Hybrid modeling

Solids and surfaces interoperability

ThinkDesign is a true Hybrid Modeler: it allows one to work simultaneously on wireframe, surface models or solid models - all in one environment. Solids and surfaces can be used in basic construction operations, and associativity is keep between all entities.
ThinkDesign can also handle 'open' solids (non-manifold solids, or solids with no volume), which is often the case when dealing with imported geometry.

Global Shape Modeling

think3’s Global Shape Modeling, now called GSM, provides designers a very high level of technological innovation with unrivalled ease of use. It is currently the only creation and modification tool that allows changes in a quick and accurate way in any stage of the design process, accelerating interactions with unlimited creativity and eliminating the need to rebuild models. GSM has become famous and much appreciated because it makes complex changes happen in minutes instead of hours or days.

Zone Modeling and Zone Draft

The Zone Modeling command enables you to apply all of the GSM functionalities to selected zones (faces) of a solid model. It can be used efficiently to locally modify a solid by applying a controlled modification to a certain area. Together with the 'Insert Feature Mode' command, it can be used to modify a zone of a solid and propagate the controlled modification to subsequent features.

Zone Draft enables users to add a draft angle to one or more zones (faces) of a solid. The corresponding drive dimension is also added. This command is particularly useful in those situations where technicians need to add a draft angle to complex models after the model's creation. When this change must be at the very end of the design process - and especially to static solids imported from other environments - Zone Draft is a fast and reliable tool. It is very useful in the process of mold and tool creation.

2D and 3D integration

ThinkDesign’s integrated design environment ensures full 2D/3D transparency and does not require expensive interfaces for the migration from 2D to 3D. ThinkDesign offers optimized and interoperable 2D and 3D environments, allowing companies to preserve and modify existing 2D data, securing their original investment and preventing the risks associated with the migration from one design platform to another. A project can be created in a “mixed” 2D and 3D approach, and experienced 2D users are going to find migrating to 3D very easy resulting in a reduced learning curve. Many commands of ThinkDesign can be used both in 2D and in 3D, like line, circle, polyline, rectangle, trim, stretch, transform and many others. To have these unique commands in both environments provides many advantages to the user: specifically reduction in learning time and time to maximum productivity.

Interactive Solid Modeling

The powerful Interactive Solid Modeling feature allows modification of native or imported solid geometries, and helps users overcome foreign parametric logic and constraints to get the expected modification result directly. Thanks to its solid modeling and surfacing functionalities, ThinkDesign ensures innovative part modeling functionalities in a flexible and easy-to-use design environment.

Smart Objects

ThinkDesign’s unique Smart Objects functionality allows the user to capture, reuse and share, either fully or partly, modeling sequences. A Smart Object, for instance, is able to reproduce the insertion of a component, realizing the features and the necessary mating to assemble it on the existing parts. The benefits are consistency and compliance to company standards, fewer errors and faster design cycles.

Analysis tools and Quality Check

ThinkDesign's Quality Check command gives functions for examining isophotes, draft angles, curvature radii, and many other characteristics of curves, surfaces and solids in order to understand a model and prepare it for manufacturing.

Sheet Metal

ThinkDesign’s high flexibility allows design engineers to create sheet metal parts easily, starting from scratch or from existing parts, using either native or imported data. ThinkDesign allows management of thick sheet metal parts with features on side faces while also including parts with different bend tables. In addition, this application allows automatic generation of development drawings ready for manufacturing. The wizard allows automatic creation of assemblies with other sheet metal parts, adhering to standard manufacturing techniques.