SolidWorks PhotoView 360 and Luxology’s modo 401 Open Doors for Engineering Designers

Last Updated on Friday, 10 December 2010 08:53 Written by DCD Admin Wednesday, 17 February 2010 09:03

Designers Stuart Brown and Paul McCrorey Produce High-Quality Visualizations with SolidWorks Models

Industrial designers are achieving photorealistic imaging results from designs modeled in Solidworks 2010 and visualized in Solidworks PhotoView 360 and Luxology’s modo software. PhotoView 360, which is bundled with the SolidWorks Premium and Professional 2010 editions, offers ease of use for rapid design visualization while modo offers maximum control over design visualization parameters with advanced features like animation.

SolidWorks users Stuart Brown and Paul McCrorey have recently tapped the capabilities of both PhotoView 360 and modo 401 to radically improve the quality of client presentations.

Based in Dorset, England, Stuart Brown is the owner of 3D Engineers, a specialty design firm that applies computer visualization tools to the process of classic car restoration. Stuart’s work straddles the worlds of mechanical engineering and design, and he was enthusiastic about how the rendering features of PhotoView 360 enhanced his SolidWorks experience.

Recently, a client who wanted a custom car asked Stuart to create a virtual wooden render of a buck, which is a wooden rig used to help make automobile bodies. After using Solidworks 2010 and PhotoView 360 to realize the buck and then modo 401 for final visualization, Stuart says, “The results showed an incredible visual performance increase, to the extent that I am often asked whether the picture I am showing a client is real or computer-generated.”

Paul McCrorey, also a designer and mechanical engineer, is based in Louisville, Ky., where he runs McCrorey Digital. He recently concluded a project using SolidWorks 2010, PhotoView 360 and modo 401 to create realistic images plus an animation of a unique Merlexi Chair wheelchair design. Like Stuart, Paul is very pleased with how this new generation of visualization tools has extended his SolidWorks modeling and design capacity.

“I was surprised by PhotoView 360′s extreme ease of use, coupled with the outstanding output quality,” Paul says. “It has helped me save both time and money, by allowing me to get very high quality images in a short time.”

Later importing his model into modo 401 for finishing, Paul says modo’s range of control was much greater than he expected: “For texturing, I used UV mapping to establish the fabric pattern on the back seat of the wheelchair. Displacement mapping was used to generate the treads on the tire. With the rich visualization and animation toolset provided in modo, the possibilities are truly endless. Features like morph maps and vertex weight maps were new to me but proved critical for realistic cloth movement. I used the constraint tools to precisely define the wheelchair’s folding action. Finally, the gradient editor provided extreme flexibility in timing of the animation.”

Another recent project of Paul’s led to a computer graphics modeling contract after the final image was posted publicly.

“As a result of my image of the ‘AMC module’ appearing on the Luxology image gallery, I landed a contract providing CG modeling assets for a short film directed and produced by Marc Leidy from Lightdog Films,” Paul says. “Using my engineering background and artistic capabilities, we are working together to interpret artistic conceptual drawings and model them in SolidWorks and modo.”

Stuart Brown and Paul McCrorey are but two of the thousands of designers finding new creative possibilities in the creation of breathtakingly realistic models produced with SolidWorks 2010 and visualized in PhotoView 360 and modo. This potent combination of tools from SolidWorks and Luxology is pioneering a crossover discipline between mechanical engineering and advanced design visualization that is allowing designs to be presented with greater accuracy and appeal than ever before

Wacom Release Wireless Intuos4

Last Updated on Thursday, 9 December 2010 11:02 Written by DCD Admin Monday, 15 February 2010 09:02

Industry Leading Tablet Range Expanded with Bluetooth Offering

Wacom have recently announced the new Intuos4 Wireless graphics tablet. The Intuos4 Wireless builds on the already enormously successful tablet range and offers professional users, without the budget for a Cintiq 12WX or 21 UX, an extra step up in high quality design interfacing.

What Wacom say:

“The ideal pen tablet for on-the-go professional creators of digital content.

“Wacom today announces the Intuos4 Wireless professional pen tablet, a highly-anticipated product featuring Bluetooth wireless technology. The new Intuos4 Wireless is aimed at digital content creators such as photographers, designers and artists who seek the freedom of wireless technology as well as the control and comfort benefits inherent in Wacom??s professional range of pen tablets. The liberating experience of being able to move about the room and work “unattached” from a computer also makes the Intuos4 Wireless an excellent tool for use at a collaborative work session. In addition, the medium-sized Intuos4 Wireless fits easily into most computer laptop bags, offering an ideal input solution for mobile creative professionals.

“By combining the successful Intuos4 pen tablet design with Bluetooth wireless technology Wacom is able to provide users with the flexibility and freedom to work in the most comfortable way for drawing, editing, painting, retouching or general computer work. The Intuos4 Wireless meets the intuitive nature and overall experience offered by the Intuos4 brand.”

The?Wacom Intuos4 Wireless is available from?Refuelled.com

Autodesk Establishes R&D Presence in Israel

Last Updated on Thursday, 9 December 2010 08:53 Written by DCD Admin Monday, 15 February 2010 08:53

Global CAD Dominator Opens Center to Focus on Development of Emerging Technologies Autodesk a leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, has established a research and development center in Tel Aviv, to help drive the development of emerging technologies such as web-based design and collaboration software. With the addition of Israel to Autodesk??s global development network, Autodesk now operates development centers in more than 14 countries around the world.

??Through our new presence in Tel Aviv, Autodesk will be able to better leverage Israel??s excellent educational institutions and the growing talents in the Israeli software industry??

Through the acquisition of privately held Tel Aviv-based software firm PlanPlatform, Ltd. in November 2009, Autodesk gained a talented team of Israeli developers who will help Autodesk further expand its expertise in emerging technologies and remote application delivery, building upon Autodesk??s past development in this space. The new Autodesk Israel Research and Development Center will compliment Autodesk??s existing sales presence in Israel through its value added channel Omnitech.

??Through our new presence in Tel Aviv, Autodesk will be able to better leverage Israel??s excellent educational institutions and the growing talents in the Israeli software industry,?? said Amar Hanspal, Autodesk senior vice president, platform solutions and emerging businesses. ??We look forward to being an active participant in Israel??s thriving high-tech community and continuing the global democratization of design technology via the web.??

The Autodesk Israel team in Tel Aviv recently completed their first Autodesk project, a technology preview called Project Butterfly, which debuted on Autodesk Labs earlier this year. The Project Butterfly Technology Preview extends the AutoCAD experience onto the web by enabling users to view, edit, and collaborate on DWG drawings in real-time with colleagues and clients online without downloading any software.