NOVEDGE Blog

A few major trends are shaping the balance between classroom training and online/DVD self-training. The first trend is the gradual decrease of CAD system prices. It used to be normal to pay a few thousand dollars for a training class. It is now perceived as unfair to have to pay as much or even more […]

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed on Lou Gallo’s on-demand radio show. We talked about Novedge, social media and the last COFES event in Scottsdale, AZ. It was really a lot of fun to talk to Lou about what we do. He always has intelligent and relevant questions and I really like his […]

The Moore Law is supplying us with an incredible and ever growing amount of computer power. There is so much computer power, in fact, that most of the time we use only a small fraction of what is available on our workstation. Why not use some of this unused power to improve our design and […]

Is the web ready to adopt plugin-less 3D and advanced 2D? Are web browsers ready for a new wave of 3D and vector-based 2D content (plugin-less)? Is the web ready to adopt 3D and advanced 2D with the same enthusiasm it recently adopted videos? Those were the questions discussed yesterday evening in Cupertino at the […]

One of my recurring complaints about surface modeling is the intrinsic complexity of existing modeling systems. Even if the level of user friendliness of these systems has improved, sooner or later every user needs to invest some time to understand how the underlying geometry works and to accept the limitations that come with each modeling strategy. T-Splines […]

A member of SpaceClaiming, our online community about new CAD technologies, wrote a very interesting review of SpaceClaim. In a moment when the blogosphere (Matt Lombard, Deelip Menezes, Kenneth Wong, Ralph Grabowski, Paul Hamilton) is busy discussing the benefits and limits of the direct-modeling approach pioneered by SpaceClaim, it is refreshing to hear the opinion […]

I’ve been waiting for some time. The couple of sneak previews I had only made me even more curious. And finally, on June 5th, 2009, AutoDesSys officially released bonzai3d. formZ is not anymore the single child (with polymorphic incarnations) of Alexandra and Chris Yessios‘ company. From now on, formZ has a little brother. It’s called […]

Today Nemetschek NA announced the release of Vectorworks 2009 Service Pack 4 immediately available free of charge as a downloadable updater for all commercial licenses. To install the SP4 start your copy of Vectorworks 2009, go to the [About Vectorworks] dialog box and click [Check for Updates], or visit the Vectorworks 2009 Service Pack 4 […]

What makes Rhino 3D so special? The power of the NURBS modeling commands? The affordable price? The strong and supportive community? The kindness and generosity of the McNeel team? Or the powerful set of plugins available to expand the Rhino 3D in every conceivable direction? These plugins make Rhino 3D the optimal solution for an […]

In 25 days, 30% of the members took the poll on RhinoJungle and we welcomed many new members. Thanks you, and welcome! We support RhinoJungle as a place where you can interact with other Rhino users and to find answers to your questions To us, this poll has been a great success. We are happy […]

SpaceClaim is offering a Free webinar on Wednesday June 10, 2009 between 12:00pm  and 12:30pm EDT (Register Here). The online interactive live demo will explore the features of SpaceClaim targeting Industrial Designers and Product Stylists.SpaceClaim is a next generation, new approach to CAD systems, and in my opinion it is very important to sign up […]

Novedge has been selling Autodesk products for many years. During the last couple of years we have been promoting the educational section of our catalog by adding several new products from the most popular brands such as Solidworks, McNeel, Maxon, Nemetschek, SpaceClaiming, Alibre, etc. Novedge have signed up with Autodesk to sell their educational products Recently […]

Just two days ago Vectorworks Press (Nemetschek NA) announced the publication of “Light Plot Deconstructed“, a new book written by Greg Hillmar, an accomplished scenic and lighting designer based in Richmond, VA. “Light Plot Deconstructed” is a great companion guide for anyone seeking to learn the fundamentals of lighting design Over his more than 15 […]

In the past, if someone asked me to come up with improbable or strange combinations of technologies I would have suggested things such as 3D animations and Twitter or CAD and podcasts. I have since learned that if something looks improbable or strange to me it doesn’t mean it’s impossible or even wrong. Tackling those […]

Pixologic users can now finally join the group of Rapid Prototyping enthusiasts and start creating real 3D objects out of their ZBrush models. This is an important and very welcome step. It will help push Rapid Prototyping, or 3D Printing as Pixologic likes to call it, into the mainstream by increasing the number of users […]

CadSoft Corporation just released EnvisioneerExpress 5.0, a residential design program. EnvisoneerExpress is the free version of Envisioneer Professional 5.0, the well known architectural design system by CadSoft. EnvisioneerExpress uses commands matching objects in the real world EnvisioneerExpress has been specifically developed to introduce clients to the simple creation of floor plans, 3D models, and interior […]

RandomControl, the maker of fryrender and previously known as Feversoft, is joining other companies on the real-time rendering arena (Bunkspeed Hypershot, seac02 LinceoVR, etc.) To prove the value of the technology they are working at, they are circulating this impressive video: http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4709390&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1 The video was recorded in real-time using RandomControl's engine RC5. The original scene […]

Novedge and San Francisco. Can you think of a better combination? For the past few months, I’ve been interning here at Novedge in San Francisco. As a Dutch student this has been an amazing opportunity for me, and I’m still enjoying every day of it. Novedge is a great and inspiring company to work with, […]

Since March 2009, Novedge has been giving away a free copy of the book Working with Rhinoceros 4.0 for every purchase of a new license of Rhino 4.0. The book is a beginner's user guide for learning Rhino 4.0 written by the Dutch designer Michiel van der Kley (website). Since I am Dutch myself, I […]

I just finished reading Jeff Ray’s (SolidWorks CEO) article on the future of CAD and I cannot help noticing that something that should already have been in the past of CAD is not even prominently featured in its immediate future: the Internet! Here is a question: how different would CAD systems be today if the […]

Lynn Allen is one the most popular bloggers in the CAD world (Lynn blog, Lynn on Pulse). She is also a sort of ambassador for AutoCAD, promoting this CAD system in every context. In a world of stodgy CAD executives and unexciting CAD geeks, she brings a sparkling touch, feminine charm, and a solid technical knowledge. […]

Sometimes, when a combination has the right ingredients, great performers are paired with other great performers, and the result is outstanding. The whole becomes greater then the sum of its parts. The newly released SpaceClaim Style makes such a powerful combination when paired with Rhino. Rhino and SpaceClaim Style are not only excellent on their […]

On March 2nd, Skittles shook the world by changing its homepage to a big social media playground; when navigating to skittles.com you found yourself in a stream of Twitter messages with the tag #skittles. For 24 hours this was a big hit, but there was no filter, and also abusive tweets from pranksters about the […]

Let’s be honest: the CAD world is boring. I read CAD blogs and news every single day (using Novedge Pulse), and I rarely find something really exciting. In this market, technological improvements are very gradual and real breakthroughs happen only once in a decade. Also, the adoption of new technologies in the design and manufacturing process […]

My friend Alex Ruiz, mostly known as the SolidWorks Geek, is announcing the Design For The Future Charity Drive for The Orangewood Children’s Foundation, a non-profit foundation taking care of under-privileged kids at the Orangewood Children's Home in Orange, California. Alex lived there as a teen and now he wants to give back. This is […]

Blogs are an important source of information. We all know this. Most of us started bookmarking one CAD blog and going back every day to read the new posts. It was a nice way to stay updated while drinking a morning coffee. Soon, we found our attention and time split among a set of cross-referenced […]

Novedge recently added a section at the bottom of each page of its website providing a space where visitors and customers can leave comments sharing their opinions and experiences. The tools that allowed us to implement this service are provided by Disqus, a new startup located in San Francisco, just a few blocks from Novedge headquarters. Disqus has […]

I believe that comments are a powerful tool to establish a dialogue with blog readers as well as to listen to customers. While comments have become a standard feature of blogs for some time, they have seldom been available on other websites. Technically speaking there is no reason for this limitation. While websites are not […]

When buying a CAD product most of us consider many factors, such as the list of features, the price, the platform, the level of integration between programs our clients and customers are already using, and so on.  While we may not realize it, many times we are also looking for something that feels or looks […]

It is difficult for me to write an introduction for Al Dean. On one hand I have read several articles and blog posts by Al, but on the other hand I've never had the opportunity to meet him personally (this interview was done by e-mail). What I like the most about Al and what keeps […]

Direct-modeling is the new trend in CAD. No doubt about it! Some call it Synchronous Technology, some Interactive Solid Modeling, and some direct-editing. All of these approaches differ, but all are trying to overcome the limitations of existing parametric systems. If we were to identify one original source that started this trend, we would certainly […]

With the recent release of Vectorworks 2009, Nemetschek NA made an important change in the product architecture with implications that are expected to extend well beyond this release. They replaced their obsolete geometric software library with a powerful and reliable state-of-the-art geometric engine: Parasolid. While geometric engines have been widely used in mechanical CAD for […]