CAD Tool Options

 

A designer should be defined by his work, not by his tools.

Being in the design industry, it’s very likely you’ve been exposed to RhinoCAD, Vellum 2-D, Alias, Pro-E, SolidWorks, CDRS, and Unigraphics, the major players. There are many options; which CAD tool is the best one for your industrial design needs? More likely then not, where you work will determine what you use.

But what if you’re an ID person who’s not that focused on those tools because of your industry, education or you don’t want to use those tools? What other alternatives are there in CAD tools? What do you want to use it for? What will the final file be used for, what platform do you want to use it on, will it be given to an engineer to develop the internal details, will it be given to a model maker to build a form study, or will it be used for a photorealistic rendering?

I found myself asking these questions 4 years ago. At that time I was working at a major multi disciplinary design firm as a senior industrial designer. While I managed projects and junior designers, I also designed the products. I worked with engineers within the firm and outside. Some of the younger designers were using Alias and the engineers used Pro-E. All the industrial designers within my group mainly used Vellum 2-D to define the design. I felt I needed to learn a 3-D CAD application to define my designs more precisely for the engineers and model makers, not so much to do cool renderings, but to have complete control of the surface/appearance design. I thought at that time the ability to do photorealistic renderings to be owned by Alias.

What I choose
My colleagues considered my choice unusual at the time, but it has proven to be a good choice for me. I use Ashlar Vellum Cobalt, from the makers of Vellum 2-D.

I was not interested in an extended time investment and learning curve to learn Alias or Pro-E; I was busy with my own design projects and project management responsibilities. I’m already a user of Vellum 2-D and it looked like a natural upward move. I knew Vellum 2-D’s unique user-friendly interface, a bonus. Vellum is designed to operate on the Windows and Macintosh OS platform, so it fit that criteria as I favor the Mac. The current version is applicable to Windows 2000/NT/XP and Mac OSX. The studio I was working with was multiplatform, using Macs and Windows machines, so there was not an issue of compatibility.

I experimented with Vellum in its early development when it was called Vellum Solids. It was looking very promising so I decided to commit and buy a copy myself to properly learn it. I took a 3-day training class at my local Vellum VAR, Murtaugh CAD/CAM. Three days was enough to give me confidence to develop my design concepts as 3-D models in Vellum. Realistically, like any CAD application, it takes some time to get familiar with all the tools and how to best use them. The amazing thing to me is how easy it really was to learn. I had no prior experience with 3-D or solid modeling programs. I had no previous habits to unlearn or expectations for tools and function.

Another surprise to me was that Ashlar Vellum Cobalt included a rendering package. An area within Vellum I sort of ignored, it seemed like black magic to me then. As I delved into Vellum more, I realized the power within, I found that I could do something I thought could only be done with Alias, that being an Alias quality rendering.

Today the product and the product line had been renamed into Ashlar Designer Elements. The top of the line product is called Cobalt; it is marketed as the tool for complete product development.

The Digi-Pix Conceptual Digital Camera
I used Cobalt to create the Digi-Pix digital camera concept for the Design-Engine 2002 Photoreal Electronics Competition. To my amazement, I won the Grand Prize! (Ironically, the grand prize was a copy of Alias Studio Tools!)

Vellum Cobalt is a great alternative for the industrial designer who is looking for a CAD application that is easy to learn and use and has the same abilities as Alias to create freeform models. Cobalt is history driven with associativity and 2-D equation driven parametrics and constraints.

What I like about Vellum is that the tool does not limit the designer. Like Alias and RhinoCAD, Cobalt has surfacing tools. If you know how to create models from surfaces then this will do just about anything. Cobalt is also a solid modeling program. Once a design is roughed out in surfaces, it can be stitched together and converted to a solid. Operations such as blends and chamfers on corners and edges are quick and easy. One operation does it, click a corner and a blend forms there with specified radius. Holes can be drilled though or into solids. Boolean operations can be used to add, remove or intersect the solid models.

The beauty of this application is that anytime you need to modify a part, the history tree allows for it. For example, if a client does not like the radii, a Get Info box allows you to type in the new radii. This applies to many other editing operations. If a hole was added earlier and is no longer needed, use the Design Explorer tool. A history tree appears for the select part. Find the hole and either remove it or alter its dimensions. Additionally, when the model is built with changes in mind, most things are easy to modify. In a situation where a product has an LCD, a PDA for example, and the engineer tells you that the LCD vendor has changed and the screen opening has gotten wider and is no longer symmetrical, this can be changed using the associative capability of Cobalt. By altering the original 2-D LCD rectangle that defined the opening’s numerical constraints, the opening will update. Or, if you are a long time user of Vellum 2-D, then you know how easy it is to select the end points of a line or closed object and drag it to a new location. If the LCD opening has to move, the same can be done, either numerically or by mouse. Move the rectangle that defined the LCD opening and the opening will move and update the surfaces around it. In addition, forms can be built by extruding closed arcs and splines along curves and rails to form a solid object. The operations I just described are what I used to build the Digi-Pix digital camera concept.

The time it took me to build the Digi-Pix digital camera concept was about a week. This is the first time I took a design through to a completed 3-D model for a photorealistic rendering, including lighting and graphics. This included the time to refine the design in doodle and sketch form, 2-D layout in Vellum Cobalt to refine proportions and sizes, then actual 3-D modeling. The area that slowed me down was refining the design and developing the details. I was able to try ideas and alter areas of the design that I was not happy with. I had to detail and decide the key shapes on the back, the shutter button shape and other controls. Then photorealistic rendering was an area that was new to me. I had done this before in Vellum as I learned the program, but only at a general level. So I was learning at the same time. I learned how to fine tune materials for texture and reflectance.

For things like logos, graphics on displays and nomenclature on the products, I created decal art in Illustrator and Photoshop and then input them into Vellum for application to the model.

Finally, setting up lighting took some time to fine tune. I have concluded to get the best results from any application, Alias or Rhino or SolidWorks or Vellum Cobalt, it requires some skill and understanding to best set the lighting. It is like photography and you need time to set up the environment to create the kinds of reflections you’d like to affect the model. And you need to set the lights up to light the model that best shows the contours, form and details. Working with Cobalt reminds me of the times I’ve spent with photographers photographing appearance models or the final product. For me, the most rewarding part of the CAD process now is doing the rendering, followed by creating a challenging form. The results are a photorealistic image of something that you’ve created. This image then serves to communicate the design intent in a realistic way, including color, materials and graphics.

Finally, after all the work of building the model, the data has to go out in some form or another. Compatibility is not an issue, Cobalt has the ability to export data for others to use. For the Windows version of Vellum, Ashlar has Granite built into the export options for direct export to Pro-Engineer. The Mac version’s IGES export has flavors for Pro-E, Alias, SolidWorks, and AutoCAD. As the data hand off is non-native, the data is “dumb”; all history is lost in the export process. I’ve personally exported files to IGES for Alias and Rhino CAD users who imported the files fine. Also, another export option is STL. If you want to build an SLA model to check the design, it’s there. In addition to the above options, Cobalt can import and export a generic IGES, DXF, STEP, Rhino CAD (import only), Adobe Illustrator, EPS (Export only), and several others.

Another output that is included in the package is the ability to create QuickTime movies. I’ve made several flyby movies of models I’ve built. Also there is the ability to do Object VR and Panoramic VR. These are very useful presentation tools, particularly if you are not there to explain the design.

Another use, Phase 1 conceptual work
For an alternate use of Cobalt in the early design process, it can be used as a 3-D sketch tool. On a recent project, I was helping develop conceptual designs for a Phase One presentation to a client. Rather then do the traditional hand sketches or Photoshop renderings; the concepts were built up as 3-D CAD models. The idea was that these models were the equivalent of sketches. Things were not all worked out, and areas cheated by not completing views that will not be seen. In this particular project, real component sizes are used to build components to assure they fit inside the design. The beauty is that a concept is developed in roughly a day (depending on the design) and output as a full rendering. The entire rendering functions were used; materials such as glass, metals or plastic assigned, decals were created from our own artwork and were used to indicate LCD display graphics and label keys. Then various views were rendered to show specific areas of the design that best highlight the concepts. The output jpeg images were then composite together in Photoshop for a presentation page per concept with titles, notes or other information to be printed or e-mailed. Without a background surface in the rendering or complex light set-up, each rendering took less then 2 minutes on a Mac G4 450mhz.

Cost
I had an experience to demonstrate Vellum Cobalt to an in-house ID group that uses Alias. The cost to maintain their Alias license from what I heard was from $7 to 10K a year. At this same demonstration session, as I built a model from surfaces, I was told that it looked easier and faster to build a form then it takes to build the same shape in Alias.

The cost of Vellum and maintenance is rather reasonable. In these tight times, it’s a strong alternative. Cobalt sells for just $3,995.00 and maintenance is just $1,100.00. Xenon lists for $2,995.00, and is identical to Cobalt, but without equation driven parametrics. There are no add-ons to buy; each is a complete package. For those who don’t need the history tree and parametrics and want a simple modeling application to build models and render them, Vellum also offers Argon for $995.00. It is on a par with Rhino Cad. An added bonus is that Cobalt and Xenon, but not Argon, each includes a linked copy of Graphite. This is an updated version of Vellum 2-D, useful for those who want the old product too. (But I rarely use it now). Maintenance includes technical support and free software updates. As mentioned earlier, versions of Cobalt are available for Windows and Mac. Memory needs are at least 512mb. More is preferred. I have 700mb on my desktop machine.

Conclusions
The Grand Prize win for the 2002 Design-Engine Photorealistic competition was validation for my choice to use Vellum Cobalt.
When I show my portfolio and tell people the renderings are created in Vellum Cobalt, the response is often surprise and disbelief.

I plan to continue to improve my skills with Vellum. An interesting development from this is I learned that by understanding how to build surfaces the Alias way, your models are the better for it. It will be cleaner and more robust. So for me, to know a little more about Alias is an additional piece of useful knowledge that only improves ones understanding and skills, no matter what application one uses. It does not hurt your skills to know more then one CAD application.

Lastly, so many colleagues had advised me against using Vellum and go with the industry standards. They have valid points in terms of compatibility with colleagues and clients. And everyone has his or her preferences and investment into a tool. A good friend once said to me, it’s the work that counts, not the tools.

www.ashlar.com has a huge amount of information about their Designer Elements products.

The firm that provided me personalized service and insight into the line-up, Murtaugh CAD CAM, Inc. can be contacted at www.murtaugh.com or 510 581-9848.

Finally, thanks to Bart Brejcha at Design-Engine and Alias/Wavefront, for this opportunity and the grand prize copy of Alias Studio Tools.

 

Nelson Au is an independent industrial designer. Nelson began his career as a designer in 1984 with Matrix Product Design before it merged with David Kelley Design and Moggridge Associates to form IDEO Product Development in 1991. Nelson was a senior industrial designer and project manager with IDEO for 18 years. He can be reached at n.au@sbcglobal.net or 650-345-3906.