.com Part 1 One might think Autodesk would be content in hosting what is by far the biggest CAD gathering in the world, but it's not. It is inflating the numbers: in addition to the 8,000+ that are expected to be here, Autodesk is also counting those that are attending "virtually," as if that matters. So the number being bandied about is in the hundreds of thousands. IMHO, there is no substitute for being here. If I was attending "virtually," I would also be doing my regular job, answering emails, shopping on Amazon.com, or a half dozen... Read more →

In upFront.eZine this week: The first literal 3D user interface for CAD

In upFront.eZine this week, we have for your reading pleasure... 1. Infinite Z's zSpace - zSpace Product and Branding - Q&A 2. The Cloud is Dead? I Respond 3. Out of the Inbox, and other regular columns. You can read all about the business of CAD at upfrontezine.com/2011/upf-714 Read more →

New releases from China: GstarCAD 2012

Gstarsoft of Beijing over the weekend released a public beta of the next release of its namesake software, the IntelliCAD-based GstarCAD 2012. Probably the highlight is that Gstarsoft seems to have managed to implement the entire dynamic blocks environment (BEdit and its functions) -- a first for an AutoCAD clone maker. I dunno if the same rule still applies for ITC members, you know, the one where advances by one member get funneled back to the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium for the betterment of all. Other new items also catch up with AutoCAD, such as DWFs as underlays, Superhatch, and object... Read more →

Updated for V12: "Bricscad for AutoCAD Users"

Bricscad V12 for AutoCAD Users is for CAD users wishing to understand the differences and similarities with Bricscad. It is ideal for offices looking to save on IT expenses by adding lower-cost Bricscad seats. -- pages 192 -- pdf file 8.6mb -- edition 3rd -- price free -- The 192-page ebook is available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, and covers these topics in an even-handed manner: Advantages to Bricscad What's missing from Bricscad Comparison of user interfaces Detailed comparison of drawing compatbility New! Detailed comparison of object properties Overview of how to customize and program with Bricscad New! Working in... Read more →

New releases from Russia: T-FLEX CAD 12

A few days ago I wrote about ASCON shipping V12 of its KOMPAS-3D MCAD software, and now arch-competitor and Moscow-based Top Systems releases T-FLEX CAD version 12. Whereas KOMPAS uses a home-grown modeling kernel, Top Systems uses Parasolids. Top Systems offers these programs: T-FLEX CAD parametric 2D/3D CAD system T-FLEX CAM computer-aided maching add-on T-FLEX Dynamics motion similation add-on T-FLEX Analysis finite element analsis add-on T-FLEX DOCs SQL-based EDM/PDM software This new release of the MCAD program has a new graphics engine, and some operations are as much as 10x faster. The feature that caught my eye is the new... Read more →

New releases from Russia: KOMPAS-3D V13

Unlike some American CAD vendors, ASCON Group of St. Petersburg is not of the number 13, and so this week's release of KOMPAS-3D is boldly numbered "V13." As I reported on my trip through Russia two years ago, CAD vendors in this country have tended to be insular. Their software is written in Russian, their standards follow Russian ones, and their market is primarily Russia and the other former CIS countries. Because they are privately owned, they don't reveal any financials, so we can't tell how they are doing. But from selected statistics, it would appear that ASCON is at... Read more →

New releases from China: ZWCAD 2012

I plan to highlight some software packages from China and Russia in the next few blog postings. ZWSOFT of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) has two software packages: ZWCAD for 2D drafting and simple 3D design, based on IntelliCAD ZW3D for 3D modeling and CAM operations, formerly known as VX The company says it has 180, 000 users around the world, but the counter has been stuck at this number for some time now. You can join their ZWCAD Developer Network for free. The latest release is ZWCAD 2012, and these are some of its new features: Entities in blocks... Read more →

In upFront.eZine this week: Autodesk's ceo tells customers what to expect at AU

In upFront.eZine this week, we have for your reading pleasure letters from the few readers brave enough to support the cloud! 1. Geomagic Studio and Wrap 2012 2. Carl Bass on the Immediate Future for Autodesk Customers - On PLM - On Cloud - On Software Distribution - On Acquisitions 3. Out of the Inbox, and all the other regular columns. You can read all about the business of CAD at upfrontezine.com/2011/upf-713 Read more →

In upFront.eZine this week: Siemens PLM slashes the price of SolidEdge (Design1) to 20 bucks a month (for some)

In upFront.eZine this week, we have for your reading pleasure letters from the few readers brave enough to support the cloud! 1. Design1 Slashes Price of Solid Edge to $20 a Month - Q&A - Is This Market Real? 2. Maximus for MCAD - How Maximus Works - About Tesla - Benchmarks - Cost - Cloud Helper 3. No Out of the Inbox this week, because we have so many more letters on whether the CAD-on-the-cloud is viable. You can read all about the business of CAD at upfrontezine.com/2011/upf-712 Read more →

IntelliCAD gets a 7.1 update

IntelliCAD Technology Consortium releases IntelliCAD v7.1 with a couple of new features that pull it ahead of arch rivals ARES and Bricsys: Attach .dgn files Drag-and-drop layouts between drawings Also, it is faster in the areas of printing, zooming, displaying multiline text, and exporting drawings in PDF format. You can't get the update direct from ITC; you need go check with a member who sells it: "Interested IntelliCAD users can contact ITC members to receive details about availability of IntelliCAD software." www.intellicad.org Read more →

We check out PTC's promise that Creo solves MCAD's four unaddressed problems

by Ralph Grabowski A year ago, PTC generated much speculation with ads that claimed its new software would get us all “out of CAD jail.” When unveiled, we learned of newish software and a new name: Creo, it was explained, means “create” in several Latin languages. Creo is a second restart for PTC, the company that ignited the parametric and history-based CAD design in the late 1980s. The first restart was named “Wildfire,” in which Pro/E was tuned for Windows and the Internet. When PTC renamed its CAD software “Creo,” it confused people into thinking this was new software. In... Read more →

Hotel fries rooftop vehicles

Bill Fane sent over a couple of photos he took of this Marriott hotel, designed to be a giant parabolic mirror. Well, not designed to fry automobiles atop the adjacent parking garage, but here the architect didn't think clearly through the consequences of specifying enormous curved walls made of mirrored glass for tall, wide buildings located in hot, sunny climes. Reminds me of a house fire locally, which was started after the sun's ray were concentrated by another home's curved. shiny, new copper roofing. A little physics would be helpful to architects. Read more →

Revealed: How Direct-Parametric Interoperability Works in Creo

After I wrote good and bad things about Creo 1.0 for Design Engineering magazine (see Creo Hands-on), PTC was interested to hear more from me and my experiences in using the software. Corporate communications manager Julie Blake arranged for me to speak with PTC's Brian Thompson, vp of product management. Things I complained about are being fixed. For instance, the FCS (first customer ship) version of Creo/Direct 1.0 could not edit parts in assemblies. In update M10, you can now right-click and activate a part for editing. The biggest headache I experienced was with the license server, which would shut... Read more →

In upFront.eZine this week: PTC, that WindChill company, talks about growing CAD

In upFront.eZine this week, we have for your reading pleasure letters from the few readers brave enough to support the cloud! 1. PTC, the WindChill Company, Talks About Growing CAD 2. The Cloud is Dead? Part 3: Even More Responses from Readers - In the Twitterverse - Elsewhere On the Interweb 3. Updated eBook: Learn Bricscad V12 in a Day 4. Out of the Inbox and our other regular columns You can read all about the business of CAD at upfrontezine.com/2011/upf-711 Read more →

"Learn Bricscad V12 in a Day" -- it's a new ebook

New chapters: 2 Units: metric & imperial OSes: Linux & Windows The newly updated Learn Bricscad in a Day is now here, with two new chapters: 3D Direct Modeling and Editing 2D Dimensional and Geometric Constraints This tutorial on learning to use Bricscad in just a few hours been rewritten for metric units, along with imperial units for some tutorials. Specific to the Linux, Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8 operating systems. Includes a free ZIP file with all tutorial files. Also available in editions for V8, V9, V10, and V11 of Bricscad. Expanded to 266 pages. Still only $20.... Read more →