Using Acrobat 3D 8 in real-world production
Author: Jess Maertterer
First a bit about me: I started in 1980 as a toolmaker and learned industrial manufacturing from the ground up. I worked with CAD and CAM from its early days, then studied Industrial Design. Since 1990 I run my own company with clients that include Mercedes, Villeroy & Boch, Nokia, Ferrero, Fuksas, and Frank Gehry. One unique aspect about my company is that we deliver designs ready for production.
Developing a good design is mostly a problem of communication. You cannot discuss or decide anything if you are not sure that everyone is looking at the same thing. I have successfully used Acrobat 7 to communicate design solutions and let authorized people sign the reviews. My principal CAD application is Rhino3D, but many of my clients and partners use CATIA and SolidWorks. Translating the files has always been a significant problem. It costs time, a lot of money and inevitably leads to many errors.
For example right now I’m working on another architectural project for Frank Gehry. I’m doing the construction design of all complex curved metal parts and I have to ensure that everything can be built exactly the way I’ve designed it. As you can imagine there is lot of potential conflict with all involved parties. Here you can see a previous project: http://www.rhino3.de/design/modeling/developable/architecture/ (click the images for bigger pictures).
Previously we have never been able to make a viewable file that includes all components. The process of creating image files for reviews required a tremendous amount of work and usually forced a big loss of information. However, using Acrobat 3D 8 Preview, I have imported the entire CATIA 250 MB assembly and ended up with a 5 MB 3D PDF file that I can even navigate with my notebook. Unbelievable - I mean this is something I would not even have dreamed possible.
When I export the 3D data to STEP I get perfect solids, no naked edges, clean surfaces and trims. Even the object attributes are still there. Over the years I worked with many (pretty expensive) file converters, but none comes close to the quality Acrobat 8 produces. So it looks like Adobe made a good investment by acquiring TTF. Acrobat is worth the money if it is just used as 3D file converter, but don’t hesitate - actually this is just a very tiny spot of the whole Acrobat universe.
Congratulations! Acrobat successfully made the shift from 2D to 3D.
My wish list of what Acrobat 3D still needs:
I think you have a rough picture of my very positive experience with Acrobat 3D 8. There are also some multimedia projects where we are experimenting with Acrobat but for now I’ll focus on the PRC / 3D aspect.
When we are working on big CAD/Design projects we always make a “Master Model”. This model contains everything from the project. We use Rhino 3D for the master model because it has a robust NURBS kernel and is the most flexible modeller for the price. It can handle 2D and 3D and has a wide range of supported file formats for import and export.
I would like to see Acrobat 3D fill the role as the host for the Master Model. PRC already has the core potential to do that. To be able to be a Master Model and fit the workflow of our 3D project management it needs:
Optionally link (not embed) various 3D files / formats.
Update changed files (Version Cue functionality)
Export selected / visible objects only
Export to separated files (original assembly structure)
PRC Support for Rhinoceros 3DM format
