Alias surfaces exported for manufacture have seams and gaps ?

[terrablader]

I have been warned that in Alias Surfaces exported for manufacture will h have seams and gaps especially surfaces that have been tirmmed.  And that the usual workflow is to remodel the alias surfaces in Catia or other engineering program.  Is this the case? and if not is there a way to aviod this.

This information comes to be via a very high end Alias professional 20 something years doing everything..

Thanks!

[Dua-Xiong]

I do think this can be the usual workflow, especially in automotive. 

This is not to say that Alias cannot build good quality surfaces, but in auto design, Alias is often used a pure styling tool.  In this case, shape and speed take precedence over quality and feasibility.  Those surfaces will eventually have to be rebuilt somewhere; Often, on the engineering side is what makes the most sense.

In other cases, I think it just comes down to the modeler doing things wrong.  Alias is not easy to learn; what makes it so flexible is also what makes it so complicated.  It will let you do things that you shouldn't be doing and it just won't care or warn you.  You won't know until engineering comes back and says "No!"...at which point, they can either wait for you to maybe get it right the next try or just rebuild it themselves. 

You have to watch everything and be on top of it, or you'll end up with holes, discontinuities, and illegal surfaces that you never intended.

...just my opinion.

[terrablader]

very interesting.   I guess my question would then be why not just build it in catia or whatever first?  I mean can it be that harder to make something even for conceptual purposes in catia either?

thank you for your response by the way.

[Dua-Xiong]

Theoretically, it can all be done in Catia...and some people do it.

If you are designing something like say, a computer keboard;  It's entirely possible and maybe even more practical to do it all in Catia.  Keyboards are usually more engineered than they are styled.  The surfaces will likely not be that complicated or sculptural.  You have to worry about draft angles, wall thicknesses, and screw holes.

However, if you're designing a car body, it's a completely different story.  Cars are essentially gliant glossy sculptures.  Especially in the early stages of the design process, designers only focus on what the shapes look like.  Curves, proportions, colors and graphics all need to be considered at the same time.  Whole bodysides will change daily.  In this case, you need a system that has the flexibility and control that will let you make minute changes without having to worry about absolute accuracy.

Economics also play a role in this.  If you're spending millions on developing a new car, you're going to make darn sure it's the right shape.  Keyboard developement costs might not justify the time to use a special tool just to make the thing look slightly better.....that is, unless you're Apple and you see your keyboard as a sculpture, and not just a hunk of plastic; that's why they use Alias, the best tool for the job...and it shows.

[Ruediger-Ambs]

Hello,

1. In the last years Autodesk did a lot of enchantments to Alias especially in the area of Class-A surfacing.

2. You are able to create a model in class-A Quallity. The automotive industry is using Alias to accomplish this. As far as I know, they are not rebuilding the surfaces in Catia. But in the construction or engineering they are adding the b-side (backside of the object), draft angles, wall thicknesses, screw holes and so on.

3. You can model in Alias without gaps or discontinuity. Tolerance settings are the key, there are several presets or you can define your own ones. You have to understand if you use wrong settings like maximum gab distance is set to 0.1 mm and you use in Catia 0.01 mm you will end up with gaps, but that's not a software issue, it is just wrong settings choosen by the user.

4. Alias is a complex software that's true and you will not learn it in two weeks. Especially the Automotive industry standards are very high. To do class-A surfacing I assume anyone needs around half a year up to one year till you are up to speed.

I experienced that most cases related to quality are depending of lack of knowlege.

At the end it comes down to the person sitting in front of the computer, if he/she knows what and how to do things correctly you will not have problems with quality or continuity issues.

Just my two cents.

Cheers

[KevinDeSmet]

That's true. I have to admit I think everyone was a little worried when Autodesk took over but the direction they have taken with Alias is formidable, adding new functionality for the working professional. Instead of a supposed revolution that turned into a slaughter house over at Icem. Here's just hoping there's no going too crazy with pumping Inventor into Alias.