Blog Archives

Recently I was interviewed by Beth Stackpole of Design News. The topic was about 3D Visualization and I did my best to explain why that term is no longer adequate, and that we are are doing in 3DVIA (and in Dassault Systemes) is all about 3DEXPERIENCE.

Take a look at this link to the article, let me know if it makes sense!

Over the past few years, we have been showcasing some cool samples and passing along some interesting tips and tricks… and with the posting of TodCast #9, this marks our 100th 3DVIA Composer video in this series!!

Which one is your favorite?

Welcome to the first TodCast of 2012! We have been busy making fresh content for your enlightenment and enjoyment. (Please feel free to tell us what you’d like to see!)

In this TodCast, Tod walks us through the new multi-camera capability of Version6 R2012x, and shows us how easy it is to create engaging animations.

Hi everyone, we’ve been busy making some new videos for you the first couple months of the new year. Here is our fresh-off-the-press intro video, please let us know what you think!

And stay tuned on Friday, we will bring to you a brand new TodCast.

It’s here, just in time for the holidays… Santa has visited us early and stuffed our software stockings with another impressive release of 3DVIA Composer, full of breakthrough technology and fun-to-use features. You could shake the box and try to guess what’s inside… or take the easy way and watch the preview for more info.

My personal favorite new feature is Smart Outlines. What’s yours?

Enjoy!

Have you ever wanted to make a technical illustration using non-black silhouette outlines for specific parts? It’s incredibly easy and fast to do, as Tod demonstrates in this latest TodCast.

Hi! Since we are just about to release 3DVIA Composer Version 6 Release 2012x, I thought it would be good to review some of the good stuff that was jam-packed into the previous release 6 months ago, V6R2012.

Enjoy, and stay tuned for more!

Ok, I’ve seen some of those puzzle brain teasers… but this one take the prize for the most difficult! Thankfully 3DVIA Composer is there to the rescue!

Thanks to the crew at CAPINC for putting this together and sharing it on YouTube.

At this year’s Dassault Systèmes Customer Conference (DSCC 2011), we will be launching our first-ever strategy forum for 3DVIA.

Click here for more details about the forum and DSCC.

3DVIA 3D Communication Strategy Forum – November 10, 2011

Immediately following DSCC 2011, 3DVIA will be hosting the 3D Communication Strategy Forum. This half-day event is designed to promote an open dialogue and exchange of ideas between 3DVIA product leaders and industry representatives who are interested in exploring the use of 3D product communications.

Open to all Dassault Systemes’ customers attending DSCC, the forum will provide attendees with a detailed 3DVIA brand and product strategy, along with an exclusive preview of upcoming 3DVIA mobile and cloud solutions...

For those of us in the northern hemisphere — hot enough for ya? Welcome to the dog days of summer! To help keep you cool, Tod has put together a set of tips and tricks that will turn complicated animations into quick and easy work — getting you out of the hot seat, on your way home, and into your hammock in no time!

Tod shows how powerful yet easy it is to mix up and incorporate some advanced stuff: assembly groups, parent/inherited animations, assembly selection mode, grid snapping, primitives, timeline filtering by selected objects… just to name a few.

Enjoy!

Our development team has done it again! It’s here — the newest and most impressive release of 3DVIA Composer yet — V6R2012! Some amazing enhancements, I just can’t say enough good things about this release:

• advanced rendering capabilities
• smooth animation paths
• UV texture support from 3DXML files
• cutting plane enhancements for tech illustrations
• enhanced navigation controls for interactive experiences
• custom built-in HTML templates

Just to name a few of the dozens of new innovations and enhancements to the product. Check out the video and see for yourself…and be ready to be as impressed as our team is with this release!!

And if you want a more detailed description of the new features, watch an interactive presentation here:

http://www.brainshark.com/3dvia/composerv6r2012

Password: “3dv...

Happy first day of summer, here in the northern hemisphere! Down under, the Australian Navy has embarked on a project called REFINE (Realtime Engineering Fleet training Interactive Naval Environment), with help from our partner Invenio.

From this article on PACE news:

Invenio’s REFINE solution specifically addresses naval training requirements by immersing naval cadets in a virtual representation of the ship on which they will serve.

Real-life scenarios that can be replicated include operating navigating equipment, fighting a fire, launching the ship’s boat, responding to damage control or a call to action stations.

Pretty cool concept, a sort of “PLM-connected serious game” thanks to 3DVIA Studio Pro and 3DVIA Composer...

So you want to route some wires on your 3DVIA Composer animation, but:

(a) you don’t have 3D models of wires, and (b) you don’t have a way to make parts flexible.

So what to do?

In this latest TodCast, Tod shows an interesting way to use geometry primitives + associative paths to simulate wire routings. Enjoy!

This announcement was posted a few days ago:

“Un Techo Para Mi Pais,” (UTPMP), recognized by the United Nations as one of the non-governmental organizations best suited for public-private partnerships, gives disadvantaged families a new start by offering the security found in a new home,  along with the social, educational and micro-financing services needed to create a responsive community or “barrio” where they can thrive.

But like many volunteer organizations, UTPMP faces the challenge of how best to train new volunteers while capturing the lessons learned by others leaving the organization.  To do this, UTPMP is creating a real-time and online 3D community for sharing and retaining organizational knowledge.

3DVIA Composer to the rescue! This sort of remote training is ideall...

This year’s Collaboration and Interoperability Congress event will be held May 23-25 in Denver, Colorado. 3DVIA will be there in full force just like in previous years, to engage in conversations about improving the usability of 3D data in downstream applications and usages. Be on the lookout for Gideon and Kyle to answer any of your questions!

What exactly is the 3DCIC? Here’s the description from their website:

…brings together experts and executive decision makers from automotive, aerospace, heavy equipment, electronics and other discrete manufacturing industries, along with representatives from government and the defense community.

Attendees take part in a diverse choice of breakout sessions and lively panel discussions offering direct interaction with industry experts who deeply unde...

In case you missed it, here is a press release from our SolidWorks team that mentions how 3DVIA Composer is being used by “Design That Matters” to help their efforts in developing countries:

Design that Matters, a non-profit product design group, used 3DVIA Composer to develop high-quality visuals of a phototherapy device to treat jaundiced infants in developing countries. The images enabled the design team to quickly gather feedback from, and gain acceptance by physicians in Vietnam, where it would initially be produced and used in hospitals that may not be able to afford traditional western machines.

Talk about global collaboration! That’s the power of interactive 3D — overcoming international language and cultural barriers:

“We are dealing with a different language, culture, and fina...

After a few years, it’s time to do a little house cleaning — a facelift of sorts, really. Let us know what you think of the new look?

(And new videos coming VERY soon, I promise! Just had to fix a few things on the site, and all is working well now.)

Shuji, from our Japan team, wanted to explain to us the sequence of events leading up to the hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima reactor. He found a 3D model of the reactor and loaded it into 3DVIA Composer. He then merged in some additional geometry (piping, rods, etc), and quickly built an animation detailing the various technical details that occurred after the catastrophic earthquake a few weeks ago.

Using 3D animations in this way — to educate and explain technical concepts — provides a simple and compelling way to quickly create and information. Thanks to Shuji for preparing this information in 3DVIA Composer, it is very interesting to understand the sequence of events describing this very unfortunate disaster.

Embraer has been working with various DS brands, including 3DVIA, to significantly enhance their manufacturing planning and production operations. See the press release link here.

A quote from Marcelo Lemos, our GM in Latin America:

“Embraer is tapping into advanced technology solutions to help achieve significant savings by integrating key engineering, design and manufacturing operations into a single 3D model. These savings allow Embraer S.A. to re-invest resources in new industry opportunities and initiatives”

We have a TON of new videos to share with you. I was about to post our next “3DVIA your iPod” video, and quickly eclipse our 100th video, and the title itself struck me… we’ve been doing this for several years, and when we originally started, this was the era of the video iPod. And the way to get the video on your iPod was through iTunes podcast feed.

A lot has changed in the last few years. We’re in the YouTube era, social era… iPhones and iPads, Android, tablets… it’s easier than ever to share videos. We don’t need iTunes video feeds or any other complicated uploading/downloading procedures and syncing. So while I was hoping to soon mark our 100th video “podcast”, it’s time to get current and refresh the name. Plus, I’d like to introduce you to our producer of these videos: Tod.

With th...

So we’ve been a little bit quiet here at 3dmojo the past few months… but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been busy!

We’re in the process of making some enhancements to the site — layout, searching, new videos, etc. We have a lot of content to share, and be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed to get regular updates.

For now, I wanted to share with you a screenshot of 3DVIA Composer running on a 65″ monitor at the CAPINC show. Thanks to Michael LaFleche for sharing the photo.

Have you been watching the Let’s Go Design web series? 3DVIA Composer and 3DVIA Scenes were featured in the episode 5… Check it out!

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/programs/letsgodesign/

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6k4vUxFzI4

In case you haven’t seen the highlights for our latest release, check out this video!

Well it is here, V6R2011, and I must admit I’ve been excited to tell you about the cool new features for some time…

Check out the highlight video here. (I’ll get that onto the YouTube channel soon…)

Magnetic lines, drag-and-drop interactivity, and many many more… you’ll have to check the new-and-improved release notes for all the details.

I also want to direct your attention to SOPAL, a Tunisian manufacturer of complex and distinctively styled kitchen and bath fixtures. They have been doing some cool things with 3DVIA Composer and 3DVIA.com (and 3DVIA Mobile). The full PR is here, but to save you time here is the 3DVIA Composer part:

With trends in faucet design changing often, SOPAL felt it had to remain flexible and reactive to market demand.

“Knowing how to detect new trends and delive...

Yes, the blog has been quiet recently… it’s been a pretty busy spring, we are preparing an exciting new product release for June. We continue to provide nice innovations and new tools to help you get your job done more quickly.

Expect a lot of activity, along with the new release of 3DVIA Composer, we have been creating a LOT of video tips over the past year, and they will be available very soon.

In the meantime, did you know that 3DVIA has a powerful gaming engine, that can be used for both casual gaming, as well as “serious games”? And did you know that it has some very interesting uses in the Life Sciences industry to help people learn about health concerns and to actually help them with phobias and other health challenges?

Check out this mention from the Boston Globe:

In other game...