Do's and Don'ts of Publishing Online Parts Catalogs (Cadalyst Daily Archive)

Offering downloadable 3D CAD files for product designers is a smart business move, but it's not necessarily easy.

3D publishing is the term Cadalyst uses broadly to cover methods of repurposing a 3D model for downstream uses. Basically, once you've created a model, what can you do with it? Daratech coined the acronym MVP to refer to digital mock-up, visualization and 3D publishing, but that makes me think baseball, not modeling -- and besides, the CAD world has TMA (too many acronyms) already.p>

One fast-growing but fairly low-profile aspect of 3D publishing is online parts catalogs that include 3D CAD model downloads for manufactured goods. A number of developers offer technology for parts makers to use in creating and maintaining such catalogs. These digital catalogs save design engineers time: Rather than redrawing individual components, you can just download them right into your CAD model. The manufacturers' products are thus locked and loaded into the design, and buyers can order them later.  Read more >>

Trimble to Buy Meridian Systems
Project management tools will augment Trimble's construction-market strategy. 
Read more >>

FIATECH Publishes Wireless Monitoring Report
Study documents a field trial of wireless technologies to monitor stress of steel beams during construction.  Read more >>

IGE+XAO Group Releases Financial Report
CAD software company shows a net income increase of 17.3% over previous fiscal year.  Read more >>

MCAD: VXScan Version 1.2
Updates to Creaform's capture software include support for user-selectable measurement units.  Read more >>