Articles
Software company PTC has rebranded its core ProEngineer product as part of a move that will see its software packages released as a new suite of Apple-style “apps”.
PTC was one of the first software companies to bring computer-aided design (CAD) software to market 20 years ago with its parametric modelling software. “ProE” has since become an engineering household name. The company has around 25,000 customers worldwide.
However, in response to what the company sees as a “lack of innovation in the CAD industry”, PTC is launching a suite of new products, and rebranding old products, under the name Creo.
Creo is described by PTC as the “system architecture” within which apps will function, and enables a greater level of integration between 2D and 3D models, and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems and modelling software. The first seven Creo apps will be available next summer, after beta testing in the spring. These will include apps for direct modelling and parametric modelling, conceptual engineering and photo-realistic rendering.
From this month ProEngineer will be known as Creo Elements/Pro, CoCreate as Creo Elements/Direct and ProductView as Creo Elements/View. The rebranding is happening in maintenance releases to existing users this month, and the rebranded products are also available to buy from this month.
Jim Heppleman, president and chief executive of PTC, said: “We’re not just shipping the next release. We are tackling the big problems in the industry. There is no ProEngineer any more… that tells you how big this is.”
Heppleman also said he hoped Creo will “facilitate a natural learning curve” towards PTC’s more complex software.
Brian Shepherd, vice-president of product development at PTC, said: “We didn’t want to create one mega application. We recognised that people use different parts of the software for specific things, to provide just the right amount of functionality for each different type of user through the apps.”
What is parametric modelling?
Parametric modelling, sometimes called history-based modelling, is computer modelling based on parameter definitions – how a part of a model will behave in the real world when connected to another part. So, when a model part is changed, all the other parts it is connected to change.
Its opposite in the world of CAD software is direct modelling, often referred to as explicit modelling. This involves drawing a geometric model directly onscreen using a mouse, without defining parameters. The numbers and relationships usually come later.
Although there are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, generally, parametric-based modelling is seen as more complex than direct modelling.