Cadalyst - November 2007 - (Page 16)

techtrends When pressed, he identified the target user as “an artistic user who doesn’t have a technical background.” MoI is ideal for such a user because it doesn’t require a great deal of time investment for intensive training, Gibson pointed out. “They’ve tried but failed to break into using CAD as a part of their regular workflow because of the high investment needed — not just money investment either, but time required to study and take training courses to learn how to operate complex software,” Gibson noted. Gibson’s not pitching MoI as the primary CAD tool. He openly acknowledges that MoI doesn’t have the features to automatically produce shop drawings, something most engineers expect from a typical CAD package. Think of it as a supplementary product, he suggested. Gibson’s vision for MoI is to “make it quick and easy to do simple things.” As sensible as it sounds, this philosophy is actually an anomaly in the CAD market, where complexity is the norm and mastering a software package can take a lifetime. The Tablet Plan When it comes to conceptual design, most designers would probably agree that the pen is mightier than the mouse. The latter’s point-and-click mechanism just doesn’t give artists the same control over their lines and strokes. Gibson should know about how artists work. According to him, he was the developer responsible for Rhino, counted among the industrial designers’ preferred nonuniform rational B spline (NURBS) modelers. Even naming the software after an amphibious beast with an interesting contour was his idea, he said. So when he decided to target individuals with a creative bent with MoI, he explored the Tablet PC platform. “The artists would get frustrated with, for example, right-clicking on the [Tablet PC’s] stylus, which isn’t easy,” he observed, reflecting on what he had learned while developing Rhino. He worked to remove as many of those obstacles as possible in his new software. “With MoI, everything you can do with a pen, you can also do it with a left-click on the mouse,” he explained. Deelip Menezes, a CAD developer and the owner of SYCODE, is skeptical about Gibson’s ability to keep MoI tablet-friendly indefinitely. He wrote in his blog, “In my opinion, sooner than later, Michael will have to give up the Tablet PC–friendly interface for a more normal interface . . . Normal PC users will be more willing to accept MoI if it has an interface they are familiar with.” (See “Solid Modeling For $195,” August 25, 2007, www.deelip.com.) Gibson responded, “I’m definitely planning on trying to keep [the tablet-compatible interface] going as much as possible. I’m sure there will eventually be some more advanced functions that may not fit into this mold, but keeping a focus on making simple and basic operations work well with a tablet helps keep the whole process streamlined to just using simple left-clicks on things.” Peter Stevens, the spokesperson for Alibre Software, which is known for the Alibre Design software line, said, “We still think the keyboard and the mouse are the best approaches when you’re dealing with parametric modeling in the production environment. We haven’t really focused on the Tablet PC.” The Budget CAD Movement If all goes according to Gibson’s plan, MoI from Triple Squid will join the likes of TurboCAD ($149, from IMSI Software), FelixCAD LT (free, from GiveMePower), and Alibre Design Xpress (free, from Alibre Software) to become one of the CAD packages that cost little or nothing. Throughout the last several years, the affordable CAD movement has picked up momentum. Currently, UGS offers Solid Edge 2D for free. Similarly, CoCreate gives away the CoCreate OneSpace Modeling Personal Edition. Autodesk plans to keep Autodesk Inventor LT as a free download for another six months, the company states. Alibre’s Stevens doesn’t see MoI as a competitor. “We’re very focused on production,” he said. “Alibre Design Xpress is to allow a mechanical person, a machinist, or someone in the production cycle to experiment with 3D.” In other words, it’s not meant to the less-controlled speculative exploration of conceptual ideas. Here’s where Gibson and Stevens happen to be in agreement. “[Alibre and others] are more manufacturingcentric modelers, more similar to SolidWorks,” Gibson observed. “Making it easy to do simple things for a small cost — this is an open spot. I don’t see anybody else here.” If MoI turns out to be the surprise hit, that spot won’t remain open for long. For more information about low-cost CAD packages, read “Getting the Last Drop,” Cadalyst, January 2007, pp. 18–24. c Cadalyst contributing editor Kenneth Wong explores the innovative use of technology and its implications. E-mail him at Kenneth.Wong at cadalyst.com. 16 November 2007 | cadalyst | www.cadalyst.com http://www.deelip.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - November 2007

Cadalyst - November 2007 Contents Editor's window Cad Central Conceptual Inspiration for Less Than $200 From Any Angle - Publish and Share Your 3D Designs NX 5, Part 1 - CAD/CAM/CAE Software Newforma Project Center Fourth Edition - Software for Project Information Management CAD Manager's Survey 2007 Sharing and Collaborating with Your Team To BIMfinity and Beyond! Solutions for Sending Large Digital Files Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Cad Fidential

Cadalyst - November 2007

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