ADT3 product plug-ins?

[Anonymous]

A while back I saw a beta demo of a door manufacture plug-in that was in the
works for ADT3 that allowed you to pick from a dialog a door straight from
their actual product catalog with all the different options like lites,
louvers, hardware, materials, finishes, costs, etc. It then would insert
the door (ADT object door and style) exactly that way, 2d and 3d. It was
incredible to see the hardware and lites/louvers in 3d!!! Just that part
there is going to make my rendering life so much easier. But get this, it
would even let you export the actual spec section for the door to MS WORD
format to be cut and pasted into your main spec. WOW, it was very cool.
And keep in mind, this was a very finished well working beta, not just some
test alpha with install/uninstall routines and finished graphic like it had
been in the works for quite some time.

Anyhow, at that time I had heard that this was being done between AutoDESK
and not just door manufacturers, but many type of other products and was to
be possibly a part of ADT3 or at least as plug-ins. Well obviously I
haven't seen anything so far since its release, but with me being a VIP, I
haven't received my copy yet so I don't even know if there is even evidence
of it in the programming yet.

So if anyone has got their copy or has heard anything about this
development, I'd love to hear from you.

[Anonymous]

Hey Cadmaninadevil (love that name!)

Are you talking about the Weyhaueser door plugin for ADT? I tried to
download it from their website w/o success & emailed them a request for
software but haven't heard back.
It would be really nice if plug ins (extensions?) like this were made
available through Point A.

Dennis McNeal
Architectural Resources

Cadmaniandevil wrote in message
<2631A203354DE2563DDC868896B37A20@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW>...
>A while back I saw a beta demo of a door manufacture plug-in that was in
the
>works for ADT3 that allowed you to pick from a dialog a door straight from
>their actual product catalog with all the different options like lites,
>louvers, hardware, materials, finishes, costs, etc. It then would insert
>the door (ADT object door and style) exactly that way, 2d and 3d. It was
>incredible to see the hardware and lites/louvers in 3d!!! Just that part
>there is going to make my rendering life so much easier. But get this, it
>would even let you export the actual spec section for the door to MS WORD
>format to be cut and pasted into your main spec. WOW, it was very cool.
>And keep in mind, this was a very finished well working beta, not just some
>test alpha with install/uninstall routines and finished graphic like it had
>been in the works for quite some time.
>
>Anyhow, at that time I had heard that this was being done between AutoDESK
>and not just door manufacturers, but many type of other products and was to
>be possibly a part of ADT3 or at least as plug-ins. Well obviously I
>haven't seen anything so far since its release, but with me being a VIP, I
>haven't received my copy yet so I don't even know if there is even evidence
>of it in the programming yet.
>
>So if anyone has got their copy or has heard anything about this
>development, I'd love to hear from you.
>

[Anonymous]

I called Weyerhaeuser and was transferred to the regional rep. Left him a
message and he called back the next day. He sent me the CD ( I also tried
the download with no luck) installed it. It seemed to work great with one
gripe. I creates a ADT Icon on the desktop and it loads the program in, for
lack of a better term Weyerhaeuser Mode, a strange mode. All of my settings
were there It was just kind of annoying that in order to use their tools I
had to start ADT from their icon. I can't start it from inside of a current
session of ADT. There may be a way with a little hacking to reverse engineer
and find everything that needs to be loaded and then get it running in a
current session. I just haven't had time to play with it. As far as the
functionality of the program it works just the way you have described. All
of their doors, or at least a huge number of them, are in the program. You
can add lites, louvers, hardware, and select a price range on a scale of 1-8
I believe. You can also do up the specs for each of the doors placed in your
drawing.
It would be nice to see other manufacturers jump on this band wagon. I would
like to see plumbing fixtures, appliances, windows, etc. it would sure help
to make the model concept of drawing a reality.

"Cadmaniandevil" wrote in message
news:2631A203354DE2563DDC868896B37A20@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> A while back I saw a beta demo of a door manufacture plug-in that was in
the
> works for ADT3 that allowed you to pick from a dialog a door straight from
> their actual product catalog with all the different options like lites,
> louvers, hardware, materials, finishes, costs, etc. It then would insert
> the door (ADT object door and style) exactly that way, 2d and 3d. It was
> incredible to see the hardware and lites/louvers in 3d!!! Just that part
> there is going to make my rendering life so much easier. But get this, it
> would even let you export the actual spec section for the door to MS WORD
> format to be cut and pasted into your main spec. WOW, it was very cool.
> And keep in mind, this was a very finished well working beta, not just
some
> test alpha with install/uninstall routines and finished graphic like it
had
> been in the works for quite some time.
>
> Anyhow, at that time I had heard that this was being done between AutoDESK
> and not just door manufacturers, but many type of other products and was
to
> be possibly a part of ADT3 or at least as plug-ins. Well obviously I
> haven't seen anything so far since its release, but with me being a VIP, I
> haven't received my copy yet so I don't even know if there is even
evidence
> of it in the programming yet.
>
> So if anyone has got their copy or has heard anything about this
> development, I'd love to hear from you.
>

[Anonymous]

Weyhaueser has sold their door operations to another company. I searched
both websites in vain...anyone else have any luck?

--
Richard Binning
rlbinnin@thehaskellco.com
"America's Design-Build Leader"
"Dennis McNeal" wrote in message
news:1290A7553CAD4009B184F9317961E740@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> Hey Cadmaninadevil (love that name!)
>
> Are you talking about the Weyhaueser door plugin for ADT? I tried to
> download it from their website w/o success & emailed them a request for
> software but haven't heard back.
> It would be really nice if plug ins (extensions?) like this were made
> available through Point A.
>
> Dennis McNeal
> Architectural Resources
>
> Cadmaniandevil wrote in message
> <2631A203354DE2563DDC868896B37A20@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW>...
> >A while back I saw a beta demo of a door manufacture plug-in that was in
> the
> >works for ADT3 that allowed you to pick from a dialog a door straight
from
> >their actual product catalog with all the different options like lites,
> >louvers, hardware, materials, finishes, costs, etc. It then would insert
> >the door (ADT object door and style) exactly that way, 2d and 3d. It was
> >incredible to see the hardware and lites/louvers in 3d!!! Just that part
> >there is going to make my rendering life so much easier. But get this,
it
> >would even let you export the actual spec section for the door to MS WORD
> >format to be cut and pasted into your main spec. WOW, it was very cool.
> >And keep in mind, this was a very finished well working beta, not just
some
> >test alpha with install/uninstall routines and finished graphic like it
had
> >been in the works for quite some time.
> >
> >Anyhow, at that time I had heard that this was being done between
AutoDESK
> >and not just door manufacturers, but many type of other products and was
to
> >be possibly a part of ADT3 or at least as plug-ins. Well obviously I
> >haven't seen anything so far since its release, but with me being a VIP,
I
> >haven't received my copy yet so I don't even know if there is even
evidence
> >of it in the programming yet.
> >
> >So if anyone has got their copy or has heard anything about this
> >development, I'd love to hear from you.
> >
>

[Anonymous]

Dennis,

I think the world of manufacturer's "plug ins" for most AutoCAD and vertical
products is moving right to the Web in the form of iDrop XML content, like
VIZable websites have started to do. In other words, instead of getting a
product CD that probably breaks your system or flat-out doesn't work, you can
now enjoy drag-n-drop goodness from your Web browser onto your design.

I've talked with a fellow from Herman Miller about this, as they have already
started development on bringing their systems furniture into an iDrop format.
Right now you can drag an Aeron chair model right into VIZ, which is pretty
neat, but in the future you should be able to design a complete workstation
system and drop it as an MVB into your ADT drawing.

On the VIZ side, it would also be reallyreallyreally cool if that same content
contained the materials and self-contained lighting so that you take your ADT
model into VIZ, click Render and you got it with little fussing. From a design
standpoint, if I can do this in a clean easy way, it makes their product much
more accessible.

There are a few sites you can access from Autodesk's site that have prototypical
XML data iDrop site. I saw a demo where you could drag a sliding door unit right
into ADT and it had all of the stuff right there - very impressive.

Of course, whether it tips the scales in their favor from a project standpoint
is a separate issue independant on how easy it is to design using this
technology, since it always comes down to product cost.

Regardless, if you're a developer, you probably want to get into XML in a big
way.

Matt
mstachoni@beyerdesign.com

On Wed, 20 Dec 2000 05:24:01 -0800, "Dennis McNeal" wrote:

>Hey Cadmaninadevil (love that name!)
>
>Are you talking about the Weyhaueser door plugin for ADT? I tried to
>download it from their website w/o success & emailed them a request for
>software but haven't heard back.
>It would be really nice if plug ins (extensions?) like this were made
>available through Point A.
>
>Dennis McNeal
>Architectural Resources

[Anonymous]

It is available now at...http://doors.weyerhaeuser.com/

This is what the site displays about the module:

Welcome to the CAD MODULE
The AutoCAD® Module is a powerful tool for developing detailed door
specifications.

AutoCAD® Desktop 2000 is needed to run this feature. If you do not have this
already installed on your machine, then click on the button to run the Power
Point presentation that describes the various elements and system
requirements of the Module.

If you have AutoCAD® Desktop 2000 already installed and are familiar with
the product, then click the start button to begin.*

*It is the users responsibility to ensure that doors meet all codes,
regulations, and approvals.

RLB

--
Richard Binning
rlbinnin@thehaskellco.com
"America's Design-Build Leader"
"Darek Olson" wrote in message
news:034A4499EF67EE0CD325F2AD387507D9@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> I called

[Anonymous]

Matt,

I am in agreement with your assesment of the direction for mfg's. for ADT /
VIZ / MAX etc. I was able to get the Weyerhauser Door plug-in for ADT about
5-6 months ago off of the site of the software company that developed it.
Very nice little package - extremely usefull.

For a little different approach - check out www.replicanation.com for a
little application and some cool furniture models w/ plug-ins for
ADT/Acad2000 and VIZ3. In particular the VIZ3 one works in such a way that
you can switch between all of the available standard finishes within a VIZ
scene.

I hope that product manufacturers begin to realize the huge benefits of
providing their content in this fashion. Designers will tend to specify what
they can easily work with in their respective design applications - and our
clients love to actually be able to see what they are getting ahead of time.

Dean

[Anonymous]

Dean,

From what I know about future product developments (and that ain't much) I
suspect we'll see much tighter integration along these lines, because that's the
real power of XML.

For instance, I can se a time where I drop a chair object from a MFR's web site
into ADT, complete with mvblocks and property set data, but it also includes
stuff like materials so that when that dwg gets inported into VIZ, you don't
have to do anything to it - all the intelligence is already self contained and
knows how to work.

I also see XML as the Superhighway to allowing different CAD applications work
together seamlessly. Much like DXF did not 🙂 For instance, you would be working
on your project in ADT3, but your consultants in Alaska can pull up the drawing
that you posted on the Web in Microstation and work on it normally. XML ports
the data, and lets the client (AutoCAD or Microstation) create the presentation
of that data, be it a line, arc, wall or whatever. That's an incredibly powerful
concept that will sooner or later make what we've been doing seem like the Model
T era of CAD usage.

Matt
mstachoni@beyerdesign.com