ProE Viewer

[dst270]

Hello there,

I am searching for a suitable viewer for ProE Wildfire 2/3 files. Ideally it should-

- read parts, assemblies & drawings
- be able to print
- be able to measure
- be able to suppress / resume or hide / unhide components
- have a model tree
- have a search path or similar to locate components from multiple directories

It should be able to view the original proE files, rather than needing to convert these to a different format.

So far I have tested eDrawings, ModelPress, AutoView, Spinfire, ProductView & ProductView express. All of these meet some but not all of the requirements. Does anyone know of other viewers which may be worth a look?

Thanks.

Hello dst270,

Have you considered using the new Adobe Acrobat 3D? I believe it will allow others with only the Adobe Reader to do all of those things you want. However, you will have to create PDF files of your parts and assemblies which is a snap with the tools provided by Acrobat 3D v7.

However, you will get more than you asked for such as the ability to control access rights to your company data and the ability to combine your Pro/E models with other design related documents such as project schedules, spreadsheets, design specs, anything you can make a PDF of. You can combine an entire design of dissimilar documents into a "binder" document that can be archived and/or emailed to others for review.

Other reviewers can mark-up and add comments to the design, measure, see the model tree, show/hide components, inquire components, etc. All reviews can then be combined back into the master binder for you to review. It's quite an excellent tool that should be given serious consideration. However, it's not cheap.

You should take a look at it.

Thanks.
3DCADTips Help Desk

[dst270]

Thanks for the reply, I will check it out. However, I am after something that looks at the original Pro/E files so our factory staff can call up a part, assembly or drawing and zoom in/out, rotate it etc. Basically to assist them to interpret assembly drawings.

There are a few good viewers out there which do that and more, but they all seem to lack a search path or some way of locating files which exist in multiple directories. I guess I am looking for the "perfect" Pro/E viewer which probably doesn't exist!

[gordonp]

Won't the viewer available fron PTC ProE do what you want?

[dst270]

PTC has 2 viewers - ProductView and ProductView express. Productview requires the ProE files to be converted to a different format, this consumes storage space and if the ProE file is updated, the ProductView file needs to be updated also. Apart from that it may well be the best option.

ProductView Express is free but it cannot read drawings or assemblies(?). Also there is no search path and has limited functionality.

Modelpress software seemed to perform well, it cannot open drawings but that is not so critical for us. However, without a search path it cannot find parts across multiple folders.

[gordonp]

I have loaded the Product View express and succesfully viewed assemblies.

GKP

I know of a product from seemage that may help you. It is a third party product that would do as you have described. you can find them at seemage.com. Hope it works as well for you