What does CATIA stand for?

New users to CATIA are taught that CATIA officially stands for "Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application" (an alternative being Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Analysis). If you're a veteran and have been using CATIA for more than a few months or years you might have heard a few alternate versions for what CATIA stands for, or maybe even come up with a few on your own. After using CATIA for almost three years now I've compiled a list of the best acronyms I've come across:

CATIA - Crash and Try It Again
CATIA - Could Actually Take It All-day
CATIA - Close and Test it Again
CATIA - Come and Take It Away
CATIA - Constantly Aggravated & Tortured Individuals

And for good measure there's also these unrelated bits:

CATIA - Central Australian Tourism Industry Association
CATIA - Catalysing Access to Technology In Africa
CATIA - Computational Advanced Theorem Interface Application


What are your favorite CATIA acronyms?

Quick Tips: What is the difference between Scaling and Affinity in CATIA GSD Workbench?

There are two commands within CATIA's Generative Shape Design workbench which are often confused: scaling and affinity. Scaling is used when you want to generate an element scaled equally along the X, Y and Z axis with respect to a reference.On the other hand, affinitylets you scale your model with different ratios in the X, Y and Z axis. Utilizing this method gives you more control than using the scaling command. To use these commands, find the operations toolbar in GSD (Generative Shape Design) workbench.

CATIA 2011 Visualation Contest

This year's CATIA visualization contest has finally gone live. If you are passionate about 3D creations and your imagination knows no bounds, whether you are an amateur or professional designer, Dassault Systems want to reveal your talent. Enter the contest to exhibit your best realistic rendering image based on your favorite 3D creation. The Contest will evaluate realistic rendering images that use CATIA functionalities. Whether a real-time screen-shot or a calculated rendering, the designer's image will be submitted to a panel of CATIA experts and fans will be able to vote for it via the application. The contest runs from July 21 to September 9, 2011. The two best competitors, selected by the fans and by the CATIA experts, will win an Apple iPad2.

I have entered my cantilevered coaster design. I would really appreciate it if you would consider voting for me here.

http://apps.facebook.com/dassault-catia/profile/150.html

Quick Tips: How do you reset the compass to the default position?

If you're using CATIA V5 and you notice your position compass in the upper right hand corner may sometimes display a weird or unique angle. How do you reset the compass to the default position?

Try any of these methods: 1) Select the View Pulldown then select Reset Compass OR 1) Place your cursor over the red dot on the compass, the cursor graphic will change to arrows for up & down, left & right 2) Press & hold the select button then drag & drop the compass with the cursor to the global axis displayed in the lower right corner of the screen OR 1) In the power input area (lower right corner of the screen) enter c:reset compass Copy next rows in a CATScript file and run the CATScript Sub catmain() CATIA.StartCommand "Reset Compass" End Sub

And yet another method I accidentally found to work is:

1.) right click on an axis system and select 'set as current'  
2.) right click on same axis system and select 'set as NOT current'

Read more CATIA and CAD tips here. 

Theo Jansen Machanism Matlab Code Download Updated

The matlab code for the Theo Jansen mechanism has been updated and is now available for download. Also, in exchange for using my code I would appreciate your help by subscribing to and promoting the site and sharing it with your family, friends and coworkers. Please subscribe to my YouTube page and consider following me on Twitter. Thanks!

Theo Jansen matlab code file download

How to simulate rolling kinematics tutorial

How do you simulate wheels rolling down a hill or track in CATIA? A reader recently asked if I could put together a tutorial for the kinematics rolling simulation that I created. This may not be extremely detailed but should give you a pretty good idea of the steps to take when trying to simulate rolling in CATIA. This was one of the preliminary tests I ran before attempting to simulate my entire roller coaster model. Download the kinematics rolling powerpoint tutorial here.







How to simulate rolling in CATIA DMU kinematics workbench tutorial.ppt download

AutoCAD 2008 Video Tutorial

Here is a pretty good video tutorial for using AutoCAD 2008 which includes the Autocad interface, toolbars, pull-down menus, command line, accessing commands.