Creo Confusion

[StevePelton]

I'm confused by PTC's Creo strategy...

So essentially CoCreate or Creo Elements/Direct is an easy to use up front modeling tool for a casual user, and Pro/E or Creo Elements/Pro for when you want to add intelligence etc. and the two tools can pass models between them.

Didn't PTC have exactly the same strategy a few years ago with Pro/Desktop - before eventually Pro/Desktop was retired?

Didn't PTC have exactly the same strategy a few years ago with Pro/Concept - before eventually Pro/Concept was retired?

Do Engineers now need to learn 2 modelling tools - Direct and Pro (learning Pro/E was hard enough)

How is PTC going to position this strategy with a new customer who for instance designs sheet metal parts - do they show him Direct or Pro or both?

When I've created my new design in either Direct or Pro, which tool do I use to create the drawing - Direct or Pro?

Creo Elements/Pro has some great new capabilities for doing Direct modeling - if this gets developed further, what is the point of having a seperate tool for doing Direct modeling, why not just offer a lightweight UI in Creo Elements/Pro for the casual user? or in other words, how long until Co/Create is retired?

And my last point....

What happened to the new Pro/ENGINEER Conceptual Engineering tool which was being developed for Wildfire 6.0 - a lot of time and development was put into this, and I thought it was a great idea which would allow a 2D layout design to be associatively used downstream in the modelling process - has PTC killed this with the introduction of Creo, or is it just on hold for a while?

Lots of questions, lots of confusion....

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[VladimirPalffy]

Hello Steve
I had the opportunity to test the beta version of Creo Parametric and the Creo Direct.
I think that when it comes Creo 1.0 will your questions answered and you change your mind.
Creo is a wonderful idea - I look forward to summer 2011 and the arrival of Creo 1.0

Vladimir

[ghedges]

Hi Steve, thanks for your post, there's lots of detailed questions and comments.

I'd like to recap some highlights from the Creo vision and strategy and our Creo 1.0 release (scheduled for mid-June) that I think provide some great insight.

What if we fundamentally rethink CAD? Instead of offering a monolithic application that tries to serve many users, let’s consider a range of applications that serve various roles within a company - that's what we call our AnyRole Apps technology. That strategy could have a number of benefits:

1. Expert users lose nothing. They continue to use the full breadth of capabilities they use today, based on Creo Parametric, and can expand those capabilities with extensions like Creo Flexible Modeling, etc. They can continue to work smoothly in one enviroment with no interruption.
2. Casual users work with applications better suited to their specific needs and roles, for example an application targetted to simulation experts, Creo Simulate. These apps could be simpler, without all the capabilities and complexity.
3. Non-users could better participate in product development. Imagine easy-to-use viewing and markup apps, sketching tools, and easily accessible 3D modeling apps that anyone felt comfortable using. Getting more people involved in contributing to product development leads to higher levels of innovation and creativity and ultimately better products.

So in the above groups, I think (from the points you raise) you'd be an expert user, and would continue to work in one environment, including any new extensions - so no need for you to learn another tool or approach, or switch out of Creo Parametric.

Now I hope you agree that in many companies there are also casual users and non-users of CAD, and that viewing, 2D design, and direct modeling approaches can be easier for those to understand and use, that's exactly what tools like Creo View, Creo Sketch, Creo Direct, etc. These apps provide casual or non-users of CAD an easier way for more people to be inolved in product development.

And behind the scenes, Creo 1.0 is applying any changes using a common data model that works in a parametric or direct environment.

So with the Creo technologies of AnyMode Modeling and AnyRole Apps, more people can be involved in product development and choose the modeling approach that best aligns with their needs.

And our survey from October 2010 higlights the needs from more than 4,000 users of all CAD products. We asked them to list their biggest CAD frustrations. The results weren’t surprising:

• 32% complained about making changes to a CAD design, especially when built by someone else.
• 19% said there’s no good way to make productive use of data from multiple CAD systems.
• 14% find it difficult to create/validate multiple configurations of big, complex products
• 10% field too many requests from other departments.
• 9% get frustrated training and mentoring new/less savvy users

Creo's AnyMode Modeling and AnyRole Apps can directly address the frustrations in bold. AnyData Adoption and AnyBOM Assembly address the other two.

I hope this helps explain the vision and strategy for Creo, and provides some insight for some of the bigger questions you ask.

Thanks again for posting your questions, and don't forget to visit creo.ptc.com on all the lastest news and views around Creo.

Best Regards,

Geoff Hedges

[StevePelton]

Geoff,

Many thanks for your answer, but I'm still confused...

Have you considered a becoming a politician, because you managed to make a big statement without answering my questions?

Maybe I'll just stay confused, or maybe someone will answer my key questions:

For a new customer, what would PTC advise: Direct or Pro for designing and drawing sheet metal parts?

As more direct capabilities are added to Pro, why have Direct?

Pro/Desktop and Pro/Concept were retired, surely the same will happen to CoCreate Direct

Conceptual Engineering?

Still confused

Steve

[ghedges]

Hi Steve,

I'm sorry if my answers caused confusion, let me try and answer your specific questions:

For a new customer, what would PTC advise: Direct or Pro for designing and drawing sheet metal parts?

I wouldn't advise one approach over another until I understood more about the customer, their goals, challenges, needs, etc. For example, if the customer was familiar with and appreciated the power and value of a parametric modeling approach for their design activities, I'd recommend continuing to use a parametric design approach, with Creo Parametric. If the customer had a 2D background, and was looking for a simpler-to-use approach, I might well recommend a direct modeling approach. I can even imagine that with larger teams and projects, both modeling approaches could be equally valid depending on the project needs and teams. If this question is about a specific customer scenario, let me know and we can discuss offline.

I would parallel this to 'walking into a travel agency' to plan a vacation- I would hope a good agent would ask questions about my needs, and wouldn't just recommend a vacation destination without any understanding of my needs.

As more direct capabilities are added to Pro, why have Direct?

In Creo, there are two 3D modeling approaches people can work in, direct modeling and parametric modeling. The two approaches are fundamentally different. As you mentioned, some 'direct modeling'-like capabilities are being added to Creo Parametric, but these are targetted more at supporting flexible modifications to an existing parametric model, created using a parametric approach. There continues to be a strong need for a direct modeling approach to create and modfify models, without requiring the need to use a parametric approach.

Pro/Desktop and Pro/Concept were retired, surely the same will happen to CoCreate Direct

Conceptual Engineering?

No. Creo Elements/Direct is by far the most comprehensive direct modeling solution on the market. There are more than 5,000 companies using it as their core product development tool, developing complete products from art-to-part using the direct modeling approach. We’ll continue to invest and develop new releases to provide the best direct modeling environment. Creo 1.0 and Creo Elements/Direct 18.0 are scheduled for release mid-June this year, and more details of the evolution of Creo and Creo Elements/Direct is described in our ebook

I hope this helps answer your specific questions.

Best Regards,

Geoff Hedges

[StevePelton]

Geoff,

Many thanks for your comprehensive answer - I'm no longer as confused and looking forward to seeing more of Creo.

It's great to see a PTC representative answering customer questions.

Best Regards

Steve