Cadalyst - October 2008 - (Page 20)

cadalystlabsreview cesses such as tool and mold design or computer numerical control (CNC) machining. In Cadalyst’s simple tests, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended converted the 70.3-MB SolidWorks SeaScooter assembly into a 957-KB PDF file in 1 minute, 15 seconds. The 601-KB 2D AutoCAD WILHOME.DWG drawing produced a 462-KB PDF file in 1 minute, 35 seconds, and the 1.02MB AutoCAD 3D ENGINE.DWG generated a 488-KB PDF file in 1 minute, 30 seconds. The system requirements for the Windows version of Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended are a 1.3-GHz or faster processor and 512 MB of RAM, running under Microsoft Windows XP Home, Professional, or Tablet PC Edition with Service Pack 2 or 3 installed (both 32-bit and 64-bit); Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 for 64-bit; or Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with or without Service Pack 1 (32-bit and 64bit). You’ll also need 2.35 GB of hard disk space, Internet Explorer 6.0, a DVD-ROM drive (for installation), and a display capable of at least 1,024 x 768 resolution. Video hardware acceleration hardware is optional. Pricing for Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended is $699, with upgrades available from $229. The free and freely distributed Adobe Reader is available at www.adobe.com/reader. Okino’s NuGraf converts all major CAD file formats to all key non-CAD and animation software file formats. NuGraf 4.20 Okino Computer Graphics describes NuGraf 4.20 as “advanced 3D data translation, rendering, and scene-composition software,” and readers might recall this product being featured in Cadalyst’s August 2008 roundup of visualization solutions. The company aims to create a translator that can convert entire files from one format to another so the exported file can be loaded and rendered in a target animation system with little or no changes. Okino has worked for years to create file-conversion software that offers incredible breadth of supported file formats and versions and depth in the flexibility of how you can convert files. The Okino 3D file-translation capabilities are remarkably good; in fact, many people learn of Okino products in their quest for substantial, high-quality fileconversion software. Okino explains that every main CAD software developer wants to create and control its own format, with many based on technology that is 10–20 years old. Of course, this situation greatly complicates life for those who have a design in one format that they need to convert to an entirely different format. It is here that Okino products excel. Not content with simple automatic conversions, although Okino products are capable of doing those too, the company enables control of the conversion process so the final result suits the user’s specific needs. Okino products stream CAD files to multiple 3D publishing formats and don’t produce a single file format. Therefore, I didn’t do conversion tests with our benchmark files — although all were easily opened in NuGraf. NuGraf and other Okino products create files as fast as their exportOkino Computer Graphics 888.336.5466 www.okino.com Price: $495 20 ers accept and process them, and file sizes can vary widely depending on which compression options users select when setting up a conversion. NuGraf runs under Windows XP and Vista, in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, as well as Windows 2000 and 2003. Okino provides native 64-bit versions of its applications and plug-ins. PolyTrans is Okino’s scaled-down version of NuGraf, without the full ray-tracing functionality and sophisticated rendering features. Pricing for NuGraf is $495, PolyTrans is $395, and free demo versions of both are available on the company’s Web site. Several add-on conversion option packs are available at extra cost, as are plug-ins for applications such as Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya. Document 3D Suite 2008 QuadriSpace’s Document 3D Suite 2008 is a family of products for 3D document authoring that can also produce illustrations and animations. The basic Document 3D Suite comprises Pages 3D for document authoring, Publisher 3D for creating illustrations and animations, and Reader 3D for browsing created documents. QuadriSpace offers four editions of the Document 3D Suite, ranging from a free Personal Edition to the comprehensive Professional Edition. For this article, my primary focus is QuadriSpace Publisher 3D, which lets you publish 3D data to a broad range of standard graphic, animation, or document formats. Publisher 3D is document oriented and includes tools for directly associating parts lists with illustration call numbers. You can quickly and easily create 3D documentation that includes vector art, high-resolution raster graphics, XML DITA topics, entire documents, and animations. CAD formats supported include SolidWorks, Inventor, Pro/ENGINEER, SketchUp, DWF, STEP, IGES, Parasolid, ACIS, DWG, DXF, STL, 3ds Max, OBJ, and 3DS VDA. Publishing output formats include PDF, 3D PDF, high-quality QuadriSpace 972.359.6700 www.quadrispace.com Price: Free–$2,995 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst October 2008 http://www.adobe.com/reader http://www.okino.com http://www.quadrispace.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - October 2008

Cadalyst - October 2008 Contents Editor’s Window Cad Central SimCity for Real Designs Spring to Life — 3D Publishing Tools Make File Sharing as Easy as Opening a Book Xi MTower 2P64X — Dual Quad-Core Workstation ArchiCAD 12 — BIM Software Dell Precision M6300 — High-End Mobile Workstation Cad Manager Mcad Modeling Aec Insight Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry

Cadalyst - October 2008

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