Two paradigms

I previous sold SpaceCalim and have used it for a couple of projects. It is a good program but I never warmed up to it.

There two paradigms for CAD design. The parametric history/feature based modeling and the Direct editing or Explicit modeling.

When SpaceClaim came out there were a couple of direct editing only packages available KeyCreator and CoCreate. At the time of SpaceClaims release the history based systems were unable to edit non-native parts, SpaceClaim was designed to fill that gap. The wonderful thing is that now PTC Creo has CoCreate, Siemens NX and SE has ST, Autodesk has Fusion all are direct editing modules. I have experienced them all. All are very good and solve the problem of not being able to edit non-native parts. The problem is that they are only a bit better than having a stand alone package like SpaceClaim since the interoperability between the two systems is a bit clunky. So since that need has been filled, SpaceClaim now has to basically stand on its own as an explicit modeler. I feel we really need both paradigms to have a complete design solution.

IRONCAD is the only product on the market that has both of these paradigm integrated into one system. I have been selling and using IRONCAD for years. I like the ability to have direct editing when working with a very complex part. I can bypass the history and work directly with the features.

But when starting a project I want to use the parametric history/feature based design. I like IRONCAD, because like SpaceClaim it is a UDE (Unified Design Evironment) which means you can design your complete assembly in one file. This is very productive when doing conceptual design.

I do a lot of work modifying parts and assemblies from SW, Creo, Inventor etc. and I can bring the native files in and work with them as if they were designed in IRONCAD. IRONCAD has an incredible set of native translators available. Also IRONCAD has a modeling only package, INOVATE, that is a great add-on for any system.

 

Jumping it with the SpaceClaim perspective, I think these observations are a pretty fair description of the state of the industry today. Direct modeling doesn't today do everything that history-based modeling does. I also think that the apparent simplicity of direct modeling can hide some of the power. For example, although SpaceClaim can recognize patterns on imported solids and edit them parametrically, it's not the type of capability many users look for.

The question as I see it is: where do we expect direct modeling to go? Can direct modeling deliver all of the major benefits of feature-based modeling, without the rebuild errors, complicated referencing, interoperability problems, and steep learning curve? With ever release of SpaceClaim, we get a little closer.

For many tasks, SpaceClaim handles the entire process. For others, you might need to use history-based modeling. We continue to close the gaps at a very fast pace, and I trust that, over the long term, many designers will prefer direct modeling. As more and more heavy-duty feature-based CAD systems add direct modeling capabilities, it will be interesting to watch what form that takes. I know that we will strive to continue to be the easiest and most powerful pure direct modeling environment available.

-Blake
(A SpaceClaim employee)

 

Has ayone looked at Cocreate Modelling - now called CREO Elements Direct

This is the original Dynamic modeller and is still simply the best. Yes it does parametrics, yes it does dynamic relations. It has been around for many many ears and is a solid, robust, complete system - so much so that PTC bough it.

 

It is an innovative 3d direct modeler which is great for drafters and engineers.It has short learning curve and low entry price which I think is great.

Thanks

 

Is there any upgrade around the lack of horsepower these past years ? The provious remarks on the subject on this forum being about 4 years old !
About 1 year back, I made a ping pong creative engineering test (not application engineering) between TopSolid, which has good references for creative engineering, and SpaceClaim. SpaceClaim won easily.
It is the kind of test following the statement "let's imagine a system that..." instead of "let's draw a part"