IRONCAD has always
been the leader in Innovative design and the first
application to bring the power of feature-history and
direct editing within a single part, delivering a clean
and simple approach to design allowing engineers to
really think in 3D and to create models dynamically on
screen without having to pre-plan and map out the
concept in advance.
Without compromising
IRONCAD's core
values,
Next Generation
provides the combination of
IRONCAD's
Innovative design environment with the more conventional
history-based structured design environment, allowing
users to choose, at an individual part level, which
process is most appropriate for the particular part they
are designing:
Innovative Design
Delivers real flexibility, allowing users to
directly manipulate the parts independent of
history and constraints while maintaining
feature design information. Essential for
conceptual modelling and for allowing user
productivity to excel.
Structured Design
Allows users to build rigid feature dependant
parts with embedded design intent, delivering
more control over future changes and delivering
predictable structure to the design.
In addition, IRONCAD
2009 "Next
Generation"
incorporates a powerful 2D design environment offering
one of the most powerful annotation tools on the market
today, embedded as a standard drafting environment. In
addition to its familiar user friendly interface,
IRONCAD's new 2D environment offers all the
functionality users have come to expect from some of the
market leading standalone 2D design tools.
IRONCAD 2009
"Next
Generation" is the
first of its kind allowing for a complete system for
users to design the way they want and need for their
particular tasks.
When planning the
release of the 2009 IRONCAD applications, we took on the
challenge of making the core
IRONCAD
application easier to work with. Taking into account
extensive usability considerations and recent
advancements in hardware and software, our team has
delivered the most significant update to the user
interface to date. The result of these efforts is the
IRONCAD Fluent
user interface, a user interface that makes it easier
for people to get more out of the
IRONCAD
application so they can deliver better results faster.
In previous releases
of IRONCAD,
people used a system of menus, toolbars, and dialog
boxes to get their work done. This system worked well
when the application had a limited number of commands or
when the users became accustomed to the layout. Now that
the program does so much more, the menus and toolbars
system may not work as well. Too many program features
are too hard for many users to find. For this reason,
the overriding design goal for the Fluent user interface
is to make it easier for people to find and use the full
range of features the application provides. In addition,
we wanted to preserve an uncluttered workspace that
reduces distraction for users so they can spend more
time and energy focused on their work. With these goals
in mind, we developed a results-oriented approach that
makes it much easier to produce great results.
The
IRONCAD Fluent
interface foundation is based on the 2007 Microsoft
Office application fluent ribbon framework making it
easier for users to understand and to get started in
IRONCAD. The
Fluent interface makes it easier to find powerful
features by replacing menus and toolbars with a Ribbon
that organizes and presents capabilities in a way that
corresponds more directly to how people work. The
streamlined screen layout and dynamic results-oriented
Galleries enable users to spend more time focused on
their work and less time trying to get the application
to do what they want it to do. Components of the Fluent
Ribbon Interface include:
Quick Start Toolbar
- The Quick Start toolbar provides a single
location for quick access to common commands
or tools. For example, commands to start new
scenes/drawings, open, save, undo/redo, and
the TriBall can be found on the Quick Start
toolbar. Users can customize this toolbar to
add additional common actions to match their
design process.
Fluent Ribbon Bar
- The Fluent Ribbon Bar provides a central
location to access commands and options that
pertain to a specific area of the design
process. For example: While working in the
2D Sketch editing mode, the Sketch Ribbon
Tab will contain all the necessary commands
and options for the sketch. This eliminates
the need to browse the entire user interface
for the necessary commands that may be
located in toolbars or menus. Options for
displaying the Ribbon Bar can be found by
right-clicking on the ribbon area. The
Ribbon Bar is made up of the following
components:
Ribbon Contextual
Tabs
-The contextual tabs at the top of the
Ribbon are broken out in the common
areas of design in
IRONCAD.
Ribbon Functional
Groups/Galleries
- Within the Ribbon Tabs, Groups or
Galleries contain common operation
functions. For Example: Direct Edit
Group/Gallery contains all the commands
for the direct face editing which is
part of the Feature Ribbon Tab.
Fluent Ribbon Interface
Streamlined Menu Button
- The Menu button is a redesign of the menu
to follow the Fluent Ribbon interface
layout. The redesign allows for the ability
to group many of the common actions in a
single menu item making it easier to access
the necessary commands for the desired
action.
Fluent Menu Button Interface
The Fluent Ribbon
interface also supports the ability to enable individual
toolbars for power users to customize the most
productive user interface for their needs. Since this is
the first release of the Fluent interface in
IRONCAD, we
provide the ability to return to the toolbar interface
with a simple command switch by right-clicking in the
ribbon interface area.
Updated Toolbar and
Scene Browser Icons
In addition to the
Fluent Ribbon user interface improvements, icons inside
of the application have been update to a consistent
theme with improved visibility and meaning. Command
icons have been improved to help users navigate to the
correct commands for the desired function. The Scene
Browser icons have been updated to reflect the command
actions in addition to providing a clean environment for
navigating the structure of the scene.
Command Ribbon Bar
improvements
Many of the command
ribbons for displaying the relevant information for a
specific command have been updated to provide a more
flexible and powerful environment. The new command
ribbons provide the user the ability to view the
selections made during the command and allows for change
in the selections. The command ribbons are also
contextual in that they will disable functions and
options not available based on the current selection.
Innovative/Structured Part Design Creation Options
IRONCAD 2009
"Next Generation" provides the ability to design
different types of parts in a single modelling
environment to fit the needs of the designer and the
task at hand. Each part design types have unique
behaviours that benefit different aspects of design as
follows:
Innovative Part Design
- Innovative Part Design allows users to
build a non-restrictive history of features
that make up the design aspects of the part.
Although it has a history of features, the
system allows the user the ability to
dynamically change the history order without
inverse effects of feature dependency rules
and restrictions. SmartUpdate technology
within Innovative Part Design aids the users
by intelligently managing the feature
history giving predictable results when
changes are made by the user. Innovative
Part Design also provides a level of
flexibility by allowing the user to refer to
geometry elements regardless of the history
order in which the geometry appears. This
flexibility allows the user to work as if
they were working with a physical object in
their hands eliminating rules implied by the
system.
Since the Innovative Part Design supports
features, users are able to add specific
design rules to create parametric design
intent. The advantage in this approach is to
apply intent when needed allowing the user
to place only the critical design intent
during their design process without the need
of system applied rules that may not apply
to their design task.
In addition to the non-restrictive history
based capabilities, users are able to
directly edit the geometry regardless of the
underlying definition of the feature. This
capability allows the user to work on
imported data containing no feature
information directly as well as the
Innovative Parts with feature information.
Unlike other direct geometry systems,
IRONCAD
will maintain the feature design information
that is not effected by the direct geometry
modification, creating the only application
that can truly support a mixed feature
environment.
Structured Part Design
- Structured Part Design is a history-based
structure of features that build the design
following a intended design order determined
by the user. This part design allows the
user to define a rigid sequence to their
design that can be predictably changed based
on the intent provided by the user. During
the design process, users can "rollback" to
any stage of the design to edit the feature
definition at the stage in which the feature
was created. After this modification, the
remaining features will update accordingly
to the changes applied.
Structured Part Design also provides a
powerful multiple body capability to aid the
user in designing the part that could be
made up of 2D Sketches, features, 3D curves,
and surface features. Using command tools
such as Boolean, users can combine the
multiple bodies as a feature operation event
which allows the user to fully edit the
underlying definition at any stage to alter
the design.
In addition to the feature-based design,
users can apply direct modelling edits which
can be additional feature of the design or
they can convert the design into an
Innovative Part Design to have additional
flexibility in modifying the design
regardless of the feature order.
IRONCAD
provides the ability to create a new scene environment
that can contain a mixture of parts resulting from
different design types. There are two different methods
to determine which part type to create:
Status Bar Part Design
Toggle -
Located on the status bar, users can
designate the part type that will be created
when creating new features through drag &
drop from catalogs or when starting new
features/sketches. This approach is used
primarily when designing in a bottom-up
design manner to build the parts and
assemblies of the design.
Part Toggle Type
Create Part Command
- Located on the Assembly Ribbon Tab, users
can select to create an empty part into the
scene environment in which the part type is
determined by the current status bar part
type setting. This command is useful in
creating a top-down assembly structure. It
allows the user to build the entire
structure from the start, then complete the
design information for the parts at a later
stage.
Create Part Command
Structure Part
Design - Multiple Body support
Structured Part Design
supports the ability to create multiple bodies of
features, curves, and surfaces under a single part that
can maintain reference associations amongst each body
and can be used downstream to combine and build the
final solid model. This capability gives the user the
ability to create features under a single part that can
refer to other feature information (for parametric
relations) and allows the full editing of the definition
of the feature after operations such as Boolean and trim
are performed. For example, users may create surfaces
under a structured part that are related to the base
geometry definition. After the surface is created, they
may use a trimming operation to remove material from the
solid geometry. If the base geometry is modified, the
surface and resulting trimming operations will
automatically update to maintain the design intent.
Multiple bodies under a single part is a convenient way
to represent an intermediate stage in the part design.
Structured Part
Design - Feature Behaviour Rules
Structured Part Design
is designed to take advantage of many
Innovative Part
Design concepts like
handles, catalog drag & drop, and TriBall positioning.
However, certain rules are applied as follows:
TriBall Feature
behaviour
- The TriBall positioning tool can be used
to position features that do not have any
association references applied to the
feature sketch. This allows for quick
positioning of non-associated features. Once
a feature's sketch contains either
positional sketch placement references or
constraints to 3D elements, the TriBall
positioning will become inactive. In
Structured Part Design,
design intent and references are applied to
maintain consistent updates and changes in
the design. Once this design information is
applied, the free-form position capabilities
are not valid.
Feature Linking
- Linked feature support is not valid in the
Structured Part Design.
The
Innovative Part Design
linked feature concept allows the user to
place related copies of the features in
various locations on the part. However, this
concept is not valid for a rigid structure
where the user will need to define intent
for the placement of the features so that
modifications can consistently maintain when
they are made. This is the current behaviour ,
however we are always investigating ways to
improve productivity in the future.
IntelliShape Handles
- IntelliShape handles continue to be part
of the
IRONCAD flexibility in
Structured Part Design
for catalog based
features. However, sketch based features
will only support "Profile" handle editing
(no access to sizebox handles).
Catalog Drag & Drop
- Catalog Drag & Drop functionality is still
valid in the
Structured Part Design.
Users can continue to drag & drop features
to and from the catalog.
Anchor behaviour
- Anchors are created within the
Structured Part Design,
however the "Attach to Surface"
behaviour is
not supported. The "Attach to Surface"
behaviour is a temporary constraint
behaviour
that is powerful in the
Innovative Part Design,
but is not a valid constraint method for the
Structured Part Design.
The "Attach to Surface" behaviour however can
be achieved through feature profile
associations.
Structured Part
Design - Reference Association Rules
Structured Part Design
is based on a rigid ordered history structure to enable
an ordered design intent in the design. This design
concept implies that reference associations in the
features can only apply to geometry/features that are
recorded prior to the feature being edited. Reference
associations cannot refer to geometry that is created
after the feature in the structure and cannot refer to
elements outside of the part (this is a planned
enhancement to support in a future version). This design
rule makes it easy to enable predictable and
understandable design intent into the feature design and
updating process. Warning messages will appear when a
reference association has been lost due to changes to
the design to help rebuild the model to the desired
intent.
Structured Part
Design - Feature Rollback Support
Structured Part Design
is based on a rigid history structure order which
provides the ability to rollback to any given stage of
the design. For example, the user can roll-back to a
previous state of the design and insert additional
features or make modifications at that stage of the
design. In addition to this manual flexibility, the
system will automatically rollback when the used edits
the feature definition to provide users with a clear
understanding of the design state when the feature was
created and providing a clear understanding of the
elements available at that stage to reference.
Active Part Design
Mode
A new option is
available to set a part as the active part in the scene
environment. When enabled on a part, all command actions
will apply to the selected part and all other parts in
the scene will dim as transparent and become reference
parts. This allows the user to create new features in
the scene environment applied to the active part at any
location (even selecting an existing part). Also, this
allows the user to select and refer to other parts in
the environment without editing or modifying the
non-active parts. To enable a part as active, users can
right-click on the part to enable the option. Also,
users can set the default behaviour for parts when using
the create part command to be active, non-active, or
prompt.
This capability is
most useful in
Structured Part Design
when creating elements like surfaces, sketches, and 3D
Curve in which you wish to apply as features or
additional bodies of the part (instead of new parts).
Edit Feature
Options Support
New capabilities
have been added to allow the user the ability to edit
the feature definition options for features such as
Extrude, Spin, Sweep, and Loft. Users can edit the
options to change the sketch used in the operation and
other definitions like the extrusion type and settings.
This capability is useful when incorrect settings were
initially selected or if design intent changes occur to
the original definition of the feature.
Structured Part
Design - Datum Features (Plane, Axis, and Point)
Within the
Structured Part
Design, users can
create reference objects such as datum plane, datum
axis, and datum point objects. These datum objects are
fully associative to the objects that they are
referencing during the creation providing the ability to
maintain update associations when geometry changes. In
addition, features that refer to these datum objects
will be fully associative and will update when the datum
references change. These datum objects can be used to
aid in defining and maintaining positional locations for
features in your design. Examples of when these datum
references may be used include:
Planes
are used in lofts and sweeps.
Planes
can be used to create offset references for
sketches and 3D curves.
An axis
is used in a circular pattern.
Points
to define 3D Curves or positing of sketch
planes.
Note: Only available in
Structured
Part Design
Structured Part
Design - Delete Body command
Since the
Structured Part
Design supports the
ability to create multiple solid, surface, and curve
bodies under the part, users may need the ability to
delete a body. For Example: A user may create a surface
body that is referring to the solid feature definition.
Then another feature may be created that refers to that
created surface using a command like Extrude to Surface
(to shape the extruded feature result). At this point,
the surface body is not needed to be visible since the
user only wants to use the surface to shape the solid
extrude feature. The Delete Feature will allow the user
to remove the body (surface in this case) as another
feature in the history order so that all the references
are maintained but the body is not displayed.
Note: Only available in
Structured
Part Design
Structured Part
Design - Move Face Feature command
During the
Structured Part
Design process, it may
become necessary to directly move a face of the geometry
which may not be possible by editing the underlying
feature definition. The Move Face command allows the
user to translate and rotate a face using input vectors
or by using the TriBall in a Free Move. Unlike the
Innovative
Part Design Direct Face
Move Command, the Move Face under
Structured Part
Design will become a
feature in the history order. This is beneficial in that
you can update the original feature data and the Move
Face feature will replay and update accordingly to
maintain the design intent used to make the move face
operation.
Note: Only available in
Structured
Part Design
Pattern Feature
Command
Creating patterns of
features is a common task in design.
IRONCAD offers
two different types of patterns, each providing a unique
value.
TriBall Pattern
- The existing TriBall pattern is a quick
method to create a parametric pattern using
the positioning power of the TriBall. This
pattern only controls the number, distance,
and location and is using the feature
linking capability. It supports linear,
circular, and bilinear patterns, however it
is only a single feature pattern (no support
for pattern of pattern).
Note:
Only available in
Innovative Part Design.
Pattern Feature Command
- A new pattern feature command has been
added which provides performance
improvements, direction reference relations,
pattern of pattern, supports
blend/chamfer/draft in the pattern result,
and supports the feature extrude to
operations (For Example - Extrude to Surface
can be maintained in the patterned
features). The new pattern is an editable
feature that allows the user to refer to
edge/vectors to define the direction, axis,
or path in Linear, Bilinear, circular, or
edge path patterns. The reference is
maintained when the geometry is modified in
which the pattern will update to reflect the
change in the reference modification. The
pattern is based on a new algorithm that
provides fast updates when the geometry is
modified and benefits users with many
feature patterns.
Scale Feature
Command
A new command is
available to scale the part while creating an editable
scale feature. This scale feature applies a scaling
factor to part containing all the features prior to the
scale feature in the structure. Users can apply a
uniform scale or scale about a defined axis.
Mirror Feature
Command
A new command
feature has been added to mirror feature geometry using
a reference plane/face. The mirror feature command
allows the user to define a reference plane and the
features to mirror about the reference plane. Changes to
the reference plane location or features will update the
mirror feature to maintain the design intent. This
feature is different from the TriBall mirror in that the
reference plane is maintained and can be updated/edited.
Copy Body command
The Copy Body
command allows the user to select parts or bodies from
other parts and copy them as a single b-rep feature into
the active part structure. This is useful in when you
need to reuse data from other parts or you need to copy
only a portion of an assembly into the current active
part. The copy body is a copy of the original part/body
and is currently not a linked reference.
Ruled Surface
Normal to Surface Creation
The Ruled Surface
has been improved to support a new type called Normal to
Surface. Users can select a 3D Curve/Edge and a surface
to define a ruled surface that is normal to the selected
surface at a distance. In
Innovative Part Design,
the resulting geometry is a non-editable surface
feature. In
Structured Part Design,
the feature definition can be modified to change the
selected references.
Structure Part
Design - 3D Curve/Surface Reference Associations
3D Curves and
Surfaces have a distinct advantage when created within
the
Structured Part Design.
3D Curves can be created by referring to points of 3D
elements of the part. When the part is modified, where
these elements change or re-position, the 3D Curve will
automatically update to the change. In addition, a 3D
Curve created from a geometry edge, will update its
geometry when the geometry edge is modified. Surfaces
inherit the same capability in that it will update if
the surface uses these 3D Curves that refer to these
geometry elements. They can also refer directly to the
geometry elements as well and can update when these
elements change. This capability provides a powerful
method of driving curves and surfaces within the
Structured Part
Design.
Note: Only available in
Structured
Part Design
Rebuild/Regeneration Failure Notifications
A
Rebuild/Regeneration failure notification mechanism has
been added to help resolve failures in the feature
definition. Users will be provided with options during
these failures such as edit the feature (s) that are
failed and ignore and continue the process. This is
helpful in defining and locating the failure areas as
well as providing a method to correct the issue at the
time of the failure. An example for this could be a
failure in a sketch where a sketch curve is projected
from a 3D element that no longer exists or has changed
its type.
Face/Edge/Vertex
Selection List Capability
During commands that
require selection of a Face/Edge/Vertex and in the
general environment, users can "Ctrl-Alt - Left-Click"
to access a selection list of faces, edges, and vertices
based on the current location. This allows the ability
to select entities that may be behind the current
geometry in the viewing direction. Commands that support
this capability include Blend, Chamfer, Shell, Draft,
Pattern Feature, Mirror Feature, Move Face Feature, and
other commands that require this selection level. Users
can also access this capability to select faces, edges,
and vertices in the scene prior to starting commands.
Within the new
Fluent Ribbon user interface improvements, users will
find the Sketch Ribbon Tab that contains all the
necessary functions for creating/editing the 2D sketch.
This tab is automatically invoked when entering the
sketch editing mode and provides a central location for
the user to work in the sketch. In addition, the
previous complete/cancel dialog has been removed and
located in the Ribbon Tab to avoid disrupting the user
interface or causing clutter in the scene environment.
Sketch Placement
Advance Options
Additional advance
options have been added to the 2D sketch placement
property browser to control the placement and selection
references. Users can view and modify the selected
reference when placing the 2D Sketch by using the
"Selected Geometry" edit control which allows the user
to view, delete and clear selection (used in placement
options like 3-point, parallel to face at point, etc).
"Advance Options" allow the user to define the origin
point location and X-direction and maintain this
reference (useful when picking a plane/face as the
reference). The 2D sketch automatic determination of the
placement type based on the users picking location can
be disabled to allow the user the ability to
pre-determine the exact placement type. In addition,
options are available to automatically finish the 2D
sketch placement when all the conditions of the picking
location are complete (this can be disabled as well for
additional control to the advance options).
Structured Part
Design - Reference Associations
Structured Part Design
is designed to support reference associations to apply
design intent to the design process. When creating 2D
Sketches in this part design, references can be created
to the geometry selected in the sketch placement
operation (excluding the "Point" placement). For
Example, when a user places a 2D sketch that refers to a
plane/face, the sketch will update its location when the
plane/face is modified. Another example would be the
3-Point placement in which the reference are maintained
and updated when the reference geometry is modified. To
enable the reference, users can select the "Fix to
Reference" option in the sketch placement browser.
Automatic relations will be created for features in the
Structured
Part Design during drag
& drop from the catalog when the features anchor is
located at the origin of the sketch. This is useful to
automatically create shapes like custom holes that are
referring to a center point of an arc allowing it to be
maintained when the geometry is updated.
Note: Only available in
Structured
Part Design
Improved
Interactions Within Move, Rotate, Scale, and Pattern
commands
New behaviour s have
been added to the Move, Scale, Rotate, and Pattern
sketch commands to help navigate the selection mode and
drag modes. Radio button have been added to denote the
mode the user is currently working within. In addition,
users can right-click to change between the selection
and drag mode. This provides a productive method to
allow the user to quickly select and then right-click to
change to the drag mode behaviour . Another improvement
has been added to automatically place the user in the
drag mode when entering the command when geometry is
already pre-selected. User can also right-click and drag
within the drag mode to invoke the existing move/copy
dialog behaviour providing power users the flexibility to
maintain the use of existing behaviours.
Right-Click Drag
Support for Move/Copy Operations
Users can now
right-click and drag on 2D Sketch geometry in the sketch
edit mode to move/copy to a specified distance. Users
can take advantage of the SmartSnap technology to
automatically place the move/copy in the desired
location. This capability improves productivity by
eliminating the need to enter a command to create the
precise move/copy.
Enable
Parallel/Orthographic Camera Settings in Edit Sketch
Mode
Under the
Options/General tab, users can enable a new camera
behaviour when entering the 2D Sketch editing mode. In
many instances, users want to work in the 2D sketch in
an orthographic viewing direction versus a perspective
mode used in 3D visualization. This new option
automatically changes the camera to orthographic when
entering the sketch edit mode eliminating the need to
toggle on/off the perspective camera. When the user
exits the sketch editing mode, the camera will return to
perspective for the 3D visualization.
Enable Parallel Camera Option Setting
Direct
Dimensional/Constraint Relationships to 3D Within the
Sketch
Within the 2D Sketch
editing mode, users can create constraints that directly
refer to 3D geometry elements through automatic
projection references. SmartDimension can be placed from
sketch curves to 3D Geometry to create the necessary
design relationships to drive the sketch. Also,
constraints such as coincident, parallel. perpendicular,
tangent, concentric, colinear, and midpoint can be
placed from sketch geometry directly referring to the 3D
geometry.
Note: Only available in
Structured
Part Design
Linear and Circular
Pattern Constraint and Dimension Support
When creating a
linear or circular pattern in the 2D sketch environment,
users can now select options to add pattern constraints
and dimensions. These constraints can be edited to
redefine the pattern information and allows the user to
define the pattern constraints to be used in parametric
conditions.
2D Formula Curve
Creation support
Formula curves now
can be created within the 2D Sketch editing mode in
addition to the 3D Curve mode. A similar dialog found in
the 3D Curve Formula Curves can be accessed in the
sketch mode to create and store formula driven curves.
Innovative Part
Design - Direct Face automatic Selection
New automatic face
selections have been added to the direct face
modification tools to aid in user selections. User
selection options such as perpendicular, parallel,
coplanar, equal radius, concentric, tangent neighbour,
and tangent chain are available to control the selection
to the intended geometry. This automatic selection helps
aid the user in making direct modifications that would
have previously required the user to manually select
geometry to make the intended changes. This capability
is at a selection level so the user can see the
automatically selected geometry and it allows them to
dynamically change the selection types or disable the
selection. The automatic selection options are displayed
in the property browser within the direct modification
commands, imported or combined b-rep shape handles, and
on direct face driving SmartDimensions.
Note: Only available in
Innovative
Part Design
Innovative Part
Design - Automatic TriBall Activation in Direct Move
Face Contextual Operation
During direct face
modifications in
Innovative Part Design,
a common task is to modify the faces using the TriBall
positioning tool. To improve productivity when the
direct face modification command is activated while
faces are selected, the TriBall will automatically
enable allowing the user to directly change the position
and apply the command. This eliminates the extra step in
activating the TriBall manually.
Note: Only available in
Innovative
Part Design
Innovative Part
Design - Direct Face Modeling Smart dimensions
SmartDimension have
been enhanced to support the ability to modify geometry
directly by driving the face position. Selecting to the
face level, users can now apply SmartDimensions on the
face and refer to other geometry to define the desired
distance measurement. Editing the dimension, users can
drive the face position to modify the geometry using the
direct face modification capability. When Direct Face
Modeling SmartDimensions are created, a new folder
category will appear in the Constraints folder within
the Scene Browser called DFM Dimensions to clearly
denote the new SmartDimension type. Currently, this
capability is only used for direct driving but will be
enhanced in the future to support parametric
relationships.
Note: Only available in
Innovative
Part Design
Imported/Combined
B-rep Direct Face Radius handles
Imported and
combined b-rep data inside of the application can
display handles in the same manner as IntelliShape
features. These handles enable the user to directly
modify the imported or b-rep data without the need for
features. A new handle has been added to circular face
geometry to allow the user the ability to dynamically
drag to change the radius size. Users can now position
and change the circular geometry using these handles.
SmartDimension
Display Information
SmartDimension have
been updated to display the driving object when the
SmartDimensions are modified. A blue arrow indicator
denotes the face/feature/part/assembly that will change
when the SmartDimension value is modified. This helps
the users understand how the geometry will modify when
the values are modified.
Multiple Select
SmartDimension Delete Capability
User can now
multiple select SmartDimension within the Scene Browser
and delete the entire selection. Previous versions only
supported single selection delete capabilities.
SmartAssembly
Improved Connection and Display capabilities
The patented
SmartAssembly capability has been improved once again to
strengthen the powerful behaviour . The following
improvements have been performed:
Attachment Point Display
Names -
When selecting and mousing-over attachment
points, the attachment point name will
display. This aids the user in locating the
desired attachment point for design or
modification operations.
Attachment Point
Indicator Display Improvements
- The attachment point indicator has been
visually improved to display thicker and
larger to help denote the Z & X axis for the
user. This makes it easier in positioning
and orienting the attachment points when
setting up attachment locations.
Neutral Connector
Designation
- Previously the SmartAssembly connections
referenced male (_M) and female (_F)
connection designators. A Neutral (_N)
designation has been added to allow the
flexibility in creating connection options.
This also makes it easier in defining the
connection by not needing to define the male
and female ends of the components.
Default SmartAssembly
Attachment Designation-
User can now define the default connection
attachment point for a given attachment
name. This allows the user the ability to
define the default connection to drop and
connect to. For example: A component may
have X number of attachment points named
Attach_M. Previously, when dropping onto
this component, the SmartAssembly would
connect to the nearest attachment (Attach_M)
for the Attach_F connector. Now the user can
define one of the Attach_M connectors to be
the default designator. This will allow the
SmartAssembly to always drop to this
connector even if another attachment is near
the drop location. The default designator is
denoted by an asterisk located to the right
of the gender designation (Attach_M*) and
can be used on multiple attachment names (in
this case, the drop action will find the
nearest attachment connector and then locate
the default designator).
Right-click Display List
Connection Options
- Users can now right-click and drag & drop
SmartAssembly components from the catalogs
and display a connection list options
dialog. This dialog will allow the user to
see all the available connection pairs and
allow them to preview the connection by
selecting a connection pair in the listbox
before applying the operation. Left-click
and drag & drop will use the default nearest
or default designator connection method.
Catalog Part
regeneration Capability
A new option has
been added in the Catalogs to regenerate the
part/assembly data. This is useful to migrate old
catalogs with new data available in newer versions of
IRONCAD.
Within any catalog, right-click and select "Regenerate"
to activate the command. This will open each
part/assembly in the catalog and re-create the contents
using the current version of the application. Users must
save the catalog to maintain the updated information.
Catalog Regenerate
Catalog
Export/Import Utility
A new add-in utility
has been provided to allow user the ability to export
parts/assemblies stored in catalog out to a folder. Once
the data is saved to individual scene files, users can
update the contents in the application as independent
files. Once complete, the user can import the newly
modified files into a new catalog using the import
capability. This is useful when you need to change
information stored in
IRONCAD. This add-in utility will be made
available to customers in the IRONCAD community.
Design Variations
Image Compression Support
More and more users
are taking advantage of the powerful capability of the
Design Variations. Based on this increasing usage, the
Design Variation capability has been improved to reduce
the overall size of the data stored. The Design
Variation preview images that can be created for each
variation has been improved to use a compressed PNG
format reducing the data size and memory footprint
significantly when many Design Variations are added to
the scene or catalog. Using the new Catalog Regeneration
command, you can take advantage of this improvement even
in your legacy Design Variations stored in catalogs.
Automatic File
Backup Support
Backup capability of
Scene files (including links) has been provided in this
release. Users can specify the backup file directory
under the Tools/Options/Directories. This capability
allows the user to store backup versions of the files
while they are working as a fall back to recover data in
the event of corruption.
Reverse Wheel Zoom
Camera Option
A new option in
Tools/Options/Interaction has been supplied to control
the camera direction when zooming using the mouse scroll
wheel. Users can reverse the camera direction to suite
the needs of the design.
Reverse Mouse Wheel zoom Option
Background Fixed
Aspect and Location Image Options
Users now have
options to place 2D images in the background with a
fixed aspect ratio and a user set location. This allows
users to place standard company images in templates or
create background images that can be used for realistic
renderings.
2D Image Fixed Aspect and Location
Settings
Advance
OpenGL/Direct3D Mipmapping Support
Mipmapping support
has been enabled for the Advance OpenGL/Direct3D
rendering mode. Mipmaps are pre-calculated, optimized
collections of images used with textures, intended to
increase rendering speed and reduce aliasing artifacts.
In simple terms, it is basically a way to provide a
level of detail on textures to increase performance and
visibility. For Example: When enabled, small textures
will drop from the view (providing a single colour) when
zoomed out on a model. When dynamically zooming in, the
texture will begin to appear. Without mipmapping, the
small textures can look distorted or cluttered due to
the scaling affect.
IRONCAD 2009
"Next Generation"
incorporates a powerful 2D design directly embedded as a
standard drafting environment named CAXA Draft. This
environment has the full capability of a standalone 2D
application as well as tools to detail 3D data from the
IRONCAD application. Users can use the 2D environment to
maintain and edit legacy DWG/DXF data or even create new
2D designs using a familiar interface found in the
industry. In addition, a "3D Interface" ribbon tab is
available to allow the user the ability to detail 3D
designs using standard views, section views, detail
views, and many others useful to layout the design data
while having full association to the 3D IRONCAD data.
Using the full capabilities of the 2D application, users
can annotate and create bill of material information to
fully complete the design.
Precise View
Visibility and Performance improvements
Improvements have
been made in the precise view generation to gain
performance and line quality. These improvements can
improve the performance 5-to-10x on larger models and
can greatly reduce the memory footprint in creating
these views. This is useful in design stage and when
exporting to DWG/DXF. These improvements also are
reflected in the CAXA Draft Environment when creating
and updating drawing views.
IRONCAD design
applications now provide side-by-side (SxS) isolated
application support. This allows different versions of
IRONCAD design applications to exist and run on the same
operating system as isolated applications. This
capability is used to allow users the ability to upgrade
to new versions while maintaining older versions of the
software (useful when other applications depend on a
specific version of the software and to allow testing
programs/beta to be performed while an older version is
still in production). Note: Even though you can run both
applications on the same system, the files are not fully
compatible (files saved in the newer version cannot be
opened in the older version of the software).
Advanced
OpenGL/Direct 3D Upgrade Improvements
Upgrades to the
underlining graphical engine in the
IRONCAD
Advanced OpenGL/Direct 3D have been performed. HOOPS 3D
from TechSoft3D has been updated to the latest version
17.1 which improves real-time graphical performance. For
details on improvements in the HOOPS engine, visit
http://developer.techsoft3d.com.
Subsystem Upgrades
o Parasolid™
Modeling Kernel Updates
- Updates to the Parasolid kernel have been implemented.
These updates include various improvements to the
modelling geometry as well as support for new versions.
Files up to version 21.0 can be imported and exported.
o
ACIS™ Modeling Kernel Updates
- Updates to the ACIS kernel have be implemented. These
updates include various improvements to the modelling
geometry as well as support for new version. Files up to
version 19.0 can be imported and exported.
o TechSoft
3D HOOPS™ Toolkit Updates
- Updates to the latest version of the HOOPS toolkit
allows users to export and share IRONCAD scene files in
the latest HSF format. This allows users to share data
with other applications such as a viewer while taking
advantage of the latest visual and performance
improvements.
o
Spatial 3D Interop™ Translators
- Updates to the many import/export options available in
IRONCAD
(including IGES and STEP) have been updated to the
latest versions offered from Spatial. This update
improves the reliability of the import/export
interoperability between CAD systems.
o
CATIA™ V5 Read/Write Support
- IRONCAD's
add-on for CATIA V5 supports Read versions R2 through
R19 and Write versions R6 through R19.
o
Unigraphics™ Updates -
Updates to IRONCAD's
add-on for Unigraphics has been updated to support
versions 11 to 18 and version NX1, NX2, NX3, NX4, NX5,
and NX6.
IRONCAD 2009
"Next
Generation" includes a
freely distributable
IRONCAD native .ics file format viewer -
"IC-Viewer".
Users will be able to visualize, measure, preview scene
part/assembly structure, hide/show part/assemblies, and
perform cuts and cross sections (and more!). Based on
the Advance OpenGL/Direct3D rendering engine found in
IRONCAD, the
IC-Viewer supports a superior rendering performance
environment for viewing native
IRONCAD files.
The IC-Viewer can be distributed to non-IRONCAD
clients to allow you to keep your team and customers
closely involved in your projects.
IRONCAD 2009
"Next
Generation"
communication tools provide many options for
communication in addition to the IC-Viewer such as the
IronWeb Publishing, 3D/2D PDF Support, 3D Scene Package
Builder, and photo-realistic rendering/animation
support.
Freely
Distributable CAXA EXB Viewer
IRONCAD 2009
"Next
Generation" includes a
freely distributable native .exb file format viewer -
"EXB-Viewer".
Users will be able to visualize CAXA Draft files saved
in the standard .exb file format. The EXBC-Viewer can
be distributed to non-IRONCAD
clients to allow you to keep your team and customers
closely involved in your projects.
