Rendering has entered the mainstream of the product development process with this capability being part of many CAD applications. However, there is still plenty of room for specialized products that optimize rendering and take it to a higher level. One of our favorites is Keyshot from Luxion, who just announced KeyShot 4, the next generation of its rendering and animation package.
Luxion continues to develop its rendering technology to bring speed and improvements to KeyShot, making it an integral part of the product development process, from concept through sales and marketing.
KeyShot 4 adds new approaches to features and improved rendering enhancements that make KeyShot an accurate 3D rendering animation system for the product visual workflow.
The new “Live Linking'”capability lets Creo, SolidWorks, and Rhinoceros users maintain all part and feature updates made to their models without having to redo any of their work inside KeyShot. This capability requires a separate plugin that is available free of charge from the KeyShot website.
Keyshot 4 introduces a new method for applying physical lights, with the ability to turn any object in the scene into a point, area, or light source. Improved import options give you more flexibility when importing 3D geometry and the ability to work with the actual units of CAD software.
Check out the Keyshot 4 overview video presentation:
More material options come courtesy of a new partnership with Mold-tech, introducing accurate representations of Mold-Tech textures.
Improved algorithms provide more realism for subsurface light scattering within translucent materials.
KeyShot Pro users now have the ability to apply render layers to objects and create Model or View Sets to explore different configurations of product appearances, camera views, and environments. Pro users will also experience enhanced HDR editing capability with dynamic environment highlighting and options to tilt and blur HDRI’s. The KeyShot user interface now has the ability to dock project, library, and animation windows. Optionally, models can now be viewed in full stereoscopic 3D on supported 3D monitors.
Increased control over the model and environment is provided with the ability to apply rounded edges to sharp corners, multi-select objects in the real-time window and create ground planes.
Speeding the time it takes to add detail to 3D geometry and reducing the files size of imported models has been addressed with the new Rounded edge feature. With this option, you can apply a small radius to sharp edges creating a more realistic look. This option is a a visual enhancement to the rendered graphics without increasing file size or render times.
KeyShot 4 pricing starts at $995. As with previous versions, animation capabilities can be added to KeyShot 4 for $500 and interactive KeyShotVR capabilities can be added for $1000.
We have watched Keyshot evolve and mature as one of the best rendering packages in the marketplace, regardless of price, and Keyshot 4 continues this positive evolution.
For almost 100 years, Aston Martin has been an icon of automotive speed and sophistication, winning the most distinctive races in the world throughout the 1920s (French Grand Prix), 1930s (Biennial Cup at Le Mans), and 1940s, as well as the 1950s (Le Mans 24 Hours).
But, for more than 45 years, Aston Martin stayed away from the racetrack.
In 2005, however, the company resurrected its racing heritage when it returned to the world circuit as Aston Martin Racing (AMR). That first year out, AMR’s DBR9 gained a CT1 class victory. Two years later, Aston Martin triumphed at Le Mans. Based on the Aston Martin DB9 road car, the DBR9 retains the chassis, engine block, and cylinder heads of the road car’s V12 engine. The rest of the car was re-engineered for high performance competition use. The DBR9’s bodywork is a blend of optimum aerodynamic performance and the styling of the DB9 road car.
More recently, AMR has geared up with some extra digital technology in its pocket. For a car company like Aston Martin, where prestige and precision have been part of its heritage since 1913, going digital for design and engineering was a big step forward.
After an extensive benchmarking process, AMR chose PTC Creo and PTC Windchill in 2011 for 3D CAD design of its racing vehicles and for PLM in its racecar division.
With the Creo suite, Aston Martin can start with simple sketched designs, refine them in Creo Parametric, and make them work on the track. AMR performs CFD analysis in Creo early on, and designers can make designs more aerodynamic. Instead of waiting for expensive prototypes, problematic areas are now digitally tested and corrected early in the design process using Creo.
In a three-minute video, PTC interviews Rick Simpson, Design Engineer at Aston Martin Racing. He explains the specifics of how PTC’s Creo design toolset helps them reduce lead times from design and fix design issues before going into manufacturing.
Interesting stuff from a company with a large legacy, long period away, and resurrection on the racetrack.
In early February I received some interesting information from PTC touting its plans for making some of its PLM offerings available to mobile users. At that time, PTC said:
“Mobility and mobile applications have a way of impinging on our daily lives – for better or worse – more so today than ever before. Whether it is keeping a global project moving during your time zone’s “off hours,” being able to access all the relevant data and product code while out in the field, or accessing product data on your mobile phone, there is just no denying the presence and impact of mobility.
In fact, according to IDC research, by 2014, 46% of employees will be mobile only. Which means that by 2014, vendors need to be able to supply reliable, scalable, affordable mobile applications that can support 46% demand and usage. Couple this with a workforce of young professionals who want, expect and need a modern, mobile infrastructure.
Last year we witnessed the launch of PTC’s Creo with great interest. At that time, PTC claimed Creo was a reinvention and rebranding of several of its venerable mechatronics design products that included Pro/ENGINEER and CoCreate. The launch, however, left a lot of unanswered questions. Since then, we have realized that Creo really is something evolutionary and new, and not just a repackaging of the monolithic Pro/ENGINEER, CoCreate, and ProductView lines. Functionality for Creo was pulled out of those former products as role-based apps that provide what PTC termed “any mode modeling.”
We wondered to what degree does Creo Parametric (formerly Pro/ENGINEER) possess direct modeling capabilities and to what degree does Creo Direct (formerly CoCreate) possess parametric capabilities? We discovered that there’s an extension for Creo Parametric, called the Creo Flexible Modeling Extension (FMX) that offers “direct modeling like” capabilities. This is suited for users of Creo Parametric who want to stay in that same environment and edit their model in ways similar to direct modeling. In other words, it enables users to directly edit parametric models, but with the simplicity and flexibility found in Creo Direct.
Creo Elements/Direct is exclusively designed for direct modeling. It serves as the core product development tool, supporting engineering teams in developing complete products from art-to-part using the direct modeling approach. There’s an extension called Advanced Design, that enables users to add relations and constraints to models.
Creo Parametric has what we have consider flexible modeling inside of it for a more dedicated user who needs parametrics. On the other hand, Creo Direct, which contains no parametric capabilities, is targeted at a more casual type of user.
We also wondered if, ultimately, would Creo Parametric and Creo Direct become one app? That gets back to old monolithic PTC product philosophy, and having direct and parametric modeling capabilities in one package can be a good thing. However, there are no plans for Creo Parametric and Creo Direct to become one app. They will continue to be developed as seperate apps, focused on different user roles, and modeling approaches, leveraging a common data model. In Creo 1.0, there are two 3D modes people can work in, direct modeling and parametric modeling. For parametric modeling, Creo Parametric is the app for that.
As direct modeling addresses a number of different needs, it’s available in a number of ways. As mentioned earlier, there’s an extension for Creo Parametric, called Creo Flexible Modeling Extension (FMX). This is ideal for users of Creo Parametric who want to stay in that same environment and edit their model in ways similar to direct modeling. It enables users to directly edit parametric models, but with the simplicity and flexibility found in Creo Direct.
Sometime in the near future, in MCADCafe Weekly, we hope to review and compare Creo Parametric and Direct, and their respective features and benefits.
A recent study entitled, “Trends in Concept Design,” conducted by PTC, found that the majority of respondents are recreating concept designs once the concept design is released to downstream engineering stages. For example, recreating drawings, sketches, and models that were generated during the concept phase and released to the engineering department for further development. This approach is known as throwing a design “over the transom,” not knowing how the final product will be realized as compared with the original design intent from the concept phase.
Clearly, this approach is not only inefficient, but also usually contributes to too many unexpected and undesirable results between the concept stage and the marketplace.
Fortunately, today there are tools and approaches to help manufacturers eliminate the need for data recreation, streamlining the concept design stage of product development and downstream engineering processes. Even at the concept stage, manufacturing companies are increasingly reusing existing design data instead of creating everything from scratch – a potential big time saver reusing design data that is already known to work.
At the concept stage, using a tool, such as Creo Direct, you can create regular geometry for 3D purposes. In Creo Direct, you can create and edit 3D designs through direct interaction with their geometry. You can make changes to the basic design elements at any point with little impact to the overall design process. The resulting geometry is compatible with all the Creo applications, including Creo Parametric that is used for refining designs downstream in the product development process. In fact, even 2D sketches captured with Creo Sketch are compatible with Creo Parametric.
The Creo Sketch and Creo Direct user interface is similar to that of Creo Parametric, and so supports and streamlines the design process.
Creo Parametric can share data seamlessly with other Creo apps, notably Creo Direct and Creo Simulate. This means that time is not wasted on data recreation or translation, resulting in costly errors. Users can seamlessly move between different modes of modeling and 2D and 3D design data can easily move between apps while retaining original design intent. This all provides a very high level of interoperability productivity gains throughout many product development processes between design and engineering groups.
In the end, successful product development, from the concept stage, to engineering, to production all comes down to interoperability between the various groups at various stages and the tools they use. Interoperability is vital for optimizing collaboration between groups and stages and for maximizing the potential for a product’s ultimate success.
Virtually all new product developments projects begin with a conceptual design phase. During this early stage, industrial designers and engineers rapidly explore and refine several ideas by engaging in free-flowing, collaborative brainstorming sessions. These sessions are intended to originate a wide range of potential design solutions from hand-drawn sketches, 2D drawings and layouts, 3D models, and renderings. All of these concept design methods come with inherent advantages and disadvantages. Designs coming from the sessions are considered and evaluated until a final concept design is chosen and pursued for further development – usually determined by functional, marketing, and manufacturing requirements.
During the concept phase, ideas are generated using methods ranging from rough sketches on paper or white boards to using a 3D CAD tool. A recent study entitled, “Trends in Concept Design,” conducted by PTC, discusses the different methods by which concept designs are initiated and captured. According to the survey, the largest percentage of the survey’s participants indicated that concept designs were captured electronically in the form of 3D data, however, several participants indicated that concepts were still created and shared through hand-drawn paper sketches. Regardless of how concept designs are generated, manual or digital, the vast majority of those involved with concept design have the ability to visualize and create designs in 3D. This is only natural since we all live in a 3D world.
Another reason why concept design is such a critically important phase of successful new product design is because this is usually when the majority of the total development costs are committed to developing, manufacturing, and bringing a product to market. The PTC survey found that the majority of the manufacturing cost of a typical product is committed by the end of the conceptual phase. As a result, if poor decisions made during this early phase of design, manufacturers stand to lose much of the money that was committed before production even starts. The bottom line is that a high-quality concept design model is essential for accurately determining and committing to product costs.
PTC’s Creo family of design apps is well-suited for both concept design and detailed design. Creo Sketch is a tool for capturing early concepts in the form of 2D sketches, while Creo Direct is suited for efficiently creating a high-quality 3D model that can be used for a multitude of purposes. In the Creo Direct environment, you can create and edit 3D designs through direct interaction with their geometry. You can make changes to the basic design elements at any point with little impact to the overall design process. In this design environment, the shape of a 3D model is how it appears from the outside. Additionally, the resulting geometry is compatible with all downstream Creo applications, like Creo Parametric or Creo Simulate.
So, while some manufacturers have downplayed conceptual design in the early phase of product development as an unnecessary cost, successful manufacturers have embraced concept design and have been rewarded with better overall designs and cost management up front – ultimately leading to more satisfied customers and higher profits.
