PTC Creo 3.0 Includes Game-Changing Multi-CAD Data Handling

New Unite technology said to be the first to allow users to open foreign CAD formats in their native environment without need for additional software, as well as export data in those same formats.

When PTC launches PTC Creo 3.0 in mid-July, the company reports that the collection of 3D modeling applications will be the first ever to allow users to import foreign CAD formats into the native CAD environment, easily reusing existing CAD data as is, in its current format, without the need for a upfront data migration.

With the ability to import SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, Solid Edge, and Autodesk Inventor files, as well as export and share files in those same common CAD formats, Creo 3.0 can eliminate the need to manage many secondary formats, according to PTC.

A long-time provider of software and services for product-development companies, PTC introduced Creo 3.0 in Boston last week at the PTC Live Global user conference and exhibition. In addition to the new Unite multi-CAD technology, Creo 3.0 will offer improved concept design capabilities to support design innovation as well as efficiency boosts to increase user productivity.

Many CAD software developers offer tools to import foreign CAD data, including PTC itself. The difference with Unite technology, says Brian Thompson, vice-president of Creo product management, is its Open capability, which allows users to import foreign CAD formats into the native environment without creating any new objects in the process and automatically manages changes as they come into the native environment.

Assemblies in Creo 3.0, such as those shown in this shaver model, now can more easily incorporate legacy CAD data, supplier models, and data from project partners. Click image to enlarge.

Thompson says that although many customers are currently implementing Creo 2.0, “we have a few customers where this multi-CAD problem is a big problem, so we gave them a bit of a preview that made them think they might wait for Creo 3.0. Customers that were thinking about moving to Creo 2.0 now are reconsidering,” he says, after seeing the updates coming in Creo 3.0.

At the Boston event, PTC also announced the availability of PTC Creo Elements/Direct 19.0, the latest version of the company’s direct modeling software. It delivers productivity enhancements in the core areas of modeling, drafting, and data management that are complemented by greater interoperability with PTC Creo 3.0 and other non-PTC CAD systems, via the new Unite technology, the company reports.

Creo Status Report

Creo 1.0 debuted with much fanfare in the fall of 2010 as a collection of tools for 3D modeling and related product-development tasks. The new product line took the then-new approach of providing a collection of AnyRole Apps that could be used alone or in combination to support the specific needs of users throughout the organization, from product designers to marketers. PTC also touted AnyMode Modeling, meaning Creo users could use the Creo Elements/Direct app (formerly CoCreate) for history-free modeling or Creo Parametric (based on Pro/ENGINEER) for rules-based modeling — or both.

Next came Creo 2.0 in spring 2012 and the concept of the AnyBOM Assembly, which facilitates on-the-fly creation of new assembly configurations based on product data stored in the PTC Windchill product lifecycle management (PLM) system, instead of relying on CAD.

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