Mac 3D News: Spatial Corporation ships ACIS R25 geometry modeling kernel

Spatial Corporation, one of the world’s leading geometry modeling kernel (API) technology providers has recently announced its latest 3D ACIS Modeler and 3D InterOp technology solutions. The ACIS Modeler is a geometry modeling kernel (engine) used by independent software developers (ISVs) in the engineering, manufacturing and 3D and CAD markets. Many of the leading 3D and CAD solutions in the Macintosh market rely on ACIS Modeler.

Spatial’s integrated portfolio of 3D solutions allows customers to become more competitive by providing the most advanced 3D capabilities for 3D application development. The functionality and features in this latest release will enable customers to reach new markets, such as automotive and construction. This release also continues to meet Spatial’s objective of making 3D models more intelligent by including increased PMI capabilities, advanced feature detection,  and support for Model-Based Engineering (MBE) / Model-Based Definition (MBD).

“Leveraging Spatial’s data reuse capabilities in their R25 release enables us to integrate our applications more easily into our existing workflows with very little disruption and high reliability. For our end users, problems in the workflow have an associated cost and are typically viewed as problems in their application. Functionality in Spatial’s R25 release prevents our users from ever seeing problems by automatically cleaning and repairing the CAD model during the import process,” stated Carl Olsen, lead software engineer for OMAX Corporation. “By providing a solution to our customers that saves them significant time and money, we enable them to stay ahead of the competitive curve and focus their time on innovation.”

01 – Spatial Corporation’s 3D ACIS has hidden line removal (HLR) features, useful to BIM and AEC/MCAD industries, among other features.

“At Spatial, we partner with our customers and provide them with easy-to-use components that handle the underlying complexity of 3D modeling, allowing them to focus on their unique innovations,” explained Vivekan Iyengar, vice president of research and development for Spatial. “These latest enhancements to 3D ACIS Modeler and 3D InterOp provide even more features that will enable our customers to expand into new markets with increasingly innovative solutions.”

Spatial’s integrated portfolio of 3D components and accompanying services for software developers is the backbone of industry leading companies that provide 3D solutions from desktops to tablets. For example, ISVs who develop solutions around 3D models for industries such as AEC/BIM, CAE, CAM and EDA seek 3D software components to enable increased innovation.Machine Tool Manufacturers are seeking better ways to serve their customers with software that is cost effective, easy-to-use, and takes advantage of the nuances of their machines

Feature Improvements to 3D ACIS Modeler

Providing a foundation of high-quality 3D components, Spatial’s 3D ACIS Modeler accelerates application delivery time by simplifying development efforts, thereby saving software development time. The latest version of 3D ACIS Modeler includes the following enhancements:

• New Boolean features that simplify manufacturing workflows
• Easy handling of non-exact geometry, allowing more intelligent, effective re-use of geometry, which saves times and allows designers and engineers to focus on innovation
• New functionality for feature recognition enabling designers to edit feature level geometry without the need to  edit the model history to be used for visualization, analysis and simulation. This capacity was specifically designed for the EDA market and the modeling of printed circuit boards where the features can easily be in the thousands

3D InterOp for Data Reuse

Spatial’s 3D InterOp provides the ability to selectively import product structure, graphics data, geometry and PMI from a variety of leading CAD and neutral formats, allowing improved competitive differentiation, faster time-to-revenue, and greater quality for application development. Enhancements to the latest version of 3D InterOp include the following:

•  Support for additional 3D data formats (DXF, DWG, STL, and those commonly used by the automative market), allowing Spatial’s customers to reach into new markets and industries
• Expanded PMI capabilities—both graphic and semantic, allowing Spatial’s customers to provide capabilities to support MBE/MBD initiatives.

R25 enhancements to both components will take full advantage of the performance capabilities of any underlying hardware the end user is using.  Software developers will be able to take advantage of these “out of the box” capabilities, such as multi-thread and multi-processing, without special programming.

Architosh Analysis

One of the mainstays in the Mac CAD/3D market that relies on ACIS is Autodessys Inc.’s legendary formZ and sister app bonsai 3d. There are many others out in the market as well. These updates for ACIS bode well for all ACIS customers, not just those serving the Mac platform. Over the years the geometry modeling market has become increasingly competitive with newer options. Mac software developers can choose between everything including Parasolid, ACIS, HOOPs, and several other API kits for geometry modeling.

About Spatial

Spatial Corp., a Dassault Systèmes subsidiary, is the leading provider of 3D development software components for technical applications across a broad range of industries. Spatial 3D modeling, 3D visualization, and CAD translation software components help application developers deliver market-leading products, maintain focus on core competencies, and reduce time-to-market. For over 25 years, spatial 3D components have been adopted by many of the world’s most recognized software developers, manufacturers, research institutes, and universities. Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Spatial has offices in the USA, Germany, Japan, China and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit: www.spatial.com.