There are several  3D CAD software packages available for designers today. Among them we can find mainly 3 kinds of 3D software, each one of which excels in a different way: Nurbs modelers whelp create amazing surface models and are widely used to create fast complex surfaces,  Polygon-based modelers due to it’s shape morphing modeling process generate models that are perfect for film animations. Parametric modelers which excel in the technical realm due to it’s mathematical way of describing shape thus producing very exact geometries required in industrial processes. The most advanced open source modeler today is Blender, a polygon-based modeller, that unfortunately, can not be really used for technical product development.

Screenshot of FreeCAD

FreeCAD is the first an opensource parametric modeler that I have seen with potential to shake things up in the world of  product design. 3D Design software can be super expensive costing up to 20 or 30 thousand dollars for a license. Alibre Design , priced today at 398 Dollars is already a solid alternative to the more expensive packages like Catia, Solid Works or Pro/engineer. An open source alternative like FreeCAD, could, not only mean an immense cost reduction for innovation startups that can’t afford the kind of investment a CAD Package requires, but most importantly, shorten the road into a democratic file standard for the creative industry if widely adopted.

The battle for file standards is old, files created in Solidworks can be imported but not edited in Pro/engineer, Rhino files are not compatible with Catia models if you want to work further on it, and and and. I believe that a great deal of energy and time is lost, when moving between CAD systems, time that could be used to resolve creative problems, play video-game other discuss about life. The further development of an open-source parametric modeler like freeCAD could mean a big step towards a file standard available to all, because of it’s “openness”.

Imagine how companies would benefit from these developments, think of IBM and it’s widely support of the Linux OS, and how it helped reducing the costs of its servers. Anyone wanting to get involve with the developments go to the FreeCAD sourceforge page an contact the developers, I am sure they would love to hear from prospective users and eventual sponsors, letsevo!

Read more about freeCAD at Make and at Solidsmack

This is what you get when you export green thunders in a box from Rhinoceros as a .3dxml file and import into 3DVIA platform.

Navigate through the thunder storm I built by going to the Model`s page.

This next article seems to Letsevo as a great mark in the collaborative design process. Wikitecture, as the folks from the Wikitecture Studio are calling it, is the first attempt I have seen in order to solve a long anticipated challenge of coming up with a programming language to build CAD constructions in a Wiki-like way. Wikitecture, as demonstrated in this youtube video, is a Secondlife scripting based project, to empower people to build Architecture together just like writing and editing Wikipedia entrances.

Check this youtube video to get the picture of what I am talking about.

This is the birth of a whole new ecology system of Industry, software companies and contributors collaborating to build great things!

Are companies going to ignore that we, the people, can help each other build all the products we want when technologies like Wikitecture become more mature?? Are companies going to react like majority of the Academic field reacted against Wikipedia, rejecting the fact that the wisdom of the crowd could in deed create a Encyclopedia from scratch?

I am a true believer that the things are going to change around here. Maybe it is time to start a new Letsevo project together!! A problem so complex that we would need the help of each other to achieve great results. Something around mobility, an collaborative electric moped? Something so modular, everyone could have its own customized electric moped to cruise around the neighborhood. Seems challenging to me, and fun to work on.

Can we get some companies to “Blend-in” their CAD parts for us to design around it? Batteries, Electric Motors, suspension forks, Disc brakes?

Can we get some brothers that share this dream? Marcello, Piers, Jochen, Nico, Christian, Basti, Peter, Gross….all the creative minds out there…Lets Wikit!?

I just had to try to build something in 3dvia Shape to see what it can do. I was also curious to test 3dvia`s uploading process. After downloading their Shape sofware, which didn`t take more than a minute, the program prompted me with a screen to login the system. After typing in my 3dvia username and password I could start playing with the functions of the software…there are not many I have to tell… and 3dvia has some video tutorials about using the software which I didn`t check, accept for the one about applying textures.

I was set up to build a 3D modell of skateboard bmx ramp for all the brothers and sisters who like to go big virtually. I just had to do it!

I started out by drawing the side view line and then extruded them to give some volume. After photoshoping a EVO skateboards logo to one off my wood texture files I was prepared to give this ramp a unique look. Pretty simple and not much of novelty in this. Applying the textures was pretty easy so was scaling and rotating it to match the scale of the Ramp. After being pleased how it looked, I just hit the Publish button and I was taken to their website where I could fill some details about the 3d model I was uploading. You can choose publish your model for everyone or to keep it private which means only you or who you want to show/give can see/download (this is nice if you want to keep it hidden before you have everything build or even if you want to collaborate in top secret style with other people) You can set a creative commons license and tags to make your model easily searchable. The modell is added to your profile page and can be at any given time edited again.

Here is a link to a screenshot of the 3d ramp in 3dvia shape

Everything is still pretty ruff, there isn’t much accuracy in building as a product designer would like.Lets hope Dassaut systemes, responsible for the software bring some functionality to the game. I think it only then it could be an awesome tool for collaboration projects like the ecosk8 project that has been happening at Lets Evo since 2006.

Some questions to start a discussion about the impact of such tools into the design process:

What benefits could it bring to companies?
Are user really motivated to participate?
Will 3dvia Shape develop itself into a tool for designers and engineers and users to communicate in real products?
Are we designers going to get used to interacting so early with users about design decisions?

Only time will tell.

Enjoy the 3D ramp!

A couple of months ago I wrote in a post my humble manifesto to democratization of design, claiming that we “hyperlinked” kids want to influence more and more how products are. I also wrote in another post about the changes that simple free CAD software could bring to the product development process alowing brands to collaborate with its most valuable asset: its users.

Today I am happy to write about 3dVia Shape 3d software and its social network platform which are initiatives of Dassault Systemes, the french firm responsible for the famous Design and engineering software: Solidworks.

Dassaut systemes is aiming to grasp the user-generated design wave by enabling everyone to create 3d Modells and share them in their platform just like you do with your pictures by flickr. So at www.3dvia.com anyone can login and start creating, sharing and rating each others design.

Google started ahead with its Sketchup software and 3dWarehouse but deliver very low-quality graphics and accuracy to build real stuff with it. I found it so bad I didn’t even boder writing about it here in Letsevo. Now 3dvia Shape sofware, seems to have has a lot more graphic power than google`s software. One thing that bodered me is that even dough you can see amazing models made by some users in their gallery, I can seem to imagine that they were build right inside of the program. I may be wrong but by looking at the avaiable tutorials in their website it seems like their software still lack a lot of the building tools most of the product design software have (Sweep along rail, Lofts, fillets….) meaning you cannot build complex shapes right away. Lets hope they increment it right away.

But what really sets 3dvia apart from google is it´s nice social network features where users can build profiles and embed 3d models as widgets in other websites just like youtube. You still need to download a plugin to view it but it is awesome.

Download the player and check the following out:

This guy build a sweet bmx bike!! That could be the user of the future saying: look! BRAND, this is how I want my product, are you going to ignore me? I think this is going to be awesome, this platform can serve as place to exchange files with other designers, engineers and to also show the users what is beeing done and have there comments write on the spot!

Now check this video Dassaut Systemes made:

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtZxE8C6aik

Sweet huhn? Now in my opnion its is going to be a long way for it to be reallity, but I have the feeling they are in the right track.

My two hints for Dassaut Systemes are:

1.Let people import and export geometrical data from other 3d sofwares like .iges, .dwg, .3dm ( don´t try to be like sony and the blue-ray disc!!!) If you let us use your software to read existing data than design companies are going to take this serious. Until then it will be only internet hype not a social revolution.

2.If you want to be really a tool for the product design STARTUP companies in the the collaboration era, think wiki or basecamp for product design: 3d files with construction history and the ability to handle multiple layers. To help my point picture this scenario. I want to build an electric bike and I am only a designer. I have some nice design ideas and I find in the internet a couple companies that procuce batteries, other companies produce motors….other build suspension forks…I call them up and invite them for a project hosted at your site and we all start uploadings components in to one file having the power to collaborate in real time! How cool would that be!? Content Central and e-drawings for the masses?

Give us the tools and we are gonna build stuff you could never imagine of! Yeah.

Another nice story about 3Dvia

After Adobe Acrobat 3D, which makes possible the visualization of complex 3D objects in .PDF format, Adobe is experimenting with the generation and ilumination of 3D objects wright inside of Photoshop.

With the help of Strata 3d(in) Plugins for Photoshop, displayed earlier this month in Photoshop World Conference in Las Vegas, Adobe is hoping to bridge the gap between the complex authoring world of 3D models and its palette of Products.

Plug-In Screenshot of a shoe 3D modell generated from a series of photographs of the real shoe

Functions like the generation of simple 3D modells and the generation of complex 3D modells (with textures!!) from photographs and the return of it as a 3d Layer into photoshop CS3 extended are all possible with this new plug-In suite. Once the modell is in a photoshop 3D layer, it can be rotated, iluminated and even exported as a Acrobat 3D file or a webpage. How sweet is that?

It seams a logical step for a company like Adobe, which has been claiming its key role in the digital creative market but hasn’t done much for us product designers. Strata seams to be a company of its own and I couldn’t find exactly how is the relationship between the two companies. Lets just hope that more and more 3D features come and maybe even a new Abode 3D Application.

If you want to take a look how these pluggins work visit the official Strada webpage and watch the video tutorials. If you have already tried it and want to share your toughts on it or your creations, send Lets Evo a Link, I will be happy to share it here.

Sources:
Adobe Keynote video at Photoshop World 2007 Las Vegas
Strata
CG Blog

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