Today was day one of Spatial Corp.’s 3D Insiders’ Summit 2016, an educational event that focuses on technical topics that helps our customers innovate outside of the box. Attendees are here to discover what is new at Spatial, learn about the latest features, and gain insight about our future product plans as well to network with other industry professionals.
So what did you miss if you were not able to attend?
Our History, Our Vision
The day began with Linda Lokay, our general manager, giving an overview of the nearly thirty-year history of Spatial, looking back what innovations have occurred during that time (as well as references to popular movies at each milestone). She discussed how 3D modeling is pushing in to wide range of new areas, such as medical implants (knee and hip replacements) to model-based design (MBD), and building information management (BIM) plus our role in these new applications.
Release 2017 1.0
Brian Rhodes, Sr. Product Manager for Polyhedral Modeling and 3D ACIS Modeler, and David Hornsby, Sr Product Manager for 3D InterOp, shared with the Insiders the top ten reasons for moving to this new release. The top three are:
- Boolean support in ACIS Modeler – new Boolean workflows automate successful operations while providing the application with specific failures on complex entities.
- Hybrid modeling support in ACIS and GCM modelers – combines the worlds of precise and polygonal modeling, taking advantage of their respective strengths concurrently.
- Industrialization improvements for the ACIS Modeler – +100 ACIS improvements that solve industry problems and extend use cases across millions of users.
Brian and David also shared roadmaps for the next one to three years for 3D ACIS and CGM modelers plus 3D InterOp with the Insider’s. The goal is to both help our customers plan their product roadmaps but to validate our plans as well — we can best meet our customer’s future needs by sharing our plans.
It’s About our Customers
The focus of the Insider’s Summit is on our customers. One of the more interesting sections is current Spatial customers talking about their applications, providing us with insights into how broad the applications are for 3D modeling. Just a sample of what attendees heard from current customers:
David E Kropp, co-founder of AutoDesSys, Inc. President and CEO of the company discussed the wide range of applications their product, form•Z, is used for as well as a peak at the technology behind the software. Some of the applications David discussed go beyond form•Z’s traditional space of architectural design, for example, how form•Z is used for trade show booth and furniture design, or even for TV and movie set and prop design.
An interesting business model for using 3D modeling was presented by Sebastien Ho, who leads the CAD R&D team at TraceParts. The company provide 3D digital content in the form of 3D models for engineering use. This library of over 100 million models is provided for free to end users, who must register their use. TraceParts then notifies the OEM, who can then act on this sales lead. Fundamental to the TraceParts business model is the need to support 50+ output formats.
Technical Presentations
The day’s session concluded with a number of technical presentations, for example:
- Redefining Boolean Workflows – discussed the new incremental Boolean workflow that is part of 3D ACIS Modeler 2017 1.0.
- Model-Based Definitions and Support for Manufacturing Applications – explores the information that is available in engineering data and ways to access and use it in typical industrial workflows.
Day two promises even more content. Redefine the box through 3D innovation.
