Delcam Offers Free Viewer for Multiple CAD Formats

Delcam is offering a free CAD viewer that will allow users to view, but not change, CAD models in all the major formats, including CATIA versions 4 and 5, Pro/ENGINEER 2001 and Wildfire, SDRC, Unigraphics, SolidWorks and Solid Edge, as well as industry standards such as Parasolid XT, IGES, VDA and STEP.
The free viewer can be downloaded from the Delcam web site - or requested on CD by emailing marketing@delcam.com.

Delcam's free viewer allows users to view many major CAD formats

"Even though modern CAD software can produce incredibly realistic 2D images of new designs, the ability to view a 3D model is still more valuable for potential suppliers, distributors and customers," claimed Delcam's Marketing Manager Peter Dickin. "With our free viewing software, there will be no limit on the number of collaborators to which companies will be able to distribute models of new design proposals."
"This will allow the fastest possible feedback from everyone involved in the delivery of new concepts into the marketplace. Early involvement by collaborators will help establish initial consensus on the proposed design and so minimize the number of changes that need to be made during the later stages of the product's development."
Delcam's free viewer incorporates all the viewing options offered by normal CAD packages. Information relating to different layers or even individual surfaces within models can be displayed to aid the interpretation of more complex models. For example, if individual layers have been created in different colors, this will be seen in the viewer.
For companies that need to receive more formal comments on new design proposals, Delcam can supply its PS-Estimator software. This again does not permit the user to change the CAD model but does allow the addition of dimensions, balloons and text, up to 100 items in total, to mark up the model, for example, when suggesting design modifications.
PS-Estimator also features a wide range of analysis tools, including the ability to use clipping planes to investigate internal detail, curvature analysis options that highlight discontinuities in model surfaces or any loss of smoothness between surface edges, and model compare functionality that identifies any changes from earlier versions of the design.
The software can also help sub-contractors identify potential problems in manufacturing a new design by displaying key parameters, such as the draft angle and wall thickness, that affect processability. It can, therefore, improve the service that toolmakers can offer their customers by ensuring that these difficulties are identified and corrected before work starts on the design and manufacture of any tooling.