Save-As 3D PDF

[suelflow]

When you save-as a 3D PDF are your file sizes quite large? I have a modest assembly that becomes a 10 Meg PDF. Are files created in Adobe a reasonable size? We are looking to buy it and would like to know if the files are this (too) big.

 

[josephv]

my advice, download the trial version... I believe you can play with settings (similar to image quality) and reduce the size.

 

[suelflow]

I tried that… what a nightmare. I could not get it to work, it would crash, uninstall/reinstall, crash again etc. I tried to get support but they will not support trial versions. So they won’t help me make it work so that I could give them $700, go figure. In all it was an aggravating experience.

I was hoping some who uses it could give me an idea. The eDrawing of the above assembly is 700K.

 

[ctopher]

I think the purchased version comes witha compression utility that makes the files less than half the size. I don't think the trial version has this.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Apr 30, 2008)

 

[Theophilus]

That's a big risk, considering how well eDrawing works without paying any extra for it.

Anyway, this is something I've been interested in seeing myself, but the fact that the cost is so high and that it comes from Adobe are both strikes against it. Chris, have you seen a decent 3D PDF file yet? I've not even seen one. Their demo certainly ought to contain the file compressor, or they're not advertising for themselves very well.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

What did you dream? It's all right--we told you what to dream.
--Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

 

[suelflow]

We deal with the government and it takes around a decade to get new software installed, so eDrawings is not an option for us right now. Also, most others have acrobat so I don’t have to send them to a website to download the program, they just open it. With some that’s the best we can ask for. That’s why PDF is attractive for us.

 

[ctopher]

Jeff,
No, I have not. I don't know anyone that is willing to pay the price yet. It has nice features, but not for the price.

suelflow,
Why can't you use eDrawings? I worked on numerous military projects and eDrawings was acceptable with some of them. None of them ever asked for 3D PDF. They usually require iges or a parasolid, or sometimes the SW file.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Apr 30, 2008)

 

[JMirisola]

I reviewed Acrobat 3D some months ago. You can view it here:

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog/2007/05/acrobat_3d_gett.html

Also, Josh Mings over at SolidSmack.com did a review of it:

http://www.solidsmack.com/acrobat-3d-your-pdf-on-crack/2007-11-01/

I did find that file sizes grew, but I do believe it's controllable, I just can't remember how anymore. It's been too long since I tried it.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP, Certified DriveWorks AE

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

Dell M90, Core2 Duo, 4GB RAM, Nvidia 3500M

 

[ctopher]

I wish Acrobat Pro came with 3D PDF.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Apr 30, 2008)

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Take a look at 3DVIA Composer as a substitute for Adobe.

http://www.3dviacomposer.com/

 

[Theophilus]

Jeff, it sounds like it's rather irrelevant to you. How come? Are you preferring eDrawings to 3D PDF?

I'm sorry to hear about the limits of the government gig. Thanks for the reminder of why I don't deal with them. (Seriously, I don't envy you being in such a position.)

It's probably obvious I'm a HUGE fan of eDrawings (and not a huge fan of government practices). It perfectly accomplishes what it attempts to accomplish, and this makes collaboration with fellow design team mates or clients or vendors SO much simpler and descriptive than it used to be--in a small file format.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

What did you dream? It's all right--we told you what to dream.
--Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

 

[Theophilus]

CorBlimeyLimey, that looks cool. Unfortunately, it's got about a ten year waiting period for government adoption. ;-)

Suelflow, is there a possibility you could export/save the eDrawing to HTML format? This way, it could be viewed in Explorer (but I don't think it quite works in non-Explorer browsers--ug).



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

What did you dream? It's all right--we told you what to dream.
--Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

 

[josephv]

Jeff's idea to save an eDrawing as a HTML sounds good, we do that with customers who don't have SWX and it works well.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

An eDrawing can also be saved as a self-executable file. The recipient doesn't need to have SW or eDrawing.

Although an HTML file is usually much smaller, unless it or the browser (?) is configured properly, the file can only be viewed in IE.

 

[Theophilus]

Yeah, I think it requires ActiveX or some such nonsense to run (which I do NOT patch into Firefox [check out NoScript extension]). The executable file would be good too, although I doubt the firewall would like that--perhaps send it Zipped?



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

What did you dream? It's all right--we told you what to dream.
--Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

... or just change/remove the extension before sending ... and have the receiver change/add it back.

 

[grunt58]

Same here about a year ago I couldn't get the trial version working. Adobe's tech support was no help as it was a trial version. I didn't want to ask my boss to buy software that I wasn't sure was going to work.

I liked it for the reason a customer wouldn't have to install any different software they just needed the most upto date version of acrobat reader. Edrawings has been fine though haven't had a customer say "our IT person wont let us install edrawings".

Just my 2 cents.

Grant
Applications Engineer
SW2008 X64 SP 0.0
Dell Precision T5400
Nvidia Quadro FX 3
P4 3.4 GHz, 4GB RAM
XP Pro X64 SP2.0

 

[suelflow]

I too like the idea of no new software. Like I said, the government takes forever to upgrade. We have to save word documents in 97 format so they can read them.

 

[49again]

I too, had problems with the trial version of Acrobat 3D. There are some updates that needed to be installed, and then it seemed to work OK. The updates are available here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=112&platform=Windows

I went ahead and bought it, for a couple of reasons: First, the difference in file size between a 3D pdf created in SolidWorks vs. a 3D pdf created in Acrobat (BIG difference). Second - a lot of my files go to our aero guy, who doesn't have the hottest computer available, and my eDrawings of some larger assemblies was stalling his machine. Also, it seemed more times than not, an eDrawing file I'd send to someone was a newer version that the viewer they had installed for the last time I'd sent them anything....

Just my $.02

 

[kevshug65]

Another package to check out is Document3D.

http://www.quadrispace.com/index.htm

They offer a 30 day fully functional trial. I find it a lot easier than acrobat 3d. File size grows as you add textures/materials or exploded views, but there are some functions to decrease size/reduce polygon counts, but as you can guess image quality is also reduced. I am using this tool to communicate with salespeople, as more of a presentation purpose. The sales reps are not always real computer savy. The salespeople and clients like the 3d pdf, and without having to install any e-drawing viewers. They only need the free acrobat reader v.7 or higher.
I think 3d pdf's are great for non-tech people and for small assemblies or parts. We design POP displays, usually our assemblies are around 100-200 parts. I revert to 2d pdf's with drawings/renderings for larger assemblies.