Creo Reactions: The Unanswered Questions Answered

By Geoff Hedges | Published: June 7, 2011

 

L. Stephen Wolfe, P.E. (contributing analyst with Jon Peddie Research), recently posted some great questions regarding Creo. Here’s his 8 questions with our answers, and where possible, we’ve also included video answers from Mike Campbell, DVP of Creo product development at PTC, offering a more in-depth explanation. I’ve summarized his answers in words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the complete videos for full details.

1. What will be the upgrade paths from the Creo Elements (a.k.a. Wildfire 5 M080) packages to Creo application suites?

Every Creo Elements product, package, and extension has an upgrade path to Creo, for example, a customer with Creo Elements/Pro on maintenance has the option to upgrade to Creo Parametric, a customer with the Creo Elements/Pro Foundation will have an upgrade path to a package of the corresponding Creo Parametric capabilities, and so on.  At a minimum, the upgrade to Creo offers the same product capabilities as the customer has today, and in many cases, adds new capabilities. 

As part of the release of Creo 1.0, we’ll publish a ‘product mapper’ to detail every product, package, and extension and how it maps to Creo. Mike discusses the approach to protecting a customer’s existing investment in the second part of this video FAQ.




2. How much will it cost (in both initial charges and annual maintenance fees) to upgrade each Pro/Engineer or CoCreate user?

There is a no cost upgrade for existing maintenance customers to each target Creo app, extension, or package. There are no increases in annual maintenance fees when the customer selects the no cost upgrade.

3. When will the Creo apps have all the equivalent capabilities of Pro/Engineer Wildfire 5?

PTC is committed to protecting the investment customers have already  made, and all data, working methods, and capabilities in Creo Parametric are equivalent to or deliver more than the capabilities found in Creo Elements/Pro 5 (Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 5) today.




4. How consistent are the user interfaces across all the Creo apps?

While the Creo apps are standalone programs, they have a common look and feel for key areas. The Ribbon presentation is common across all Creo apps, and when commands are common (like File Open, and Close, for example) they are presented in the same way and in the same place.

5. Will all changes made using direct-modeling techniques be represented as dimension-driven features in Creo Parametric? Or will changes made with direct modeling have to be recreated in the parametric program?

Changes made in the direct modeling approach do not have to recreated in the parametric approach;  all changes made in the Direct Modeling app are simply represented as additional changes (features) in the model when it is viewed in the parametric modelling app.  The user of the parametric app can choose to either  accept, and incorporate these changes permanently in the model (by persisting the new features in the model), or review them and reject them entirely. 

6. Are there direct edits that will cause parametric features previously created to fail?

No. All changes made via a direct modeling approach can be captured within the parametric model without a failure.

7. What changes to the company’s Windchill PDM or Intralink software will be required to support Creo?

Creo 1.0 apps are compatible with Windchill 9.1 M062 and 10.0.

8. How much retraining will be required to use Creo?

For existing users of Creo Elements/Pro (formerly Pro/ENGINEER), they should think of this upgrade as they would have a significant release of Pro/ENGINEER in the past.  Many companies are planning ½ to 1 day training.

In one minute or so: How is Creo different from other vendors’ offerings?

By Geoff Hedges | Published: April 20, 2011

 

It seems like every vendor offers a direct modeling option with their parametric solutions. In this group of video responses to your most frequently asked questions, Mike Campbell, Divisional Vice President of Creo Product Development, explains how we serve the non-parametric user as well. We’ve summarized his answers in just a few words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the complete videos for details.

 Q. How does Creo compare to products from other vendors who offers multiple CAD approaches?
“We serve the non-parametric user as well as the parametric user. We have solutions for those who are overserved by parametric modelers.”


Q. Will I need to install every Creo 1.0 app?
“Each app is standalone.”


Q. Is the Creo 1.0 UI new?
“Yes.”

In one minute or so: More answers about breakthrough technologies (Part 11)

By Geoff Hedges | Published: April 6, 2011

 

We talk about several breakthrough technologies in Creo. In this group of video responses to your most frequently asked questions, Mike Campbell, Divisional Vice President of Creo Product Development, tells us more about the technologies and the new Creo user interface. We’ve summarized his answers in just a few words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the complete videos for details.

Q. What are the breakthrough technologies?
“The patent-able technologies behind the apps, like AnyBOM Assembly, which will show up in Creo 2.0, and AnyMode Modeling, which will drive Creo 1.0 apps.”


Q. How is AnyMode Modeling enabled in Creo?
“A common data model underlies Creo, with each app presenting that data through a different lens.”


Q. Is the Creo 1.0 User Interface new?
“yes.”

In one minute or so: Creo 1.0 apps and extensions (Part 10)

By Geoff Hedges | Published: March 29, 2011

 

What’s the difference between an extension and an app? In this group of video responses to your most frequently asked questions, Mike Campbell, Divisional Vice President of Creo Product Development, explains the differences, what you can expect from extensions, and what apps look like in the Creo 1.0 release. We’ve summarized his answers in just a few words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the complete videos for details.

Q. What’s an app? What’s an extension in Creo 1.0?
“Apps are standalone products. Extensions enhance apps.”


Q. What apps can I expect in Creo 1.0?
“Parametric, Direct, Simulate, Layout, Visualization, Illustrate, View MCAD, View ECAD, and Sketch.”


Q. What happens to my Pro/ENGINEER extensions?
“Most will continue on as apps for Creo Parametric, for now.”

In one minute or so: What kind of learning curve can I expect? (part 9)

By Geoff Hedges | Published: March 4, 2011

 

We say that Creo will make product development work easier for users in every role. But a few of you have asked more pointedly about the learning curve Creo users can expect. In this group of videos, Mike Campbell, Divisional Vice President of Creo Product Development, and volunteers who saw and worked with Creo 1.0, detail what it will take to learn the new suite, whether you should put off the transition, and why you should consider moving to Creo 1.0. We’ve summarized their answers in just a few words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the complete videos for details.

Q. There’s a new User Interface with Creo 1.0 – how much time will it take me to become familiar with it?
“Many companies are planning ½ to 1 day training.”


Q. Is Creo 1.0 worth upgrading to? Should I wait for Creo 2.0?
“Creo 1.0 is a major release with 2-years worth of new extensions, functionality, modules. Creo 1.0 is a full release and we encourage you to take a look at it.”


Q. What do users say about Creo 1.0?
“Creo is a great benefit to our company … reducing design times”

In one minute or so: How does Creo change my work? (part 6)

By Geoff Hedges | Published: February 8, 2011

Will I have to do everything with one file type? What about my Mac? In this group of videos, Mike Campbell, Divisional Vice President of Creo Product Development, answers these and other questions related how Creo might change the way you work. We’ve summarized his answers in just a few words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the complete videos for details.

Q. Will Creo be available on Apple platforms?
“Over time, some apps will support Mac.”


Q. Can I work in one mode (like direct modeling) and switch easily to another (like parametric)?
“Yes.”


Q. Will the Creo suite of design apps have a single file type, a single extension?
“No. The common model is NOT a common file format.”


Q. Can I easily switch from app to app? What about data between apps?
“Yes. This is an important part of our strategy.”

In one minute or less: Mike Campbell answers Creo product questions (part 3)

By Geoff Hedges | Published: January 18, 2011

Over the past few months we’ve collected many of the questions asked most about Creo. We then asked our executives for straightforward answers, giving them just a minute to reply. Here’s what Mike Campbell, Divisional Vice President of Creo Product Development, said:

Q. Will the Creo Common Data Format be Open?
“By and large, yes.”


Q. Will there be a Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 6.0 release?
”No.  Wildfire support customers will be upgraded to Creo 1.0”


Q. What are the key technology breakthroughs in Creo?
“AnyRole apps, AnyMode modeling, AnyData adoption, AnyBOM assemblies.”


Q. Will there be Creo apps for manufacturing engineers?
“Yes, several of them.”


Q. Will my Creo Elements data be fully usable in Creo?
“Yes. Some sooner than others.”


Q. How will the Creo apps evolve over time? And how do you protect my investment?
“It’s complicated, but we have a plan.”

In one minute or less: PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann answers your Creo questions (part 2)

By Geoff Hedges | Published: January 10, 2011

 

Over the past few months we’ve collected many of the questions asked most about Creo. We then asked our executives for straightforward answers, giving them just a minute to reply. We’ve summarized the answers in just a few words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the brief videos for details. In this part 2 of the series, the questions are all for CEO Jim Heppelmann, and they get a little tougher:

Q. How does Creo change the ease-of-use paradigm with today’s CAD?
“Creo supports a natural learning curve, from easiest (2D) to most powerful (parametric).”

Q. Why is PTC best positioned to address today’s CAD challenges?
“We’ve been in the business a long time and we’re a key innovator.”


Q. How will Creo address the challenge of today’s complex assembly management?
“By driving CAD configurations from PLM, rather than vice versa.”

Q. How does Creo fit into PTC’s enterprise PLM solution Windchill?
“Windchill provides the PLM capabilities to drive complex assemblies and  configurations.”

Q. What is Creo AnyData Adoption?
“Creo can take any data and adopt it as if it were its own”


Q. How will Creo address the challenge of CAD interoperability?
“Creo can work on geometry whether it has feature definition or not.”

In one minute or less: Answers to your Creo questions (part 1)

By Geoff Hedges | Published: January 6, 2011

ver the past few months, we’ve collected many of the questions you’re asking most about Creo. We then asked our executives for straightforward answers, giving them just a minute to reply. Here, we’ve summarized the answers in just a few words (for you skimmers), but you’ll want to view the complete (but still brief) videos for details. In part 1 of this  series, we start with some softball questions:

Q. How would PTC describe the past 20 years of CAD?
“The 1990s were innovative; the 2000s, not so much.”


Q.  What customer problems does PTC address with Creo?
“Ease of use, interoperability, technology lock in, configuration management.”

Q. What are customers telling you about Creo?
“They were skeptical.”



Q. Can Creo apps really make CAD tools easier-to-use?
“That’s our philosophy!”



Q. Will Creo apps deliver better performance and quality compared to today’s CAD systems?
“Yes. Megamode uniapps compromise performance and quality.”

Q. Is Creo just for large enterprise companies?
“No. It’s also a great solution for small- and medium-sized businesses.”