Architosh Talks to Dr. Biplab Sarkar About Parasolid

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BS: Yes, but they use Parasolid too for compatibility. ACIS is used in many applications, and many lower end applications, but if you look at SolidWorks, which is owned by Dassault, they own Spatial the makers of ACIS, but they license Parasolid for SolidWorks.

AFR: What are the three main strengths that Parasolid gives Vectorworks 2009?

BS: Performance. Stability. Consistency.

AFR: Okay, I understand the first two, what do you mean by consistency?

BS: I mean consistency of results. For example, with some kernels if you are many levels deep into the manipulation of a solid, and then you perform a range of offsets you may get differing results.

AFR: This is what is referred to as “robustness”?

BS: Yes. Parasolid is the most robust, industrial strength modeling kernel in the world. And Vectorworks 2009 is now powered by this.

AFR: You could now go out and compete with SolidWorks and even Siemen’s own SolidEdge and offer the world the first mid-level, industrial MCAD product. Will you do that?

BS: With Parasolid powering Vectorworks we could. Whether we do that I don’t know.

AFR: What about advanced architectural modeling? Will you take Vectorworks and make it compete against those advanced architectural modelers where the cutting edge is taking place, like formZ and in particular Rhino?

BS: Yes.

AFR: There are over 700 underlying geometry functions in the Parasolid kernel. What are you goals going forward to tap this vast array of power?

BS: Our first goal is to get all the architectural modeling components in Vectorworks based on Parasolid.

AFR: What percentage of 3D components or elements today with Vectorworks 2009 are Parasolid-based and what are they?

BS: At least 40 percent. Walls, floors and all miscellaneous 3d objects are all Parasolid-derived objects. Roofs, doors and window objects and some other architectural objects are not yet Parasolid-derived. So our first goal going forward from today is to get 100 percent of architectural 3D objects based on Parasolid.

AFR: What is your next goal?

BS: To start tapping those hundreds of advanced modeling features available from the Parasolid kernel.

AFR: What about “parmetrics”?

BS: That too is a part of our next top goals. And we have licensed Siemens’ D-Cubed software tools and are working on implementing advanced parametrics in the next version of Vectorworks after version 2009.

AFR: Are the D-Cubed tools Mac-compatible today?

BS: Yes.

AFR: Does the Siemens “Synchronous Technology” come with the Parasolid kernel or is that an overlay of technology proprietary to Siemens?