By Randall S. Newton
Editor-in-Chief
This week start-up software developer SpaceClaim Corporation announced their first product, a revolutionary CAD tool called SpaceClaim Professional 2007. I reviewed SpaceClaim in depth for CADCAMNet, since the target market is manufacturing. But any innovation in CAD is worth mentioning in an AEC journal; most innovation in CAD starts in MCAD and finds its way to AEC. And SpaceClaim certainly is innovative.
The target market is the downstream users of 3D CAD data, not the originators. The company estimates that 80% of the people in product development who need to use CAD do not currently use any of the leading mechanical CAD programs. As the company stated in its press release, “Recognizing that the benefits of 3D mechanical design remain out of reach for most who contribute directly to product development, SpaceClaim Corp. makes 3D modeling accessible through a highly flexible design environment coupled with a modern user experience. Through a select number of intelligent tools, SpaceClaim frees users to focus on their design contributions rather than struggling with how to use 3D software.”
Since writing about SpaceClaim earlier this week for CADCAMNet, I have been thinking more about the product and its role in design environments. I also wrote this week for CADCAMNet about the next release of Acrobat 3D. There isn’t much new for AEC in the next release of Acrobat 3D, but it becomes a much stronger product for manufacturing applications. At some point, the two products were juggling through my brain at the same time when it dawned on me: SpaceClaim shoud be Adobe Design Editor.
I have three reasons why Adobe should immediately acquire SpaceClaim:
(1) It would be a natural extension of Adobe’s creative tools product line, giving them a 3D tool to compare with 2D Illustrator and Photoshop;
(2) It would give the product instant credibility (not that it needs it), advancing the use of 3D generally;
(3) It would make a perfect bundle with Acrobat 3D Version 8. Both seek to provide universal access to manufacturing design data for the 80% of product development professionals who don’t use CAD.
A simple bundle won’t work. SpaceClaim is going out the door “selling” the product with a three-year or one-year lease (an approach I criticized in my CADCAMNet article). Adobe would never bundle its shrink-wrap Acrobat 3D with a leased product.
The new version of Acrobat 3D can import 3D models from all major MCAD products, and export in a variety of neutral formats readable by all MCAD programs. It makes perfect sense that someone who needs to receive models in a 3D PDF but who doesn’t already use CAD would turn to SpaceClaim to edit the geometry.
Start working those spreadsheets, fellas, I expect you to announce the acquisition at COFES.
What follows is a summary of SpaceClaim Professional 2007 features, only lightly edited from the company press release to remove the most ardent claims.
SpaceClaim Professional 2007 key features and benefits include:
Technology
• Flexible Modeling technology provides a highly-adaptive design environment that supports unanticipated design directions, making SpaceClaim suitable for conceptual engineering, design creation, and modification.
• Geometric Inferencing works unobtrusively and in real time to highlight design similarities, such as equal radius holes or coplanar surfaces, to aid the user during geometry creation and modification.
• Integrated Workspace for parts and assemblies supports top-down design by enabling users to split and merge components and to alter assembly structure as needed.
• Open XML data format makes all design data accessible for product data and lifecycle management, ensuring long-term protection of customer data.
User Interface Advancements
• SmartTools understand the user’s modeling intent simply by recognizing what geometry is selected and in what context. By determining what operation to perform without excessive drop-down menus, dialog boxes, and user clicks, SpaceClaim improves users’ productivity.
• Hints, a unique user interface advancement that automatically presents design considerations, such as maintaining same size holes or wall thickness, in the form of localized “snaps”. Hints eliminate the need for the user to enter specific dimensions or interrogate the model before changing or adding geometry.
• Power Select enables users to search the model for like geometry and to select as a group from the resulting list in order to modify, move, or delete all at once. Given the frequency with which users perform select operations, this streamlined selection process greatly improves personal productivity and overall design efficiency.
• Modern GUI based on the latest Microsoft technology enables users to focus on working with the design, rather than on working with the software.
Main Tools• Sketch environment lets users sketch to exact dimensions or create a rough layout for future modification. Sketching entities include lines, arcs, and splines. Sketching tools include trim, offset, and project to sketch. Sketches remain free of constraints, which makes the resulting 3D geometry completely flexible.
• Pull Tool creates and modifies geometry with a simple action. Users can pull a surface to create an extrusion, pocket, or hole. Users can also pull a surface to rotate it around an axis or to create a blend by pulling the surface through different sections. Pulling a profile along a path creates a sweep, and pulling an edge creates a round or chamfer.
• Move Tool speeds the process of moving or copying geometry in a design by providing a 3D handle to reference how geometry should be located along a specified direction or rotated about an anchor point. SpaceClaim also supports familiar Microsoft Cut and Paste commands to move and copy geometry.
• Section Tool provides a way to modify a 3D model by directly changing section geometry located anywhere within the design. This intuitive operation is familiar to those used to working in 2D.
• Associative Drawing environment enables design changes, as well as geometry creation and modification, from within drawing views. The drawing environment provides a familiar work space for those accustomed to working in 2D. Drawings support annotations, including geometric dimensioning and tolerances, to JIS, ISO, and ANSI standards.
Mark-up and Data Exchange Capabilities
• 3D Mark-up documents design changes using mark-up dimensions that automatically indicate both previous and current dimensional values.
• Compare function overlays the original model on the changed model and automatically displays all differences in color-coded highlights.
• Industry Standard Output of 3D mark-ups is available in MS PowerPoint and XPS [the new display-and-print technology in Windows Vista].
• Data Import: CATIA V5 and V4, NX, Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks, Inventor, ACIS, Parasolid, IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF, and VDA.
• Data Export: CATIA V5 and V4, ACIS, Parasolid, IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF, and VDA.
Availability
SpaceClaim Professional 2007 will be released on March 30, 2007 and will be available for license at a price of $125 per month, per user, based on a 3-year term. A 1-year term is also available, and both terms include full support and updates. The SpaceClaim product line includes: SpaceClaim Professional 2007 with complimentary Home Edition, and a free SpaceClaim Viewer. In addition, SpaceClaim offers a Data Exchange product for translators beyond the industry standards and a product that supports CATIA V5 data exchange. SpaceClaim also offers a library of standard parts. For more information regarding sales and support, visit
www.spaceclaim.com.
About SpaceClaim Corp.
SpaceClaim is a privately held company targeting the mechanical design market. Founded in September 2005, SpaceClaim is backed by Kodiak Venture Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.