Kim

Hi Andy? ... I thought quite a bit about CNC capabilities. I think with CAM it's best to leave the setup to the operator, they know the machine and available tooling and just what works best really, give them a good CAM app and magic will happen. We farm all our machining, cutting and folding out to select companies so we send them exported models then they can do the path generation on whatever system works best for their equipment. A lot of the top end apps run on the Parasolud core so transfer really is seamless ... I spent a bit of time playing with CNC lathes and machining-centres and I'll tell you what, pretty much the most impressive thing I've ever saw a lathe do was when we ran a file sent in from outside. Yeah yeah mate it's all good-to-go mate, I ran it several times on the simulator mate, of course if my judgement had been better I would have run it simulation mode first on the lathe but it was lunch and this guy really wanted his part ... Thank christ it was lunch break! I swear that 1200 of ?200 4340 was still going up when it went through the end of the workshop. Actually the really impressive part was the veins in the bosses neck when he came out of his office from that end of the workshop, but that's a whole 'nother story ... Got to agree with you regarding the Fillet/chamfering. Better now we can at least get back into the original geometry but I'm really glad I don't get into mould design! Thinking about the feed-back side, it's probably because they are engineers too, which reminded me of an old joke ... How can you tell an extrovert engineer? ... He looks at YOUR feet ... Kim

I have recently been thinking about this very subject. It would certainly seem like we have become the 'poor cousin' these day's, I guess the money's in Architects not Engineers. Bit rich when we have to pay the same update price though ... For me at this stage changing apps would be a mission, although not an impossibility, it would be not only having to learn a new interface but having to change the core of our manufacturing process. I've been using MiniCad/VW since V2, when a basic understanding of matrix maths was an advantage placing coordinates in 3d space! The manual had a really cool wireframe model of a spacecraft on the cover from what I can remember. That app saved someone a fortune, we were building microwave bridges from drawings provided at the time. In my enthusiasm I modeled it (what can I say, I was young) and found the drawings weren't even close. These things had to fit between 2 existing structures. The design engineer had never even seen 2d CAD was so impressed I spent the next couple of years modeling those things. Anyway, I digress. I have been looking at a few other apps including Inventor and Pro-Engineer. It comes down to this ... The single most important feature of VW for our manufacturing process is the database. All our machines are built from the ground up as 3d models, each component linked to a record format, be that purchased/fabricate/laser/machine etc ... Mining this information drives the rest of the process. Although the interface is rather antiquated used in conjunction with spreadsheets I feel this is the real 'hidden feature' of VW. Even better now it's 2way, using the spreadsheet to control the drawing ... Perhaps they can have a good look at the BIM stuff and see if it can be adapted to something useful to MD? I'm assuming it draws on the built-in database ... With 2010 the modeling capabilities offer pretty much everything I need (as VW always has, at the time). One glaring omission would have to be the lack of a 3d ruler, they could call it caliper tool? I realise an architect would never have the use for a measurement unfortunately for engineers our stuff actually has to fit. And it could be a 'feature' of MD ... The ability to snap and create in ISO views is brilliant, great implementation. It used to be so tedious flipping from one 2d view to the next to draw and place objects. And being able to work 'through' layers has made drawing organisation a breeze. I think as far as modeling goes we are at the very least up with the pack. We certainly seem well behind the curve when it comes to dimensioned drawings I'm afraid. Although I'm always suspicious of claims of 'Automatic drawing creation' the dream would be nice. Having said that, these day's our requirement for dimensioned 2d drawings have dropped significantly since we now pass all our machining/cutting requirements as models. most of our suppliers use Pro-engineer or Inventor or similar to produce CNC data. Most of the dimensioned drawings we do now are for assembly, which brings me to my latest pet want. 3d dimensioning! We spend a LOT of time producing 3d Assembly drawings manually at the moment but it is worth it. So much easier to convey information, the time it saves in having to go over drawings with the 'assembly technicians' alone is worth it. Now if there was a 3d dimensioning tool ... The other tool we have needed for a long time is one which mines the object for data, so when I click on say, a threaded hole, it puts that info (thread size/tapping drill) on the drawing! And if I click the tool on a drilled hole it tells me-!!! This tool should work on all parametric objects as they all contain the relevant data ... sheesh! Having to burrow down through a multitude of addition/subtractions etc to copy a snippet of info soon gets boring ... and when its from a viewport on a sheet layer ... !!! I think there is a very good niche for VW as THE modeling tool for engineering. With AutoCad apparently coming to the Mac the platform will get a whole new legitimacy in engineering and I would think it won't be long before we see some of the other major engineering software titles appearing on the Mac. Don't worry about CNC/CAM or unfolding, leave all that to high end packages, keep and even improve the model transfer abilities. This has become a real breeze with the new Parasolid core I must say. Put some real work into the database/spreadsheet interface and we could see VW as the core of many modern design/manufacture sites While some of the menu 'tools' are cute they need to be more relevant to modern design, come on, who in all honesty has designed a cam in the last 30 years, plc's relegated them to a few very specific applications a long time ago. Perhaps that could be replaced with a 3d auto-run plumbing tool for pneumatic/hydraulic/piping lines? As I mentioned I have had a look at a few packages, if I were to change Pro-Engineer would be my choice. It's very good and has some nice stuff in it however at twice the price of VW, for the entry level, it hasn't quite swayed me at this stage. Inventor looks like a rabbit warren designed with AutoCad to me, lots of very in depth stuff if you stand up and salute 3 times on one foot facing east ... I've written this to hopefully discuss this with others in the same field and get their opinions and views. I would also like to hear how others are using VW MD. As a long time VW user I am interested in seeing VW into the future and I think one of the best ways is for us as the end users to discuss what we do and don't need. I would also like to see comment from some of those involved in the MD package from Nemetscek, a full and frank discussion can only benefit us all. Kim

You can colour the eaves easily. In the class list , edit the class your roof is in. I usually call this something like 'RoofSurface' or whatever, set the colour in the left side of the screen and click the 'use at creation' box. Make sure your roof or roof planes have the texturing set to 'class texture' in the IO palette and you should be away laughing. If you want to change the colour open 'classes' then edit 'RoofSurface' class and change the colour. The surface of the roof still uses the texture you set.