I happened to read about PROSTEP PDF Generator 3D in CIMData’s website this weekend
which lead me to explore the world of 3D PDF’s. I find interactive 3D PDF files pretty amazing. For those of you
who haven’t had a chance to view them please click on this link: http://www.adobe.com/manufacturing/3dpdfsamples/3dsolutions/
to view sample 3D PDF files. There are several examples listed like:
→ Turbine engine (PDF, 4.5M, Original CAD format:
SolidWorks)
→ Jet concept design (PDF, 4.7M, Original CAD formats:
Siemens NX, CATIA V5, and Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire)
→ Crankshaftassembly (PDF, 3.0M, Original CAD format: Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire)
I observed many tools when I opened
these files in Adobe Reader including those to isolate Parts, different Part
Rendering Modes including Transparent, Wireframes, Illustrations etc, different
Model Rendering Modes, Model Tree highlighting - will highlight different parts
in the model, 3D measurement tools, etc. PDF Generator 3D Reader Extensions Module offers the option of activating a large number of additional functions for using the generated 3D PDF documents in Adobe Reader. The recipient can, for example, add comments or fill in certain fields on a form. PDF Generator 3D Rights Management Module allows the information contained in the 3D PDF documents to be protected against access by unauthorized persons. Access rights can be restricted to a specific period of time and if necessary can be revoked when, for example, a document is no longer valid. Overall I feel it’s a good tool for
visualization even though rendering and loading takes some time even with a
powerful computer. For those interested in the details of the components of PDF Generator 3D have a look here:
I see 3 major advantages of using 3D
PDF technology:
→ Standardization: No doubt
there are visualization tools from nearly every CAD vendors which will help view
a multitude of product data (e.g., MCAD/ECAD files, MS Office documents)
without the authoring application. But all such tools need the downstream
consumers to have the same tools which might be difficult considering that
manufacturing and support services are likely to be outsourced. I think Adobe tries to solve this problem
with Interactive 3D PDF. “Interactive 3D PDF files look exactly like the
original 3D design, regardless of the application used to create it or the
environment in which it's viewed.” [http://www.adobe.com/manufacturing/solutions/3d_solutions/] The currently supported CAD formats are:
→ Reduction in Total Cost of Ownership: If your
product data needs to be viewed across the Realise (Manufacturing), Use/Support
(Customer service), Retire/Dispose phases (The phases are from John Stark's PLM
Grid) then each user associated with the individual phases will need licenses
for a visualization tool. With 3D PDF that cost is cut down. Since Adobe
Acrobat is installed in the majority of users – this would also mean a reduced load
on IT for installing and maintaining the visualization tool. However a details
cost benefit analysis should be made comparing the total license costs of the
currently used desktop-based visualization tool versus the cost of the 3D PDF
Generator tool (a professional server solution that offers full functionality and accommodates up to 50 users for less than € 10,000).
→ Long Term Archival and Retrieval Solution: If the
lifecycle of your product extends several decades then a question worth
pondering is whether the CAD format would still be supported. While the PDF specification was available for free since
at least 2001, PDF was originally a proprietary format controlled by Adobe, and was
officially released as an open standard on July 1, 2008, and published by the International
Organization for Standardization as ISO 32000-1:2008.
In 2008, Adobe published a Public Patent License to ISO 32000-1 granting a
royalty-free rights for all patents owned by Adobe that are necessary to make,
use, sell and distribute PDF compliant implementations. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format].3D
PDF is the perfect candidate for a long term archival and retrieval solution. More
information at 3D PDF
Consortium http://www.3dpdfconsortium.org/pdf-standards-info.html.
Thanks
for reading! I would be happy read your comments.
