Datacad back stronger than ever

As interviewed by Joe Stoddard

Even if you have no use for CAD - please read on. This is a survival story. Like so many leaders in this industry, Mark Madura started in one place and wound up somewhere else altogether. An architect by training, Madura began his professional career working for a design-build company that just happened to be an early adopter of CAD - and that CAD product just happened to be DataCAD. Fast-forward 15 years, and Mark Madura is the president of DATACAD LLC, having seen the company through a roller-coaster ride like few companies could survive - thanks in large part to the loyalty of DataCAD users. The development of DataCAD was being driven by users a decade before anyone had uttered the term "Open Source."

What is o2c?

o2c is an acronym for Objects to See. o2c is a highly compressed 3D format that is optimized for internet-based communication. You and your clients can use a free o2c player to view o2c objects as either stand-alone entities or items on a web page. With DataCAD 9.06 and later versions, you can save 3D models to the o2c format and distribute them to clients as e-mail attachments or embedded into web page documents. Thousands of o2c objects (including people, cars, furniture, and landscape elements) are currently available for you to import into DataCAD drawings.

Using the o2c player, your clients can freely rotate or walk through a fully rendered model. Although the o2c player interface is easy to use, it provides powerful architectural view manipulation and image processing tools.

With the o2c player, your clients can view architectural models in wire-frame, hidden-line, flat shaded, textured, or ray traced modes. The o2c objects may also contain animated elements that can be played in conjunction with the 3D viewing commands.

Once you have established a desired view, you can use the o2c player to generate a high-resolution, photorealistic rendering. This means you don't need to transmit excessively large images via e-mail because your clients can create their own. While the o2c player provides comprehensive viewing controls, your clients cannot modify the object.

For more information about o2c or to download the latest version of the o2c player, visit the o2c website.

Welcome to the revolution!

Mark F. Madura
President/CEO
mark@datacad.com