TopSolid'2007 will be launched by Missler Software on 01/03/07. Every year Missler Software launches an updated version of its entire product range. "Constantly innovating our products remains the cornerstone of our business" explains Christian Arber, CEO of Missler Software. "An editor can never content itself with a current software version. We have to plan for future development to meet ever increasing market needs. TopSolid 2007 is a great version and will respond even better to our customer needs - but rest assured we are already planning our future versions. "

Detailed information regarding the new version will be published on www.topsolid.com on 01 March 2007 so be sure not to miss it. The next newsletter will also take a closer look at what's new in TopSolid'Design, TopSolid'Cam, TopSolid'Mold, TopSolid'Progress and TopSolid'Wood.

The TopSolid Design Contest 2006 is now over and the Missler Software jury has chosen 3 winners. The TopSolid Design Contest 2007 will be launched at the beginning of March and the new rules and regulations will be announced in the next newsletter.

We would like to congratulate all those who participated in the contest. The quality of the competing projects gave the jury the difficult task of choosing only 3 winners from the following categories:

• Mechanical design, general design
• Wood and sheet metal design
• Tool making

A full listing of all competing companies can be found on www.topsolid.com/news/designcontest/2006. The different uses of TopSolid, as demonstrated by the projects submitted to this contest, illustrate the great scope of TopSolid.

Missler Software has just held its 6th annual Reseller Conference in Malta from 10-14 January. The seminar, an annual event for both the editor and its resellers, gathered together Missler Software's 75 international resellers scattered around the world.

This year's seminar also coincided with the forthcoming launch of TopSolid 2007. A series of presentations, intensive workshops and meetings with the Missler Software development team provided a wealth of information to make the upcoming TopSolid 2007 launch a great success.

TopSolid'Wood and TopSolid'WoodCam were launched in France in 2003. The international launch of Missler Software's integrated CAD/CAM line for the wood industry was made at Ligna 2005 in Germany. Since then, TopSolid'Wood and TopSolid'WoodCam have had a notable success in such countries as Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland and more recently in the USA. 2007 will see TopSolid present at international wood trade fairs such as Ligna in Hannover, AWFS in Las Vegas and Batimat in Paris.

2007 is expected to be an important year in the international diffusion of the TopSolid'Wood and TopSolid'WoodCam solutions. According to Arnaud de Boisboissel, International Sales Director for Missler Software "We have recruited many dedicated wood resellers in Europe, the United States and Australasia. We have a uniquely integrated solution for the wood industry. TopSolid'Wood is a real 3D CAD software, it is parametric and includes powerful wood features totally dedicated to furniture making and interior design. TopSolid'WoodCam is a fully integrated machining solution. Our experience to date shows that our solution is very unique on the market" For further information on TopSolid'Wood see www.topsolid.com/products/industry/wood

Employing 5 people Picco Yacht Design, represents in Italy and internationally, an important source of talent and technological innovation in the nautical sector. Massimo Picco, studio director is famous for his innovative choices and talent since an early age (he designed his first boat at the age of 18).

“The choice of TopSolid was based on different factors which increase our value-added and enhance our experience and competence in yacht design” explains Massimo Picco.

An important strong point for boat designers like PYD is the ability to design in situ (free and parametric) which enables the verification of positions and obstacles quickly thereby drastically reducing trial times. This process also incorporates a dynamic analysis (for the interior layout, piping …)

Click here for the rest of the report.

You are a TopSolid operator and you would like some tips on what your software is capable of doing. Each newsletter will include a highlight of the month accompanied by an avi of a TopSolid module.
This month let's take a look at TopSolid'Cam and inserts.

Video commentary

Function Attribute, Visibility

This function enables you to render visible or invisible certain elements of a project. In the robot project, in the video, we only wish to see 2 parts. To do this, you just need to click on the option "Show only some parts" and then select these parts. If you subsequently wish to see the hidden parts just click on "Elements to unblank".

In the case of the robot's arm we wish to show certain dimensions in order to modify them. Therefore, just click on the option "Show only invisible parts" and select the 2 dimensions in question. After modification just reselect the dimensions in order to hide them.

Minimum requirements to read videos

2 formats are possible: AVI and WMV

• To read the AVI file the Techsmith codec has to be installed first, click here to download it.
• To read the WMV file the lastest version of Windows Media Player available here is required

All Missler Software and reseller trade fairs will be published here each month and can also be found on http://www.topsolid.com/news/shows/showslist.asp