What I learned this week ... I have to thank my friends at Theorem Solutions for this time around, which is that companies are increasingly looking to convert "visualizations" of CAD models into editable 3D CAD models.

What I Expected to Hear
I have been overwhelmed recently with great examples of how companies are creating 3D representations of their CAD data in neutral or lightweight formats to share outside of Engineering. More companies are leveraging their 3D design data for greater value by extending it outside of the design environment. One common use is for design collaboration or design review by customers or partners. Often times the people that need to review the design are not engineers and may not have a 3D CAD tool. Or if they are engineers, they may have a different tool (or a different version of the same tool) which still does them little good. More novel ways are using existing 3D designs for marketing and sales, product documentation, and other non-engineering functions where graphics were typically recreated or not available. Chad Jackson from Aberdeen has done some very strong research in this area, so I kind of knew what to expect here.

What Else I Heard
I knew what to expect, that is, until I spoke with Theorem. Mind you, I heard some additional interesting examples of what I expected to hear about (above). But then they told me that one of the fastest growing uses of their ability to generate or translate multiple 3D data formats was the conversion of visualizations into CAD. No, not the creation of visualization from CAD (they do that too, among many others) but to import the visual model (STEP, JT, etc.) and create a functioning CAD model from it. The model will not contain the full design history (history tree, for those that know CAD well) but can provide a model that can be modified and incorporated into other designs. You can imagine the use of this for multi-CAD design chains, allowing files to be transferred in a lightweight format, sharing only the resulting geometry and not the "design intent" behind the 3D CAD model, etc. And let's face it, if you are an engineer you are probably going to want to use the power of the CAD tool that you are familiar with if you can.

So companies are extending the use of translating file formats beyond "CAD to CAD" and "CAD to Visualization" to also include "Visualization to CAD." I hope you found it interesting.

Who knew? I didn't, if you did let us know about it.