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Pro/DESIGNER CDRS is no longer a product supported by PTC. It has evloved to ISDX or Interactive Surface Modleing Extensiton. You may use our Fax -In Form to register for courses immediately. You may pay online by credit card through our commerce engine. |
| What was CDRS? CDRS stands for "Conceptual Design Rendering Software". The primary function for CDRS is to produce highly accurate surface models for proving shape and form then rendering that form. It is used in an estimated 70% of the design shops of the world's auto makers. Industrial designers use a pencil to first dictate crude concepts. They might transcribe that design into CDRS to further describe or understand that shape. Designers start with curves by tracing directly over a scanned-in image or sketch. Surfaces are then built from those curves to describe the beginning shape of the eventual product. To hone the shape further there are a multitude of tools available to mature that shape and form. One can modify those early curves of the model by pushing or pulling then watch connected surfaces update in a robust fashion. Parametric Technology Inc (PTC), the makers of Pro/ENGINEER software acquired CDRS from Evans & Sotherland Computer Corporation for $34.5 million. PTC has renamed, re-priced and re-released the industrial design automation software as Pro/DESIGNER. Contact your nearest Rand or PTC sales consultant for a demo. Rand and PTC both offer training. Definitely take the time to evaluate and compare training programs and testimonials! | |
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Who uses it? The CDRS software was originally created for industrial designers in the Auto industry. In the past years PTC has encouraged product design firms and major manufacturers to use this software coupled with Pro/ENGINEER because seamless product design has evolved drastically in the past 10 years as has the software those designers use. No more is a product in the hands of only industrial designers. A variety of people now dictate shape and form. Many disciplines are now being cross-trained. Marketing people are heavily involved with the shape and form of the ultimate product as are of course Mechanical Engineers. More and more we see Mechanical Engineers loose their title as "Mechanical Engineer" opting instead for "Product Designer". Consequently, the software once only for industrial designers is now also for properly trained marketing persons and engineers. Combined with Pro/ENGINEER, CDRS is a powerful force in team oriented product design. | |
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Why CDRS and not Alias? Granted, Alias has always been the industrial designer's choice of tools for proving shape and form, rendering and simply communicating to engineers and tooling vendors. (1) Most industrial designers are taught Alias in school. Many schools are cross disciplinary and the animation courses are also taught in Alias. Silicon Graphics and Alias have a stronghold in college programs that ramp up students with Alias skill sets. (2) Alias also has an impressive suite of procedural mapping tools. Alias is a hard program to beat.
The keyword mentioned above is communicating. Communication is the one element that happens when a simple pencil is used to sketch on a bar napkin. The same thing happens with Pro/ENGINEER and tooling venders. A mechanical engineer communicates his or her idea to a tooling vendor, who then communicates that design to a CNC machine. The only weak link in this situation is the communication between industrial designers to engineers. With 3d data there is no room for miss communication. Instead of punting sketches to engineers, now an industrial designer can pass over a seamless Pro/ENGINEER file as their deliverable idea,
the same language engineers and tooling vendors speak.
The real power of CDRS is that it can seamlessly interface directly into Pro/ENGINEER. A design team can go back and forth (CDRS to Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/ENGINEER to CDRS) multiple times and with multiple features. Design changes are easy as the updates automatically change the engineering model. This allows engineering teams to see the immediate results that the CDRS changes will have on the overall design. With similar Alias imports, Pro/E rounds looking at changed surfaces always fail. Alternately, with CDRS imports Pro/E remembers where the round should be and remains robust. | |
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Screen Captures |
 This screen capture gives you a good example of the interface with a sample model from the DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION Pro/DESIGNER CDRS Course. The screen layout is similar to Alias or 3ds MAX in that you have four screens. Lights and materials are also similar. However, you will not find those much loved Marker Menus as in Alias. |
Sample curve manipulation tools
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 Sample screen captures to illustrate different types of curve manipulation within CDRS. These simple examples are constrained in a 2D plane but can be modified easily into a compound curve by pushing points into a Z direction. |
| The Courses: |
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CDRS Pro/DESIGNER
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CDRS Rendering Workshop (16 hour workshop) Prerequisite: working knowledge of CDRS $1000.00 US Days/Hours: 2 Days/16 Hours (course times are flexible call 312.226.8339for scheduling) General Principles of rendering as it relates specifically to CDRS. Learn how to render realistic glass with tips and tricks. Course can be customized for each student. Avoid the many early rendering mistakes of beginners. |
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| Testimonials: |
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Sterling Corporation Pro/DESIGNER Training Having several choices for training with CDRS, I chose to attend the DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION training workshop with Bart Brejcha. Some of my coworkers attended PTC CDRS training and felt that they had not been given real world surfacing challenges. DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION is not selling the software, thus they will not avoid showing you the problems that CDRS can have on certain surfacing models. DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION was very good at finding solutions to my surfacing issues, instead of avoiding those problems. I had some previous 3d modeling experience and Bart was very willing to customize the course to my specific needs. After completing the course, I felt that the CDRS package is a very strong tool especially coupled with the integration of Pro/E.
The instructor's background is very diverse, not only does his knowledge of CDRS help, but his emphasis on communication between the two platforms (Pro/E and CDRS) was excellent. There are many software programs and training choices available. With the help of DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION and Bart the instructor, I was very impressed and pleased with the training. Pro/E is the engineering software of choice, and having the ability to integrate CDRS driven data with Pro/E, alleviated our data bottleneck this gives the industrial designer (me) more control over the final product.
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Spectratec Corporation Pro/DESIGNER Training After researching many CDRS Pro/DESIGNER training possibilities, our firm decided to go with DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION. Their instructors are experts that draw from eclectic backgrounds to create a custom learning experience that one can't get from a standard classroom setting. Their extensive knowledge and expertise enabled me to prepare and solve real world design problems. The intensive one week 40 hour CDRS program at DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION challenged me not only to learn the software, but to understand any limitations and solve problems with new insight.
Sincerely, |
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Ask about customized ISDX courses.: 312.226.8339
If you would like to register for courses immediately,
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