Encore Software is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Shark FX v7. This major product update contains over 140 new features spanning 2D drafting, 3D modeling, interoperability, and photorealistic rendering. Read more about the new features or download a trial version here.
Attributes can be assigned to objects which can be gathered up to make a Bill of Material (BOM) table. In this tip, we show how to add an atribute, make a BOM, and to later change your mind to remove the attribute and update the table.
Encore Software is pleased to announce the next major release of ViaCAD 2D/3D. With over 100+ new features, ViaCAD 2D/3D V7 continues to provide intuitive 2D drafting and 3D modeling tools perfect for all types of design projects. With enhancements such as the Gripper, users can easily explore modifications in 3D by simply grabbing hold of graphical handles and dragging about to explore “what if” scenarios. Users working in 2D will find more tools for drafting and annotating including the addition of the Inspector which provides quick access to explore attribute settings within their design projects.
One of the best ways to get up to speed with ViaCAD is to check out the training videos that are included with the product. For example, ViaCAD includes over 90 minutes of video training free with the product! In this blog entry, we provide a bit of a guide into the videos that are provided. These are excellent videos and well worth the time to review. Check out the example below describing the text and dimension tools available in ViaCAD.
ViaCAD contains a collection of tools to edit parts without a history tree. These tools are invaluable for modifying parts where you:
Check out the video below showing these interesting tools.
Background
Our first implementation of tools to modify faces independent of features was around 1997. We had source code to the Local Operations technology from Geometric Software Solutions (GSSL). At the time this was a third party component technology on top of ACIS to perform shelling and draft operations. Later the technology was acquired by Spatial and tightly integrated into the ACIS kernel. When you hear feature free modeling hype from CAD vendors typically the underlying workhorse is “Local Operations”. If you are a software geek, click here for the Spatial docs on Local Operations. Interestingly, Local Operations is also the component name within the Parasolid kernel.
Blending is one of those features where you gotta love using CAD.
When a complicated blend comes back successfully, it’s one of those “oh yeah” moments. We made a video demoing some of ViaCAD/Shark’s blending capability using a part that had stumped Rhino users. Click on the movie below which has several of those moments.
But… there are times when it does not work and you get frustrated. A frequent situation is that where the radius is too large for the given geometry. Another common issue is when the edges and nearby faces are nearly tangent (greater than 2 degrees less than 5). Below is a video by Nick Johnson of CADSoft Solutions Limited that demonstrates how to repair a body to blend that has the “nearly tangent” issue.
I had an interesting question from a customer last week. The customer designs putting greens using 12×12 interlocking tiles. They wanted to know if ViaCAD could tabulate the full or partial areas of tiles trimmed to a outline.
Below is a movie showing how you could use ViaCAD Pro to accomplish the task. The primary tools used in the demo include:
–Split Surface to Curve
–Area attributes with Bill of Materials
Below is an excellent three part tutorial on how to use an image as a starting point to create a 3D model.
In this example, Nick Johnson of CADSoft Solutions Limited in the UK uses a jpeg as the basis to recreate the 3D frame of a mountain bike.
The movies are high definition so feel free to enlarge when you play.
I was first introduced to ACIS in 1992 by Bruce Morgan of Spatial. 
For those of you unfamiliar with ACIS, this is the underlying modeling kernel in ViaCAD and Shark. At that time I was responsible for Lockheed’s internal CAD development group. Bruce came in with his ACIS sales hat on with the mission to get Lockheed to incorporate ACIS components into our CAD tools.
What he set into motion though was something quite different!
Do you keep forgetting where the thicken surface to solid tool is located? The reference card which comes with all our ViaCAD & Shark products may be the thing you’re looking for. We recently updated the Shark FX card for V7. This reference card is a handy reminder for keyboard short cuts, mouse functions, viewing commands, as well as tool palette locations for tools. Click on the image below to download the Shark FX V7 reference card in PDF format.
