Alibre/Geomagic News
- Thread starter fitzbond
- Start date
RocketNut said:
Agreed - but...
* No complex software is likely to be entirely bug free (ask any of those that work with multiple CAD packages).
* Many so called bugs reported are down to either users not appreciating how the feature is designed to work, or disagreeing about how it should work.
Lew_Merrick
Guest
This is why we need a well-written and detailed User's Guide and Reference Manual set from which to work!DavidJ said:
JordanCClark
Alibre Super User
Agreed.Lew_Merrick said:
I'd been giving some thought on this, on and off, for a few years. What would y'all think of a set of Wikidocs maintained by both 3DS and community members? That way, 3DS publishes a new set of docs, and we get to proofread and improve them.
Lew_Merrick said:
Very much agreed! The last manual was for Alibre 2012, I think. 3DS should be embarrassed to sell a $2k or more product without a solid manual. To me the help system is not much of a substitute - searches often return dozens of hits, most of which have nothing to do with what I'm looking for
RocketNut
Alibre Super User
I gave up on the manuals long time ago, because I could never find what I want or needed. When if I find the subject the examples are just veg to understand. I wish they where more user friendly. Thank this forum is full of folks ready and will to lend a hand thus this forum is my manual.
Kept up the great support.
Kept up the great support.
H-L-Smith
Senior Member
JordanCClark said:
That's certainly an interesting proposition, Jordan, and I like it. Based on the fact there's no current User's Guide for 2014, but there are lots of videos on YouTube plus the in-built help system, I'm wondering if the company is switching to a different kind of documentation model entirely? Whatever the model, it would be very helpful to see the documentation updated in a way easily accessible to end-users as errors are discovered, corrections made and further examples (in the help system or videos) are added to clarify program features and operations.
That assumes someone in-house in TX actually does the documentation and that's their primary responsibility. I don't know if that's the way it's done or if they farm that task out to specialist contractors.
Cheers,
Lew_Merrick
Guest
God forbid! Another set of "documents" that must be read on a computer rather than carried with you and read at your convenience!JordanCClark said:
JordanCClark
Alibre Super User
Lew_Merrick said:
Yeah, 'cause my Kindle or iPad or PC Tablet or phone just aren't mobile enough. :roll: My point is that "convenience" is really a subjective term.
Don't get me wrong. I like books. I read a lot of them. A lot of them. But the truth is that documentation is going digital. For example: it's difficult to get anything from Allen-Bradley/Rockwell in a printed format, but supremely easy in a digital version. So now my technical library is on my Skydrive and Dropbox accounts. I can grab what I need from there and "conveniently" have it with me on my tablet...
Lew_Merrick
Guest
And writing in marginalia works so well on such devices, right? My copy of the V2012 User's Guide has more than 20 pages of "Word document" notes added to them (because I copies them out into a "Word" document and sent them into Alibre/3DS).JordanCClark said:
More to the point, a Reference Guide that explains the processes & procedures of each operand and their effect on the dataset is one of those things that has been glaringly missing from CAD products since the late-1980's. The point being here that such a document defines the philosophy of operation to the user.
JordanCClark said:
I find it useful to browse through a manual, if only to get an idea of what special or unexpected features might be available so that I know to look for details down the road when a need develops. E-books are fine for that purpose, but not so good when you need to flip back and forth between various related topics. For that, I want a paper or hardback book, or worst case a PDF printout in a 3-ring binder.
Mike
JordanCClark
Alibre Super User
Well, actually, you can, but I won't belabor the point.Lew_Merrick said:
Which rather proves my point. Since you willingly had done the work on what changes you think are needed, the community could have validated them and the manual changed.Lew_Merrick said:
Again, proves my point. We may have an opportunity to be proactive here. If it's something been missing for so long, why not change it through a collaborative effort?Lew_Merrick said:
MikeHenry said:
I understand that, even though I'm just a sveldt 47 years of age... :lol: ... but my gut tells me that 3DS isn't going to provide one. Just Like I didn't get one with AutoCAD Electrical, or Solidworks, Microsoft Office, or any PLC programming package I've ever owned...sz0k30 said:
Now. Given that we haven't' had an updated manual of any sort since v2012, the question becomes. "What are we, as the user base, willing to do?"
My preference would be for a GM-generated PDF manual (formatted for 8-1/2x11 pages), which should keep both hard copy and e-book users happy, though the US format size may not please the rest of the world. If that's not ever going to happen, then a user-generated manual would be next best, so long as it can be rendered into hard copy in some form that is not too onerous to read. Part of that spec would include a table of contents and a decent index.
Just MHO.
Mike
Just MHO.
Mike