Creo Viewer 3DViewStation and Creo View
With Creo View as the manufacturer of the MCAD system Creo Parametric, PTC follows a similar concept to other CAD system manufacturers. Namely to offer a free viewer for viewing your own CAD data. Quite similar to how Soldiworks does it with eDrawings or Siemens does it with JT2Go. CreoView Express, the free version, can display 3D CAD data in its own proprietary format and native Creo data. As expected, you are much faster with the viewing format than with the native data. As with all free products, you shouldn't expect too much here either. The software is as it is and functionally very limited. It looks much better with the paid version of CreoView. But before you buy it, it is worth taking a look at the alternatives, e.g. the 3DViewStation. Please use our downloads.
Single CAD or Multi CAD Support?
CreoView is a single format CAD viewer
CreoView is primarily designed for the visualization of Creo data, either natively or in the lighter weight CreoView format. If you want to view data on other CAD systems with CreoView, you usually have to install an extension, i.e. a plug-in, in the generation system and then translate the CAD models into the CreoView format using the original CAD system. As you can see here, this is associated with costs, namely license fees for the CAD system to be used and the plug-in itself. In addition, the automation of this process is time-consuming and legally a gray area, since CAD licenses usually only apply to interactive operation , not for fully automated processes without interaction. Another disadvantage is that you cannot load ad hoc data into the viewer in this way.
The 3DViewStation in a Multi CAD Viewer
Real Multi CAD support is available with the 3DViewStation. It comes with interfaces for many 3D and 2D CAD systems and allows almost all common CAD data to be opened simply by drag and drop. You can also easily load CAD data from different systems in one scene. For example, you open a Creo assembly, then drag a Catia assembly into the same scene, then a JT, STEP, etc. Since the 3DViewStation has very fast importers, the waiting time is minimal. But everything has its limits.
Performance
So if we want to load assemblies with over 100,000 components or even millions of components, then we also recommend converting to our own 3DVS format. This conversion should take place after saving in the CAD system and not only when accessing the view. The result is that a complex tool that, as a native 5 GB CAD assembly, loaded perhaps five minutes, can now be loaded in a second, as can a machine with 20,000 parts or an aircraft assembly line with 130,000 parts. When it comes to the millions, we currently leave the 1 second range: A passenger ship with 10 million parts loads in 15 seconds. But we're working on shortening that even further.
Functions & Features
It is often said that mere reputation is sufficient. But as a provider who has been bringing viewers onto the market for 30 years, we can say that this is only partially true. It is true that every user wants to see the digital product first. But it doesn't stop there. A little bit of zooming, turning and sliding is not enough for product development. Often cuts have to be made and measured in them. Perhaps, however, two versions of an assembly have to be compared geometrically and cut and dimensioned during this process. At least now we have arrived in the world of the 3DViewStation. It's just more than a 3D CAD viewer. The 3DViewStation offers over 180 interactive functions. It offers redline and markup tools for change processes. Work preparation uses other functions. An assembly is dismantled step by step. The individual steps are saved as views and notes are added if necessary. Now you invert the order of the views and get the assembly sequence. However, users close to engineering require completely different functions, such as clash & clearance (collision analysis and distance analysis), wall thickness and draft angle analysis, split function or more complex search, filter and selection functions. Selection via a box, via the surroundings of a hose, by color, attribute or name are just a few that the 3DViewStation offers.
Integrations with leading systems
Integration in PLM systems
An undisputed advantage of CreoView is the integration into PTC's own PLM system Windchill or the IoT platform Thingworx. This is where companies save their CAD design and other production-related information. But there are other PLM systems, such as 3DExperience, Teamcenter, Aras Innovator, Cim Database, Profiles and more. You will hardly find CreoView here anymore. Instead, the 3DViewStation has made a name for itself as a CAD and PLM system-independent solution. Please note our separate pages under this link.
But what about other leading systems outside of PLM? There, too, we rarely find Creo View. If you want to sell complex products, the potential customer begins his journey on web pages with general information.
Integration in product configurators
Then, when his interest grows stronger, he would like to configure the product and see what it will look like in real time. Here the 3DViewStation scores with the WebViewer version. Today it is used in various product configurators. For example for trucks, which are visualized in full detail during the entire configuration process. Every change, be it a color, a variant of the driver's cab or the fuel tank, takes place in real time. Thanks to HTML 5 technology, no installation is necessary on the end device. The configuration can therefore take place on the PC, on the tablet or even on a smartphone. And the data is safe because no WebGL is currently being used on the client for rendering. With WebGL one could tap into the geometries - an unacceptable risk in the manufacturing industry. With the 3DViewStation, the user ultimately sees a video stream on the device.
Integration in after sales solutions
The 3DviewStation can also be found in after-sales solutions such as the electronic catalog CatalogCreator from the system provider Quanos or end customer solutions such as Serpic from Deutz. For this purpose, 3D assemblies can be exploded and provided with the typical position number graphics (balloons). Other customers use the 3DViewStation as an authoring system to derive content for repair instructions from the 3D CAD models. It doesn't matter whether the end result is an image or a vector 2D illustration and color or black and white or a 3D model, which can be rendered as required so that it looks like normal illustrations. Not to be forgotten are the advantages for service employees. Where today you often only get a message about a problem with customer contact information, with the 3DViewStation you can see where the problem is on your smartphone. With the 3DViewStation we enable the concepts for digital twins to be implemented efficiently and with high performance.
Variants for desktop, web & VR
Today it is no longer enough to operate just one platform with viewer solutions. As long-time market experts, it does not surprise us that classic desktop applications are still the most popular. Especially from small and medium-sized companies. But with the 3DViewStation WebViewer version we also offer an almost identical web variant. What is unique is that the 3DViewStation VR Edition shares the graphics core with the Desktop and WebViewer version. It is therefore possible to carry out the above-mentioned complex analyzes, such as a wall thickness analysis, in virtual reality. The VR edition can also be integrated into any system thanks to the API. Augmented Reality is possible with the MathCad-supported Vuforia solution.
Contact now
Talk to us today and let us discuss your ideas and requirements. Maybe we can show you how you can solve which problem with the right viewer strategy. Or we can help you to become better, faster and more efficient in your processes.
