Need translator for CatiaV5 to UG NX3

[fftcadsta]

I work for a company that supplies parts to the automotive industry. One of our major customers issues part data in Catia V5 ONLY! We don't have the UG translator for this as they want over $10,000 for just the translator. Does anyone know of any good translation programs out there that will do this for less? Right now we are sending the data to an outside firm to translate and I'd like to be able to do it in house rather than wait a day or two to get the data back. Any info you can give me is much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[uwam2ie]

There's no way out .
Buy a v5 seed + Step licence you pay even then $10,000$ . This is also a way to verify your data in V5.
Or
go to a translation service provider there are a lot around.
In my company we move away from Nx to V5 because of the automotives
uw

 

[fftcadsta]

Any translation services you could suggest? It wouldn't be bad if they did like everyone else and provided us with iges files like they used to do, but now they have some policy that all data going out will only be in Catia V5.

 

[HellBent]

Here you go:

http://www.theorem.co.uk/pages/cadformat.htm

They've got translators that go both ways...you can either buy them or just do it online for a fee here:

http://www.cadverter.com/

Take care...

 

[dwoody1]

Try Elysium.com

 

[solid7]

Our company can translate these files for you.

www.cad-design-engineering.com

We can translate virtually any type of file, and verify the integrity of them. (we are a US company, and don't outsource)




**************
Check out CATBlog!

 

[bme0319]

There's a bunch of translators on novedge.com. Maybe they have what you need. I don't think they're cheap though.

PP

http://www.novedge.com/Prods_Search.asp?UID=1001

 

[solid7]

Unfortuately, it takes a pretty good business case to purchase any kind of CAD translation package. It's almost better to spend the money on a secondary design package, as cheap as they have gotten.

Most companies that do translators, don't do any better job than a good program, like SolidWorks, or KeyCreator. (because they all rely on the same architecture, anyway)

If you're not translating files on a daily basis, it's not cost effective to buy translators. The maintenance costs alone are worth many individual file translations.

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Professional and reliable CAD design engineering services - Specializing in Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[bme0319]

Sorry solid7

It wasn't my intention to make you lose a sale. I didn't read your post initially.

PP

 

[solid7]

Sorry solid7

It wasn't my intention to make you lose a sale. I didn't read your post initially.

It's OK - I didn't take it that way, at all. Conversely, I hope that it didn't sound like I was talking down your point, either.

We're all professionals, here. It's always instinctive to want to do something for one's self. I just wanted to bring to the table, some practical advice, from my own perspective. (both as a software reseller, and a CAD design/translation service)

Thanks for the feedback.


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Professional and reliable CAD design engineering services - Specializing in Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[joshua0977]

Hi,
The first question that needs to be asked is "What requirements has your customer requested of the data?"

If they only expect Solid Model Data void of parametric intelligence then use a STEP translator. The cost is minimal, the licens is obtained thru UGS, and less costly than having a 3rd party do the translations at $$ per meg.

If this is a repetitive requirement that can be used not only with this customer but other customers / vendors, and the data integrity / parametric requirement are an issu then I suggest purchasing a direct translator from a vendor such as Theorem Solutions. While the Bi-Directational Translator is expensive, (Approx 18k) In the long term you will spend less money versus having a 3rd party doing the work adhoc.
Jay

 

[solid7]

Not all services charge per meg. The bigger companies charge that way, but smaller firms (like ours) generally charge a flat rate, and tend to actually discount for multiple models.

The price of any translator - especially those of packages like Catia, UG, etc, tend to be less than a bargain - especially when you consider that they

A) only do one thing
B) have yearly maintenance fees
C) aren't usually any better than some of the design packages + translators (as they share one of the handful of modelling kernels that are used by the high end packages)

Certain plugins are easier to justify than neutral format translators, because of the interoperability of certain file types within the native application. Some file types won't translate (or translate well) into another available format, if it isn't output by the native application.

I think that *most* people, if they really took a good hard look at the business aspect of translation software, would have a hard time justifying it. Unless you have multiple CAD systems, and need to preserve or migrate legacy data, it's a pretty hard sell.

I realize that from a designer's point of view, if a translation is needed once, the sale is justified - but that just isn't the business reality. If it's an everyday thing, I say purchase the software. But if it's once a couple of times a month, it's usually better to establish a relationship with a translation service. (


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Professional and reliable CAD design engineering services - Specializing in Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[fftcadsta]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I'll take a look at all the links as soon as I get the chance. I did check out the Elysium.com site and it seems to be a book making (not gambling) business, so I don't think it's what we're looking for. It wouldn't be much of an issue if we got more than just the translator module. We got the basic package of UG which cost us somewhere around $17,000 and to buy a $10,000 licence just to translate doesn't seem prudent.