Okino Ships Upgraded SolidWorks 2008 CAD Conversion System for 3ds Max v2008, Maya v2008, Lightwave v9, Cinema-4D v10.5, XSI v6 & Others

Okino's industry standard PolyTrans provides robust support for importing SolidWorks® 2008 files (and all other major CAD file formats) into the newest DCC/Animation package releases.

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) January 27, 2008

Coinciding with the "SolidWorks World 2008" conference in San Diego, and on the eve of Okino's 20th anniversary of software development, Okino Computer Graphics announced today that its extremely popular SolidWorks CAD conversion system has been updated and is now available, at no cost, to current customers still within their valid maintenance period.

The conversion pipeline, a de facto industry standard for the last 10+ years, allows native SolidWorks BREP CAD assembly, part and presentation files (disk based, or from a live running copy of SolidWorks) to be converted to all major animation + authoring packages, 3D downstream file formats and VisSim programs. Okino is one of the longest standing SolidWorks solution partner developers, providing excellent and well refined 3D data translation solutions for SolidWorks users and users of SolidWorks data. Simply put, our SolidWorks conversion system is our most popular and robust CAD conversion solution amongst our user base of 10's of thousands of enterprise + 3D professional companies - it just works!

http://www.okino.com/images/stuart_wells_astro_lighting_misumi_spotlight_1k.jpg
Misumi IP44 Spotlight. SolidWorks to Maya via PolyTrans-for-Maya.
Rendered with ArtVPS. Product Design Engineer: Stuart Wells © 2008 Astro Lighting Ltd.

Okino's NuGraf and PolyTrans software imports crack-free geometry, hierarchy and materials (assembly data) from native disk-based SolidWorks files or from a running copy of SolidWorks, and subsequently provide high-end rendering, viewing and scene composition of the data, or have the data optimized and then pipelined into all major 3D file formats, animation packages and third party/OEM integrations. New for 2008 is support for .slddrw 3D presentation layouts. Most importantly, SolidWorks assemblies, parts and presentations can be effortlessly and directly imported into 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage|XSI, as well as any third party product which integrates Okino's PolyTrans 3D converters, such as noted below.

http://www.okino.com/images/christoph_bodensieck_pdd_cp3_ipdd_01_1k.jpg
CP3 Scooter Concept Image. SolidWorks to Cinema-4D via Okino's PolyTrans|CAD System.
Artist: Christoph Bodensieck, © 2008 Industrial PDD & Switch Mobility.

Okino has built its reputation on being an open and accessible company, developing and selling software that is needed in mission + production critical environments. For those who have never heard of Okino, or of our SolidWorks conversion solution, the following is some key background information and facts:

• We use the actual SolidWorks source code, or connect directly into the inner core of a running copy of SolidWorks, so the conversion process will always result in crack free and technically accurate 3D models. We do not use intermediate file formats or hidden toolkits from unnamed companies. This process will work "out of the box" for all customers, for CAD expert or animator alike.
• Over the last 20 years Okino has pioneered the entire concept of bringing complex CAD assemblies into all downstream non-CAD programs, 3D file formats, animation systems and DCC packages, in particular 3ds Max, Maya, Lightwave, Cinema-4D and Softimage since the mid 90's. These are very refined and efficient CAD pipelines, being used by 10's of thousands of our enterprise companies, production houses and 3D professional users. A typical complex CAD conversion process only takes a few minutes or less, including full scene optimizations. There is no concept of spending days or weeks "trying" or "struggling" to get CAD data into these programs, where no such process existed before, because this has been Okino's primary calling card and forte in the 3D industry for decades.
• The hidden magic in the conversion process is Okino's unique and proprietary CAD optimization processor, integrated into each of our CAD importers. This processor is by far the most complex aspect of our entire 3D CAD conversion software pipeline. Turn it on and it'll wrangle large and unwieldy CAD assemblies into refined datasets for efficient animation, rendering or interactive viewing.
• You may already be using the Okino's SolidWorks conversion system and not know it. Okino licenses, resells and/or integrates its CAD conversion system with many OEM and third party companies/products such as: 3DCreateÒ (by Visual ComponentsÒ), Cinema-4DÒ and its "Engineering Bundle" (by Maxon Computer), EON RealityÒ, NGRAINÒ military training products, PythaÒ (by CATSÒ Software), Quest-3DÒ (by Act-3DÒ), VirToolsÒ ("4DC" .nmo pipeline by RealiconÒ), and others who wish to remain anonymous.
• Okino's core philosophy over the last 20 years has been to "bring expensive CAD software to the masses, at affordable prices". A very important point for our animation users is that for 1/3rd the price of what others charge for a single SolidWorks converter, Okino licenses its entire suite of industry standard, native, CAD modules in the Dual-CAD-Granite/Pack for US$510 (minus native JT and CATIA). The SolidWorks conversion pipeline is available by itself in the CAD/Pack for US$245. These are not reverse engineered, second rate CAD modules but rather de facto industry standard implementations, including: ACIS SAT, Alias .wire (via .g format), Autodesk Inventor, DXF/DWG 2008 (native AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop), IGES solids, Parasolid, encrypted and native ProE (from PTC itself), Rhino-3D, SolidWorks, Solid Edge, STEP solids, STL, VDA-FS, XGL and X3D. Dozens more file formats are also provided in the base-level PolyTrans, as well as in the DCC/Pack license, the "JT Open" import/export license, and the native CATIA v4 + v5 licenses (which are licensed copies of CATIA from Dassault - very unique in their price range).
• Okino provides free, quick and highly educated support for its software direct from the main management team and senior developers, and not from online forums or untrained front-line tech support people. We know CAD conversion. Unlike faceless companies where support may be non-existent, we personally know thousands of our customers by first name, email address and company background.

"Our SolidWorks 3D data conversion system is by far our most popular and requested CAD conversion pipeline software," said Robert Lansdale, president and CEO of Okino Computer Graphics, Inc. "We have dedicated a great deal of effort into making our SolidWorks 3D import conversion, repurposing and rendering pipeline the best in the industry over the last 10 years. We have seen demand grow quickly since the original release of SolidWorks, demonstrating that SolidWorks is the dominant solid modeler for its price range and market. Our pipeline solution allows complete SolidWorks parts and assemblies to be converted cleanly and professionally to all other major 3D file formats, animation packages and visual simulation programs. It also allows all disparate departments of large enterprise companies (such as engineering, design, marketing and support) to easily exchange product data without the need to rebuild their CAD datasets -- downstream uses include product documentation and manual creation, animation and rendering software, visual communication and review of data, and for accessing easier to manipulate versions of the original CAD datasets. In addition, our software implicitly provides support for photo-realistic rendering and scene composition, 3D data and hierarchy optimization and built-in polygon reduction for handling those truly huge scenes that other downstream applications can't handle without reduction. Our solution is particularly popular for importing SolidWorks assemblies into the 3ds Max, Maya, Lightwave, XSI and Cinema-4D animation programs, amongst many other OEM and third party vendor integrations. We also have kept prices affordable for all of our CAD solutions, including free support and maintenance."

"SolidWorks is the standard for 3D mechanical design software," said Brian Houle, Partner Program manager for SolidWorks Corporation. "Combining it with Okino's product line gives engineers the tools they need to do their jobs faster and better by allowing SolidWorks 3D data to be re-purposed for additional downstream uses and applications. Engineers and designers can now re-purpose 3D data to suit their enterprise, including animation and rendering departments, documentation teams, product manual creation staff, and external third party services who want to use SolidWorks data in other 3D software applications that may not understand or accept SolidWorks data directly."

Applicable WEB pages

The following are pertinent pages on the Okino WEB site relating to this press release:

SolidWorks solution page on the Okino WEB site
SolidWorks import module overview
NuGraf home page
PolyTrans home page
Supported file formats
List of notable users
Customer testimonials and product reviews
Recent Okino press releases

About Okino Computer Graphics

Founded in 1991 (Toronto, Canada), with development starting January 28th 1988, Okino Computer Graphics, Inc. is an industry leader in the development and deployment of 3D data re-purposing software that allows professional 3D software users to intelligently and accurately convert/view/render/modify 3D data and assets between most major CAD, DCC and VisSim software packages. Okino software is used the world over by all major Fortune 1000 companies, 18 of the top 21 defense contractors, the top 12 automotive manufacturers, and thousands of production studios, 3D content creation, game development, CAD, engineering and product design companies (as broken out in the Okino customer user list at http://www.okino.com/conv/users.htm). For more information about Okino, please visit http://www.okino.com.

Attention editors. This document, as well as screen snapshots and related documents for the press, can be obtained electronically by visiting http://www.okino.com/press/magpics.htm

NuGraf and PolyTrans are registered trademarks of Okino Computer Graphics, Inc. Okino is a trademark of Okino Computer Graphics, Inc. SolidWorks is a registered trademark of SolidWorks Corporation. 3ds Max, Maya, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and Mechanical Desktop are registered trademarks of Autodesk Inc. Lightwave is a registered trademark of Newtek Inc. Softimage|XSI is a registered trademark of Softimage Corp. CINEMA 4D is a registered trademark of MAXON Computer. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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