SPINFIRE CAD SOFTWARE DRIVERS AT THE

For Linux/Unix, free software and available for Windows and Mac OS, MS. ActifyInc.OpenSCAD is a software for creating solid 3D CAD objects. SpinFire can convert CAD models into a compact, lightweight and neutral format for easy sharing. Actify SpinFire Ultimate is a ground-breaking CAD Viewer that supports multi-CAD for 3D and 2D viewing, measuring, mark-up and other investigative functions. Actify SpinFire Ultimate CAD Viewer.

With SpinFire Professional you can open and view almost every CAD-file, including all assembly data, calculate volume, surface, thickness, angle, communicate design data throughout the enterprise safely with the 3D format, create digital prototypes out of differently formatted CAD-files and create exploded views. I invited Antonio to participate in the following interview:SpinFire Professional (Icon859E198C.exe). Actify and Novedge are both located in San Francisco, a few blocks away.

The 'consumers' of 3D data are varied, with diverse needs ranging from the basic viewing of a simple part, to the most advance measurement and handling of very complex assemblies. (Actify is the pioneer of 3D visualization of CAD design to improve communication.) My work ranged a lot through the years, but I mainly focused on the graphics for SpinFire (formerly 3DView) and the importers (software modules to interface SpinFire with all the different formats it supports).What is the most challenging part in designing and building a CAD visualization software such as SpinFire?CAD viewers fulfill the need for informal digital communicationI think the challenge is to provide an easy-to-use tool for informal communication for all different types of users. I had the good fortune to work with the founders , who first saw the huge market need for design communication software.

While PLM ( Product Lifecycle Management) systems provide very structured and formal communication, CAD viewers fulfill the need for informal digital communication. CAD visualization is just one aspect of the whole solution: very important, but not enough alone. Users are receiving files from many sources and, as I said before, they want a one-stop solution.Also, the real challenge all the players in this market will face is the ability to provide a complete solution to the technical data communication problem. Another key element is the ability to read files generated by different CAD systems. All these are key to a successful CAD visualization software. The ultimate customer need is communication: a good tool must facilitate the communication between users, by allowing the addition of markups, comments, the history of reviews, and data searches.

Especially it's not a good idea to provide the functionality to export IGES and STEP. There are definitely a lot of benefits in storing the exact geometry, but, assuming we want to stay in the strictly Visualization area (meaning no advance measurements and no export to other formats) then I don't think it is a good idea. Design Share has been designed to meet the needs of these customers.From the technical point of view, how do you compare PDF and '.3D', the Actify proprietary file format?Adding 3D (to PDF) is a good idea butвЂ¦ many people will be confused on the use of PDFIn my opinion the main difference is that PDF files can store the exact geometry along with the tessellated data, while the '.3D' files store only the tessellated model.

There are pros and cons for both sides.In the last few weeks there has been a lot of talk about Microsoft Windows Vista and how Vista can slow down the performances of 3D intensive programs. This is a huge topic, and it may deserve a blog post by itself. With the '.3D' format users know exactly what is possible to do and what is not '.3D' is meant to be a visualization and communication format. I am sure that many people will be confused on the use of PDF. Adding 3D content is a good idea, but the way it is implemented now, it is going away from view only document, and it is opening the road to data translation.

Spinfire Cad Software Drivers At The

Many users are not familiar with the upgrade process, and many don't even know what graphic card (or chipset) they have.I would have expected Microsoft to do a better job in providing the most up-to-date drivers at the time of installation or through Windows Updates.Actify SpinFire can read/import several CAD file formats. The only thing to keep in mind when upgrading to Vista, is to upgrade the graphic drivers by downloading them from the graphic card vendor's website. We actually experience much better memory management by the OS, especially when dealing with very large assemblies.

If you have any questions for Antonio or for Novedge, just leave a comment below, and we will be glad to answer. All SpinFire products mentioned in this interview are available online from the Novedge website. The next generation solution will include a visualization software and other web-based software to help users manage all those electronic designs.I would like to thank Antonio Pellizzaro for taking the time to speak with me today. Viewers helped adopt 3D as way of communicating design, and now, as a result, the real problem is not visualizing the 3D data but managing it along with all the complementary data.The main area of development will be Collaboration and Finding 3D information. I don't think we will see radical changes in the existing software.