Editor's Pick: KeyCreator 2011 Released

By Anthony J. Lockwood

KeyCreator from Kubotek USA, as some of you may recall, is the successor to the venerable and revered CadKey of yesteryear. CadKey earned its chops and a devoted user base by being powerful and easy to use. It was something of a "Joe Six-Pack" sketch, design, and shop floor system that product designers, manufacturing engineers, lathe louts, and even the occasional CAD piker could put to excellent use because it had the tools you needed but none of the fuss associated with the distracting flash, bells, and whistles that drive engineers nuts.

KeyCreator has done that reputation proud over the years. It can be best described as a practical 3D modeling system -- perhaps it's a "Joseph Merlot" CAD system. By that I mean that it has been thoroughly modernized to embrace advancing technologies as well as the changing preferences, expectations, and sensibilities of a new generation of designers. Still, KeyCreator appears to have remained faithful to its core operating principle: You've got a job to do, and KeyCreator is there to work with you so you do it quickly and right, hassle free -- i.e., its practical.

So, what of KeyCreator 2011? Well, as you might expect from a long-time 3D direct modeling system, version 2011 has been enhanced with features to make editing, extracting, and modifying geometry in native or imported CAD formats faster and more accurate. Its version of the direct modeling "thing that you use to make stuff happen," the 3D DynaHandle, has been improved with a new look, many new control and selection features, and more options when you right click. Looks pretty slick.

Another new function is called Read Assembly. This lets you display an assembly tree from a native file or an import, doesn't matter, and then select the something you're after. And KeyCreator users will like to know that version 2011 offers faster and more accurate IGES file importing, including support for PMI. The translators for other CAD formats have been updated to the newest releases so that its tradition of working well with other formats continues unabated. Its machining modules have been extended as well. In short, KeyCreator 2011 is a major release.

KeyCreator has productivity in its DNA. Give today's Pick of the Week write-up a read, take the interactive tour of version 2011, watch some videos, and then sign up for an evaluation unit of KeyCreator 2011. Now seems the right time for all of you who have never tried KeyCreator to give it a test drive.

Thanks, pal. -- Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood
Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Read today's Pick of the Week write-up.

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