Re: 3D Clip Art

From: Marshall Burns (Ennex  Corporation)
To: Yakov Horenstein (Electon), RP-ML
Cc: John Wright (Viewpoint  Datalabs International)
Date: Monday, February 27, 1995
Subject: Re: 3D Clip Art
Dear Yakov,
On 95 02 14, you wrote:
> Has anyone heard of or used the Viepoint DataSet Catalogue and DataShop 
> ...
> This is one of the cottage industry opportunities Marshall Burns ... mentions in his book, ... where he calls them "soft designs".  
> ...
> Publisher is Viewpoint DataLabs International, (800) 328 2738 or 
> ...
> I'd be interested to know ... a European phone no. for them.

     I called and requested the Viewpoint catalog, and I am thoroughly impressed. You are right that this is exactly what I was talking about in my book. Right now the markets that Viewpoint is targeting are more artistic than industrial, and the applications are more virtual (as in movie animation) than solid. Since most current fabricator users are industrial engineers and designers, this means two things. (a) It limits the importance of Viewpoint's product in the current fabricator market, and (b) it offers a new opportunity to expand the fabricator market for artistic applications.
     I didn't get any case studies on use of these data sets as fabricator input, but most of the shapes offered are available in formats for Pro/E and some other systems that provide StL output, so if the surfaces are closed they should theoretically be able to be sent to fabricators. Even better, since the files are provided in CAD formats, they can be modified at will by the designer before sending to the fabricator. The shapes available include cars, aircraft, military vehicles, human and animal anatomy, and others. For example, you can order the exterior shape of the 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (1524 vertices, 1632 polygons, $295) or the interior of the 1989 Nissan Sentra (1872 vertices, 4488 polygons, $249). (I wonder if this has required licenses from the auto makers? Very interesting legal questions here when catalogs like this expand to offer functional designs in their data files.)
     This is very exciting. Thanks, Yakov, for pointing it out. Their European phone number that you asked for is in England: 44 784 451815.