KeyCreator 2011 Released, 2 in a Series

By DE Editors

Kubotek USA (Marlborough, MA) has officially released its latest version of KeyCreator 2011, its 3D direct modeling CAD software. Key developments reported by the company in version 2011 include 64-bit architecture support, new and improved dynamic editing, and a re-engineered IGES translator that the company says imports files more quickly and accurately than previous versions.

KeyCreator 2011 screen images courtesy of Kubotek USA.

With its new 64-bit version, KeyCreator 2011 can work with more data and larger files. KeyCreator 2011 file size is only limited by the amount of memory available on the PC. (A 32-bit version of KeyCreator 2011 is available for users not running a 64-bit version of Windows or on platforms with less than 4 GB of RAM.)

“As a longtime Kubotek customer,” said Don Bedwell of Thorncreek Engineer LLC, in a supplied testimonial about KeyCreator 2011,“we draw what we want to draw, we render what we want to render, and we serve customers in the time frame that they should be served in. Equipment RAM is used to its fullest and software lag time is almost none.”

The 3D DynaHandle in KeyCreator 2011 has a new shape, improved selection and control, as well as expanded right-mouse button menu options. A new Dynamic Modify Face function is said to provide an intuitive 3D DynaHandle for quickly modifying a set of selected faces. Features of this function include dynamic push pull, constraint-free geometry positioning, and the ability to align selections to vector/plane. Additionally, a new Dynamic Linear Array function provides the 3D DynaHandle for quickly creating copies of geometry in any orientation or location dynamically.

A new Read Assembly Tree function in KeyCreator 2011 finds the assembly structure of a selected file, native or not. This function displays the assembly tree in dialog window and allows for specific selection and opening of assembly items.

KeyCreator 2011 screen images courtesy of Kubotek USA.

The company says that importing IGES files has gained significant speed in version 2011 thanks to new technology its engineers have written. KeyCreator 2011 now offers import and export support for PMI (product management information), additional types of details, and special entity types such as cylinders and sphere. File read and write times as well as the handling of large files are reported to be significantly improved. Part references can be exported as an assembly.

“We believe that all geometry contained in customer files is valuable and our mission it to be able to help companies to use, reuse, validate and compare their geometry seamlessly.” says Mark Parent, chief Operating Officer Kubotek USA in a press statement. “Our new IGES translator is an important step in achieving our vision.”

KeyCreator also imports common CAD file types and works with them as if they were created within KeyCreator, according to the company. To this end, Kubotek USA notes that enhancements have been made to KeyCreator’s interoperability support for such applications as Autodesk Inventor 2011, CATIA V5 R20, and X7 as well as the ACIS modeling format.

Miscellaneous new features or improvements in KeyCreator 2011 include a upgrade to Hoops Version 18.1, added tables to structural shapes, a graphics card test function, enhancements to PDF document exports, and a new Clean Entities function that searches a file for corrupted entities and repairs them.

Optional modules available for KeyCreator 2011 include KeyMachinist for NC programming, translators packages for widely deployed MCAD platforms, and a validation tool for precise 3D model comparisons. Integration options are available for the PARTsolutions standard parts library, BunkSpeed HyperShot photorealistic rendering, and Logitech 3Dconnexion 3D mouse products.

For more information on KeyCreator 2011, visit Kubotek USA.

Take a self-directed tour of KeyCreator 2011.

Watch a video on KeyCreator.

Download a brochure on all the new KeyCreator 2011 features.

Download the KeyCreator 2011 data sheet.

Here’s a complete list of KeyCreator 2011 translation capabilities.

Access a library of success stories.

Sign-up for a trial version of KeyCreator.

See why DE’s Editor’s selected KeyCreator 2011 as their Pick of the Week.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.