Autodesk is providing a free download for users to preview new digital prototyping technology that promises to speed product development by allowing them to switch between two different modeling approaches in one application. The Inventor Fusion technology download, which will be available starting tomorrow, June 26, will let users select either parametric, history-based modeling or direct, history-free modeling, depending on the task before them, from the same 3D design application. The software supports mixed data formats, and also lets users make changes to existing designs from a variety of CAD tools. With this technology, designers won’t have to choose between the two approaches, as has been the case until now. “We don’t see one methodology as better or worse than the other,” said Kevin Schneider, product manager of emerging products & technology for the Autodesk Manufacturing Division, in an interview with Managing Automation. Different business challenges would be better served by one style or the other, he said. For example, a table designer might prefer a history-based approach, in which the design rules based on the order of steps taken to build the design govern how it can be manipulated. The designer could change one number and generate a new table size automatically. On the other hand, he said, the direct, history-free modeling might better suit a concept design for a new cell phone, where the designer doesn’t want to be constrained by rules or have to know what number to change to alter a device’s size. Instead he or she would prefer to alter the design on-screen. Whatever the design change, the software would automate the methodology behind it so the changes could move back and forth between the two models. “We are attempting to provide users the ability to move between the two, and remove the burden from the user of knowing the difference,” Schneider said. The preview is a first step toward providing bidirectional parametric and direct workflows to users. In this iteration, users can experience the direct modeling methodology and user interface advances Autodesk has made, Schneider said. The company is looking for user feedback and will refine the software accordingly. A second technology preview is planned for the fall. At that time, users will be able to “perform direct modeling for fast changes and then see their changes updated in the model’s parametric feature history, maintaining crucial design intent,” the company said in its announcement. Ultimately, Autodesk plans to incorporate the functionality in its existing products, particularly the Inventor suite. “Our manufacturing customers have told us that direct modeling is opening up new opportunities to accelerate product development. However, they’ve also told us that they don’t see the need for the power and control of history-based parametric modeling going away,” said Robert Kross, senior vice president for the Manufacturing Industry Group at Autodesk, in a statement. The technology will serve companies that “need to make rapid, history-free design changes to a model through direct manipulation, but also have many years worth of feature- and history-based data and design intent that they need to access, use, and maintain,” the company said.