CAD Standards

With management proactively attempting to create an improved brand in the market, I see positive things happening. Issues that were not on the radar in the past have become important.

The challenge now is to get management to see the actual value of this and put some teeth into the CAD management process. An example, I recently wrote a two-page, single-spaced e-mail addressing my concerns to the CAD design team and included management. I got one response from thirty-five engineers and not one from management.

I understand that jobs must be processed to keep business going, and I also know that we are a design shop, not a standards shop.

Final Thoughts

As a last thought, I leave you with this; CAD standards come down to the people you work with. Some will follow quickly, some not so. Your corporate CAD standard must be a living effort. It will evolve with the working environment and your co-workers. Do not be afraid to fail, usually multiple times. You get better by learning from mistakes and not giving up when things do not go as planned.

Conclusion

A CAD manager’s approach to developing and implementing CAD standards must include all involved parties and be tailored to the company culture. If not, your efforts will cause frustration and friction between people, and ultimately fail. If you are a CAD manager, be aware that your road may have pitfalls and roadblocks along the way. Implementing any standard is a form of change, which will meet with resistance. Do not let this dismay you or frustrate you.

One hour spent at the beginning of a design project will save ten at the end of it. By looking at the actual value of your current task as it relates to another person’s future work, you can see the longterm benefit of taking the time to follow a standard established and followed by all CAD designers.

My current employer designs Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV’s) and test machines. I have worked with AutoCAD software for forty years, starting on version 1.4. Having been with my current employer for almost sixteen years and CAD manager by necessity for at least ten, I have seen their culture change many times in attempts to improve processes and become more efficient. CAD standards have become a high-profile topic recently. I am excited to share my process of implementing a user-friendly system of CAD standards with others.

This year, several updates to 3ds Max have garnered the attention of professionals, with the Boolean Modifier emerging as a top choice, particularly for hard surface and machinery experts. As illustrated in Figure 1, a sphere has been sliced with a plane and enhanced using the chamfer modifier, effectively generating the appearance of distinct panels.

Although the resulting stack can be readily collapsed and optimized by removing unnecessary elements like internal geometry, in many situations, the illusion of these panels meets the high-quality standards required for production. Consequently, this streamlined approach allows for the efficient creation of intricate mechanized illustrations.

The Boolean Modifier’s robustness is further demonstrated by its ability to handle complex intersections and arrayed objects easily. Additionally, the modifier supports nested Booleans and integrates folder organization, making it a versatile and valuable tool for 3ds Max users.

Additionally, the modifier includes an option to utilize OpenVDB, a powerful voxel-based solution. This combination proves highly effective for both organic and hard surface modular construction, as demonstrated in Figure 2. Integrating this feature with the retopology tool is expected to prompt 3ds Max users to adapt their workflows, taking advantage of high-resolution voxelbased meshes during Boolean operations before refining details in specialized software like Mudbox and Zbrush.

The array modifier offers advanced capabilities, including Phyllotaxis distribution, which employs phasing and radial attributes for optimal performance. Users can also randomize material IDs and benefit from additional features, all while retaining the ability to animate the values as needed. This enhancement to the array modifier significantly broadens its functionality and versatility.

Several other updates have been introduced to 3ds Max, focusing on Maxscript enhancements, user experience improvements, and performance optimization. Key interface upgrades encompass a faster modifier selection featuring a search area, a more user-friendly material slate editor with better docking capabilities, and enhanced mesh triangulation for various modeling tasks.

A long-standing issue involving input nodes for material selections has been resolved, streamlining the process of connecting nodes. Furthermore, complex material graphs can be collapsed into a single node, granting users increased flexibility in staying organized while crafting intricate content. These simplified graphs can be saved in a user library for future use.

A new controller for animators provides greater control over blending animations and improvements to managing motion paths. The implementation of additional color management options may elicit mixed reactions from users. The following are some other notable updates:

• A material switcher node

• Character studio improvements

• Spline improvements

• Arnold/MaxToA improvements (the list for this one is long)

• USD improvements

Brian Chapman is a 3D graphics professional in Las Vegas, building content for the AEC industry, games, film, entertainment, and software development. Brian can be reached at pictelforge@gmail.com