Parametric modeling, also known as feature based modeling, was brought to the CAD market in the middle of the 80's by PTC with Pro/Engineer. In a time when all 3D modeling was explicit (no parameters, no geometric relationships, no constraints), Pro/E was a revolutionary system. After a few attempts to defend the old non-parametric mode, almost all PTC competitors were forced to update their modeling systems to the new parametric modeling approach. It was a long and painful transition, lasting a decade.
we are witnessing the birth of the next generation of 3D CAD systems
The CAD manufacturers had to learn the new technology and had to invest huge resources to rewrite their obsolete systems almost from scratch. Life was not easier for the end-users, who found themselves dragged into a big technological and organizational shift. Over time users learned a few things about parametric modeling, including:
Twenty years after the appearance of the first CAD parametric systems, the vast popularity of 2D CAD systems seems to be a testimony that not everything went as expected. The new technology was really as powerful as claimed by the marketing departments, but was also very complex to learn and use, and didn’t always provided the flexibility required by the dynamics of the design process. I expressed my opinion on this topic in a previous post: Frederick W. Taylor and 3D Technology.
We are still in the middle of this very slow transition between 2D and 3D. Some CAD companies are now realizing that 3D design could be popularized and widely adopted by lowering the economic threshold and significantly simplifying the user interaction. They are trying to offer the benefits of parametric modeling without its disadvantages. Three of these innovative companies include:
The most interesting aspect of the Kubotek and SpaceClaim approaches is that the system "intelligence" and "knowledge" are 100% in the editing algorithms, not in the data structure as in a parametric system. This provides two major benefits:
Today we are witnessing the birth of the next generation of 3D CAD systems, but it is still too early to know who will become the leader. More companies will join this group of innovators and new ideas will appear. Only one thing is sure: in a few years your AutoCAD LT, or equivalent 2D CAD system, will be as obsolete as a slide rule.
Franco Folini