3DMojo

We're back from a long holiday weekend here in the US, and I wanted to pick up the discussion thread started last week when we posted our assertion that the file translation problem has been solved.

Articulating that fact resulted in this comment from Deelip Menezes:

In the response to Scott Shepard, Alex says, "the manic focus on converting things obscures the need to do something with the info". I could not agree more. I have a small question though. How the hell are you going to do something worthwhile with the info if you do not have the correct info to begin with?

With apologies to Deelip, I don't want to get pulled into the sub-topic of file-format conversion accuracy, because that is, ahem, a religious war without solution.

Suffice it to say that I am happy to use a digital camera for my picture taking today and that I no longer retreat into the basement, block all light and spend hours with dangerous chemicals in order to produce snapshots of the family cookout. Is the darkroom "better," more "accurate"? Arguably. But it's also less useful. And, it's a barrier to picture taking itself because I have added time and expense to develop the photos.

That was our point: 3D design data today is bottled up in engineering and design, hostage to fanatical worrying about "accuracy" (like having to have precisely the right temperature for the developer in a darkroom) and prisoner to the extra effort needed to "develop" it for use outside engineering.

One of my colleagues in Seemage, Garth Colman, sent me this comment after reading Deelip's post:

Geometry-based CAD translators are a dime a dozen, full of all the necessary healing features, and are cheap. So yeah, they’re necessary, but the translator itself does not add value, it’s what you do with the translated data. If [Deelip] wants to start a thread about the “quality” or “accuracy” of translated data, fine. It’s only a relevant point in the world of engineering, it adds zero value to external departments. And that’s the entire point of [the post]… that engineers only think about engineering…

If Kodak has stopped selling film cameras, it's time for MCAD to stop worrying about previous-generation issues and come out of the darkroom.

We are very pleased to post here an unabridged version of the article Gordon Benson of NACCO Materials wrote for Machine Design magazine.

As you read Gordon's paper, we hope you will agree that the issues and challenges Gordon describes are universal no matter what CAD and/or PLM system your company uses, and that his approach to solving those problems in his company is applicable to your company as well.

Gordon places special emphasis on the ROI of better product documentation, something we believe is more and more evident inside manufacturing companies today. It's the kind of thing you might expect software vendors to talk about. But it's so much more authentic reading Gordon's perspective than simply hearing it from us.

We want to thank Gordon for allowing us to post the original, unabridged version of this paper.

 The Value of Engineering Product Information Everyware: Download (805)

Here at Seemage, we marvel at the amount of time and energy people spend thinking about file format conversions. In a nutshell, we believe this is a solved problem...that people who want or need to convert file formats can and do, easily and accurately.

We think the real issue isn't about conversion...it's about content creation. Customers tell us they need technology to allow departments outside engineering and design to create useful, accurate product deliverables. Our customers' real challenge is to make it possible for end-users to achieve this in a compatible, secure way. (Naturally, we think Seemage matches this customer need perfectly.)

So, it never ceases to amaze me when I read a review of a product whose entire purpose...its complete market aspiration...its raison d'être is simple file conversion and file transport. We shake our heads at the level of effort being applied to solve yesterday's problems and wonder why the CAD press continues to make solved problems seem more important than they really are.

Case in point is this review of Acrobat 3D. I'm not trying to pick on this reviewer, but you can read the entire review without learning how to do anything beyond file conversion. Sure, there's some general information about "collaboration," but that's just a part of the real objective and pretty soft as an application area.

It's as if we were building a bus transportation system, but all we think about is whether or not the tires are interchangeable on the different models of buses. Instead, we should think about whether or not all the routes serve the region well, or, better, how to maintain the buses.

At Seemage, we think it's time for the industry to start thinking more broadly about what technology today has to deliver to truly create a revolution in the way products are manufactured. Otherwise, we'll just continue to miss the bus.

Today, we have a real treat for you. For the first time ever, we have audio on our podcast. Jonathan Riondet shows us how you can mix and match saved views in Seemage to quickly view and analyze many different combinations. It only takes a minute and nine seconds to show this -- a good example of how powerful and easy to use Seemage is.

And, if you look closely at the title bar, you'll notice that what we are showing is in fact a sneak preview of a new release of Seemage. (Check back on the blog next week -- hint hint -- for more info about that.)

My thanks to Jonathan for recording this week's episode and we hope you enjoy it.

 

 Seemage your iPod #31: ProductGrabber [1:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (930)

When we talk about "product information everyware," we mean that 3D models should be more widely leveraged inside manufacturing companies to ensure better service, support, education and marketing. After all, there's hardly anything anymore than isn't designed in 3D, so companies have their core assets in 3D models. Freeing those from the narrow uses they've been limited to so far is our mission.

Like all visionaries, you could sometimes accuse us of getting somewhat carried away by that vision (though we'd never admit it (-: ).

But now, I've run across something that makes us seem like cold-sober Swiss bankers.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon are envisioning synthetic reality. This reality is actually created by 3D models, and sounds (to my untrained ear) like a new kind of physics. From 3D faxes (!!) to the video linked below, in which people re-shape a model of a car, the world of catoms and pario gives those of us who are interested in CAD and PLM a new way to think about what 3D modeling can really achieve.

Consider the vision implicit in the following quote. It would re-make the world into a 3D-model-based world.

The power and flexibility that will arise from being able to "program" the world around us should influence every aspect of the human experience. In our project we focus in on one particular aspect of the human experience, how we communicate and interact with each other.

Lots of people might think this will never happen. They're the same folks who though 3D would never replace 2D. I think something like this is almost inevitable...and that Seemage is actually the vanguard of this kind of revamped reality.