This Monday, Adobe fired the Acrobat X cannon out across the interwebs. You may have felt odd vibrations emanating from your screen creating a feeling that something was going to affect your career-long affection with PDF’s… or that feeling could just be some indigestion from that lunch burrito. Either way, a new version of Acrobat…

Last week, Siemens launched what is very well the most feature-busting update to the Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology craze thus far. It’s Solid Edge ST3. I’ve not been able to get inside it yet, so I’m holding off on a proper review till I do. In the meantime, I went to Siemens with some…

Take those fancy Apple iDevices out of their immaculate leather holsters party people. 2D and 3D fans of all shapes and sizes are getting some angst-relieving app juice to soak their geometry in today. Autodesk has release both the AutoCAD WS 2D app and the Inventor Publisher 3D viewer app. Both are released on the…

You could stab the stuffing out of the SolidWorks documentation, but you won’t find the mention of BIM or AEC anywhere. What you will find is another cushiony three letter acronym synonymous with both, IFC. In fact, for SolidWorks 2011, you’ll see a little .IFC format compatibility, the addition of walk-through visualization, and special reference…

With all the software release news as of late, your 2D CAD on a Mac dreams are either a repeating nightmare or a pleasure feast of .dmg delight. First with the announcement of ARES on the Mac then with Autodesk publicly announcing they would soon release AutoCAD on the Mac… along with it’s little brother,…

I’m looking upon the screen, at a presentation of Solid Edge ST3 at this very moment. The 3rd amalgamation of history-free and history-based design wrapped up in a simple phrase you comfort your children with, Synchronous Technology. I’m seeing it, but I can’t say anything about it. The pushing, the pulling, the Live Rules… taunting…

Guess what kind of wild 3D manipulation news came flying out of Velizy, France today? Wrong, it has nothing to do with crêpes, large mustaches or the combination of the two. It’s all about 3D and iPads and viewing the 3D, on the iPad. The news actually ‘leaked’ out late last week with an early…

Well, just look how time oozes suspiciously right past us. SolidWorks 2011 launched last week, but you may not have known there have been 15 years of enhancements before it. Today, September 6th, 2011 marks the 15th anniversary of SolidWorks selling the very first seat of their 3D product development software. Over 1 millllliooooon seats…

Well, blow my everloving mind out of the water. You won’t see the PR till Tuesday, but the New York Times just scooped the whole CAD industry on the news. AutoCAD for Apple Mac is here. Not only that, the scaled down version, AutoCAD WS, is here for the iPhone and the iPad. We’ve not…

If you look at the image to the left (and the larger version after the jump) you’ll see a bunch of tiny people mulling about the large appendage like structure in front of them. Little do they know that beneath the crumpled paper lies the number… 2011… that in 6 days… will… transform and DEVOUR…

Deep outta the heart of Berlin, Germany comes news for the user who enjoys the planar bliss of X and Y coordinates… and wears a shirt that say, “I do it on a Mac.” Everyone down with 2D alternatives to AutoCAD knew that Graebert was working on a version of their ARES Commander product for…

A couple months ago I went to Siemens PLMConx Event. It was a magical time filled with magical talk about PLM, Solid Edge, NX, curling irons, highlight techniques and ways to deal with split ends… I may be getting two events mixed up, but whatever the case, Mrs. Dora Smith was on the hunt to…

I hate Facebook games. Hate. them. Too the point I feel like butchering a hog over someone’s keyboard as they get a Crop Whisperer ribbon on Farmville. Those feelings may change…. I doubt it, but this… is cool. Last week 3DVia made the announcement that the 3D Social gaming blitzkrieg that is Billions is now…

Go ahead, open the fridge. What do you see beside the fruit salad? A fresh bottle of SpaceClaim 2010. It’s fizzy and brimming with all sort of new features that make 3D product developers say things like, “refreshing!” and “titillating!” but mostly, “I’m so excited, I’ve torn my eyebrows off my face!” Yesterday, SpaceClaim launched…

I DARE you. Try to make a million holes in a sheet metal part with whatever 3D design tool you’re using. Go ahead… I’ll wait… anything happen right before your arteries surface to your skin and workstation starts smoking? Most likely, it can’t be done. I’ve never seen it done… till now. I received a…

At the beginning of the year I predicted a move of 3D apps toward the cloud. Anyone could have guessed that though. SolidWorks showed-off the cross-platform possibilities and Autodesk put AutoCAD on the cloud. But, working with 3D geometry via the web hasn’t been seen… till this past week. Deelip Menezes broke the news Tuesday…

Sometimes you wake up in the morning, stretch, slap yourself and get a grin on your face right before screaming ‘PLM!’ in your best Robert DiNero voice. Sure, it’s completely traumatized the kids, but you’re amped and ready to start your day. It goes without saying then, that you’ll want a nice dose of what…

Even though it’s just 2D, this makes the whole line-by-line drawing space much more interesting. DraftSight brings a full set of 2D drawing features to users and has full .dwg and .dxf compatibility. It can be downloaded now for Windows and will be available later this year for Mac and Linux. Here’s whatcha want to…

Well, Dassault Systems may be arrogant, but they’ve certainly got the cash. Yesterday, they completed the acquisition of enterprise search company Exalead for a cool €135 million (US $162 million). You probably haven’t heard of them, but Exalead has been called the ‘French Google’ and are best know for their CloudView platform which can be…

I love the product development industry drama. It’s so RAW beneath it’s cordial, feature-rich exterior. Hard to imagine what would happen if you put all the execs together in a room full of garlic water balloons and large sticks… but not really. In a user conference room away from each other, it’s a little tamer.…

Crack out the Faraday suits and rev up those Tesla Coils, PTC is stirring the air with talks about their endeavor to define and possibly redefine (thunderous clap and loud echoing voice) THE FUTURE of MECHANICAL CAD!! CAD CAD!! We’re out at PTC/USER 2010 in Orlando, Florida and we’ve found out as much as possible…

You may still be waiting for Rhino for Mac to be available on the Mac to be officially released (Deelip), but that shouldn’t keep you from the joys of viewing and sharing your Rhino models on another Apple device now should it? You, gentle Rhino modeler, are in luck. The iRhino 3D app popped up…

Well now, some crazy weekend news to make the Mac users in the house choke on their brunch. Autodesk is indeed working on a AutoCAD version for the Mac. Not virtualized, not via Parallels, but native on the Mac. Screenshots have been posted. Most assuredly without the go ahead from mother Autodesk. No matter, because…

Do you see those three words? Cloud, Mac, and Sketch? The triumvirate of contemporary CAD computing, those are by golly, and if you’re CAD slappin’ 3D code pro or have a little marketing and management panache, SolidWorks is hiring. What’s more interesting, and also no big surprise, is what job titles these lie under. There’s…

If you felt a rumble in the aether that ended up with a guy suddenly appearing in your face poking your eyeballs with a tablet computer, you’re probably not dreaming and you’re probably not holding back a good solid punch to his gut. Neither is Timothy Barnard of Fresh Design Base, a Manchester, UK web…

Yes, it only takes a spark… a studio, a computer, a small production crew, some large machinery, and probably a keg of the strongest ale… to get a interactive web series going… and SolidWorks has done just that. This week SolidWorks launched the new interactive web series called Let’s Go Design. It’s full of design,…

Ahhh, can you feel it? Spring is in the air! The lawn is freshly mown, work is void of stress… and that smile you have as the sun hits your face has just removed by the blunt end of a 2×4 falling out of the sky. Don’t ya just feel ALIVE? Yes, you upgraded to…

This Saturday, the end of people droning on about awesome iPhone apps ends and the start of people droning on about awesome iPad apps… begins. Yes, the iPad is here. Getting one? If you are, and your also into sketchin’ awesomeness with your nubbins, you’re gonna love this. Earlier today, I got a heads up…

Not all of us are able to build wild contraptions that strap to our backs and allow us to shoot plastic out the tips of our fingers. That’s why there are places like CloudFab who will take on the task for you. However, instead of depending on a couple three-jointed appendages for plastic forming, they’ve…

Well, would you look at that. You’ve put on the ‘nice shirt’ to start the week off and nobody has said a thing. Well, TEAR. IT. OFF. and as you do, scream VUUCH! at the top of your lungs. Sure it will get attention, but even more important, it will shred the vocal cords and…

I’m all for a good competition and if you like to guzzle pickle juice and Twinkies without twitching an eye against unforeseen odds, then there’s a competition for ya that won’t hurt near as bad at the end of the day. LG and Autodesk are huggin’ buddies and they’ve teamed up once again to let…

Can you 3D print an aircraft engine? Yes, yes you can… granted you have the inclination and enough thermoplastic to scare a small horse. Last year at Autodesk University 2009, Autodesk and Stratasys saddled up to reveal an aircraft engine created in Inventor and printed using the Fortus3D production system. I maintain that it would…

So, crack your virtual bottles against your virtual skulls. 3DVia is cranking out the goodness this week at the 2010 Games Developer’s Conference. Yes, it’s all fun and games, but just maybe a chance to add a lil’ gleam to snazzy up your product scene. Along with their new Social Game Billions, they’ve just made…

3DVia also has billions of reasons to make you excited about Mogaloos, how many you capture and how you feel about the color pink as the backdrop of the universe. This week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC 2010) in San Francisco, 3DVia is showing off 6 new games developed with 3DVia products. Among those…

Jaw. Dropping. I’m slapping myself over and over. Actually, this is the second time I’ve slapped myself to the point my jaw is hanging by a few strands. I saw a preview of the new Luxology Studio Lighting & Illumination Kit (“SLIK”) for modo at SolidWorks World last week and have been having dreams of…

It’s been nearly two weeks since I fell down a flight of stairs at the Anaheim convention center after some new features for SolidWorks 2011 were previewed at SolidWorks World, but that’s not gonna stop me from spitting up blood to tell you about them. Last week, we talked possible enhancements, but this is different.…

Why it was only a month ago that Hypershot fans around the world were up in arms about the news of Bunkspeed losing the licensing for the tech behind Hypershot to it’s creators at Luxion. We knew but one thing, Luxion would be developing and launching a new release… shortly. Well, shortly is here and…

Prepare to be smote with a clever play on words… nevermind, cause the headline already gave it away and saying it again would be so LAME. There are only 7 other things that are more requested that the option to Dangle Children. My babies!!!!!! You may have seen them from some of the coverage of…

I seriously do not know where to start after my eyeballs have been water-boarded with sweet, nerd-core tech that was the SolidWorks World Day 1, General Session. With it being the single best session I can remember out of all I’ve been to, there’s plenty to talk about. However, the big news is this… SolidWorks…

I’m so close to SolidWorks World 2010, I can almost smell the enormous influx of SolidWorks geekery blanketing the So Cal city of Anaheim over the next week. This is going to be my 4th SolidWorks World, with an unexplainable gap between thoroughly enjoying the very first SWW out in Palm Springs and the last…

SolidWorks World 2010 is over… I jest, it actually hasn’t started, but a week from now at this time, it will be over and I, along with many others, will be dragging blistered feet from an Anaheim, California hotel bed to shed the light we gleaned from SolidWorks World on our friends, family and supermarket…

Well, I’m about the only one who hasn’t weighed in on the deep, molten pool of plasticy ramifications seeping out of the HP + Stratasys 3D printer deal which happened last week. For good reason too. I’ve been busy running back and forth along the fence in my backyard, pelting the neighbors dog with polycarbonate…

There is certainly no shortage of 3D print or photocopy news the past couple weeks. Now Solido3d is causing a stir. A big stir. Next week, in conjunction with the SolidWorks World 2010 event, they’ll hold a press release announcing new pricing on the SD300 Pro, the only desktop Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) printer that…

I almost feel dirty just talking about 2D. Dirty, dirty, dirty. However, there’s another dimension to this multi-colored mix of Autodesk aggregation. It’s online. As in completely web-based, but it goes beyond that, which is where it gets really interesting. The interwebular AutoCAD environment is wrapped in a social sauce giving you abilities to share,…

I’d tell you all to stand up simultaneously and start slapping each other while screaming and going into a frenzied panic, but that would be putting it mildly. What you should do is slap each other, scream, and start pulling the cords violently from the wall socket and flicking the light switches off and on……

Slowly step away from the cheese spread and permanent markers. You no longer need to dowse your sorrows with imitation milk products to add color to your 3D prints. If you know Shapeways, you know they keep excreting multiple ways to create 3D printed products. Now they’re adding a new machine to the mix that…

This just outta the Develop3D crew. Oh, and you may want to grab hold of your spastic colon. If you’ve bought the ever so easy-to-use HyperShot rendering program from Bunkspeed in the past, as of this January 1st, the program (as it were) will no longer exist. I’m not even going to repeat all the…

I’m insanely jealous right now, or maybe it’s inspiration shrouded in jealousy, or maybe it’s Jamie Thomas judo kicking my face as he launches down a double-set. Develop 3D has an inside look at the Comvert’s Bastard Bowl, a skatepark built inside their new office space renovation of a 1940’s era theatre. That fact alone…

It’s finally over. We can take off the gas masks, stuff the confetti back in our shirts and look forward to a new year of sweet product design, cool technology, SolidWorks and other cad-related goodness. Not that we didn’t have some great fun with some great topics over the past year. In fact, a tiny…

Plan on a set of stylish stereoscopic 3D glasses becoming permanently attached to your noggin for the next few years. You’ll have to slip them on for such things as movies, video games, doing the dishes perhaps, oh… and conference keynotes. Why? A guy who just spent years producing a movie costing $300+ million, which…