CAD Exchanger, a 3D CAD viewer and converter specialist, has announced a new release of its multi-purpose viewer.
The key highlights for this 3.8.1 are newly added support for X3D format as an import option, direct links to Unity VR/AR engine as well as new licensing options for the GUI-based version of the technology.
One really interesting subject (if you’re a geometric nerd) that’s also been addressed is enhancement support for Parasolid geometry (In particular, intersection curves, blended edges and bounds).
According to CAD Exchanger, the new release supports a range of definitions from the various Parasolid-based systems.
CAD Exchanger is able to retrieve elementary, free-form, and procedural geometrical elements – the latter has no explicit parametric equations that define its shape, which can typically make it more problematic to import.
Release 3.8.1 also looks to enhance the import of intersection curves, blended edges and bounds when computed in parallel.
To try and interpret the rather technical aspects of this, it’s increasingly common for import operations to be multi-threaded, so the generation of individual faces or other geometric features are split up and computed across multiple threads.
The issue is that the nature of some downstream features mean that the results of these separate threads need to be consolidated to achieve a further geometry set (such as intersection curves, blended edges), but because of the separate nature of that computation, the end result can vary.
So now CAD Exchanger now ensures the correct result when importing such forms.
CAD Exchanger 3D CAD viewer and converter is available in both a GUI version on your desktop, on the cloud as well as a command-line level tool for automation.
It’s $225 per year for a subscription or $499 for a perpetual licence.