A collection of notes, ideas, and pictures
Article published on November 30, 2009 on NOVEDGE blog. Italy is a country famous for several reasons. Among them: artistic and historical monuments, great food, fashion, music, and sports cars. Software and technology are seldom added to the list. So when you happen to meet the CEO of a successful Italian software company, the first... Continue Reading →
Rhino is a very flexible application and is gradually penetrating different professional areas, from industrial design to architecture, and jewelry design. Each specific domain can significantly benefit from Rhino's features but requires specific commands and libraries that are usually not provided by Robert McNeel and Associates. What McNeel delivers is a powerful software platform on top of... Continue Reading →
There is a CAD company that has been around for many years that makes a fully integrated CAD/CAM system offering a powerful combination of solid modeling and surface modeling few others can match, with a devoted following of loyal customers. Yet only a few users of CAD will mention this company's product in the list... Continue Reading →
Something must be right for jewelry design in Spain. Not only are several jewelry designers active in Spain, but Spain is also the source of some of the best and most popular software tools for jewelry design. Among those tools, RhinoGold stands out as a reference point, setting standards both for features and customer support. The manufacturer of RhinoGold is TDM... Continue Reading →
Data translation is a critical technology and can be the source of many frustrations. As with many other essential technologies, the better it works, the less visible it becomes. When we move a file from an external CAD system to our favorite design system, we are asking a sophisticated algorithm to extract geometric data from... Continue Reading →
The AutoCAD users' community stands on a few pillars, one of which is the "AutoCAD Bible," published by Wiley and refreshed every year following the new version of the AutoDesk product. The author of this famous and popular book is Ellen Finkelstein, an AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT expert who also publishes a weekly viral newsletter. Ellen is a prolific... Continue Reading →
The recent decision by Alibre to drop the price of their entry-level product Alibre Design Standard (from $999 to only $99) generated a wave of reaction throughout the CAD world (see the blog posts by Deelip Menezes, Roopinder Tara, Matt Lombard, and Ralph Grabowski). The decision caught everyone by surprise. Even at a time when the recession is pushing most CAD manufacturers to substantially lower the price... Continue Reading →
Not all CAD companies play in the same arena. While most CAD companies stay busy talking to the press, explaining strategies to financial analysts, and placing expensive ads in magazines nobody reads anymore, some CAD companies invest their time and money in talking to customers. These companies are less likely to be on a stage... Continue Reading →
Lorenzo Puleo is one of the many creative people who fell in love with Mac. However, Lorenzo didn't stop at the user level as most Mac fans do; he went on to conceive a new product and created a company around it. That company shares the name of its primary product and is called Kinemac... Continue Reading →
Articole published on June 9, 2009 on the NOVEDGE blog. One of my recurring complaints about surface modeling is the intrinsic complexity of existing modeling systems. Even if the level of user-friendliness of these systems has improved, sooner or later, every user needs to invest some time to understand how the underlying geometry works and... Continue Reading →
Lynn Allen is one the most popular bloggers in the CAD world (Lynn blog, Lynn on Pulse). She is also a sort of ambassador for AutoCAD, promoting this CAD system in every context. In a world of stodgy CAD executives and unexciting CAD geeks, she brings a sparkling touch, feminine charm, and a solid technical knowledge. Lynn... Continue Reading →
Direct-modeling is the new trend in CAD. No doubt about it! Some call it Synchronous Technology, some Interactive Solid Modeling, and some direct-editing. All of these approaches differ, but all are trying to overcome the limitations of existing parametric systems. If we were to identify one original source that started this trend, we would certainly have to recognize that SpaceClaim was... Continue Reading →
Siemens NX, with various names and affiliations, has been around for several years. Nobody would really expect a well establish CAD system to become the lead innovator of a new technology. Usually those kinds of CAD systems invest in maintaining their user base rather than trying to acquire new users and push technological limits. For these... Continue Reading →
When Solidworks was first released in 1995 it changed forever the way design and manufacturing companies approach CAD software. Compared to the contemporary 3D modeling systems, Solidworks had a significantly lower price and was much easier to learn and use, with almost no compromise on features. This was a clear call for a new generation of PDM... Continue Reading →
The relatively short story of CAD visualization is paved with big ambitions and small results. No company has been able to escape this spell. Looking at the target market the opportunities for a CAD visualization system seem huge, with potential users by the millions including entire departments outside the design and manufacturing areas. Here's the... Continue Reading →
Current CAD systems are all based on only a few core geometric engines. Among those software engines, the ones that integrate solid modeling with free-form surfaces can be counted on one hand. One of those few engines is made by Think3, an Italian company that has been trying for several years to enter the US market... Continue Reading →
It's part of my daily job to stay in touch with new technologies and systems by reading CAD news and playing with trial versions. Over the years I've become immunized to most of the CAD marketing buzz. Despite the grand announcements, the CAD world evolves at a slow pace with few real advancements each year.... Continue Reading →
Evan C. Yares is a well-known figure in the CAD world. He has the drive and vision to put himself in the right spot in order to maximize his influence on the CAD community and its products. He has opinions and is not afraid to share them, even when this means taking the risk of making... Continue Reading →
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CYS9WMI?ie=UTF8&tag=ffbooks-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=B00CYS9WMI Ron KC Cheng is the author of a new book Inside Rhinoceros 4 published by Thomas Learning, an introduction to the latest release of Rhino, the popular NURBS modeling system by Robert McNeel and Associates. This is not the first book about Rhino written by Ron; he is also the author of Inside Rhinoceros 3, a sort of classic for... Continue Reading →
George Cawood is the founder and owner of Framework Studio, a design and production company located in Culver City, CA. George's company produces trailers, main title sequences, and visual effects for a variety of feature films, television shows, music videos, and commercials. FrameWork Studio is an advanced user of Maxon Cinema 4D and therefore the best candidate... Continue Reading →
Franco Folini Blog 