December 2004

By DE Editors

Product of the Week: December 29, 2004Art to Part RedefinedCNC adds artist's touch to its Mastercam CAD/CAM software suiteCNC Software (Tolland, CT) has added new meaning to the expression "from artto part" with its just announced release of Mastercam Art. Mastercam Art, a newadd-on application, brings artistic relief design and cutting to Mastercam Milland Mastercam Router Version 9 CAD/CAM software. Mastercam Art is said to eliminatemany of the problems typically encountered when creating machinable artwork.Mastercam Art lets you work with 2D sketches, clip art, photos, and MCAD fileson-screen and then cut them with specialized toolpaths. Input ranging from scannedpencil drawings to a fully realized MCAD models can be "sculpted" on-screen in3D until they appear as you want them to appear. During this process, MastercamArt's Relief Manager helps you track the project step by step, and you can adjust,reorder, or edit each element instantly. When done, Mastercam Art provides a varietyof single-click moldmaking and cutting techniques to ensure the part comes offthe machine exactly as imagined. It can even automatically reverse your text.Mastercam Art enables you to customize parts with logos, artwork, and other curvy,organic shapes in minutes rather than waiting weeks for signmaker or other artisanweeks to do it, according to the company. For complete details on Mastercam Art,go to the CNC Software website.CNC Software

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Product of the Week: December 22, 2004KeyCreator V4 Ships Kubotek USA's new version has more functionality than announced earlier On Monday December 20th Kubotek USA, Inc., (Marlborough, MA) announced that it is shipping KeyCreator V4.0, the newestversion of its widely deployed design and manufacturing software. V4 comes withmore enhancements than those previously announced, most significantly in the areaof file interoperability.Job shops that receive files in a variety of formats that they find frequentlyneed to be translated will be particularly interested to know that KeyCreatorV4 now has translators for SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor. This is in additionto its standard mix of translators for AutoCAD (DXF, DWG), IGES, Parasolid, SAT,and STEP.

In all, KeyCreator 4.0 delivers more than 200 customer-driven enhancements, accordingto Kubotek USA. Among these are automatic drawing layouts, detail callouts, intelligentfeature editing of standard holes, and sheet metal bend/unbend capabilities. North American pricing for KeyCreator V4 systems begins at $3,495, which includesone year of maintenance. For complete details on the KeyCreator software line,go to the Kubotek USA website.

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Product of the Week: December 15, 2004Neural Nets Power Data Mining & Predictive Analysis ApplicationsJMSL Numerical Library 3.0 offers expanded functionality for advanced Java-basedforecasting of complex dataVisual Numerics Inc. (VNI; San Ramon, CA) just yesterday, December 14, announced JMSL Numerical Library Version 3.0, which, the company says, is the only comprehensive, 100% Java-based numericalanalysis application development package available. JMSL Library 3.0 offers acollection of mathematical, statistical, financial, and charting classes thatcombine to provide a scalable framework for custom analytical applications ofcomplex data, such as data mining and predictive analysis.JMSL Library 3.0 is said to be ideal for such analytics applications as riskmanagement, manufacturing yield analysis, and process control. It fuses integratedcharting capabilities with the mathematical and statistical functionality foundin VNI's widely deployed IMSL Numerical Library algorithms. JMSL 3.0's chartingtools have been enhanced with a new heat map chart type that can display two-dimensionalarrays of color values.Neural network engines for advanced forecasting and data mining are key new technologiesin JMSL Library 3.0. Neural networking mimics human problem-solving processesby applying knowledge gained from historical data to new situations. JMSL programmers,in turn, leverage this technology to build predictive models that increase inaccuracy as more and more information is obtained. For example, companies canextract information such as historical cost data and apply this data to the neuralnetwork to forecast their future costs with greater precision.JMSL Library 3.0 also has new algorithms for easy pre- and postprocessing ofdata. Its set of linear regression and nonlinear regression algorithms has beenenhanced with additional algorithms for producing predictive model. Hierarchicalcluster analysis for classifying and analyzing data is also new to version 3.0.JMSL Numerical Library 3.0 is available immediately from VNI. Pricing for onefloating development seat is $3,495. For more information, please visit the VNIwebsite.Visual Numerics: www.vni.com

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Product of the Week: December 8, 2004

thinkteam Expands Integration with Major MCAD Solutions

think3, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH) has added functionality to thinkteam, the product data management(PDM) component of its thinkPLM suite. This new functionality complements Autodesk'sAutoCAD and PTC's Pro/Engineer and helps designers manage 3D-modeled product informationas well as integrate existing functions without changing your operating methods.thinkteam for Pro/Engineer and AutoCAD introduces a single access point for allproduct data, including drawing archives.Regardless of legacy software, thinkteam is said to integrate seamlessly andto manage all product information in a single environment. The company says thatis intended to help users improve design automation, reduce time to market, increaseefficiency, and control and improve quality of design.Additional features of thinkteam include easy-to-use search functions so informationcan be found quickly and reliably. Errors caused by using incorrect or outdatedinformation and concurrent modifications to the same drawings by different designersare virtually eliminated. thinkteam for Pro/Engineer and AutoCAD enables designersto assess the impact of modifications by automatically managing links betweendrawings and the product's bill of materials.thinkteam also includes new ease-of-use functionality such as adding documentsby dragging them from a Windows desktop, automatic creation of links between documents,recursive release of document trees, and document markup and redline managementto improve collaboration. For more information, visit the think3 website.

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Product of the Week: December 1, 2004 TurboCAD Pro 10.5 Integrates D-Cubed's 2D Constraint ManagerIMSI (Novato, CA; imsisoft.com), a leading developer and publisher of precision design, consumer, and businesssoftware solutions, has announced the newest version of its flagship product:TurboCAD Professional. Version 10.5 incorporates D-Cubed's 2D Constraint Managerand several additional new and improved drafting and design tools.There are more than 15 new 2D and geometric constraint management tools availablefor points, lines, circles, and arcs in the new version. With the dimensionalconstraint tools, mathematical relationships between different dimensions areeasily defined, making editing of designs even more efficient. In addition, constrained2D profiles can serve as the basis for a 3D model that will automatically updatewhenever the 2D profile is changed. The program also converts legacy 2D drawings,including DXF and DWG, into geometrically constrained drawings."The decision to license this technology in order to provide advanced constraintsolving in TurboCAD creates tremendous value for our customers," says Bob Mayer,executive vice president of IMSI's Precision Design Products Division. "It enablesIMSI to offer more robust and complete design and manufacturing solutions to themechanical CAD and CAM markets."Other enhancements in TurboCAD Professional version 10.5 include a new abilityto dimension the closest-distance between two parallel lines, and improved bidirectionalassociative dimensioning and NURBS-based facet deforming."Many of the world's leading CAD/CAM/CAE vendors have integrated D-Cubed's technologyinto their applications," adds Mayer. "We feel extremely proud to be able to offerthe drafting and design power of this technology in a CAD application priced under$1,000. When combined with the already powerful, photorealistic rendering andACIS-based surface and solid modeling capabilities in TurboCAD Professional, D-Cubed'stechnology makes TurboCAD Professional version 10.5 the best desktop CAD valueon the market today." Price: $895. For more information, visit turbocad.com or imsisoft.com.

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