Adobe Solutions for Manufacturing

We're Coming to Your City

2008-09-05T13:03:50Z

Adobe Manufacturing Fall 2008 Events

The Adobe Manufacturing Business Development Team will be at several events this Fall. We will be presenting at several of the events and will greet customers and demonstrate our solutions for manufacturing at all of the events. We are riding the crest of both the Acrobat Pro Extended Release and the Livecycle PDF Generator 3D release for enterprise customers. These two products are generating a great deal of momentum in the marketplace. Read on to get a rundown of the shows will be at.

]]> Shows and Events:

1. CPDA PLM Roadmap – Detroit Michigan, September 23-24

The Inn at St. John’s

44045 Five Mile Road
Plymouth, MI 48170
(just 12 miles north of the Detroit airport)

2. COE Industry Workshop – Automotive – Troy Michigan, October 15-16

Detroit Marriott® Troy
200 W. Big Beaver Rd.
Troy, Michigan 48084 USA
Phone: 248.680.9797 or 877.757.7131
Fax: 248.680.9774

3. PLM Summit North America 2008 -- October 13 & 14, 2008 The World Golf Village, St Augustine, Florida

The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village
500 South Legacy Trail
St. Augustine, Florida 32092 USA
Phone: 904-940-8000

4. COE Industry Workshop – Aerospace and Defense – Wichita, Kansas, October 27-28

Hyatt Regency Wichita
400 West Waterman
Wichita, Kansas 67202 USA
Phone: 316.293.1234

5. PLM World Chicago and Wisconsin Regional Conference and Vendor Fair – October 14, Kenosha Wisconsin

Radisson Hotel & Conference Center Kenosha

11800 108th Street , Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin 53158

Reservations: (888) 201-1718 USA

Telephone: (262) 857-3377 Fax: (262) 857-3383

Can't Travel?

Acrobat 9 for Manufacturing eSeminars

September 25, 2008; 1:00 p.m. EDT, 10 a.m. PDT

October 21, 2008; 1:00 a.m. EDT, 10 a.m. PDT

Learn how to use Adobe® Acrobat® 9 Pro Extended software and PDF to enhance communication and collaboration — resulting in reduced costs and higher market share. This eSeminars will show you how to convert virtually any CAD file into a rich, interactive PDF document that allows customers, co‐workers, and suppliers to easily review and mark up designs. You also will learn how to create and distribute rich, secure Adobe PDF Portfolios that can contain 2D drawings and 3D designs, layers, dimensions, metadata, Microsoft Office documents, and much more.

We hope to see you soon... come join us.

Free Web-based Training for Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

2008-09-04T15:07:29Z

For those of you who would like to learn about the 3D capabilities of Acrobat 9 Pro Extended but do not want to download and install the free 30 day trial, you now have another option...

]]>

We recently launched a new version of the free web-based technical training for Acrobat 9 Pro Extended's 3D capabilities that does not require a download, installation or purchase. For those of you who registered for this type of training for Acrobat 3D version 7 or 8, you will not need to re-register and can simply use this link and login with your existing credentials. If on the other hand, you never used the Acrobat 3D training site, you will need to register for a username by clicking on this link.

We hope you find this service useful and welcome any comments or suggestions that you might have.

About Acrobat Pro Extended and 3D Formats

2008-08-23T17:41:49Z

We hear very often the question whether a 3D format is supported in Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, and in some cases the response is a) "yes, all current versions", or b) "yes, up to version X", or c) "no, it is not supported". On the same subject of formats, there is increasing interest in the 3D format representation inside PDF called PRC, with questions being asked such as a) "is the PRC format open" or b) "are the specifications accessible" or c) "is there an SDK to read and write PRC".

In this article, I will try to address all these questions by providing short answers when possible and by introducing the new Acrobat 3D SDK that is now available as part of the Acrobat 9 SDK that is now live. So, please read on and feel free to ask any additional questions using the comments form.

]]>

Supported 3D Formats in Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

The short answer is actually a fairly long list which now includes over 30 CAD formats. So, if you just need to know if the format of the CAD application you are using is supported, before making a decision to evaluate or purchase the product, please don't wait any longer and download the PDF below which includes a detailed list of all 3D formats and versions from which you can create a 3D PDF using Acrobat 9 Pro Extended:

Acrobat 9 Pro Extended Supported 3D Formats

If unfortunately, the format you were looking for is not on the list, you have an alternative solution called 3D Capture. If you are not familiar with this very powerful tool that comes with Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, I encourage you to check it out by reading the documentation available on-line at the following links:

Last but not least, if none of the two methods above work for your format, your last resort is to read further down and discover what is possible with the Acrobat 3D SDK. Note that it will require to have developer skills to create a new translator for a non suppoted format using the 3D SDK.

Adobe PRC Specifications

Yes, the PRC format is open as are all the formats that PDF can contain. Whether you are an end-user or a developer and need to access the detailed PRC specifications, please don't wait any longer and go to the link below to discover all the bits and bytes that PRC is made of:

Adobe PRC Specifications

Acrobat 3D SDK

For your information, the 3D SDK to read and write PRC is now part of the Acrobat 9 SDK which is now live and can be downloaded from the following page:

http://www.adobe.com/go/acrobat_developer

Below are some pointers to the 3D sections inside the Acrobat SDK documentation that will provide you with direct acces to 3D related topics such as the 3D API Reference guide and the 3D Samples guides that can be leveraged for instance to add support for a new 3D format in Acrobat 9 Pro Extended.

Acrobat 9 SDK Documentation available online

Link to the online documentation:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/acrobat_sdk/9/Acrobat9_HTMLHelp/index.html

Intro to the new 3D SDK:
Introduction to SDK > What’s New > What’s New for Acrobat SDK > 3D Support

3D Developer guide:
Plug-ins and Applications > Developing Plug-ins and Applications > Creating 3D Annotations
Plug-ins and Applications > Developing Plug-ins and Applications > Parsing and Creating PRC Files

3D Samples guides:

Introduction to SDK > Guide to SDK Samples > Plug-in Samples > Embed3DData
Introduction to SDK > Guide to SDK Samples > Plug-in Samples > ExportFromPRC
Introduction to SDK > Guide to SDK Samples > Plug-in Samples > ImportToPRCBrep
Introduction to SDK > Guide to SDK Samples > Plug-in Samples > ImportToPRCTess
Introduction to SDK > Guide to SDK Samples > Windows - Interapplication Communications > ReadCADFileVC
Introduction to SDK > Guide to SDK Samples > Windows - Interapplication Communications > ReadPdfPrcVC
Introduction to SDK > Guide to SDK Samples > Windows - Interapplication Communications > WritePdfPrcVC

Link to the 3D API Reference guide:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/acrobat_sdk/9/Acrobat9_HTMLHelp/API_References/PRCReference/3D_API_Reference/index.html

3D JavaScript Developer guide:
JavaScript > Developing Acrobat Applications Using JavaScript > Interfacing with 3D JavaScript

3D JavaScript Reference guide:
JavaScript > JavaScript for Acrobat 3D Annotations API Reference

Pierre Tager, Acrobat Product Manager

Vector Snapshots - Pointing the Way

2008-08-20T19:07:43Z

Recently, I have been asked by several customers to explain how to “export to vector” for technical illustrations in Acrobat Pro Extended Version 9. There are numerous cases where existing and perspective customers are interested in creating vector renderings using 3D data. Some simply want to save images as a page within a PDF. Others want to bring the vector image into Adobe Illustrator or other editing tools to add additional content. Because we have replaced the 3D Tool Kit that shipped with previous versions of Acrobat 3D with 3D Reviewer, there is a little re-learning for some.

To learn how to create vector snapshots, please read on.

]]> Let’s start with 3D Reviewer. 3D Reviewer is an application that ships with Acrobat Pro Extended, and is the key to creating vector images. There are two ways to access 3D Reviewer. The first is create a 3D PDF in Acrobat and then right click on the 3D window to select “Edit in 3D Reviewer”. Changes made to files in 3D Reviewer can be ported back to PDF later. A second option, and possibly a faster way to go, is to simply convert your CAD parts or assemblies directly for use in 3D Reviewer. Simply open the application and drag the CAD files onto the scene graph. In this case, you will probably want to choose “tessellated” as the format when importing. In the image below, I have selected the top of the assembly tree (this is the disk brake that you have seen dozens of times if you have visited the Adobe web site). I am about to drag it onto the scene graph.

Next, I want to select the snap shot tools. Below, you will see our friend the disc brake in 3D Reviewer. I have just selected Tools -> Snapshot -> Vector -> Window to Vector.

By the way, there is also a Window to Vector icon available on the Snapshot Toolbar.

Next is to create the AutoCad DXF or Windows Metafile (ewf). Both are readable in Illustrator. In this case, I will choose DXF. When you create the DXF file, use these settings by selecting “options” when the dialog box appears:

Wait a few seconds, depending upon file size, and you will have your DXF file. Here is an image of mine open in Illustrator.

Before I end this article, there is one other thing to share. For those of you who simply want a PDF of the with a vector image like the one above, you can simply select file -> Print -> and the Adobe PDF from the print pull down menu. When you do that, you may want to scale the output to manage file size and rendering quality. I have also selected “Preferences” so you can see the settings I used.

Lastly, here is the PDF I just created:

As a final touch, I might go ahead and import a “template” as a layer into the PDF to put a nice border around the vector image, but let’s leave that for a future article. So there you have it, a quick tour of how to generate vector images.

Can I save 3D measurement markups in PDF?

2008-08-12T20:18:58Z

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this question in the past 12 months, but it's quite a lot. We've heard your voice and the short answer is now you can save 3D measurement markups in Acrobat/Reader 9 and I am going to teach you how! So, if you haven't yet discovered this new feature, I strongly invite you to read further to learn the basics of adding and managing measurement markups as well as a few interesting tips you will certainly appreciate.

]]>

Accessing the 3D measurement tool

We've had a measurement tool since the first release of Acrobat/Reader supporting 3D and we've tried to enhance the tool in every new release based on customer feedback. To access the tool, you have several options that are all equivalent, choosing one or another only depends on whether you prefer using the main menus or toolbar icons. Before you follow any of the 3 methods below, make sure you have a PDF with 3D open and that you have activated your 3D model.

Go to Menu>Tools>Analysis>Measuring Tool
Go to View>Toolbars>Analysis and click on the icon circled in red
On the 3D toolbar, click on this icon (if you can't find the tool, click on the drop down arrow next to the Rotate tool)

Note: you have to hover the mouse over the 3D model to turn the 3D measurement tool on. Otherwise, you may see the 2D tool controls appear.

If you have correctly followed one of the methods described above, here's a snapshot of the 3D measurement toolbar you should be able to see on your screen:

You will notice at first sight a significant change in the user interface. Notably, we have separated out the control modes, such as the snap modes and the measurement types, from the feedback window that you should see displayed in the lower right hand corner as represented below:

We've also added a context menu to give you acces to the most common tools that you may need while in measurement mode. Here's a snapshot of what you should see when right-clicking on the mouse while in measurement mode:

Feel free at this point to spend more time discovering the different options exposed in the menu above before moving on to the next section. To go back to the starting point, you can exit the measurement mode by hitting the ESC key and start over beginning with one of the three methods described above.

Creating a 3D measurement markup in Acrobat

Let's first look at the user experience for creating a measurement markup in Acrobat, then we'll continue with how it applies in Reader. First, we'll start with the most natural method, then I will describe an alternative method to better control how to organize your measurement markups.

Start by clicking on the Home view and use the mouse to set your camera view for best accessing the part or area you want to measure. Feel free to use the context menu to turn on/off the display of some parts or change the rendering mode to transparent for optimal display.

Tip: to use the mouse controls for navigation, hold the ALT key and click on the mouse buttons like you would normally do when the measurement tool is not turned on, i.e. LMB to rotate, RMB to zoom, LMB+RMB to pan.

Then pick any snap mode, edge points for instance , and any measurement mode such as point to point and measure a distance on your 3D model.

Note while you are moving your mouse to select your measurement end points, the feedback window is updated in real time and displays important information, similar to this:

Now select one of the hilighted points in red as you hover over your 3D model and select a second edge point highlighted in red to obtain the desired dimension. At this point, you should have the choice to place the measurement markup anywhere you want along the line connecting the two edge points you have selected. Click one more time and the markup will be placed relative to the current position of the mouse cursor.

Tip: while in snapping mode to select the end points of your measurement, use the right-click context menu to cancel the current selection by selecting the optin Cancel Measurement at the top.

If you see a green markup with some dimension like the one below, then you have successfully created a 3D measurment markup that you can now save with your PDF:

One more thing to note though is that a new view was automatically created for you. If you open the Model Tree and look at the list of views in the Views panel, you will notice a new view at the bottom of the list labeled something like MesurementView11 with a measurement markup attached to it. This is exactly the same way the Comment & Markup tool works with 3D models.

I will now teach you how to manage your 3D measurement markups by controlling which view they are attached to. Let's imagine you have 3 parts in your model and you would like to create a series of 3D measurement markups for each of the 3 parts. The way 3D measurement markups and views work is very simple. If you have a view selected in the View panel, and you just add a new 3D measurement markup, the markup will automaticall get attached to the view selected. You can keep manipulating the 3D model for adding more dimensions, and all of the markups added will attach to the same view currently selected. Once you are ready to switch to another part, create a new view with that part and start adding new measurement markups. From this point on, the new 3D measurement markups will get added to the new view created. It's only when no view is selected, that a new view will be created for you automatically. You can joggle from one view to another at any time to add more markups to a particular view. Check out the snapshot below of an example with 2 views and multiple measurement markups attached to each:

Finally, as you probably guessed by now, the 3D measurement markups are similar to any other markups you can apply using the Comment and Markup tool. The only difference is that 3D measurement markups are not necessarily converted into Comments, but you can selectively decide which ones to promote as a Comment. In order to turn a 3D measurement markup into a Comment, select the markup from the view panel or in the viewport, right-click and select the option Convert to Comment. After doing so on one of the measurement markup you created, if you open the Comments panel at the bottom of the Acrobat window, you will find your 3D measurement markup accessible there as well. Direclty clicking on the markup entry will take you directly to the view to which the markup belongs and display all of the other markups attached to that view.

Creating a 3D measurement markup in Reader

I am sure you are very familiar with the Reader Extensions concept. As a quick reminder, to enable a user to access the Comment/Markup, Measurement and Cross-Sectioning tools in the free Adobe Reader, the author of the PDF needs to enable that function using Acrobat. Here are the steps to take for doing so:

Open any PDF with 3D in Acrobat
Go to Comments>Enable for Commenting and Analysis in Adobe Reader
Save the file

The PDF saved as described above is referred as having Reader Extensions enabled. This simply means that if the PDF is opened in the free Adobe Reader, the following additional tools are turned on: Comment and Markup, Measurement, Cross-sectioning.

The reason it is important to mention the Reader Extensions capability is because otherwise anyone opening a normal PDF with 3D in Adobe Reader will not have the ability to make measurements nor add 3D measurement markups.

So go ahead and use the PDF previously created and apply Reader Extensions to it using Acrobat as indicated above. If you have Reader available on your machine, open that PDF in Reader and observe the Reader toolbar area and the 3D toolbar. You will notice that the Reader toolbar includes the Comment and Markup tool icons while the 3D toolbar includes the measurement and cross-sectioning tool icons. Here's what you should be seeing:

If you open the Model Tree, and look at the list of views in the View panel, of course you will find the views you created previously and the 3D measurement markups attached to each view. Try clicking on one of the views or the markups directly and experience the exact same behavior as in Acrobat.

One difference though you will notice is when adding a new 3D measurement markup. Suppose you want to add a new markup to an existing view or you want to create a new view and attach a 3D measurement markup to it. The difference will simply be that any 3D measurement markup is automatically converted to a Comment. The reason for this behavior is that we don't want a user participating in a review workflow to alter the original PDF without tracking each modification as a new Comment. Look at the snapshot below and notice the icon circled in red indicating the markup is also a Comment.

Conclusion

I hope you have enjoyed the material reviewed. Having the ability to save 3D measurement markups is indeed a key feature added in Acrobat/Reader 9 that many of you I am sure will get to use more and more. Here are some examples of use cases where saving 3D measurement markups would be most useful:

Internal cross-functional design collaboration
Extended design reviews with suppliers
Feedback reports from shop floors

As always, we welcome your feedback and any suggestions you may have as well as your experience using Acrobat/Reader 9.

Cheers,

Pierre Tager, Acrobat Product Manager

Converting 3D CAD to PDF on a server

2008-06-19T20:08:05Z

Without doubt the customer request we have heard the most since launching Acrobat 3D version 7 three years ago has been, "Acrobat 3D looks great, but can I convert my CAD files to PDF on a server integrated with my PLM system??" Well I am truly escstatic to finally be able to say, "YES! You can!"....
]]> Earlier this week, Adobe announced an update to the Livecycle Enterprise Suite and among the many new capabilities listed in the announcement, you will find the PDF Generator 3D component which provides for conversion of CAD parts and assemblies to PDF in a server environment. The entire Livecycle suite is architected to fit into existing back-end system environments, including Product Lifecycle Management systems and can be driven by external process events. Which is a convoluted way to say, 'You can use Adobe's PDF Generator 3D server to convert 2D and 3D data in your TeamCenter, Windchill, MatrixOne, SmarTeam, Enovia, or any other PLM system automatically to PDFs!" Integration points can range from a simple watched folder all the way to leveraging SOA web services.

For example you could automate the production of PDF files that are sent to suppliers when the product definition data in the PLM system reaches the 'released to supplier' state. Livecycle can aggregate data, including 3D parts and assemblies, that reside in different systems and push it all into a structured PDF template. If the use case calls for review and comment by external users, Livecycle Reader Extensions can be used to 'Reader Enable' the PDF documents so anyone with the free Adobe Reader can use the commenting and markup tools. If security is a concern, or you want to be able to recall/revoke access to the PDFs at anyone point after distribution, Livecycle Rights Management can be used to apply dynamic policies to the PDF documents.

For more information about the LIvecyle Enterprise Suite, take a look at the Livecycle product pages on Adobe.com. (there is not really any information available yet about Livecycle PDF Generator 3D.) You may also want to read about how one of our customers, MFG.com, uses Livecycle in their online manufacturing marketplace.

Want to try out Acrobat 9 Pro Extended?

2008-06-12T20:16:14Z

Adobe,Acrobat,PDF,3D,CAD. PLM,Manufacturing software

Adobe announced Acrobat 9 early last week while I was at the PTC World Conference and many of the people I talked with last week expressed interest in trying out Acrobat 9 Pro Extended (which is the new name for Acrobat 3D). We will be offering a free 30 day trial for Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, but it isn't ready quite yet. If you would like to be notified when the free trial is posted ...
]]> Please fill out the form here on our website.

Acrobat 9 and Acrobat.com Announced

2008-06-02T17:51:08Z

Adobe Systems,Acrobat,PDF

Adobe announced Acrobat 9 and the new Acrobat.com service very early this morning. These are both game changing releases for us and I will blog more about the specific benefits for manufacturing companies in the next few days (and after the PTC User Conference ends.) For now, you might want to check out some early blog posts like these ...

]]> Blogs:TechCrunch, CNET NewsBlog; and there are already some early articles like this one at the Washington Post. Also - Adobe's Lori DeFurio blog has lots of great general information about the new features of Acrobat 9.

Apologies to the RSS Subscribers!

2008-05-30T15:43:23Z

If you are subscribed to this blog via an RSS reader, I would like to apologize for all the updates to the entries today. I recently replaced my PC and resulting ripple of software updates continues to move through my entire workflow process. I had to install new versions of all the applications I use, including Adobe's Contribute CS 3 for editing this blog, and just noticed that the commenting feature was not activated for blog entries. And so now it is... So, you shouldn't see so many of these updates to the same articles going forward.

How light is light?

2008-05-30T02:10:21Z

Acrobat 3D,Adobe Systems,PDF,CAD,Interoperability,JT,XVL,3DXML,STEP,IGES

During the panel discussions on 'Proprietary lightweight 3D formats and standards: A collision course?" at the 2008 CIC Conf that Longview Advisors hosted earlier this month in Denver many of the audience's questions and the resulting discussion touched on 'what really is a lightweight 3D format for and when should you use it?' In thinking about it and talking with some of the other folks on the panel, it occured to me that it would be useful to look back at why the lightweight formats were introduced in the first place and how the external constraints driving the requirements for 'lightweight' have changed over time. ]]> Historically, the primary use case driving the creation of lightweight formats has really been about collaboration, and probably the most simplistic type of collaboration at that: viewing of product data by a third party. Prior to moving to a 3D process, this was achieved by creating fully annotated, physical 2D drawings and shipping them whereever they needed to go. Today, several of the world's leading manufacturing companies are struggling right now as they attempt to shift their processes away from 2D drawings in favor of sending fully annotated digital 3D models throughout their supply chain and as more and more of the manufacturing industry follows their lead, they too will hit the same roadblocks. Sending source CAD data doesn't work because

CAD files are too intelligent as anyone with the source CAD assembly data can do whatever they want with the designer's IP
Asking everyone in your supply chain to buy a CAD seat to view data doesn't sound so good when they used to receive drawings for free
CAD files are too big (which is another way to say WAN network throughput is too slow and expensive)

And so many different ISVs independently tackled the problem of how to provide for free viewing of CAD data created with their tools and today you can choose from JT, 3DXML, DWF, eDrawings, XVL, and many more lightweight proprieary formats and their associated viewers. At first most of these formats were simple tessellated data organized in a node structure that mimicked the CAD assembly product structure. The key phrase here is 'at first' which brings us to the question of what changed along the way, which I will save for another time.

PTC World Conference

2008-05-29T17:13:42Z

I will be heading to the 2008 PTC World Conference in Long Beach, CA next week where Adobe will have a booth in the vendor fair (no. 403) and I will present on Adobe's technology platform and how it works with Wildfire and can help extend the reach of Windchill. The session is part of the Windchill technical track and scheduled for Monday, June 1 at 5:15 Pacific Standard Time in room 104C in the Long Beach conference center.

2008 Collaboration and Interoperability Conference

2008-05-29T15:55:50Z

The 2008 Collaboration and Interoperability Conference held in Denver, CO this year was a great success. My colleague Doug Halliday and I attended and in looking back I honestly can say it was one of the best events in recent memory.
]]> David Prawel, of Longview Advisors, and Bill Abramson did a terrific job bringing together experts from the manufacturing and software industries in an intimate setting that really enabled a lot of informal discussions interspersed between the various presentations and panels. I participated in a panel that examined whether or not the various lightweight formats are on a collision course with the various standards efforts and was joined by people from Siemens, Right Hemisphere, Lattice, NIST and PDES, Inc. To help prepare us for the panel, David Prawel asked us all to think about several topics prior to stimulate the thought process and as these things go, the conversation amongst the panelists that ensued hit some of the topics squarely, missed many completely and merely touched on others. I really think many of the questions he posed are relevant to the manufacturing industry and will pull from my notes and the conversations with the other panelists to post several blog entries in the near future in hopes of continuing the dialogue. So, stay tuned!

Acrobat 3D eSeminar presentation posted

2008-05-23T18:53:29Z

Adobe Acrobat 3D,PDF,CAD Design Collaboration,CAD Data Exchange

Jonathan Bowman and I presented an hour long eSeminar yesterday on how Acrobat 3D can help manufacturing companies accelerate collaboration by making it easy to aggregate product information, including 3D assemblies, into a single, secure PDF. As promised (but a little delayed) I am posting the presentation. The last page contains a set of links you can use to find more information about Acrobat 3D....
]]> You can download the presentation here:

Acrobat_3D_V8_080523 (pdf, 1.2 Mg)

Acrobat 3D Version 8 - CAD Importers Updated

2008-02-21T16:56:43Z

Tags: Acrobat 3D,Adobe Systems,PDF,CAD

A free CAD translator update for Acrobat 3D Version 8 is now available for download for registered and trial users of Acrobat 3D Version 8.

]]> This update provides support for more recent versions of CAD file formats like UGS NX 5 and Solidworks 2008. For more information, including a complete list of supported formats, please go to: http://www.adobe.com/go/a3d_update .

Things really are going to be different and soon…

2008-02-07T17:19:33Z

Ralph Grabowski notes in a recent blog entry that several companies including Microsoft, Autodesk and even CNN are demonstrating use of very large multi-touch flatpanel LC screens. Right now these displays cost upwards of $100,000. The emphasis really needs to be on ‘right now’.

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The prices for flat panel TVs and computer displays are declining very aggressively year over year and are now in the range that consumers are purchasing them in droves. In fact, a quick Google shopping search indicates that today you can buy a new 42” flat panel LCD TV for less than $1000 and a reconditioned one that size for around $600. (Compare this to the 21” Apple CRT Cinema Display my wife and I bought 5 years ago for about $1000 —these you can now buy for as low as $29 on eBay--plus shipping which will cost you more than the used display if you can’t go pick it up!)

So, given these current pricing trends these enormous screens will hit price points in about 2 to 3 years where it would make sense for AEC and MFG firms to start buying these for use by designers, not just for big group reviews (they are already buying very large screen projection systems now) and in about 5-7 years where people will start buying them for use in their homes.

Unless of course 3D-holographic projection technology leapfrogs in which case it will be a boon for furniture companies as everyone rushes to reconfigure their living rooms as we all start interacting with real time 3D ‘theater in-the-round’.