CATIA is the product design solution in the PLM offering from Dassault Syst�mes. It allows manufacturers to simulate all the industrial design processes, from the pre-project phase, through detailed design, analysis, simulation, assembly and maintenance. ENOVIA solutions provide the backbone of Dassault Syst�mes� PLM strategy. The solutions include product data management, intellectual property lifecycle management, virtual product design, collaboration solutions, and configured digital mock-up.

ART VPS and Dassault Syst�mes have been collaborating to enable the interfacing of RenderDrive with CATIA and ENOVIA. RenderPipe for CATIA is now available to customers.

In use by the most demanding visualization studios, rendering the most challenging jobs, RenderDrive brings reality to hardware rendering.

ART VPS is the only company to deliver hardware-accelerated ray tracing and secondary illumination. Physically-based 3D rendering with our revolutionary AR350 ray tracing chips ensures the highest quality of images, and provides the power to dramatically improve your visualization workflow.

RenderDrive rendering features:
* Hardware accelerated full ray tracing, HDRI Lighting, motion blur, depth of field
* Highest quality final frame rendering
* Rapid full-frame fully ray traced preview rendering
* Clay Preview rendering for fast lighting design
* Physically-based materials, lighting and camera properties
* Fully integrated plug-in interface for CATIA and ENOVIA.

ART VPS are now shipping our new RenderPipe for CATIA interface, developed with Dassault Syst�mes. ART VPS have developed the interface under the CAA V5 Adopters programme. This will make hardware-accelerated ray tracing available to CATIA V5 and ENOVIA V5 users. The new software interface called RenderPipe for CATIA is available from ART VPS.

RenderPipe for CATIA allows users to create photorealistic images and animations of a product design by driving ART VPS's RenderDrive 3D rendering device from within CATIA V5 and ENOVIA V5 through the familiar Photo Studio workbench. Users can render the same Photo Studio solution interchangeably with the ART VPS renderer and the existing CATIA renderer.

However, the RenderPipe for CATIA interface and RenderDrive products support certain settings and capabilities that extend the functionality of the standard solution whilst the dedicated ray-tracing hardware platform provides maximum photorealistic rendering performance, particularly for high resolution stills and animated sequences.

RenderPipe for CATIA supports all Photo Studio Camera, Material, Animation, Sticker, Environment and Shooting controls and most Photo Studio Light controls are supported. All image output formats are supported and image data may either be 8-bit per channel quantized or 32-bit floating point.

RenderPipe for CATIA additionally provides an alternative interpretation of the standard Material parameters giving better photorealistic results with transparent and reflective surfaces.

The pre-requisites for RenderPipe for CATIA are:

* CATIA V5R13 or ENOVIA V5R13
* PhotoStudio (PHS) module for CATIA/ENOVIA
* RenderDrive 3D visualization devices

RenderPipe for CATIA is available on the Windows platform.

"Visual realism is very critical in virtual product simulations. ART VPS visualization systems increase productivity in this area reducing cycle time in "design to market". Integrating this capability in the PLM is a tremendous added value. This is exactly what the development partnership with ART VPS Ltd brings to our customers."
Jean-Luc Cuinier, R&D Manager for Advanced Rendering Applications, Dassault Syst�mes

"When it is ready, the ART VPS software will give CATIA another capability that competitors don�t match. CATIA competitors seeking to participate in high-end automobile, aerospace, and consumer markets ought to work with ART to develop RenderPipe interfaces. The speed advantage of the PURE and RenderDrive hardware is impressive at a time when the rate of improvement in general-purpose microprocessors is slowing."
Steve Wolfe, Editor, CADCAMNet / CADReport

"We are currently implementing Catia V5 in our facility. We are the first of all Bombardier facilities to make the jump to V5. This is great news for us that you are working to develop an interface for the application."
Eric Long, Completions Department Manager, Bombardier Aerospace.
(Download the Bombardier Aerospace Case Study (224Kb PDF) to find out how Learjet are already benefiting from ART VPS solutions.)