For those of you who may not know us, Acuity has been involved in all aspects of implementing, training, and supporting I-deas since the inception of Master Series (field test version .9) in 1993. We provide deep expertise in data management, including WAN licensing, migration issues, and interfacing Team Data Manager with other data sources, sharing TDM metadata and visuals throught the enterprise; modeling, drafting, assembly and many other areas. Please see I-deas Services and Consulting for more ways to leverage your I-deas installation.

Acuity is also at the forefront of the merging of I-deas and Unigraphics, and is currently investing heavily in our Unigraphics NX knowledge, and working with our I-deas customers to best leverage the technology merge to their advantage.

If you need any help now, or in the future with I-deas, I-deas NX and/or your planning and transition to UG NX in the coming years, please contact Paul Stevens at 503.223.9152 x102

NX Manager for I-deas & I-deas Enterprise - Which is right for you? When? Why?

I-deas 10 Tips & Techniques as presented at Portland User Meeting, 5/16/

I-deas 10 NX Machine Design Review Just Released!

What's New is I-deas 10 NX Presentation

New! I-deas Functionality in "NX" FAQ

Here is an overview of what information is contained in the FAQ.

"I-deas will contribute both key technologies and functions as well as overall usability and workflow approaches to 'NX', and much of this development work is already underway. Often software development work is required to lay a foundation for capabilities before the end user application is fully exposed. As a result some of the work that is going into the Unigraphics NX2 release to integrate I-deas capabilities will be an initial step, and additional capabilities may not become fully apparent to the end user until the 'NX3' release and beyond.

"Along these lines, you will begin to see elements of the following technologies and functions from I-deas exposed beginning with the Unigraphics NX2 release and into NX3."

(NX1 is was shipped in August of NX2 is currently targeted for about mid-year this year, and NX3 would then follow by about 1 year.)

General adoption of usability and workflow concepts

• Section builder
• Sketching additions
• Selection intent
• Variational sweep
• Surface extensions
• Emboss
• 'Open part' modeling approaches; use of solid and sheet entities
• Assembly Configurations
• Assembly mating tools (constraints) and user interface
• Assembly motion tools
• 2D Drafting
• 3D Annotation
• Harness Design capabilities and workflow
• Blending of CAE applications, beginning with integrating the I-deas Model Solution Solver and Post Processing, followed by an eventual full integration of high-end CAE
• Imageware tools for advanced surfacing
• Imageware tools for reverse engineering and inspection

"Our objective is to not only leverage the best of both I-deas, NX Series and Unigraphics NX capabilities in 'NX', but also to continually move our products forward by leveraging the latest technologies. Based on these objectives, it is sometimes in the best interest of our customers to leverage only a piece of current technology as opposed to an entire process or application.

"Where I-deas has both industry-leading technology as well as industry-leading implementation and usability, you will see the entire set carried forward. Where I-deas has a key technology but there is a newer or easier way of doing things, you will see the I-deas technologies updated and refreshed along the way. The resulting product will be a true blend of what exists today in Unigraphics NX and I-deas, NX Series, as well as many new developments and ways of doing things."

Read and/or download and print a PDF of the entire FAQ.

I-deas FREE Work-at-Home (or on Laptop) Licenses

What's the Scoop on FREE I-deas Home Use Licenses? (PDF)

How to Get & Install Your FREE I-deas Home Use License! (PDF)

Solid Edge for I-deas Users

EDS continues to develop and enhance the NX Gateway interoperability engine that ties UG NX, I-deas and Solid Edge together in a fully associative and intelligent way. Read this white paper for complete details on the state of this interoperability between I-deas and Solid Edge.

I-deas 9 Overview Information

"Slide Show" Overview of What's New in I-DEAS 9
(2.5 MB PDF file)

"Slide Show" Overview of New I-DEAS 9 Modeling Functionality
(4.5 MB PDF file)