WorldCAD Access

TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015

Reprinted from CADdigest.com; by Ralph Grabowski I've been looking at TurboCAD ever since the days it ran on MS-DOS and so watched its progression to Windows, and then to Macs and iPads. Today it is a program that handles nearly every aspect of 2D drafting, 3D solids and surfaces through history as well as direct editing, constraints and parameters, BIM design, visual styles and rendering, and programming. IMSI/Design software has one of the largest ranges of CAD software, with multiple products for Windows, Mac OS X, and iOS. The one I am reviewing here is TurboCAD 2015 Pro Platinum, and... Read more →

Seven flaws in Onshape today

Difficult Birthing of new MCAD Software 1. Runs only on the Internet. No or poor connection = no working 2. No one-time perpetual license available. $1,200/year perpetually 3. No drafting, no generation of 2D drawings 4. Switching from paid mode to free mode can be tricky 5. No third-party add-ons available yet. No FEA, no CAM, no advanced rendering 6. App promised for Android not available; only for iPhone/iPad 7. Waiting list for getting an account. No immediate access Read more →

McSwain honors decadal bloggers

Ten years of passion Over at the CAD Panacea blog, R K McSwain today celebrates his 10th anniversary blogging. In his posting, he lists the other bloggers who have been around at least as long. See http://cadpanacea.com/wp/?p=798. From his list, it appears that this WorldCAD Access blog is the oldest, continuously-running, independent blog in the industry. I started on December 31, 2003, since then posting 4,678 articles -- an average of 1.14 articles per day. The oldest one of all is an Autodesk corporate blog penned by Shaan Hurley. The other ones on Mr McSwain's list are the following names,... Read more →

Using a Pebble watch, three months later

Pebble Steel, original edition So I've been wearing the Pebble Steel watch since Christmas, when I bought it for myself as my present. Well, the kids helped pay for it. So, what's it been like? The more important question is: Has it replaced my previous watch of 13 years? -- a Citizen Ecodrive whose battery never needs replacing. Yes, even though I charge this new one twice a week. One aspect of getting a new smart device, whether the original Palm Pilot or a Pebble is settling on the apps that make life better and the device more useful. For... Read more →

My new 10x camera is also a smartphone

Samsung Galaxy K Zoom Ever since in 2006 when my dad handed over his latest camera he didn't like, I've wondered why smartphones don't have room for optical zoom lenses. The camera he didn't like was the Samsung NV3, and he didn't like it because its LCD screen was not bright enough for outdoor use. I used it for several years, then passed it on to my daughter. Samsung's NV3 digital camera with its 3x zoom lens fully extended The NV3 is smaller than the size of a smartphone, yet has a 3x zoom lens that does not protrude from... Read more →

Q&A with Chris Yessios, CEO of AutoDesSys

by Ralph Grabowski, reprinted from CADdigest.com Apple’s 1984 introduction of the Macintosh computer spurred on researchers to take advantage of Apple’s unique, interactive, graphically-oriented interface. One of them was Dr. Chris Yessios, who at the time was the director of the Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) Graduate Program at Ohio State University. He could see that computers like the new Macintosh could become the future of 3D modeling, software that longed for interactivity. The result of his musings was formZ, one of the first 3D modelers designed with the user in mind. In this interview, Ralph Grabowski spoke with AutoDesSys CEO... Read more →

3,000,000th page-view for WorldCAD Access!

11 years old I forgot to note that last week this blog registered its three millionth page-view since its founding in December, 2003. Read more →

Renga Architecture is brand-new AEC software by an MCAD vendor

From ASCON Group Saint Petersburg's ASCON Group is best known for its MCAD software KOMPAS-3D. As the largest Russian CAD vendor, it has concentrated on the MCAD market for more than 20 years, along with more recent projects like its C3D geometric kernel and DEXMA cloud-based PLM system. When I visited them in 2009, they hinted at wanting to enter the AEC sector, which in Russia currently is dominated by foreign Autodesk programs. Under the radar, they've been working hard on AEC software, which entered beta in December. And within the next four weeks, ASCON plans to release it officially.... Read more →

Battle of the CEOs!

Develop3D Live 2015 The British organizers of the annual Develop3D Live conference are pretty excited that they will have a bunch of CAD vendor ceos on their stage later this month: Carl Bass, Autodesk ceo Gian Paolo Bassi, Solidworks ceo Jon Hirschtick, Onshape president Dan Staples, Siemens PLM vp Brian Thompson, PTC vp Sadly, I will not be there in Warwick England, but you and I can be there in spirit. Develop3D Live will be webcasted live to you and I on March 26. To watch the live stream, register at http://www.develop3dlive.com/register-for-develop3d-live-2015-live-stream-access More info and recordings of last year's talks... Read more →

Ten things you need to know about OnShape

Launched this morning at 8am Pacific 1. It's free. No limited functions; no time-out bomb; no limit to online storage. 2. It is a history-based feature modeler that is also a direct modeler-editor; it employs features, extrusions, parts, and assemblies -- just like Solidworks users are used to using. 3. It is a pure cloud play that runs in desktop browsers and on apps specific to Android and iOS. There is no local version; there is no local install; there is no local saving of files. The OnShape user interface, when the program first starts up in a Web browser... Read more →

Outsourcing advocate gets outsourced

Thomas Friedman is out-Friedmaned Quoted from Wired: "The Guerrilla Tactics of The Racket, and How It Almost Upended Journalism" by Mat Honan. Source: http://www.wired.com/2014/12/life-and-death-of-the-racket/ - - - “The joke here is that Thomas Friedman is always talking about the benefits of globalization,” says Taibbi. “We outsourced Thomas Friedman to an Indian content farm, where they produce for pennies a word, any kind of material you want.... I told them I wanted then to write an article about globalization and its effect on the workforce that’s positive about globalization...” said Pareene. “To show the effects of globalization,” laughed Taibbi. “We can... Read more →

This is what the 3D Systems CEO expects from Cimatron

Multiplexing cross-selling opportunities Last week, executives of 3D Systems spoke with financial analysts. One asked about Cimatron, makes of CAM software, which 3D Systems recently acquired. - - - Brandon Wright (Stephens): Just want to get a little bit of color on your expectations for Cimatron in '15. Obviously, with being software higher margin, [what] kind of the impact you see coming in there? Avi Reichental (ceo, 3D Systems): From Cimatron we are looking to immediately have some cross-selling leverage, because they have a very strong [sales] channel, we have a very strong channel, and they are completely complementary in... Read more →

Spelling dictionary lists for BricsCAD V15

Command and sysvar names I've put together a couple of files that contain just the command and system variable names found in BricsCAD V15. You can import them into your word processing and desktop publishing software to get rid of all those squiggly red lines from the text. BricsCAD-V15-commandNames.txt Download from https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28941239/BricsCAD-V15-commandNames.txt BricsCAD-V15-sysvars.txt Download from https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28941239/BricsCAD-V15-sysvars.txt The commands are from the Platinum Edition of BricsCAD V15, and so cover all editions. The word lists are in plain ASCII (.txt) format, so you can inspect them before importing the names. Importing Word Lists To add word lists to InDesign, follow these... Read more →

foto of the sunday: Museum of Anthropology

25 March 2001 Above: My daughters at the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Below: Museum visitor sleeping Read more →