Expert: J. B. Borge - 3/19/2005

Question
Wich tool can I use to replace (to equalise) the solid boleean operations in surfaces modeling in Mechanical Desktop 4 (holes or cutting areas into the surfaces,like in case of a car body bumper).Is difficult to join a large number of surface to obtain the desired shape.

Thank You.

Answer
George, i'm not really sure if there are add-in tools out there that can perform this task right now. unfortunately, mechanical desktop is not a hybrid modeler & this is one of its limitations in surface manipulation. additionally, working on surfaces w/ mdt is not parametric. i think you have more flexibility if you consider other packages out there. solidworks is hybrid & will work parametric w/ surface & solids at same time. the caveat is that it's pricey. rhinoceros by mcneel & assoc. has a great kernel for nurbs surfaces & for a reasonable price. great tool for building fancy car parts - bumper, dashboards, etc.
the user interface is easy to learn w/ command line so it has the touch of autocad but the engine behind it is what counts.
hope this helps & good luck!

-JB