3D PDF : Analysis
Adobe announced Acrobat 3D, finally. This is their first foray
into 3D. I wrote earlier that they are missing the boat on 3D.
The premise of Acrobat 3D is to enable smooth collaboration
amongst various non CAD users within the organization's workflow
i.e. sales, marketing, visual merchandising, channel management,
etc. who traditionally could not view designs in 3D. With 2D
pictures of 3D products, much data is lost, making the process
inefficient and unproductive.
For a while now, CRM and PLM vendors have been looking for a
good bridge. The only one that existed so far was Autodesk's
DWF, which works with AutoCAD / Inventor design files.
However, in the Mechanical Design marketplace, the major houses
are:
1. Dassault, which owns CATIA (high-end 3D CAD), Solidworks
(mid-market 3D CAD), a PDM called SmarTeam, and a PLM product
called Enovia, which IBM Global Services sells and integrated.
2. Parametric, which owns ProE (high-end 3D CAD) and Windchill
(PLM)
3. Autodesk
4. UGS (recently LBO'd by SIlverlake and Bain)
5. think3 with ThinkDesign, ThinkID, ThinkTeam - all mid-range
products.
Given that any 3D Viewer product such as Acrobat 3D will need to
pass through a CAD-engineer's hands, to be written into an
Acrobar readable format, it is safe to assume that having
deep-pocket CAD relationships would be immensely valuable.
So, let us see who has what in terms of viwers:
Autodesk has DWF. No one else has anything else. However, there
are some independent viewers out there, Right Hemisphere and
TornadoVIZ. In fact, it is Right Hemisphere's technology that
enables Acrobat 3D, Adobe Ventures has an investment in the
company along with Sequoia Capital, and it would be safe to
assume that Adobe will buy this company eventually.
I have heard, however, that Acrobat 3D is a very heavy product.
In comparison, TornadoVIZ has a very light-weight technology,
which would, by and large, need to be an essential
characteristic of any 3D viewer such as the ones under
discussion.
While Adobe will try to be Switzerland, and not take a preferred
CAD system position, it is likely, they will get locked out of
the Autodesk eco-system. If I were Dassault, then, would I want
a proprietary viewer (perhaps via a Tornado acquisition), or
would I be okay with Adobe's neutral position?