CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
March 2005
Company News
Delcam to Demonstrate Total Modelling Design System at Solid Modelling
At the Solid Modelling Show to be held at the NEC, Birmingham, on 27th and 28th April, Delcam will demonstrate its Total Modelling system for product design and decoration. Recent developments in the software mean that it now provides the fastest method for the early "What if?" stage of concept design, allowing a far greater number of alternative proposals to be created and compared in a much shorter time.
The increased capabilities of Total Modelling mean that the number of potential applications has become even wider. It already used widely to develop items like packaging, footwear, ceramics and toys, where complex decoration can add value. For these items, Total Modelling enables logos, textures and other decorations to be incorporated into product designs more readily to help reinforce branding, and to be changed more quickly, for example when updating a standard design to be used in merchandising for a new television or film promotion.
Total Modelling also allows the addition of styling features to products ranging from automotive exteriors to domestic appliances. In the automotive industry, different body styling of both decorative features and functional items, like air intakes, can be incorporated with an exact match to the underlying bodywork. The size, position and design of these features can be changed in seconds, rather than the hours that would be needed with conventional CAD modeling techniques. In a similar way, both decorative items and functional textures, such as grip surfaces, can be added to designs for electrical equipment that needs to meet both aesthetic and practical requirements.
Total Modelling brings together elements of Delcam's Power Solution software range in a fully-integrated combination of solid modeling, surface modeling, triangle modeling, reverse engineering and decoration techniques. This wide range of techniques gives designers the ability to create innovative products more easily and more quickly, without the restrictions of conventional CAD software.
Recent improvements to the software include a new Total Modelling Wizard. This makes the software much easier to use and so allows a far greater range of alternatives designs to be investigated in a much shorter time. Individual elements can be moved to different positions, scaled in a variety of sizes and aspect ratios, and then re-trimmed back into the main model in a few seconds.
Full 360 ° wrapping is now supported when placing decoration on round or conical surfaces. The software will automatically scale the relief to ensure that the edges meet accurately.
The range of techniques within Total Modelling means that even extremely complex designs can be completed without restrictions or compromises, regardless of whether the starting point is a new idea, a 2D sketch, an existing design or all three . Design elements created from 2D drawings or reverse engineered from an existing part, or even features imported from other CAD systems, can be wrapped onto an underlying surface within a PowerSHAPE model. This approach for detailing designs is much more powerful and flexible than the Boolean addition methods available in solid modeling systems.
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