CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
28 November 2005
Product News
Autodesk and Tech Soft America Partnering to Support Engineering Product and Project Workflows
Tech Soft America (TSA), a provider of development tools, training and consulting, announced their induction into the DWF Partner Program and the integration of Autodesk's DWF Toolkit with TSA's HOOPS 3D Application Framework (HOOPS/3dAF). Through integration with the DWF Toolkit, TSA customers using the HOOPS framework as their core graphics engine will be able to add import and export functions for 2D and 3D DWF files simply by downloading the DWF Software Development Kit (SDK) from Autodesk. No additional development or fees are required.
"Our mission is to make it as easy as possible for our customers to rapidly produce competitive 2D and 3D applications," commented Ron Fritz, managing partner for TSA. "A survey of our HOOPS/3dAF customers established a clear demand for publishing DWF data. This demonstrated to us an unmistakable customer need for more efficient engineering product and project workflows. Many ISVs and their end users tell us that DWF is the perfect solution due to its model-based architecture, connectivity with CAD applications and compact size."
TSA customers are looking for more efficient workflows and show quick interest to adopt the HOOPS/3dAF and DWF integration. Long-standing TSA customers like COADE have shown enthusiasm to in turn develop increased functionality with their own technologies and users.
"The integration between HOOPS/3dAF and DWF is very positive for us since our products have long embraced both of these standards separately," said Tom Van Laan, president of COADE. "We have already committed the next release of COADE's CAESAR II to provide output in DWF format, combining all information related to a particular model in one shareable industry-standard format. DWF provides the ideal solution because it contains everything from the original drawings to the final analysis, including 3D models and annotated reports."
Autodesk will demonstrate the HOOPS/3dAF and DWF integration during its annual user conference, Autodesk University, in Orlando on November 28-30 http://www.autodeskevents.com/au2005 . Demonstrations will highlight improved efficiency throughout project workflows made possible by the collaboration of HOOPS/3dAF and DWF. Attendees can view select HOOPS/3dAF-based applications exporting DWF data that can then be immediately leveraged by applications non-CAD users would likely have on their desktop, including Autodesk DWF Composer and DWF Viewer. The DWF Viewer is available for free at http://www.autodesk.com/dwfviewer .
"Momentum for DWF has been building within the developer community, particularly with those developing 3D based solutions. When we looked at this market we realized that a significant number of companies were already licensees of HOOPS/3dAF," noted Jonathon Knowles of Autodesk. "By working together with TSA we are able to ensure that these developers can provide full support for 2D and 3D DWF technology with minimum investment. We're confident that this integration will be of use to both the HOOPS ISV and DWF communities."
DWF enables designers to share accurate, data-rich design information with project teams at any point in the project lifecycle-at a fraction of the original size. By using DWF, organizations are able to efficiently and securely share 2D and 3D designs while minimizing errors, costs, and information loss through the process. More information is available at http://www.autodesk.com/dwf .
HOOPS/3dAF is a set of extensible, high-level components that simplify the design, development and maintenance of high-performance, interactive 2D and 3D applications for Windows, UNIX, LINUX, MAC OS X and Windows CE devices. HOOPS components provide the base infrastructure for building custom, high performance applications. Developers work from a high level to extend and customize the framework, taking advantage of the power of the underlying set of libraries. Rather than attempting to re-invent the vast functionality already encapsulated within the HOOPS product set, ISVs can focus their development efforts on their true value-add.
Tech Soft America (TSA) provides customer-driven development tools, consulting and support services enabling its partners to rapidly deliver world-class technical software. TSA develops software components that simplify the design, development and maintenance of high-performance, interactive 2D and 3D applications. The company's flagship HOOPS technology has been incorporated into over 175 commercial software applications, including many of the leaders in CAD/CAM and CAE software, including Autodesk's DWF offerings. The company can be reached through http://www.hoops3d.com .
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