Never underestimate the power of an entrenched market place. The
best CAD program may not the the one that is the most used by larger
companies. As an engineer, I work with many different CAD tools.
Everyone has their favorite, usually the one they started with.
Often a company would like to change tools, but that can be very
costly. Old files have to be migrated, users must be retrained, new
software (sometimes new computers) must be purchased. I have seen
designers attempt to revolt from one system only to have their
finished design recoded in the company standard tool set. Sometimes
the recoding will take longer and cost more than the original design.
I have heard that some of the major CAD design tools encrypt their
data files to prevent others from moving to a new tool.
My favorite CAD tool is SolidWorks. Why? It was the one that I stared
with and know the most about. Is it the ideal tool for jewelry
design? The ideal tool has yet to be invented. I have used
SolidWorks to engineer complex assemblies like John describes above,
and I also used it to design jewelry. The needs are indeed very
different. The best engineering design tool may not be ideal for
jewelry. Can it be used? You bet. If you think of a ring in terms of
a size 6.5 being a 16.913 mm inside diameter cylinder with a
thickness of 1.3 mm, and a 0.5 fillet, then you will like engineering
based CAD. If you think of a ring shank as interleaving vine flowing
around a finger, you will need to lower your expectations for
engineering based CAD.
Computer programs in general can suffer from Jet Pilot Syndrome. The
software is so complex that users must be retrained when they leave
the tools for a couple of months. The use it or lose it is true for
software. For CAD programs, users often have to use the tool daily to
maintain their proficiency. At one point about 10 years ago, one of
my colleagues at work estimated the number of buttons in one of the
major CAD packages at somewhere over 140,000. What a puzzle maze.
For a cost effect CAD tool with an engineering graphics like
interface, you may want to try Alibre Design. It only costs $199.
How long will it be before objects can be scanned and then be
imported into the design? Some would like to have a 3D tool that
works like photoshop. The beginnings of such tools are starting to
emerge. My dentist can take a photo with a 3D camera that fits in my
mouth and have the output sent to a CAD program for design, then mill
a crown while I wait. Will these types of tools be available to
jewelry designers? I guess you could use the same tools as your
dentist, but your designs might look like teeth. The jewelry industry
has borrowed much from dentistry in the past. These tools will
migrate with time. I have been searching for an economical 3D
scanning solution, and I imagine that I will be searching for a while
longer. My goal is to simply scan carved stones so that I can used
the scanned outline as a starting place for a design.
Will we get to the point that designs are printed directly in metal?
This is possible to a limited extent today, and I expect the trend
to continue. Search youtube for “Art of Bathsheba Grossman 3D
Printing”, you will be impressed.
Computer power is opening more doors for design tools. Tools that
treat the designs more like clay are starting become more powerful.
Be careful when approaching some of these tools, as they may lead to
unplanned computer upgrades due to their demands for 64 bit
addressing and 16 to 32 Gb of RAM.
Has digital photography and PhotoShop put professional photographers
out of work? Not hardly. Would you trust your wedding photos to some
newbie who has the latest 18 M pixel camera? Owning an expensive
camera and photoshop does not make you a wedding photographer. Will
CAD/CAM put jewelers out of work? We will see. One thing is for sure,
the computer, software, and RP tool vendors will not be out of work.