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Article Excerpt
"It was 1975 when I first predicted that within five years, all mechanical engineers would be doing only 3D," laughs Joel Orr, vice president and chief visionary for Cyon Research Corp. (Bethesda, MD; www.cyonresearch.com). That didn't happen. True, fewer engineers and designers are still using 2D CAD, especially in large companies, such as automakers and Tier 1 suppliers. But what's holding back smaller manufacturers?
Myth: 3D CAD is too slow
Displaying a solid model on a computer screen used to take a frustratingly long time. No longer. Models pop up and refresh fast on today's inexpensive computers, what with 32- or 64-bit multi-core multiprocessors, gobs of RAM, and highspeed graphics cards (single or dual, and with gobs of RAM as well). This speediness applies to displaying huge 3D parametric assembly files, as well as recalculating history trees. Recent versions of CAD software add to these speed gains. For instance, some CAD packages prioritize what parts are displayed so that all aren't displayed in an assembly simultaneously.
Some packages combine history-based parametrics and direct (explicit) geometry manipulation, switching between the two methods as needs dictate.
Myth: Lack of 3D CAD expertise
Engineering and design students used to take classes on 2D drawing...
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