solidThinking

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solidThinking
A screenshot of solidThinking
Developed by	solidThinking Ltd.
Latest release	7.5 / February, 2007
OS	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Genre	3D computer graphics
License	Proprietary
Website	www.solidthinking.com

solidThinking is a 3D modeling and rendering software, developed by solidThinking Ltd. It is a CAID (Computer Aided Industrial Design) software, i.e. software developed to meet the specific needs of industrial designers and style centers who need a flexible software to blend aesthetics and ergonomics with functionality in the form of cars, watches, bottles, jewels, mobile phones, product packaging, all of the designed objects that surround us.

solidThinking is mainly used for industrial design by manufacturing industries and professional designers and architects but it also finds a userbase in computer graphics.

Modeling is based on NURBS curves and surfaces and, thanks to the program's Construction History or Construction Tree, any modeled shape immediately updates while objects, points, or parameters are modified. All the steps involved in construction are saved inside the file and is accessible at any time allowing the designer to experiment and invent new shapes. solidThinking also features polygonal modeling with subdivision surfaces.

solidThinking integrated rendering and animation system allows the user to render and animate the 3D models with photo-realism. Other thir-party rendering engines, like PhotoRealistic RenderMan and Maxwell Render, are supported.

[edit] History

solidThinking was originally developed for NEXTSTEP, the innovative operating system developed by NeXT Computer, and soon awarded as the best new application in the "CAD and 3D" category at NeXTWORLD EXPO held in San Francisco in June 1993. One of the former developers was Guido Quaroni, today animation scientist at Pixar.

The porting of solidThinking to the Windows platform started in 1997 and was completed in 1998 with the release of solidThinking 3.0 for Windows. One year later solidThinking for Mac OS X was also released. Today all releases of solidThinking are simultaneously developed for both Windows and Mac OS X.^[1]