Thanks to the influx of mobile tablets like the iPad, 2D sketch tools and industrial design capabilities are suddenly hot. So hot that Dassault Systèmes just added a new 3D sketch tool to its CAD and PLM lineup.
While not a tablet application, CATIA Natural Sketch seems to deliver similar functionality to the new wave of iPad sketch apps, but aimed more specifically at the industrial designer, not the hobbyist or enthusiast. CATIA Natural Sketch lets the user work with 2D paint gestures and movements similar to sketching on paper in an effort to remove any kind of emotional barrier to 3D creation, according to CATIA officials.
Dassault says Natural Sketch is a natural addition to its lineup, given that the creative design process always starts with a sketch, typically on paper, then as the project evolves, that sketch is translated to 3D products like CAD and industrial design tools to explore the design volumes and proportions. The idea beyond CATIA Natural Sketch is to let users more quickly transform 2D ideas into 3D realities as well as to explore design details and alternatives by sketching directly on existing 3D models.
CATIA Natural Sketch aims to help industrial designers fast-track 2D ideas into 3D models in a way that mimics paper sketching.
So what's the benefit of sketching in 3D? According to a YouTube video demonstration on the product, the ability to sketch in 3D will help design teams avoid any misinterpretation of 2D views and better communicate their ideas. Dassault says the transition from ideation to actual design is not as seamless as it may seem. Someone's 2D napkin sketch may not be feasible in 3D, and at the same time, the process of constructing 3D models from a 2D sketch can also be quite time consuming and prone to design intent interpretation errors.
Natural Sketch is part of Dassault's CATIA for Creative Designers line, a portfolio of tools aimed at industrial designers that is intended to address the complete industrial design workflow, from ideation and concept to refinement and design validation, all the way through the final step of creating production-ready 3D products.
There are a variety of other sketching products on the market, including Autodesk's professional-grade SketchBook Pro, available on the desktop as well as a mobile app for Apple iOS devices, including the iPad.
Beth, your comment that 3D representations may be becoming the default is interesting in light of other 3D technology in our industry, for example: 3D models, prototypes and now direct manufacturing in very low volumes, and 3D machine vision. Meanwhile, over in consumer-land, interest in 3D movies and video appears to be growing, if not nearly as fast as studios and other commercial interests would like.
Ann: I think you're definitely on to something. All of the vendors specializing in 3D technologies that I cover (3D design software, 3D printers) have been talking about this "democratization" of 3D technology for years. Led by the popularization of consumer technologies like 3D TV and 3D gaming, I think we may finally be starting to see their predictions coming to fruition.
Thanks Beth for the confirmation that this *is* a trend. Concurrency of similar-appearing phenomena doesn't always mean they are related phenomena. In this case, sounds like they are.
The main difeerence is natural sketch's generic integration with DS PLM, right frm ideation > concept dev. > design > validation > product realisation everything is tightly integrated and the transition is seamless. I have used it on PC, yet to test it on centiq or othr drawing tablets
@mechanicalabhinav: Sounds like you're an early user of Natural Sketch, so thanks for wading in with your comments. Can you give us some perspective on what you think full integration presents for the typical design workflow?
Full integration represents the seamless flow of a idea to a mass produced product,
for example, in DS PLM, it can be outlined as below
CATIA natural sketch / imagin and shape - design ideation and conceptualization
CATIA Part/surface/drafting/sheet metal - 3D / 2D design and actual design engineering & validation
SIMULIA - simulation and physical validation { imagine crash test }
DELMIA - production
ENOVIA - interconnecting all of the above ( the PLM, like teamCantre)
So, If you are sketching a spoiler or grab rail , you can actually have it manufactured, without any issue in terms of data transfer and actual engineering validation as everything is inter related and under 1 roof every body , right from industrial designer > marketing > engineer > production can be in resonance.
Thanks for the explanation mechanicalabhinav. So from an engineering perspective, would certain industries be bigger users of this? If so, what industries would they be?
The 3D printing revolution seems to have a knack for quickly moving technology ahead by way of collaborative effort and even a little friendly competition -- all of course in the name of scientific advancement.
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