The article was published in March 2007 on the Novedge blog during a critical transition period for CAD graphics frameworks. Today, Tech Soft 3D’s HOOPS technology powers a massive share of the engineering software market, having evolved from desktop frameworks into cloud, web (WebGL/WebGPU), and mobile applications. Read on for a look at the foundational strategies that shaped the industry.
The impressive list of TechSoft3D customers includes Alibre, Autodesk, Bentley, Fluent, IronCAD, and MSC.Software, PTC, SolidWorks, and TransMagic.
Franco Folini
Ron Fritz is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Tech Soft 3D, the company that makes the famous HOOPS3D, a graphics toolkit used by several design applications. The impressive list of TechSoft3D customers includes Alibre, Autodesk, Bentley, Fluent, IronCAD, MSC.Software, PTC, SolidWorks, and TransMagic.
After a long period of apparent immobility, the announcement of new products, such as Acrobat 3D 8, AfterCAD, and SpaceClaim, has sparked excitement in the design software world. It’s the right moment to look at new trends in the evolution of design tools. Ron Fritz has the background and experience to help us in this. I invited Ron to participate in the following interview.
The interview with Ron Fritz
Hi, Ron! Can you tell us a bit about yourself, Tech Soft 3D, and HOOPS3D?
In 1996, four of us formed Tech Soft to spin HOOPS out of Autodesk and provide it as a core graphics technology to engineering software firms. Since then, the company has consistently grown our revenue and profits, significantly advanced the HOOPS technology, and added several complementary components.
I think we have three real strengths. The first is our outstanding R&D team. As a component provider, we need to be R&D centric, and 18 of our 24 team members are part of the software group. I also think we have a world-class sales/support channel for component technology that is continuing to grow. The third strength is what we think is an impressive list of satisfied ISV’s. We’re always particularly proud of the many successful applications on the market that rely on our team and technology.
What are the benefits, from the end-user point of view, in using a software system powered by HOOPS 3D?
To be frank, I doubt that customers care that’s HOOPS under the hood. End users rarely, if ever, care about how the software company delivers a quality product at a good price; they just care that they DO!
With that said, I’d say that an end user sees 3 benefits when working with a HOOPS-based application.
- First, end users benefit in terms of performance and functionality – We’re of course a bit biased, but we think that an application built with HOOPS will deliver higher performance and more advanced graphics functionality than most applications using an internally developed graphics engine.
- Second is hardware flexibility & stability – To explain briefly, HOOPS supports both OpenGL and Direct3D, and we thoroughly test on some 80+ video cards. The result for an end user is that they can simply select the best graphics approach for their particular PC, and HOOPS will drive that particular card optimally and in a stable manner.
- Third, the use of HOOPS, or any component, really, helps keep R&D costs down, which helps keep software costs down.
Again, I don’t think customers notice HOOPS per se, but if we’re doing our job right, these are 3 of the benefits they ultimately see.
TS3D HOOPS is now fully compatible with the Microsoft Vista graphics system. What’s your opinion on OpenGL vs. Direct3D frameworks?
I think some of the early reports about CAD software problems on Vista are really a result of the natural lag in technology compatibility and not an accurate view of the Vista platform. We can really only speak to the graphics portion of that question, rather than memory usage, system resource allocation, etc., but our opinion is that the performance issues being reported are almost entirely related to the fact that the vast majority of design applications use OpenGL for graphics acceleration.
Today, the OpenGL drivers on Vista-ready graphics cards are still quite immature. While OpenGL will be well served on Vista as these issues settle out, it also appears clear that Direct3D is the future for Vista and beyond. Our early tests indicate that using Direct3D, which is 100% shader-based, will provide significant performance benefits, so we will see design software migrating to drive Direct3D over time while still supporting OpenGL for their customers using Windows XP.
As developers migrate to driving Direct3D in a shader-based mode, they will be more than happy with Vista’s graphics capabilities.
The OpenGL drivers on Vista-ready graphics cards are still quite immature.
Ron Fritz
Innovation in the CAD world seems to happen at a very slow pace. In your opinion, what holds up the process?
From our perspective, we see two main factors that slow the pace of innovation.
- The first is legacy data. Design systems, in particular, need to be compatible with data from older systems, so changes that affect the data model must be carefully considered. Iterative changes are easy to accomplish, but major breaks are quite hard to pull off without causing significant pain for end users.
- The second is management being overly cautious. We find that the companies that are best at innovating are the ones that put more power in their developers’ hands. In general, companies that are led by people who either have a technology background or who have a strong respect for the role technology and technologists play in their company.
Thankfully, I think this second point is improving pretty dramatically. I like what we’re seeing with this trend toward “labs” where companies can try new things, get them in the hands of end users, and see where it leads. This reduces the risk, overhead, and infrastructure required to launch a new product initiative, enabling much faster iteration and idea flow.
Companies that are best at innovating are the ones that put more power in the hands of developers.
Ron Fritz
As a supplier for virtually all CAD companies, you are in a privileged vantage point to spot new trends in design software. What will the future of design software look like?
We are seeing a few things. The first is ease-of-use. Everyone recognizes that the old design paradigm is too difficult, so this is no great insight. Not only are new firms offering this as their primary benefit, but the more established design software vendors are also investing heavily to make their software easier to use.
Because we’re mainly entrenched with companies’ graphics development, that is something we can readily comment on. There is a clear move among the bigger players to differentiate their software through the visual quality of their applications. It’s pretty remarkable how realistic a model and scene can look now, even in real time, thanks to shaders and the new generation of hardware. The large companies have invested pretty aggressively in this area, and as that visually rich display becomes the “industry standard” in engineering, the smaller vendors will no doubt need to follow suit to meet end-user expectations.
Tech Soft 3D provides a powerful File Formats SDK. More and more software companies are embedding data translators into their products. Are file formats becoming irrelevant?
I think it’s fair to say that because of the proliferation of robust translation software, end users don’t face the same brick walls of incompatibility that they once did. Either embedded in their application or purchasable as add-ons, users can get around this issue. However, these add-ons can often be pretty expensive, and everyone recognizes that no translation approach converts 100% of the needed data 100% of the time. It’s still a vital concern for end users, and though it’s easier now than it once was, the issue of file formats is still far from irrelevant.
TS3D offers a very impressive array of core components for design software developers. In what directions are you considering expanding your components product line?
Right now, we’re pretty happy with our product line, so we have no specific plans to expand our suite of components. The history of HOOPS is as a powerful graphics subsystem, but we have always said that our mission is to help engineering software firms get better products to market faster and cheaper. As a result, if there is a technology area that could help software developers achieve that goal, we endeavor to offer an appropriate solution. At the same time, the quality of our support and consulting is very important to our customers and to us. That requires us to have Consulting Engineers who can properly assist our customers in using our components. As a result, we want to proceed slowly in adding new products to ensure we can provide the kind of support and consulting our customers have come to expect. ISVs can look for more solutions from TS3D in the future, but we have nothing on the immediate horizon.
I would like to thank Ron Fritz for taking the time to speak with me.
2026 Update
The Evolution of Tech Soft 3D
Tech Soft 3D has undergone a massive evolution since this interview in 2008. What started primarily as a developer-focused toolkit provider for desktop CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software has transformed into a global, multi-platform powerhouse driving web, mobile, and AI-powered digital engineering.
The major milestones shaping the company’s trajectory up to today are outlined below:
- 2010s: The Mobile & Cloud Pivot
As the industry shifted away from pure desktop computing, Tech Soft 3D introduced toolkits like HOOPS Communicator and HOOPS Visualize for Mobile. This enabled engineering software developers to build high-performance 3D graphics directly into browsers and mobile devices without having to code from scratch. - 2020: Private Equity Backing
The company secured a major investment from Battery Ventures. This influx of capital fueled a shift from organic growth to an aggressive expansion and acquisition strategy. - 2023–2025: Enterprise Expansion
Tech Soft 3D acquired key players like Theorem Solutions and Actify SpinFire. These moves expanded their market footprint, taking them beyond raw developer SDKs (Software Development Kits) into end-user enterprise solutions for CAD data translation and visualization. - 2025–2026: Product Consolidation & AI
The company streamlined its entire product portfolio under four distinct functional pillars (Data, Graphics, Simulation, and 3D Modeling). They also joined the OpenUSD Alliance and launched HOOPS AI, integrating machine learning frameworks into 3D engineering workflows.
Ron Fritz: The Leadership Shift
For nearly three decades, co-founder Ron Fritz was the operational heart and face of Tech Soft 3D, serving as its Chief Executive Officer from 1996 through most of 2025. He steered the company through its foundational years, the 2008 recession, and the massive technological transition to the cloud.
However, a major leadership transition occurred in November 2025:
- Stepping Down as CEO: Ron Fritz officially handed over day-to-day operations and CEO duties to Robbie Payne, an experienced tech executive brought in to scale the company’s SaaS and industrial technology sectors.
- Transition to Executive Chairman: Ron shifted into the role of Executive Board Chairman.
Instead of managing daily corporate logistics, he is currently focused strictly on the big picture. He spends his time guiding high-level strategic direction, maintaining deep, long-standing relationships across the CAD industry, and spearheading the company’s ongoing corporate growth and acquisition strategies.
To get a closer look at how the company’s underlying components operate in modern workflows, you can check out this Digital Product Series: Tech Soft 3D Podcast. This video provides a detailed discussion on how Tech Soft 3D’s foundational tools reduce data friction and power major engineering platforms today.
