Through our decades of experience providing leading 3D visualization and CAD data exchange toolkits, we have seen attempts at innovation result in both wildly successful and complete failures. With the power 3D data offers to all stages of the design process, some attempt to eliminate time-consuming 2D drawings from their process entirely, while others insist on the convenience and security 2D data sharing provides. 3D PDF serves as a potential bridge, offering many of the benefits of both for internal and external communication needs.

For those considering the roles each design type plays in their processes, we offer the chance to learn from our experience in the market. Therefore, we have compiled a list of 7 of the most common mistakes you should avoid when migrating from 2D to 3D data for engineering workflows. These examples will highlight the capabilities, best use-cases, and limitations of the 3D PDF format.

Mistake #1: Requiring Customers to Use a Costly 3D Viewer

Organizations that are considering becoming more or exclusively reliant on 3D data must contend with how they view that information outside of CAD tools, both internally and externally. While 3D data offers a more interactive, immersive relationship with the information, 3D viewers often incur costs that their 2D cousins simply don’t have.

2D data is inherently easy to share, offering engineers a quick, intuitive, and low-cost manner of portraying designs from simple sheets of paper to PDFs. Inversely, 3D viewers are costly, with vendors often providing “value add” functions, such as measurement and annotation tools, to help justify the cost, but for many use cases, they’re simply not necessary. This creates a conundrum, where a client could be given a choice: a free, 2D, hardcopy of an invoice or a paid, 3D version requiring a viewer app. In this circumstance, your customer is either losing out on the benefits of 3D, or having to pay a fee they are unlikely to accept for the “full experience”.

One middle ground for organizations to balance convenience with data richness is 3D PDFs. These formats are often free for the recipient to view, with Adobe building a business model around charging for the creation of the file, but not for viewing. This eliminates the need for a current or prospective customer to purchase or pay to use a 3D viewer while still providing them the interactive, dynamic richness that 3D data offers.

In 2010, Tech Soft 3D acquired Adobe’s 3d team and technology for embedding rich engineering data in PDFs. Building on this foundation, Tech Soft 3D provides Theorem and HOOPS for creating 3D PDFs. While Tech Soft 3D charges its fees for the creation of 3D PDF, end users can enjoy their 3D viewing experience at no additional cost through Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Mistake #2: Failure to Consider the Importance of PMI

Anyone involved in engineering, design, or manufacturing knows that the geometry alone is not enough to make a part. The creators need to be able to convey dimensions, tolerances, and other crucial information conveniently to those charged with making that design a reality: enter, Product Manufacturing Information (PMI). 2D formats rarely have any issues here, but PMI can be lost in 3D data files if transferred via an intermediate format between applications. While some vendors suggest the workaround of providing a set of dimensioning in the 3D viewers themselves, manufacturers still require PMI for:

1. Tolerances and notes that are not included in 3D geometry.

2. The written proof that the manufacturing is correctly done. For example, when the distance between two holes in the part is '40mm±0.1mm’, the dimension and tolerance must be verified and documented by those responsible for quality assurance.

3D PDF provides the perfect solution for maintaining the integrity of PMI in a 3D format. The format supports model based definition (MBD), a way of allowing information to be contained alongside a 3D model. Our Theorem and HOOPS products can all read PMI contained in the native 3D CAD, including CATIA, NX, Creo, and export directly to 3D PDF. This capability empowers users to view the information as it appears in its native CAD application using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Mistake #3: Failing to Balance Usability with Security

There are many reasons companies may not want to share their 3D data with outside sources. Some of the most common include:

1. The necessary 3D viewer is not commonly available outside the company.

2. Data sensitivity and data access approval processes.

3. Concerns about the data being copied, used for other purposes.

In our experience visiting a manufacturing company, an engineer explicitly told us that this inability to share design data was creating a significant roadblock to their efficiency:  every time they wanted to communicate with suppliers, they had to create a new 2D file. Each iteration required creating and sending a new 2D communication, costing valuable engineering hours.

3D PDF offers the best solution for conveniently sharing potentially sensitive design information outside the company. The format provides sufficient safety and authorization capabilities and has been trusted by large companies and governments with high security needs for years. With this peace of mind, organizations can better communicate designs and rich data without fear of compromising integrity. In addition, 3D PDF can be simply attached to an email, without worrying that the recipient won’t be able to open it due to a lack of a 3D viewer.

Mistake #4: Failure to Leverage the Customization Potential of 3D PDF

Different organizations leverage design data for very different purposes. An inspection team may create reports that copy 3D CAD data for illustrating measurements, while a purchasing team gathers information on manufacturing material and amount, quantities, tooling needed, finishing specifications, shipping time, and other logistics to ensure the organization gets what they need, when they need it.

In a 2D drawing, a paper document might have all the information they need, accessible within seconds. This convenience has to be matched or bettered when using 3D design data. Any 3D viewing solution should be customizable, intuitive, and branded, all to make the user experience as quick and informative as possible.

No prizes for guessing what comes next: 3D PDF provides a perfect solution for all these customizations. You can create 3D PDF templates that contain the formatting, company logo, and layout specific to your team's needs. For example, a 3D PDF that is exported from Microsoft PowerPoint can serve as a template for creating new and unique 3D PDFs in the future. Your team can create dozens of 3D PDF templates, each tailored to the needs of each downstream division. This streamlines the collaboration and communication process, increasing the exchange of ideas while minimizing time wasted on menial tasks.

Mistake #5: Failure to Add 3D to Existing 2D Document Workflows

In our experience, most manufacturing companies have clearly defined processes for sharing their existing digital data, and use PDFs for some form of document sharing. Autodesk, for example, offers PDF export from AutoCAD so decision makers, from government city officers to site managers, can easily review designs in a digestible format.

The same viewports that handle PDFs can handle 3D PDF. The same PDF a contractor sends to a government approval body could include a 3D viewport in the invoice they send, greatly enhancing the quality of the information communicated. The same is true for instruction manuals and other common PDFs. Simply, if it's viewable as a PDF, it can be enhanced to include much richer information as a 3D PDF.

Many manufacturing teams dislike the idea of adding new workflows and processes to their day-to-day communication, and naturally are hesitant about 3D design data because of the perceived added effort to make proper use of it. 3D PDF offers the ability to get as many of the benefits of 3D as possible with the fewest new processes and restructuring required. Every organization loves an easy win, and 3D PDF offers exactly that.

Mistake #6: Expecting Flawless Rendering of Huge Assemblies with 3D PDF

While 3D PDF is a fantastic tool, it isn’t a catch-all for every use case. Many 3D viewer vendors justifiably push rendering capability as a selling point, offering the ability to view massive 3D data files of entire car assemblies. When you need these capabilities, then you should consider 3D viewers that can handle such significant loads, but in our experience, most design, engineering, and manufacturing work is done on a smaller scale.

In a recent visit to a Tier 1 supplier, we heard they had licensed a high-powered 3D viewer to get a better contextual understanding of their associated 2D drawings. They complained of the high cost of the workstations and graphics cards to make this process work. They were, in our opinion, doing the equivalent of hiring a chauffeur-driven Ferrari to drive around the corner to a 7-11.

Many design, engineering, and manufacturing use cases often deal with single parts or sub-assemblies with 20 parts or less. While some organizations may occasionally need to view massive 3D files, common collaboration workflows require a modest amount of data. For these use cases, 3D PDF is a fantastic fit. While the format may slow down when handling large data files, we would suggest that those are not the times when 3D PDF is the best method of communicating 3D CAD data. Just as you wouldn't use a web-based PDF viewer for a 5,000-page document, you would rarely use 3D PDF for the biggest files an organization deals with.

To summarize, 3D PDF is your daily, convenient 3D data for the most common work your team does regularly. When the need arises for handling complex 3D CAD assemblies containing thousands of parts, use the tools designed to handle them. Walk to the convenience store but drive to the airport.

Mistake #7: Expecting to Edit 3D CAD Data in 3D PDF Files

In the same way that 3D PDF is not designed to handle a full car assembly, it is not intended for mutual, simultaneous editing of 3D CAD data. When examining our 3D PDF products, we have many people inquire about the ability to edit 3D CAD data directly. This includes adding feedback from production engineers, filling holes as requested by a CAE engineer, or other requests for design changes from colleagues simultaneously editing the 3D file.

3D PDFs are documents , ideally suited to sharing design data, not for interactive, concurrent collaboration. We encourage users to view it similarly to a hardcopy and understand that this static nature is key to the format’s trustworthiness. When an invoice is sent, users can trust that the content can’t be altered on a whim from another location. Designs can be refined, but these are initiated in the design section as a clearly labelled design change. Teams with access to the file from all stages of the process can query the 3D data, cut and rotate the design, but are not able to edit the base design.

3D PDF in a Nutshell

To summarize, 3D PDF offers organizations a way to balance the richness of 3D CAD data with the convenience of sharing 2D documents. While a powerful communication tool for daily operations, it is not interactive collaboration software, it is photo-realistic, or a viewer for massive files. This is the workhorse that provides more complete, secure information both within and outside your organization in an easy-to-use, free-to-view format.

We encourage you to take the next steps in exploring 3D PDF. Developers should explore our HOOPS Toolkits, including HOOPS Exchange for CAD data translation and HOOPS Publish for 3D PDF. Enterprise organizations should look into Theorem's CADPublish.

As always, the best way to learn more is to get in touch and help us learn more about your needs.

Of course, one of the best ways to explore the power of 3D PDF is to see them in action. Click the button below to multiple examples of 3D PDFs in action.