In REVIEWS

Fistfuls of Render with the New KeyShot 2.1 Release

5 Mins Read

One of my favorite things to do in the morning is bake the plastic off the CPU cores in the ol’ computer and there’s nothing like a little rendering action to make that happen. As I write this, my CPU is maxed out at 100% while KeyShot 2.1 creates some of the renderings you’ll see below.

KeyShot 2.0 (covered here) brought a new look and new features to the new KeyShot render engine ruckus that started up earlier this year. Now, as of today, KeyShot 2.1 is out and while minor releases don’t usually have a huge amount of significant upgrades, KeyShot 2.1 shows Luxion is on a night-and-day development binge that’s just not stopping… hook. me. up.

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In SMACKDOWN

Friday Smackdown: Thump Cruncher

1 Min Read

There, in the distance, then… suddenly. A ripple felt through the quaking air across everyone’s furrowed, skeptical brow. The pounders had escaped and each screeching moment that elapsed, brought them closer. Closer to these links. Ian McQue – Gunboats. That’s all you need to tell me. Airships of any style will do, especially the ones…

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In NEWS

Grip it and Rip it: AutoCAD and Inventor Publisher App for iPad and iPhone

4 Mins Read

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 cusp of an equally line-mowin’, block-explodin’ AutoCAD for Mac release. Let’s take a quick look at each and see how all your designs are being stuffed into smaller, smudge-ready touch-screens.

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In 3D CAD TECH

From Moog to Mac. Original Prototype Designs that Rock

2 Mins Read

You just know when you see massive chunks of metal and wires attached to a scrap piece of plywood, there’s got to be a story behind it… either that, or you’ve taken a wrong turn down a hillbilly back road where you’ll quickly discover everything is attached to a scrap piece of plywood.

You may have prototyped a design or two of your own, built an engine out of dried mustard and carpet, or learned multiple ways to electrocute yourself while micro-controllers and midi devices melt across your lap. Yet, it’s amazing to think that many a famous product started with a few raw materials, some scrap parts and a few accidental circumstances. Wired has featured six original designs delegated to museum display status, but designs that nonetheless bleed ingenuity. Here’s a little taste.

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In RESOURCES

How to Edit Dumb Solids from SolidWorks with KeyCreator 3D

3 Mins Read

Sometimes there are simply not enough laser beams you can shoot out your eye holes to automatically change how geometry is modeled. They should have built it this way, they should have built it that way, they should have quit and taken a job as someone who jabs lard into large buckets.

Stacking model features to work for manufacturing is, often times, difficult. There have been a few 3D product dev companies targeting this apparent lack of design competency, with the idea that anyone, from accounting to zen master of manufacturing, can make the change for engineering.

Dangerous? Well, KeyCreator is one company offering this up and dealing out the direct editing deliciousness. How do they take on dumb geometry? Sit back as “Dr. Walt” takes you on a magical journey through the process of editing a SolidWorks part in KeyCreator.

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