@paul j said: %(#4000BF)[Heard today at work that they might be considering getting CATIA. I will do a Google search in a moment - just wondering if anyone on this forum uses it and can answer the following *** Is it a hard package to learn ? (I guess I am worried about a steep learning curve) ** Are there many similarities to Sketchup ? ** Does anyone have a link to a demo that can be downloaded ?*] I have used SolidWorks, which is a little cousin to Catia. My responses to your questions: It is significantly more complex than SketchUP but more in an enterprise way than a modeling way. Restating that, the modeler in Catia will have some similarities to SketchUP. But Catia's power is not it's modeler, it is the ability to have multiple (and I mean many) operators working on the same design simultaneously without stepping on each others toes. The other major strength of Catia, where SketchUp has no functionality whatsoever, is it's tie in to sophisticated data management systems. This allows the parts that are designed to be machined, purchased, whatever by a complete different team than the original modelers. SketchUp's modeler is very easy to use, but it has no history. You start with a shape and add things to it or subtract things from it. Catia, SolidWorks, Pro/E are parametric modelers where all your operations are kept in a tree and you can go back and change values. Inserted a hole in step three that was 5 mm in diameter, you can click on it and change the hole to 3 mm and it will correctly change it. Now saying this, Siemens and PTC are releasing history-less modelers which as far as I can tell act a lot like SketchUP. My experience is both have advantages which is why SolidEdge and Pro/E are being released with both capabilities. I'm certain SolidWorks and Catia will eventually get these features. It's a competitive market. You aren't going to find a demo to download. The distribution of all professional 3D MCAD is VERY tightly controlled via vendor networks. SolidWorks is, Catia even more so. These are high end products aimed at industrial audiences and they don't want anybody pirating this stuff if they can avoid it. Hopefully your employer is signing on for significant training. While you can effectively learn SketchUp (and SolidWorks) on your own, that just simply isn't possible in Catia. The training budget for the first year should be in the ballpark of your software outlay costs or your implementation is going to be a financial failure. I guarantee it. I'm not kidding. The second year it can be less, etc, etc, etc. The other gotcha to Catia is maintenance costs. All professional 3D MCAD has an annual subscription cost of approximately 25% of the original price per year. So if your seat of Catia cost $20,000 (which wouldn't surprise me as I paid $25,000 a seat for Pro/E in 1996) your company will be faced with a $5,000 bill very year to maintain that seat of software. To the commenter that suggested SpaceClaim, it's a good modeler that is not history based. The CEO of SpaceClaim was the original developer of both Pro/E and SolidWorks. But SpaceClaim is not Catia and won't be for a long. It's the enterprise functionality. Good luck and let us know what your thought are when you see Catia.

Redneck Gingerbread House: [image: XxE9_rngingerbread.jpg]

..... and don't forget to have ANOTHER look at Layout, now Layout2! http://sketchup.google.com/product/layout.html I think Layout has now grown up and will be adopted by many professionals with a need to communicate their design ideas to clients.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28151

I think it will be more along these lines: See George run. Run, George, run.

@petercharles said: @autarchos said: Huh, what's happened???? Someone must have moderated it. Anyway, it's there so have a look.

@unknownuser said: If only I knew what's going on there!

Well I hope they give every Vista user a free license for Windows 7 if it actually is better.

Ah, a retread of a Clinton joke. Not unexpected. Hopefully, it will be reworked again in 4 years...

Thought I would give it a try before bed. NEVERMIND how late I stayed awake without knowing. I was VERY pleased with myself when I realized the only way to beat the falling ball was to build a trebuchet. Also it took me a while to figure out there were solutions not using the wheels at all. Failed at getting the several balls across a pit. I'm staying away from it nevetheless.

@bellwells said: @sorgesu said: Ah I bet the stock has split several times since 46, not a fair comparison Ahha Susan, I failed to consider this so I did a little research. According to Yahoo, GM did a 2:1 split in March of 1989. If this is accurate, then today's stock price is only twice what it was in 1946. GM Stock Split History lists all the splits since the 1950s

Hi Todd, hi folks. Better late than never. Happy birthday

I thought I saw it yesterday just off the M1 motorway near worksop.

Always is a big deal in Australia and yes we stopped to remember at 11am. There is a group of historians [i believe] from Australia who have been researching for many years to locate a mass grave in Northern France of about 400 Britains and Australian killed during the war in 1916. Last year a dig was commissioned and a lucky bracelet was found and identified as being owned by an Australian solider. From there they went onto to locate many of the bodies of those lost in action..... a wonderful story of some dedicated individuals.... Link to a local news story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/11/2416941.htm Some touching stories posted here....

Well, I wrote to my marketing contacts directly at SketchUp HQ and I have had no response thus far, but I expect the decsion isn't from them any way. They would need to be willing to intervene on my behalf. On the Google site, there is no way to contact them at all regarding this subject. There are contact us forms for things like using their webtools, but no one to tell that a link isn't working properly or to ask a question about the logo. exasperating really.

True and that's also a nice site. Very interesting art work!! I was at the Festival of Lights in Lyon a couple years ago (it's always/generally at the firt wee-end of December). Good business, too; about 1 million tourists visit Lyon at a time tourism is really down (before Christmas)

@d.alexnine said: It is so interesting that President Bush single handedly with his administration changed the way people outside of America see Americans. Sadly Americans also began to see themselves in a dimly lit light because of the mistakes of our administration. I don't think it was quite single-handedly. Sure, there were some mistakes, but the news media is largely responsible for shaping the perceptions of events. It's also responsible for deciding what events are covered. For example, it's more than a little suspicious how this was missed by the media: A well-documented trail showing the Bush Administration was concerned about Fannie and Freddie way back in April 2001 - just 3 months into the first term. Any responsible reporter would have dug in and found the facts, and brought them to light, not just run with Dem sound bites. Anyway, the current economic situation (regardless of ultimate cause) could steal away hope in a lot of ways, but I'll still hope for SU7 in '09.

Great fake job... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=J72y_qFV2oc&NR=1 .

Ya...all those shots look like they fell right out of the Form Fonts website! I guess if all your doing is making a room a furnishing it with components you should be able to churn it out fast and cheap!