NOVEDGE blog

Is the New Acrobat 3D headed for Failure or Success?

I like "CAD Data Visualization," another may prefer DDC (Digital Design Communication), someone else might like the ambitious acronym PDC (Product Design Collaboration), but whatever name you choose, this kind of software program has been around for many years. The central idea is to provide affordable ways to visualize the content of a CAD file for those who don't own the original expensive CAD system. Over time these tools evolved from view-only to view-share-and-communicate.

In January 2006 Adobe released the first version of Acrobat 3D joining the group of software manufacturers offering CAD visualization solutions. Acrobat 3D 1.0 is a special version of Adobe's popular PDF product. Despite suffering from the typical problems of every first release, it indicated Adobe's ambitions for the CAD world. Now, one year later, Adobe is getting ready to lunch a new and improved version of Acrobat 3D. Most of the features in the new release are based on the technology Adobe acquired with TTF (Trade & Technologies France), a French software company specializing in CAD interoperability. For a detailed list of feature improvements for the new version you can check the Adobe pages.

when a company adds a new feature it can't dictate to users when to use it or not

Last Friday Adobe invited me and other bloggers such as Deelip Menezes to an online preview of the new Acrobat 3D version 8. I would like to share my opinion on this new product and the Adobe strategy for the 3D world.

Data Visualization or Data Translation?

While the first version of Acrobat 3D was a visualization-only solution, the new release will offer the option to export a 3D model from PDF to IGES and STEP file formats. According to Adobe, this feature is not intended for a CAD-to-CAD data translation and, according to them, PDF should be used only to move geometry from a CAD system to a post-CAD system, such as CAM, rendering, animation, etc. While theoretically this is not a bad idea, I expect users will ignore Adobe recommendations. When a company adds a new feature to its products, it can't dictate to users when to use it or not. Pretty soon Acrobat users will start to use PDF to move geometric information among CAD systems, and Adobe will find itself pulled into the data translation area. Without a very strong technical background in that field, this is not a nice position to be in!

To PDF or not to PDF?

Over the years PDF has earned a great reputation as a multi-platform, reliable, mostly version-insensitive, compact, and standard format. Leveraging this huge popularity, Adobe has gradually transformed PDF into a sort of container where you can put almost everything: text, images, sound, forms, videos, and 3D models. This seems like a great idea to expand the PDF market, but it can easily backfire and undermine the reputation of PDF.
Let's look for example at the problems that can arise from storing a CAD model in a PDF file. 3D models are not as simple as text or pictures. In fact, in just one release PDF internal representation moved from one to 4 different 3D file formats: (1) the internal tessellated representation, (2) U3D specification 1, (3) U3D specification 2, (4) PRC (the TTF file format). It's a slippery slide: if this proliferation of formats continue, in the near future receiving a PDF would not guarantee simple and easy access at information contained inside the file. If this happen, users will have to learn that what they know about PDF documents doesn't apply to PDF 3D models.

Do you want Geometry or Tessellation?

When you create a 3D PDF this is the critical question asked by the Adobe software.  A tessellation-only PDF is a safe way to share design information and to protect your intellectual property. It's like sharing a picture of your 3D model. On the other hand, when the 3D PDF also includes the geometry, sharing the PDF is equivalent to sharing the original model. Anybody can extract from the PDF file a STEP or IGES copy of the original geometry. As you can imagine, the consequences of this simple decision -- tessellation or geometry -- are enormous. The problem is: does the average user know what a tessellation is?  Does he know all the implications of this choice?  Based on what I've seen, Acrobat 3D user interface is not doing a good job in helping users to understand the meaning of "tessellation" and "geometry" and to appreciate the consequences of the two options.

What is in a PDF?

Because of the structural ambiguity between tessellation and geometry, when you receive, send, or archive a PDF you don't really know what's inside. When we store a PDF file on our hard disk, are we archiving valuable geometric information or just a bunch of small triangles (tessellation) good only to create nice images on our screen? The only way to tell the difference is to open the file and see if the "Export" option is enabled or not. This ambiguity can easily become a CAD manager nightmare!

Do we really need another 3D file format?

When you generate a 3D PDF selecting the option "include-geometry" Acrobat 3D converts your original CAD file to PRC file format and embeds the PRC representation in the PDF file. If you share or exchange geometric information using PDF, you are just using a PRC file nicely wrapped within the familiar PDF file format -- it is still a PRC file. Adobe chose PRC because it's the TTF file format that they own, not for any specific technical reason. Why didn't they embed a fully standard STEP file instead of a PRC? I'm sure the Adobe marketing has a good explanation, but from the end-user point of view, now we have one more 3D file format to deal with. And nobody needs it!

Acrobat Reader Nightmare.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is essential to the Acrobat 3D success. For most of the users Acrobat Reader is just a way to open PDF files they receive by e-mail or download from the Internet. Over the years Acrobat Reader has become a huge, slow, and unstable piece of software. If we don't hear many complaints from end-users it's because this is a viewing-only tool. When it crashes (not a rare event on my computer) the user doesn't lose any data. He/she can restart the program, reopen the PDF document and everything is OK. If Adobe couldn't manage to develop a reliable Acrobat Reader when PDF contains only text and pictures, what will happen when PDF comes with 3D models, in one of the 4 different formats?

After listing all the limitations of Acrobat 3D and Adobe strategy, let me explain why I believe Adobe has a chance to succeed with Acrobat 3D.

Adobe Acrobat 3D is here to stay.

The acquisition of TTF and the investments in the new version of Acrobat 3D are the proof of Adobe's commitment to design data communication. I believe there is a huge opportunity in this market. So far I haven't seen any company with the strategy, resources, and determination to develop and conquer this market. Adobe is a good candidate that I'll be watching.

Acrobat doesn't have competition.

Today Acrobat 3D still a young product. Over time it can grow into a mature, full-featured product. Adobe is looking at a huge opportunity -- even more so because there is no real competitor to challenge Acrobat 3D. Currently, the CAD Data Visualization is a market only partially exploited, controlled by a handful of single-brand solutions and a few small companies. The single brand solutions, like Autodesk DWF and e-drawings, are by definition limited to the products of just one single software manufacturer; they don't have any appeal for other software systems users. The other competitors are mostly small companies. Some of them are offering excellent products but they don't have the strategies or the resources to develop and occupy this huge potential market.

Adobe is like Switzerland.

A CAD data communication solution can be successfully promoted only by a company that doesn't own, and is not related to any of the major CAD systems. This is one of the reasons for the failure of the Autodesk DWF file format. After some adjustments to Acrobat 3D (that will presumably require a couple of releases) Adobe will be in a perfect position to propose itself as a neutral and reliable partner to manage the design communications of all major manufacturers, regardless of which CAD system each company uses or will use in the future.

These are just my opinions, but I would like to hear yours too. Please feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts with me and all the readers of this blog.

Franco Folini

Do's and Don'ts for Selling CAD CAM Software in the US

In the last few years several companies from around the world have entered the market in the development and commercialization of CAD, CAM, and graphic software. Some are from countries that have a long tradition of software production, such as France with Dassault. Others, from countries such as India -- with a background in outsourcing software services, are now developing and selling their own products. The list of countries selling software in the US grows every day. From a mere glance at the Novedge catalog, I see companies from France, Russia, Italy, India, China, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, and Sweden.

Some companies have difficulties approaching the US market from abroad. In many cases they don't have the experience to approach a global market and to interact with as large and mature a market as the US.

Based on my experience with Novedge, I made a list of the top 10 things non-US companies should do to have a better chance to succeed in the US market.

1. Think big! The US market includes more than 300 million people. They all speak one single language and they all share the same culture. It's a very big opportunity for your business.
2. Spread the word! Again, this is a huge country. In order to reach your potential customers you will have to invest in marketing, wisely but heavily. Let people know that you are here and you have a product for them. The rule is simple: no marketing, no business.
3. Speak English! Before approaching the American market, be sure you have a fantastic English version of your website, and professionally written English documentation for all of your products. Double check that the English throughout your product is perfect. Also have your sales people and technical people prepared to speak English well and to work according to the US time zones.
4. Keep it simple! Americans are used to simple and fast purchasing processes. This is the country where you can go to a car dealer and leave in 15 minutes driving your brand new car! Americans expect the same level of service from you and your resellers. Because of the Internet, expectations for software products are even higher than for a car. Forget USB keys, computer-IDs and activation codes exchanged by e-mail. Always go for a simple software activation, avoiding complex procedures. Don't invest in excessive piracy protection. Americans are mostly honest people and they like to be respected as such.
5. Adapt to the local culture! Always remember that you are coming here to sell, not to teach your country's ways or impress people with your local culture. When selling in the US, try to think and act like an American. Even if you believe you have a better practice, never question the American way. Blend in with the way Americans do business, and focus on excelling at what Americans believe is important.
6. Be local! Prospects, customers, and resellers will expect you to have a US toll free number, and a US e-mail address. You can keep your local domain for your local business, but get a .com domain for the US. Be ready!
7. Be fast! Don't even think about shipping your products from your country! If you want to sell in the US, you must ship from a US location. Immediately send tracking numbers to your customer or reseller. Shipping from the US will give you the opportunity to offer overnight shipping, a magic word that Americans love, along with a tracking numbers.
8. Always be nice! Americans are always very polite and nice. This is the country where the lady at the cash register always ask "How are you?" and the only possible answer is "Great!". Prepare your people to be courteous all the time: when they answer the phone, when they write e-mails, and when they send a fax. Believe me, this is really important.
9. Accept Credit Cards! Be prepared to accept payments by all major credit cards. Never complain about credit card fees with your customers and resellers. Credit cards are an essential tool for US businesses, whether you like them or not.
10. Follow up, follow up, and follow up again! In order to succeed always follow-up with everyone you do business with and keep each communication short and simple. Americans are used to receiving follow ups as reminders, and expect them. Without follow ups, very little happens.

Franco Folini

P.S. This post is based on a short article I posted on the blog of BAIA (Business Association Italy Ameirca) on November 20, 2006.

How to Add OpenSearch to your Website or Blog

The latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer and FireFox offer a powerful new feature: they allow you to run a search directly from the browser without having to open a Google or Yahoo page. This is handy and convenient, and can save us a few clicks for every search we run (several per day, in my case).

The new feature is based on an open standard called OpenSearch. It's based on a simple yet effective idea:

1. A website owner adds a little XML file to his/her website and a simple tag (auto-discovery link) to the main web pages describing a new search engine or a specific search option for an existing search engine.
2. As new generation web browsers visit the website, they automatically recognize the tag and load the XML file.
3. The XML file is parsed and, if syntactically correct, a new entry is temporarily added as an option to the search menu of the web browser.
4. The visitor/user can customize the web browser adding the new search option as a permanent entry of the search menu.

It's very simple. If you don't have a new search engine running on your servers, you can set up the OpenSearch configuration to run a search on your website using Google as the search engine.
First you have to create the simple XML file. I suggest you start from a template. The one I use is below (thanks to DeWitt Clinton):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
 <ShortName>[Site Name]</ShortName>
 <Description>Use Google to search [Site Name]</Description>
 <Tags>[Site Name]</Tags>
 <Url type="text/html" template="http://www.google.com/search?q=site:[Site URL] {searchTerms}"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>

Now you have to replace [Site Name] with your website name and [Site URL] with your website URL. Here is the Novedge XML file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
 <ShortName>Search Novedge</ShortName>
 <Description>Use Google to Search NOVEDGE</Description>
 <Tags>NOVEDGE</Tags>
 <Url type="text/html" template="http://www.google.com/search?q=site:novedge.com {searchTerms}"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>

Save the XML file with the .xml extension, and copy it onto your website. Now you only need to add a simple tag to the HEAD section of your web pages. This is the template of this auto-discovery link:

<link rel="search" href="[XML File URL]" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" title="[Site Name]" />

For example, here is the Novedge auto-discovery link:

<link rel="search" href="/opensearchdescription.xml" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" title="Search NOVEDGE" />

Now you're done! Refresh your browser and then check it. Here is what you should see (FireFox):

From now on all your visitors will have the choice to add a search to your website as a standard option of their web browser. At Novedge, for example, we believe this is important. We have a huge catalog with more than 1500 products so we'd love to make our catalog searchable through Google. You can try OpenSearch on our Novedge website.  If you decide to add this feature to your website let me know by leaving a comment to this post. For more details about OpenSearch, please visit the OpenSearch pages on Wikipedia or the OpenSearch website.

Franco Folini

The New Rhino 4.0 is Here!

After keeping us waiting for years, Robert McNeel finally released Rhino 4.0. It's a completely new version of the popular Rhinoceros 3.0 NURBS modeler, mostly known by its nickname: Rhino 3D.

Rhino 4.0 includes over 800 improvements based on users' feedback

The development team put a lot of effort and energy into improving a product that is already one of the most powerful of modeling systems. According to McNeel the product includes over 800 improvements based on users' feedback and several enhancements for almost every feature of the program.

I received the not-for-resale version and immediately installed it on my computer to see what was new. First of all the new Rhino comes in a different box - there is no longer the traditional heavy carton box, now it's a light DVD case.
Inside the case:

• One DVD with the installation program and the main documentation.
• One CD with additional documentation and a free service pack to upgrade Flamingo 1.1, Penguin 1.0, and Bongo 1.0 for full compatibility with the new Rhino 4.0.

The traditional 500 page printed manual is gone, replaced by a full set of users manuals in digital form. The installation is simple and the new Rhino can coexist with the old Rhino 3.0, without any side effects. Personally I do not recommend this configuration if you have any Rhino plug-ins installed on the the same computer.
Once you have the program installed you can start to enjoy all the improvements and enhancements in several areas, such as:

Modeling

Enhancements include robust variable blend tools, improved Booleans, and G-infinity blending.

Editing Tools

New Editing tools including UDT for free-form deformation of all geometry types, feature recognition for direct polysurface and solids editing and command history for editing surfaces by changing their input curves.

User Interface

Enhancements including SmartTrack technology and live help with video clips.

Display Pipeline

The new pipelines takes advantage of the latest graphic card technology to provide a major speed improvement, new advanced display modes, new analysis tools, dual-screen support, and support for new third-party applications.

Photorealistic Rendering

New rendering including new basic rendering technology, upgraded Flamingo and Penguin, Brazil r/s available, and new third-party renderers including V-Ray and Maxwell. Also included are texture mapping tools that can be used by all Rhino plug-in renderers.

2-D Drawing

Several enhancements including line styles, line weights, hidden lines, dimensions, hatching, page layout and printing/plotting.

Mesh modeling

Major enhancements in mesh creation and editing. Also many new tools for STL repair and 3-D printing.

Analysis

Also enhanced tools detecting problems and evaluating model quality so the problems downstream can be avoided.

Large Projects Support

Large project are now supported with hierarchical layer management, file locking, and enhanced support for worksessions, blocks, and reference files.

Compatibility (import /export)

Several improvements including improved PDF, AI 8+, STEP, DWG/DXF, PLY, DGN, FBX, SolidWorks, Google Earth, SketchUP, and WAMIT support.

Software Development

Enhancements for users and third-party developers.

The list price for Rhino 4.0 is higher than the old Rhino 3.0 price, and you can check on our Novedge website for the best deal. If you own a copy of Rhino 3.0 you can upgrade to 4.0. For a list of improvements and new features you can check the Robert McNeel website.

As with the previous version, Rhino 4.0 doesn't require any special hardware to run. Unless your PC is from the Dark Age you should be able to run the program with no problem. Rhino 4.0 is also compatible with the latest Microsoft operating system, Windows Vista.

Franco Folini

Behind CAD

Someone created a "simple" video to tell us a story. It's the story of our online life! And this someone is Mike Wesch from Kansas State University (Digital Ethnography blog). The connection between the video's story and CAD and Graphics Software is deeper than what may first appear. Thanks to Chris Anderson, The Long Tail blog, for noticing the video.

Please enjoy the video and share your impressions by leaving a comment.

Free CAD for Everybody

Is CAD software following the same path of web browsers? According to some small-size 2D CAD vendors (as reported by  Ralph Grabowski) there are too many free CAD systems and too long lasting free trials around. As a CAD reseller I should agree, and maybe I should say: free software is not good! But I don't see free CAD as a lost opportunity for a new sale, but as a changing market. I believe we are observing at least three different trends.

TREND ONE

lower prices means lower margins for resellers and therefore less resources

The price of CAD systems has been going down in the last few years, and where the price remains the same, the product comes with more features and modules. That's happening to all software, not just to CAD. Lower prices means lower margins for resellers and therefore less resources for demoing the software to potential customers, pre-sale training users, and promoting the software. CAD manufacturers are trying to deal with this situation by gradually transforming their product trial versions into a sort of sales tool. The trials are getting better, lasting longer and include more marketing features. We are going to see more of this in the future.

TREND TWO

(Autodesk) is using the profits from 2D to build a 3D success

All the companies focused on 3D as their core business are realizing their success will come only by converting the existing huge 2D installed base to 3D. They also know that the 2D world is mostly controlled by Autodesk. Because the San Rafael company is using the profits from 2D to build a 3D success, the only way to compete with Autodesk is the commoditization of 2D CAD systems. Only if and when 2D CAD becomes free or brands-insensitive, UGS, PTC, Dassault. etc., will be able to compete with Autodesk for the 3D market on a more even level. Those companies are not making any profit out of 2D systems, therefore why not give away 2D for free and by doing so try draining the fat revenues Autodesk is collecting from its 2D users base?

TREND THREE

(Autodesk) knows the transition from 2D to 3D is inevitable

At the same time, Autodesk is trying hard to move its user base from AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT to Inventor. They know the transition from 2D to 3D is inevitable, it's just a matter of time. And they know this can the best opportunity for their competitor to still their customers. Inventor is a good product, but in the 3D CAD arena it is just one of many, no better and no worse. In San Rafael they know it very well, and therefore they have an aggressive marketing strategy (see the recent report from New Orleans by Roopinder Tara and Rachael Dalton post) and they try everything, including giving away the product almost for free, to entice  their 2D users to switch to their 3D systems.

What's your opinion?

Franco Folini

PS: You can find a great selection of FREE CAD software on Novedge website on the FREE Downloads pages and on on the FREE Trials pages.

Blogs and Marketing Event in San Francisco

I would like to use the space of Novedge blog to announce a very interesting event I am organizing for BAIA, the Business Association Italy America. The event will take place here in San Francisco Thursday February 8, at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP on 101 California Street, 5th Floor. The sponsors are Cooley Godward Kronish, and Six Apart, the most popular blog platform. The event, as described in my post on the BAIA blog, will feature 4 very interesting panelists (alphabetical order):

Marissa Levinson, Six Apart (blog)

Marissa is the Director of Business Development & Sales at Six Apart. She works with Six Apart’s enterprise and business clients, coordinating partnership agreements and sales strategy. Prior to Six Apart, she worked for Bloomberg, L.P.

Mauro Lupi, Ad Maiora (blog)

One of the most influential Italian bloggers, Internet marketing and SEO expert. Mauro is the president of Ad Maiora, an international company.

Peter Thoeny, StructuredWikis, LLC (blog)

Wiki guru, and blogger. Peter is the founder and major author of tWiki, a open-source wiki for the corporate world. He is also one of the founder of StructuredWikis, LLC. Peter is now working on a new book, "Wiki for Dummies".

Mary Trigiani, Spada, Inc. (blog)

Mary is a marketing expert, a writer, and a blogger. She works with senior executives to articulate their business strategies and speak and write about them in their own voices.

If you are in San Francisco or in the Bay Area, please join us! For registration please visit the BAIA website.

Franco Folini

January 07 Newsletter is Out

I know it's already February, but that's the way things go! We wrote the January issue of our newsletter in January, but always something comes in to delay the final steps. This month the newsletter looks richer than usual. The size of the e-mail message is about 27 Kb, excluding the pictures. The first copies were sent out January 31, while the last copies will leave only tomorrow February 3 in the afternoon. It takes about 4 days to send the newsletter to all our subscribers. The content of this issue is:

Featured Product

This month we feature Autodesk MotionBuilder. It's an incredible product for professional animators and people working in movie production. Thanks to the emerging FBX file format, now MotionBuilder can fits easily in any production pipeline, on both platforms: Windows and Mac. Because of the price and complexity, this is not for everybody, but if you are a serious professional, you should consider MotionBuilder.

Tutorial of The Month

After proposing some advanced tutorials in the last months, this time we went for a simple example on how to use 3ds Max to create a simple shape. This tutorial is intended to provide an easy approach to 3ds Max for users without any previous experience. It's a video created by Autodesk, short, simple and effective.

Selected Case Study

Every once in a while we find an interesting case study on products available from our catalog. This time we found this interesting case study: North Dakota State University, Fargo, used Maya to recreate some historical environments and published the results on the web. You can visit the NDSU web site to experience a virtual visit to Like-a-Fishhook, a Native American village and to explore the 3D model of Fort Berthold.

Featured Gallery

Shade 8 is a very affordable product, but don't get fooled by the low price: Shade 8 comes with a load of advanced features for modeling, rendering, and animation. Just to get an idea of what you can do with Shade 8 take a look at the new Novedge gallery. And don't forget that Shade 8 is available for the Windows platform, 32 and 64 bits, as well for the Mac, including the new Intel Mac.

Free Download

This month I would like to suggest free2Design, a new free software from think 3. This is a very interesting tool to create 2D drawings. And it's completely free. Think 3 is now a pure 3D brand with great 3D products, but has his roots in the 2D CAD world. I guess that very few of us can remember when the company was called Cad.Lab and selling a product called GBG DraftMaker. This 2D CAD system comes from a company that know everything not only about 3D, but also about 2D. And it's free!

Book of the Month

This month I recommend Engineering Design: A Practical Guide. It's a professional book mainly intended as textbook for college classes. But if you like to refresh you engineering design knowledge, this is a great option. Looking at Amazon pages, you will also be able to browse the book like if you had it in your hands.

User Review

If you work with 3D models, 3D connexion SpacePilot is a great addition to your mouse. And this product review written by Curtis Thompson will tell you the Pros and Cons of this product. Thank you Curtis for taking the time to review this product. I invite you to read Curtis review and to go online on our web site and write a review on one of our products.

Selected Blog Post

5 Things to Consider when Choosing Design Software is a very interesting post written on this blog by Cristiano Sacchi, Novedge CEO. If you monitor this blog I'm sure you already read it, but if you didn't I strongly recommend you to do it. And you still have time to leave a comment and share your opinion with other readers!

What's New

Another month with a lot of new products on our web site. There is no point to list all of them here. Just take a look at the "What's New" section of the newsletter.

Look in your e-mail inbox for the January newsletter and if you have any feedback or suggestions on how to improve it, feel free to share it with us by leaving a comment to this post.

Franco Folini