Enabling Browser-Based Engineering Visualization at a Major U.S. Automotive Manufacturer
Major Automotive Manufacturer & Tech Soft 3D
As a part of a broader effort to redesign key engineering systems towards a browser-enabled, more connected environment, a major US automotive company looked for a visualization solution to help support this modernization effort.
“We needed more than a resource-heavy desktop or simple viewer. We needed a platform we could build on, something web-native, streamable, and fully under our control.”
The previous solution had a number of issues that created workflow friction for their teams. The viewer required large glTF files to be downloaded to the client in the browser, and the limitations of the format caused a lack of support for PMI. Additionally, the company sought the ability to load individual parts separately from the full assembly set.
From these problems, the automotive company’s team drafted a clear list of requirements for a visualization tool that could modernize their engineering visualization experience. They needed:
Web-based streaming support for 3D visualization instead of repeated, full-file downloads
Support for all parts of 3D engineering data, including PMI
Bill of Materials navigation and assembly navigation
Control over the technical stack
Scalability and cost-effectiveness from a trusted provider
In their search for the right visualization tool, they encountered an issue many with complex visualization needs run into: many desktop solutions failed to offer deployment and usage flexibility, and many web components fell short on performance and required functionality. Additionally, many tools lacked the scalable deployment and flexibility a company of this scale and capabilities requirea.
Having worked with Tech Soft 3D in the past, the company looked to HOOPS toolkits to provide powerful features without sacrificing control of their development process.
HOOPS Toolkits Provide CAD Data Access and Powerful Visualization in a Web-Based Environment
HOOPS toolkits were able to provide the core functionality needed, while offering the team the ability to scale and customize the application to their exact requirements.
HOOPS Exchange allowed the team to import CAD data from their PLM system. Where previous tools were poorly suited to CAD workflows, HOOPS Exchange preserves the richness of the CAD file, from true assembly structures to detailed PMI and more. By licensing HOOPS toolkits, the team was able to allow their users to fully interact with CAD data without costly additional licenses of their existing PLM system.
With the data more accessible, HOOPS Visualize offered the visualization features the automotive company was looking for while supporting their shift to a browser-enabled, integrated engineering experience.
Bill of Materials (BOM) support was especially useful, allowing the team to quickly navigate the assembly structure.
HOOPS Visualize’s powerful 3D streaming component enables dynamic loading of 3D data from the server to the browser, with a high level of customization for visualizing large models. It also supports PMI visualization and the navigation of PMI views, recreating a browser-based experience similar to that of existing CAD systems.
“For us, data control is everything, and these toolkits let us keep control of our IP. Tech Soft 3D toolkits are a foundation to build on, rather than a service to simply use."
For this major automotive manufacturer, customization and control over their data were paramount, and HOOPS toolkits offered the team the ability to scale and customize the application to their exact needs. Rather than replacing or constraining their internal expertise, HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Visualize provide a development foundation that offers market-tested functionality. This allowed their team to focus on their broader modernization efforts, integrating these features instead of reinventing the wheel, all while retaining control over their data.
Industry:
Automotive
Solution:
HOOPS SDKs provide reliable visualization and data access functionality to improve team efficiency
Results:
Powerful features at a fraction of the cost of internal development
Maintaining full control over their data
Integration with existing PLM systems
HOOPS Exchange & HOOPS Visualize Partner Success Story FAQs
What file formats does HOOPS Exchange support?
HOOPS Exchange is Tech Soft 3D’s CAD data access SDK. The toolkit lets your application read more than 30 CAD formats and write to more than 10 export formats through a single API. Popular supported formats include CATIA, NX, Creo, SOLIDWORKS, Revit, IFC, STEP, and JT.
What is HOOPS Visualize?
HOOPS Visualize is Tech Soft 3D’s 3D graphics engine for engineering applications. It renders 2D and 3D models for CAD, CAM, and AEC workflows on desktop, web, mobile, and AR/VR platforms.
How do HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Visualize work together?
HOOPS Exchange and HOOPS Visualize are designed to work together as a complete solution for engineering applications. HOOPS Exchange imports CAD data from more than 30 formats, including geometry, product structure, and PMI. HOOPS Visualize then renders that data with high performance on desktop, web, mobile, and AR/VR platforms. Pairing the two gives your application CAD data access and visualization from a single vendor, with one point of contact for support.
What file formats does HOOPS Exchange support?
HOOPS Exchange supports a variety of CAD and AEC formats, including:
Read & Write Support:
3MF, 3MF, ACIS, ACIS, FBX, gITF, IGES, JT, OBJ, Parasolid, PDF, PRC, PRC, STEP, STEP XML, STL, U3D, VRML, VRML
Read Only Support
3DS, CATIA V4, CATIA v5, CATIA V6, COLLADA, Creo, DGN, DWF, DWG, I-DEAS, IFC, Inventor, Navisworks NWD, NX, Pro/E, Revit, Rhino, Solid Edge, SOLIDWORKS, VDA-FS
Write Only Support
USD
What engineering features come built into HOOPS Visualize?
While plenty of visualization toolkits exist, HOOPS Visualize is built for engineering applications, both through its optimization and inclusion of pre-built operators for common engineering tasks. These cover measurement and markup, advanced selection and highlighting, massive point clouds, advanced 2D rendering, and volumetric measurement using B-rep and mesh data. The toolkit also supports real-time and photorealistic rendering for desktop users.
