Searching for Clues About the 3D Experience

I recently attended 3DEXPERIENCE World (3DXW for short) 2020 (formerly Solidworks World) in Nashville, TN. I think it was either my 19^th or 20^th trip to this CAD rodeo. It was an especially noteworthy event this year due to its rebranding and I was really curious to see how it would be presented by Dassault Systemes, on the one hand, and received by attendees/customers on the other.

The overall format of the conference and general sessions has evolved over the past few years, but that’s to be expected as everything in the design software world has evolved.

More than anything, I came to Nashville looking for what the 3DEXPERIENCE with regard to Solidworks was all about at a rebranded event that had been an exclusively Solidworks event for a long time, and one that never disappointed.

When asked about this year’s attendance at 3DXW, Solidworks declined to provide a number, but based on previous years, there were noticeably fewer attendees this year. Overall the attendees were at not quite as rabid (in a good way) as in years past, and relatively subdued, but nonetheless, cautiously optimistic about the future.

It seems as though by an increasing number of companies (including Dassault) have forsaken technologies, products and apps in favor of platforms that tend to further muddle the picture of exactly how they’re structured, what they do, what they cost, and unique benefits that couldn’t be provided by previous bits and pieces.

What is the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform?

Simply put, the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform (which has been around for a few years) provides access to Solidworks’ portfolio that works together with the platform. It serves as a hub that can be tailored to meet specific product development needs. Teams create dashboards and communities, aggregate and share data, review and iterate designs.

With the platform, Dassault Systemes makes the technologies and capabilities accessible in the same environment, whether on premise or in the cloud. For example, if you’re a SOLIDWORKS desktop user, you can push updates of your models to the platform instead of switching to product data management software and other messaging tools to ensure your changes don’t get lost. If you’re concerned about the resources needed to set up and maintain on-premise software and infrastructure, you would probably want to choose the cloud.

Aaron Kelly, explaining 3DEXPERIENCE Works in a general session at 3D Experience World 2020

The platform portfolio includes:

• Parametric Modeling for creating 3D conceptual and detailed designs and editing them in Solidworks
• Subdivision (Sub-D) Modeling for designing 3D organic shapes and editing them in Solidworks
• Data and Product Lifecycle Management for managing product designs and documents without leaving Solidworks; performing lifecycle operations; navigating product structures; and managing tasks and projects
• Advanced Simulation for assessing structural integrity with Finite Element Analysis-based simulation technology directly accessed from Solidworks Simulation.

So whatever your specific role (and roles are key to making this all work) or workflow needs, the platform theoretically provides the tools and the environment you need to create and manage a product throughout its lifecycle, and that isn’t confined to modeling and manufacturing, but also ensuring regulatory compliance or managing how you engage with customers. In the end, 3D Experience is intended to be more than design and engineering; it’s being positioned as more of a business platform.

3DEXPERIENCE Works

3DEXPERIENCE Works is the product portfolio that combines Solidworks with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. With 3DEXPERIENCE Works, teams have capabilities for design (SolidWorks), simulation (SIMULIAWORKS), manufacturing (DELMIAWORKS) and product data and lifecycle management (ENOVIAWORKS).

3DEXPERIENCE Works combines social collaboration with design, simulation and manufacturing ERP capabilities in a single digital environment.

3D Experience Works Components on the 3D Experience Platform

Dassault Systèmes initially created 3DEXPERIENCE Works following its acquisition of IQMS, whose manufacturing ERP portfolio of software applications for mid-market manufacturers was rebranded as DELMIAWORKS.

DELMIAWORKS ERP is a data management technology for manufacturing companies. Engineering, finance, sales, purchasing, logistics, and manufacturing teams all work within DELMIAWORKS ERP.

The new offers – Standard, Professional and Premium – feature Solidworks standard, professional and premium applications that are installed from, licensed from, and updated in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, with data stored in it.  With this connection, Solidworks customers use the same desktop applications for design and engineering while benefiting from the digital platform:  improved collaboration, embedded data management, automatic software updates, and access to the latest project data.

The scalable Solidworks offers also include 3D Creator and 3D Sculptor – new design applications that run in a browser and let users extend and improve what they can do with Solidworks by selecting from dozens of other powerful 3DEXPERIENCE Works applications and use only the ones they need for their tasks. This is where things get a bit muddled with regard to cost, something that won’t be announced until sometime this summer. During the conference, Solidworks’ CEO, Gian Pallo Bassi said repeatedly, “Use just what you need and pay for what you use.” Again, details on exactly what this means will be coming later this year.

Whatever Happened to xDesign and xShape?

At last year’s conference, xDesign and xShape were bandied as the way to the future, but seemed to drop off of the radar soon thereafter. During this year’s 3DXW attendees were assured that the xDesign app is very much alive and well. It is, in fact, part of 3D Creator, a role on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Roles are collections of apps specific to a function. While 3D Creator contains only the xDesign app, the company envisions that it will include multiple apps that will provide new capabilities to help design in the cloud.

I wanted to know what 3D Creator is and how it relates to xDesign. Has DS abandoned xDesign, have they simply changed its name, or have we introduced yet another solution and if so, how are the two solutions different? And beyond this, what is going on with the design portfolio on the 3D Experience platform?

xDesign as the key app in the 3D Creator role features a few key capabilities that make it the logical evolution from and extension to Solidworks.

3D Creator

3D Creator (xDesign) is a browser-based 3D modeler for creating, reviewing, and evaluating 3D models through parametric modeling capabilities. Built on the cloud-based Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D Creator complements Solidworks with flexible design workflows and interchange of design data.

There is no need to define parts, multi-body parts or assemblies – you can create all of these. This is because 3D Creator provides a single modeling environment, meaning you can start a sketch, extrude it and it becomes a body. You can add an additional body in the same environment or convert it to a component, add another one in and mate them together.

Design Guidance helps by suggesting where to place material based on loads and fixtures rather than having to rely on experience or guesswork. You can use the capability for new designs or optimizing existing ones.

Another unique set of capabilities in 3D Creator is the way features are interchangeable. For example, if you start with an Extrude but later you realize that a Revolve or a Sweep may have given you better edit-ability, you can simply change it. This makes parametric modeling easier while enabling much greater flexibility when it comes to editing, particularly when making major changes.

For example, you have a part that requires a groove for an O-ring. Maybe it makes the most sense to sketch the profile of the O-ring and revolve it around a reference. Then, the design changes and you now need a rectangular rubber seal, rather than the standard O-ring. 3D Creator lets you change a Revolve to a Sweep or an Extrude.

Since 3D Creator runs in a browser on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, you can leverage the many capabilities available on the platform, such as data management, simulation, project management, product lifecycle management, etc. You can share data, develop ideas and collect feedback through dashboards and communities, as well as use the design data in other parts on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform or in Solidworks.

3D Creator capabilities include:

• Model parametric solids and surfaces to convey conceptual design and detailed parts and assemblies with Solidworks xDesign included within 3D Creator.
• Optimize and evolve existing designs with a generative design approach.
• Understand structural requirements such as support loads and constraints before creating geometry through an easy exploration of optimal material with Design Guidance.
• Iterate and change design intent without the rework associated with typical parametric modeling tools.
• Eliminate the need to plan your assembly structure up front. Make model changes at any time in a single modeling environment for parts and assemblies.

3D Sculptor

3D Sculptor (xShape) is a browser-based 3D subdivision modeler that enables industrial designers, engineers and artists to create stylized ergonomically or organically shaped models faster and more easily than traditional parametric tools.

Built on the cloud-based Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D Sculptor complements the parametric workflows of Solidworks with subdivision modeling and interchange of design data.

3D Sculptor capabilities include:

• Push-pull interaction for creating complex surfaces quickly using intuitive push-pull interaction
• Sketch Guides that use images and sketches as a guide to create 3D surface geometry.
• Surfaces to NURBS conversion automatically converts subdivision surfaces to NURBS (Non-uniform rotational b-spline) geometry when finished.
• Modeling environments for switching between conceptual modeling and detailed modeling environments and eliminate the need for rework.
• Flexible development cycle for making changes to the product shape at any point in the development cycle without the need to re-model. Changes propagate to parts, assemblies, drawings, mold tooling and CAM data.
• Eliminate the need to plan your assembly structure up front. Make model changes at any time in a single modeling environment for parts and assemblies.

As an example, 3D Sculptor is a browser-based 3D subdivision modeling solution, complements Solidworks and enables industrial designers and engineers to create organically shaped models faster than with traditional parametric tools. 3D Creator can model parametric solids and surfaces on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to convey conceptual design and detailed parts and assemblies.

Built on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, both 3D Sculptor and 3D Creator connect with Solidworks and each other.

So, after the big event, exactly what is the 3DEXPERIENCE? I, along with several of my peers, are still searching for clues. However, I am hopeful that these clues will reveal themselves more clearly and completely over the course of the next several months.

Next year’s 3DEXPERIENCE World will again be held in Nashville, TN, February 7-10, 2021.

Weigh in on your experience at this year’s 3DXW and your opinion of of 3DEXPERIENCE Works by emailing me or texting/calling me at 719-221-1867.

Disclosure: Dassault Systemes provided conference registration, accommodations, and some meals.

Editor’s Note: Be sure to check out the video interviews we recorded at 3DXW 2020 with exhibiting partners and some Dassault/Solidworks folks.

Tags: 3D Creator, 3D Experience Works, 3D Experience World, 3D Sculptor, Dassault Systemes, SolidWorks

Category: Events

This entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2020 at 11:57. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.