Anark Announces Release of Anark Core 3.2

Bridges PLM and ERP Systems to Create Animated Manufacturing Work Instructions and S1000D IETMs in Native Adobe 3D PDF.

Boulder, CO : Anark Corporation, a provider of automated 3D CAD transformation and visualization solutions, has announced the release of Anark Core™ 3.2 that adds powerful new capabilities, allowing users to easily create animated manufacturing work instructions and IETMs in native Adobe 3D PDF. Anark Core is now available for 32-bit and 64-bit systems running Windows XP, Windows Vista®, and Windows® 7 operating systems. Additionally, Anark Core 3.2 includes numerous new features to create lightweight visualization geometry from heavy, complex 3D CAD assemblies for downstream use.

In addition to the ability to extract, combine, and publish data locked within PDM, ERP, SCM, and MES databases and Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets, Anark Core 3.2 provides a remarkably simple engineering animation system for Manufacturing Engineers and Technicians -- with no special animation skills required. Unlike other solutions, Anark Core has a non-destructive workflow that memorizes every step required to author a 3D PDF in an Anark Core "recipe." Product information can be automatically reincorporated every time there is a significant change, ensuring that users and partners are always working with up-to-date documents, while requiring minimal rework. Anark's native Adobe 3D PDF support offers customers a secure, standards-based, best-in-class solution for publishing, sharing, and archiving critical product information and manufacturing processes.

"As part of the US Army's Network Centric Manufacturing Program, Anark Core will be used to author super light-weight 3D PDF work instructions," said Gary Hobbs, President and COO of SUBSYSTEMs. "The ability for personnel with no CAD experience to quickly and easily create standards-based 3D PDF shop-floor documentation, combined with Anark Core's ability to regenerate up-to-date documents if the source data changes, meets strategic technology goals of the US Army to create a common medium through which 3D data can be captured and reused during the acquisition lifecycle."

New Feature Highlights in Anark Core 3.2

* Easily author animation sequences and export animated work instruction documents in native Adobe 3D PDF
* Import and combine product attributes, work step instructions, and other tabular data within Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to create secure, 3D PDF business process documents that can be opened by anyone using the Free Adobe® Reader®
* Combine 3D CAD, work step data from S1000D CSDBs, and animation sequences to produce PDF-based S1000D data modules
* Non-destructively optimize heavy, complex 3D CAD assemblies using multiple tessellation algorithms to produce smaller, high-quality, lightweight mesh models
* Expanded DWG support enables more efficient symbol creation for a wide variety of AEC use-cases
* Eliminate the need to manually perform screen captures of CAD geometry by automating the creation of JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF, or BMP images for use in electronic and printed technical documentation and websites
* Import and transform the latest 3D CAD formats including CATIA V5 R20, PTC® Pro/ENGINEER® Wildfire® 5, and SolidWorks® 2010
* Support for 32-bit and 64-bit systems running Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, allowing the importation of 3D CAD assemblies of virtually any size

"Anark Core's new animation features, combined with the ability to import manufacturing information from Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or other manufacturing databases, provides the easiest, quickest, and most cost-effective solution for creating 3D PDF-based work instruction documents and S1000D IETMs," said Scott Collins, Senior Vice President of Product Development of Anark. "We spent considerable time working directly with our customers to create a system that works for everyone, not just CAD designers and engineering animation experts. Their direct feedback about these new features has resulted in an authoring tool whose ease of use is unprecedented."

"Anark Core 3.2 brings a new level of ease of use and cost effectiveness to the process of authoring animated visual work instructions and other 3D technical publications," said Greg Baker, President and General Manager of Tetra 4D. "Anark's ability to output animations directly to the open standard 3D PDF allows companies to easily reuse their engineering and product data with anyone, anywhere."