Arlington, Texas, September 18, 2000 - Close on the heels of announcing their ASP portal called ASPire3D.com, Imagecom today announced its first ASP that works inside the portal - 2Dto3DCAD.com. 2Dto3DCAD.com allows users to convert their legacy 2D CAD drawings to feature-based parametric 3D models over the Internet on a pay-per-use basis. By automatically recognizing features, 2Dto3DCAD.com grants users the capability to easily redesign a product, while providing a seamless integration to automated manufacturing.

How It Works

The process begins with the user registering and logging onto the site. After some optional preprocessing, they upload any 2D drawing saved in either the standard DXF or DWG format. Then after a period of time, which can range from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the complexity of the drawing, the user is automatically e-mailed that the conversion is complete. The user then goes to their "My Conversions" page that lists all their jobs and their status. At this point, they can inspect a VRML version of the converted model in order to determine if they are satisfied with the quality of the output. At the end of this ASP's beta period, they will be able to purchase the model using a major credit card or via a purchase order.

The converted feature-based parametric 3D models can be in the native Mechanical Desktop 4.0/5.0 or Inventor 2.0/3.0 formats, with more MCAD programs soon to be added to the list. "We are continuously working on adding more native formats to the ASP. Solidworks 2000 is the next on the list and the others will soon follow," said Dr. Raj Ganesan, Vice President of Development. Featureless models in the AutoCAD 2000, STEP AP203, IGES and SAT formats can also be automatically constructed and downloaded.

Different Options Available

Once the user registers and logs into the site, they have two separate conversion options available to them. The "Self Serve" option is mainly suited for machinable piece parts. The user needs to perform minimal preprocessing on these drawings to clean up unwanted text, dimensions and other entities, before the automated software can operate on it directly. The preprocessing steps typically take less than a couple of minutes on most drawings. In the "Full Service" option, the main difference is that there are no restrictions on the class of mechanical drawing to be converted and the user does not need to perform the initial preprocessing on the drawings.

The Engine

No matter which option is selected, the user has access to a web-enabled version of Imagecom's powerful FlexiDesign software. This is the engine that drives 2Dto3DCAD.com. Imagecom released FlexiDesign Version 2.0 last year as a shrink-wrapped package to automatically convert 2D DXF and DWG files to Mechanical Desktop 4.0 parametric models. The ASP runs an internet-enabled version of software called e-FlexiDesign, which allows users access to the powerful software using a standard browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape.

Pricing and Availability

No pricing plans are available as yet. Generally the conversions will be priced at about one-fifth the cost of interactively modeling the part directly on a CAD system. Still in beta, the site is expected to be released around October 1.