SE New technology 3

[jmjohn76]

For those who have not yet seen or heard...

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/campaigns/breakthrough/

 

[KENAT]

OK, now I'm scared.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[beachcomber]

As we suspected, very much in the direction of SpaceClaim with the direct editing approach. I'd still like to know if the direct edit will adjust any underlying sketches - I didn't see that made clear in the video, or did I just miss it.
Can't say that I'm enthusiastic about the "Now anyone can edit a model" bit - I've seen too many cock-ups because the wrong people edited the wrong thing !!


bc.
CAD2 Imagine Workstation
2.4GHz Core2 Quad
4GB RAM
Quadro FX4600
24" Iiyama widescreen

 

[bgvasilis]

Is it realy Solid Edge ?

 

[teebarr]

This link takes you to a white paper that gives a little more detail.

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/legacy/docs/Synchronous_Technology_CPDA_WhitePaper.pdf

While there is still a lot of detail to come out, this technology really looks like it will become a big differentiator between SE, SW and IV. Personally, I am very excited and can't wait to get an opportunity to have a go.
At the start of the year i was seriously considering taking advantage of a discount SpaceClaim were offering - the demos looked good and there were some very clever features. It will be interesting to see if SE can achieve the same level of ease of use and clever workflow.

If the execution is good in V21 then SE will, in my opinion, have something to shout about.
Now all Siemens have to do to ensure success is to employ the Solidworks marketing dept.!
Tony

 

[KENAT]

"employ the Solidworks marketing dept.!"

And budget!

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[moldcore]

A total rip-off from KeyCreator. They’ve had this technology for years. Can’t believe they have the balls to say it’s new. I can see law suits on this one.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

At first glance, how SE has incorporated the new functions into the program looks pretty good ... but I have learned to never trust canned demos; especially the highly edited video versions.

Placing dimensions on the solid geometry instead of the sketch was being done in CoCreates Solid Designer (now One Space) at least 16 years ago. It could also work on any imported file as if it were native.

SW2008 introduced Instant 3D allowing pushing/pulling of sketch areas to create a solid, and dragging solid faces.

Not trying to knock SE. What they've done will definitely give SE an edge over their competition ... but their claims are questionable. Which is typical for all the major 3D CAD players.

 

[swertel]

On the SE newsgroups, this definition of "new" has been explained.

1) SE has had direct editing/modeling long before synchronous technology. The same direct editing as Solidworks, but before Solidworks had it. This is different.
2) SE has had dimensions on solid geometry, called PMI in their terms, for a long time. Not quite as long as CoCreate, but then again I think they are not an apples to oranges comparison.

Synchronous Technology is not like SpaceClaim, CoCreate, or KeyCreator. It is another layer between the geometry kernel (D-Cubed and Parasolid for sketching and modeling, respectively) and SE. This extra layer erases the history dependence of making a change to a parametric model. For that reason, they are calling it new. Granted, the interface to Synchronous Technology resembles prior art of other CAD packages, I'll attest to that. But we really need to wait and see (in other words, use it) before we can make a judgement on its authentic "newness."

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[Gemnoc]

There were extended discussion threads on the UGS forums. Dan Staples has posted many times.

From what I read, it is my understanding that they will now push in this direction with Solid Edge, although they will continue to support the history-based approach for some time. But D. Staples has said that Synchronous Technology was the future.

 

[Raaden]

Siemens has released some real-time demonstration videos of the synchronous technology, after having tried SpaceClaim for 2 week I really see where they got their inspiration for the new GUI, still looks damn impressive though.

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/products/velocity/solidedge/se_synchTech/#1

The demonstrations are at the bottom of the page.

 

[swertel]

Yeah. All the way down to the widget.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[Gemnoc]

Well, based on the video demo here, we have an answer to a question I had: yes, the interface has changed to follow on the new Microsoft standards, as SW2008 then Autocad 2009 have done.

One thing springs to mind: these new model editing features are based on the PMI dimensions. Problem is, PMI was disabled on Solid Edge Model & Drafting and SE Foundation. Should we surmise that we'll have to upgrade to Solid Edge Classic to use synchronous technology?

Scott, what exactly is the widget you're talking about? The text window to edit dims (à la SW), or the thingy used to edit faces? Because it looks a lot like that rotate tool that's been in SE for years.

- Norm

 

[Raaden]

Yea I had that exact same though Norm, currently we use 16 floating Foundation and 2 floating Classic licenses. Having to turn those 16 into Classic to be able to use the full extent of synchronous technology would be real annoying.
I don't think this will happen though, PMI will probably be turned into a core component and be usable for anyone independent of the kind of license you've got.

/Pontus

 

[swertel]

The "Widget" is the name of the control handle used on SpaceClaim in order to push/pull/rotate features and faces. SE calls it a "steering wheel." They look exactly the same.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[Gemnoc]

What I mean Scott is, I see it more as a re-use of an existing tool (the rotate face tool which I thought was kind of useless for me anyway) than a straight copy from a competitor. The control handle looks almost identical to the rotate tool.

So, no one screaming yet about the interface change? ;-)

 

[PH927]

I just spoke with GTAC on another issue but asked about V21 while I was on the line. One of the things he mentioned was that we can chose to model parts the same way we have been (sketches and tree,acts like V20). So no screaming yet.

 

[Gemnoc]

Oh, I wasn't refering to Synchronous Technology, rather to the fact that the graphical interface is obviously changing with V21. If you've seen Office 2007, or lately Autocad 2009, you'll know what I mean.

- Norm

 

[Raaden]

Well every program gets Vistified these days so we'll just have do deal with it.

Apparently we also have a side effect of the synchronous technology:

But one concrete thing Goulden liked about Synchronous is the average 17% file size reduction that makes design less taxing on computer hardware and memory.

Source:

http://www.designnews.com/blog/130000213/post/1310026931.html

17% is not too shabby.

 

[swertel]

Everyone I talked to is just keeping an open mind with the new interface. Change happens, nothing you can do but adapt and overcome. With the new UI and Synch Tech, SE is like a brand new program. The (re)learning curve is going to be enormous for some.

But that's what I like about the SE community. The Works community was up in arms about the UI change in 2008 even before they had a chance to use it. Then, after it came out and they used it for a couple weeks, they liked it. What's the point of making all that drama if you're just going to stick with the program anyway? Not very professional, if you ask me.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro