Argon Feature List

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History-free precision modeling.™

Updated Interface
Unified Associative Drawing & Modeling Tools for Wireframe, Surfaces & Solids
Vellum Drafting Assistant™ for Intelligent Snaps and Alignments in X,Y, & Z
Unique Hybrid Mac/Windows, Office/Home Licensing
Class-A NURBS Surface Modeling
True Solid Modeling
Surface Analysis

2D Drawing Snapshots
Complete Set of Precision Import/Export Translators Including ACIS SAT, Parasolid, IGES, STEP, DXF, DWG, EPS, AI, and more
Support for Intel Mac
Full Photo-realistic Rendering & Camera-based Animation
Object and Group Properties (CG, Volume,
Weight, etc.)

Luc Heiligenstein designed this sports watch using both Ashlar-Vellum drafting and 3D modeling software.

“Just extrude in any direction to get a product shape very quickly. It’s as flexible as modeling clay.”

Read more about Luc’s success.

General Features

Direct 3D Modeling
ACIS Modeling Kernel from Spatial
16 Place Floating Point Accuracy
Hybrid Mac/Windows, Office/Home License
65,000 Hierarchical Layers
Unlimited Colors
Unlimited Number of Objects and Drawing Size
Single File Holds Drawings, Models, Assemblies, etc.
Direct Multi-sheet PDF Creation
Universal Binary Support for Intel Mac

User Interface

Updated Intuitive Vellum Interface
Drafting AssistantTM for Automatic Snaps and Alignments
Smart Cursor Changes Shape Indicating Active Tool and Operations
Strokes and Short Cuts Provide Instant Access to Commands
Tear-off and Auto-hide Palettes
Dockable Tools and Palettes
Palettes can be Flipped Vertically or Horizontally
Resizable Dialog Boxes
Status Line to Specify Object Parameters
Message Line Provides Tool Instructions and Options
World and User-defined Coordinate Systems
All Data Entry Fields can Perform Numeric Calculations
TrackBall for View Selection and Dynamic or Step Rotation
Show/Hide Palette
Selection Mask for Easier Selection of Specific Entity Types, Layers, Colors
Grid (User Definable)
Object Editor
Support for SpaceMouse Device on Mac and Windows
Easy Update Installer

Display and Visualization

Scene Display Modes:
- Flat Shaded
- Gouraud
- Gouraud w/Edges
- Phong
- Phong w/Edges
- Hidden Line Dimmed
- Hidden Line Removed
- Photo-realistic
Scene Display Options:
- Anti-alias
- ZBuffer Curves
- Clip at Eye Point
- Transparency
- Reflected Environment
Real-time Object Display Options:
- Display Iso Lines
- Silhouettes
- Transparency
- Direction
- Curvature Comb
- Surface Analysis Display (Gaussian, Mean, Min/Max, Zebra, Normals, Curvature, Draft)
- Object Display Resolution (Coarse, Medium, Fine, Very Fine, Super Fine)
- User Definable Object Colors
Adjustable Perspective
Infinite Pan and Zoom
Section Profiles and Cutaway View in the Edit Window
Real-time 3D Display:
- Curves
- Surfaces
- Solids
- Meshes
- Text
- Bitmaps
- Dimensions

Object and Assembly Properties

Material
Center of Gravity
Volume
Weight
Density
Moments of Inertia
Principal
Axis

Object Management Tools

Design Explorer™:
- Layer Tree
- Object List
Object Properties Dialog
Show/Hide Palette

General Transform Tools

Move
Copy Along Path
Rectangular Array Duplicate
Feature Array
Rotate
Polar Array Duplicate
Scale (Uniform or Differential)
Mirror
Align

Text Tools

Normal
Along a Path
Keep Screen Horizontal
At an Angle
Set:
- Font
- Size
- Style
- Color
Thicken
Extrude
Revolve
Sweep

Wireframe Creation Tools

Point
Points on Curve
Points on Surface
Line
Mid-point Line
Connected Line
Arc
Circle
Ellipse
Conic
Rectangle
Polygon
Arbitrary Polygon
Star Polygon
Sketch Spline
Through-point Spline
Vector Spline
Bezier Spline
Helix
Spiral

Wireframe Editing Tools

Fillet
Chamfer
Trim
Relimit/Extend
Break
Offset
Join
Extrude
Revolve
Project to Plane
Extract Edge of Surface or Solid
Increase Order
Fair Spline
Add/Remove Spline Points
Modify Spline Slope
Curve by Intersection of Plane and a Curve, Surface, or Solid
Project Curve onto Surface/Solid
Intersect Two Curves
Create Points by Intersecting Surfaces or Solids

Perfume bottle by Marc Caloren of Marc 3 Designs.

Surface Creation Tools

Surface Primitives:
- Sphere
- Block
- Cylinder
- Pyramid
Infinite Plane
Lathe
Extruded Surface
Sweep:
- In Place
- Perpendicular
- Ridged
Sweep Along One Rail:
- Full Rail
- To Entity
- Between Rail Points
Sweep Along Two Rails:
- With Maintain Height
Skin, Skin w/ Guide Curves
Tangent Loft
Cover Surface, Tangent Cover
Net Surface
Revolved Surface
Tube Surface
Offset Surface
Drafted/Extended Surface
Fillet Surface

Surface Editing Tools

Freeform Deformation (Push/Pull Surface Points)
Deform to a Point, Factor, or Curves
Add/Subtract/Intersect Planar Surfaces
Join Surfaces
Trim/Untrim Surfaces
Match G1 and G2 Tangency
Insert Control Points
Elevate Degree
Rebuild Surfaces
Add, Remove, & Replace
Curves of Associative Surfaces
Imprint Profile Sketches for Surface Subdivisions

Solid Creation Tools

Solid Primitives:
- Sphere
- Slab
- Block
- Cylinder
- Cone
- Torus
- Prism
- Pyramid
- Ellipsoid
Lathe Profile:
- With Draft
- Non-planar Profile
Extrude Profile:
- Distance
- Vector
- To Entity
- Mid Plane
- Thin Wall
- With Draft
- Non-planar Profile
Skin, Skin w/ Guide Curves
Tangent Loft
Sweep Profile Along One Rail:
- In Place
- Perpendicular
- Ridged
- Full Rail
- To Entity
- Between Rail Points
- With Draft
Sweep Profile Along Two Rails:
- With Maintain Height
Pipe Solid
Thicken Surface into Solid
Stitch Surfaces into Solid

Solid Editing Tools

Boolean Add/Subtract/ Intersect Solids
Constant Blends:
- Radial
- Elliptical
- Vertex
Variable Blends:
- Linear
- By Position
- To Curve
- To Fixed Width
- To a Hold Line
Constant Chamfers:
- By Length
- Two Lengths
- Length and Angle
- Vertex
Variable Chamfers:
- By Lengths
- Four Lengths
- Lengths and Angles
- By Position
- To Fixed Width
Holes:
- With Bore
- With Sink
- To Depth
- Through
- First Blind
- To Face
- With Draft
Bosses:
- With Specified Fillet
- With Draft
Profile Cutout:
- With Draft
Profile Protrude:
- By Vector
- To Face
- With Draft
Split:
- With Surfaces or Solids
Trim:
- With Curves, Surfaces or Solids
Shell:
- With Independent Face Offsets
- With Core/Cavity Options
Parting Line:
- With Draft
Local Operations:
- Taper/Draft Face
- Move Face/Edge
- Offset Face
- Remove Face
- Replace Face
- Match Face
- Deform Face (By Factor, To Point, To Curves)
Bend Solids
Twist Solids
Stretch Solids

Independent 2D/3D Drawing Creation

Predefined and Customizable Layouts
Create 2D/3D Drawings w/o Building Models
Stored in Same File as Model

2D/3D Drawing Creation from Models

2D or 3D Views from 3D Wireframe, Surfaces, and Solids
Sectioning Capability (Manual)
Automatic Hidden Line
Predefined Layouts

2D/3D Drafting & Detailing

Available for Independent and Model-driven Drawings
Smart Dimension Tool Automatically Creates the Appropriate Dimensions
Dimensions:
- Linear
- Angular
- Diametric
- Radial
- Spline Length
Standard and User-definable Tolerances and Settings:
- ANSI
- DIN
- ISO
- JIS
- Dual
- Architecture
- Stacked Fraction
Balloon and Callout Dimensions
Predefined and User Created Hatch and Fill Patterns
Predefined and User Created Line Weights, Colors, and Styles
All Dimensions can be Associative, Dynamic, or Static

Photo-realistic Rendering

Drag and Drop Materials
Drag and Drop Decals (with Alpha Channel)
3D Wireframe Interleave
Realistic Texture Maps and Procedural Textures:
- Wood
- Marble
- Granite
- Leather
- Plastic
- Glass
- Metal
- Brushed Metal
- Automotive Paint
- and more
Advanced Material Editor:
- Color
- Reflectance
- Specular
- Diffuse
- Ambient
- Roughness
- Bump
- Transparency
- Refraction
- Texture Orientation
- and more
Interactive Materials Display
Environment Maps
Customizable Scene Presets
Editable Light Sources:
- Spot
- Bulb
- Distant
Photo-realistic Sunlight (Location/Date/Time)
Photo-realistic Tube and Area Lights
Adjustable Hard and Soft Shadows
Visible Volumetric Light Effects
Sketch Effects (SP1)
Fog Effects
Backgrounds
Raytracing with Anti-aliasing
Production Quality Resolution & Output (bmp, tga, tif, lwi, eps)
Multiprocessor Photo-realistic Rendering (Mac SP1)
User-defined Presets

Camera-based Animation

Fly-by
Walk-through
Sunlight Timeline
QuickTime Object VR
QuickTime Panoramic VR
Direct Event Journal Recording and Playback
QuickTime Event Recording and Playback

Import/Export

ACIS SAT
PDF (Export Only)
DWG/DXF
IGES
STEP
Pro/E (via SAT)
Parasolid X_T (Windows Only)
SolidWorks (via SAT)
Catia v4
3D Studio (Import Only)
Rhino 3DM (Import Only)
Facet
STL
Adobe Illustrator
EPS (Export Only)
CGM
VRML
ShockWave 3D (Export Only)
Bitmap:
- BMP (with Alpha Channel)
- JPEG
- PNG (with Alpha Channel)
- PPM
- XPM
- XBM
- GIF
PICT (Mac Only)
Spline (Import Only)
RAW Triangle (Export Only)
ASCII Text
Grid Surface (Import Only)
Other Ashlar-Vellum Products

Localized User Interface

English US
English UK
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian (Windows only)
Swedish

“There is nothing to match the flexibility and sheer value of Ashlar-Vellum translation tools for 3D geometry—and then there’s the modeling.”

Designer Kevin Quigley produced this line of Optima Mugs for Village Mill.