Get Cracking on Creo 8.0

Take advantage of enhancements in MBD, simulation, generative design and more.

Creo 8 has new and powerful MBD and detailing tools to help you create rich CAD models that become the source authority for manufacturing, inspection, and your supply chain. (Image courtesy of PTC.)

Creo 8 has new and powerful MBD and detailing tools to help you create rich CAD models that become the source authority for manufacturing, inspection, and your supply chain. (Image courtesy of PTC.)

At the tail end of April PTC announced a major update to its flagship CAD software, Creo 8.0. We have studied the enhancements and here’s a short list of the best.

Creo 8.0 focuses on enhancements in five key areas including usability and productivity, model-based definition (MBD), simulation, generative design, and additive/subtractive manufacturing.

Creo 8 Top Enhancements. (Video courtesy of PTC.)

Let’s break down each of these categories to see what is new in each area.

Usability and Productivity

In this area users can expect improved dashboards and model tree interfaces, enhancements in hole features, routed systems, sheet metal, Snapshot and Render Studio. See more on each of these in the What’s New in Creo 8 blog by Cat McClintock, Content Marketing Manager, PTC. Here’s a bird’s eye view of some of the perks.

For starters users will notice an updated datum display with color coordinate systems and shaded planes. In addition, users can set transparency display for solid bodies, quilts and tessellated geometry. You’ll also find new capabilities in the Model Tree such as quilt nodes, custom groups, and side-by-side trees. And with the Show Snapshot users can calculate and preview Snapshots of quilts and bodies.

The video below by Creo Parametric and Windchill expert, Dave Martin, on Creo 8.0 covers enhancements to the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) including:

  • Datum plane and coordinate system appearance
  • Sketcher dimension and constraint appearance
  • Dashboards
  • Varied items tables for inheritance and flexibility
  • Editing commands no longer object action workflow
  • Transparency controls
  • Design items tree
  • Publish geometry features in footer
  • Component placement dashboard and constraint status

In addition, there are several enhancements aimed at improving quality and performance of rendering in Creo. For instance, Render Studio in Creo 8.0 now supports the Keyshot 9.3 rendering engine enabling users able to leverage graphics processing unit (GPU) processing power providing greater realism with real-time rendering. The Denoise functionality is now available via ribbon when in GPU mode to speed up the rendering workflow. And last, the PTC Hardware Check now checks hardware for Creo Render Studio in GPU mode.

According to the PTC Learning Connector website, “You can activate Render Studio in the optimal mode (GPU or CPU), depending on a supported graphics card and driver. You can also denoise rendering in the GPU mode to speed up the rendering workflow. You can explicitly set Keyshot to activate in the CPU or GPU mode.”

To learn more about the Render Studio option check out this video on the PTC Learning Connector.

MBD and Detailing

In the MBD category users will find new MBD tools detailing tools ideal for manufacturing, inspection and sharing with your supply chain. This release has updated symbols, including a customizable symbol gallery, semantic definitions, along with enhanced contextual commands and workflows for symbol editing and placement.

Users will also notice the GD and T Advisor Plus extension now supports assemblies and dimensions.

There is also a new collector section for standalone annotations and new sketching tools for creating drawings.

Another video by Martin covers the enhancements to detailing in 2D and 3D modes that you can check out below.

Creo Parametric 8.0 – 2D and 3D Detailing Enhancements – Drawings and Model Based Definition (MBD)

Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing

PTC first introduced additive manufacturing in Creo 3.0 with direct connection to Stratasys printers back in 2014, and then began integrating design for additive manufacturing functionality with the introduction of lattice capabilities in Creo 4.0 in 2016.

Fast forward to today and Creo 8.0 lets users optimize designs for additive and traditional manufacturing. With the new additive capabilities users can use advanced lattice structures to minimize weight and apply variable lattice structures based on simulation results. Users will also find setup tools for trays intended to increase production speed and the build quality.

In terms of subtractive manufacturing and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) users will notice in Creo 8.0 that the programming of five-axis, high-speed milling toolpaths have been simplified to enable faster set up and reduce machining time.

Simulation

Creo 8 enhancements to Creo Simulation Live provide steady-state flow analysis for real-time simulation during the design process. New Creo Ansys Simulation tools enable improved mesh and deflection control for high-fidelity design validation. (Image courtesy of PTC.)

Creo 8 enhancements to Creo Simulation Live provide steady-state flow analysis for real-time simulation during the design process. New Creo Ansys Simulation tools enable improved mesh and deflection control for high-fidelity design validation. (Image courtesy of PTC.)

In 2018, PTC partnered with simulation company ANSYS to bring Discovery Live, ANSYS’s real-time simulation technology, directly into Creo 6.0 and has since enabled its users with simulation-driven design capabilities.

In February of 2019 PTC introduced Creo Simulation Live, which combines PTC and ANSYS capabilities offering users real-time simulation directly in the design environment.

Creo Simulate Live runs in the Creo design environment where the analysis automatically updates in real-time any changes designers make to their model, like when they edit, create new features or change properties.

In addition users have the ability to perform structural, thermal, and modal analysis on 3D CAD designs.

In Creo 8.0 users can now redefine the locations and type of Creo Simulation Live probes. Users may notice the highlight of the selected surface has also been removed so users can see more clearly what is being selected. You can watch a video on the PTC Learning Connector to see this in action.

Just this last November in 2020, PTC announced Creo Ansys Simulation, as a follow up to Creo 7.0 (available in version 7.0.2).

Creo Ansys Simulation is a simulation tool for finite element analysis of real-world physics problems. It combines the modeling capabilities of Creo Parametric with the Ansys solver. Creo Ansys Simulation brings simulation into the modeling environment, enabling users to conduct high-fidelity structural, modal, and thermal analysis of their products.

What’s the difference between the two?

McClintock offered a pretty straight forward explanation in a blog on Creo7.2.0 where she talked more about the capabilities of each and highlighted the primary differences between them.

She explained that each one had it strengths and when to use each depends on where you are in the design phase; that basically Creo Simulation Live is faster, but that Creo Ansys Simulation is more accurate. Creo Simulation Live helps most during early design concept stage, when speed matters most, and Creo Ansys Simulation is good for later in the design cycle, she explained.

You may also find this comparison of the two solutions useful by PTC partner Boundary Systems in the video below.

A Comparison between Simulation Packages – Ansys, Creo Simulate Live, Creo Simulation by Boundary Systems

As far as simulation goes Creo 8.0 enhancements to Creo Simulation Live provide steady-state flow analysis for real-time simulation during the design process; and new Creo Ansys Simulation tools enable improved mesh and deflection control for high-fidelity design validation.

Generative Design

Creo 8 has help you save time by streamlining the manual flat-wall design process.  Creo 8 enables multiple flat wall, miter support and corner management. (Image courtesy of PTC.)

Creo 8 has help you save time by streamlining the manual flat-wall design process. Creo 8 enables multiple flat wall, miter support and corner management. (Image courtesy of PTC.)

Generative design was fully integrated into Creo 7.0 and covered here Michael Alba last April. We’ll recap as Creo 8.0 adds little.

“Generative design will be fully integrated into the Creo 7.0 design environment, where users can specify their design space, constraints and loads, materials, and manufacturing requirements. From what we could see in the livestream, Creo’s take on generative design seems quite similar to that in Fusion 360 from Autodesk, one of the early advocates of generative design.”

“Some features of Creo generative design, such as the ability to run multiple studies simultaneously in the cloud, won’t be available until Creo 7.0.2. Initially, the software will only support structural optimizations, but Sagar says thermal and modal optimizations will come in a later build. At time of writing, we have been unable to confirm exactly how users will access generative design in Creo 7.0.”

Shortly after Alba’s article ran, PTC announced two new tools to support generative design. One was the generative topology optimization (GTO) tool that allows users to fully optimize their design based on specific requirements and constraints, enabling users to explore more design options. And, two, the generative design extension (GDX), which uses a cloud environment to run multiple optimization studies at the same time, which then brings them back into Creo for final modifications.

In Creo 8.0 generative design functionality now has automatic envelopes where it determines its own solution envelope while handling drafted and tight-radius manufacturing requirements.

“Creo Parametric automatically creates the starting geometry envelope when it is not manually defined. It increases the engineering productivity by removing the need to create and define a body to be used for the starting geometry,” explained Nihal Velpanur, PTC in a PTC Learning Connector post. “It enables you to explore alternative design solutions without the restrictions introduced by the manually defined starting geometry.”

Catch a two-minute video on generative design changes here.  

That’s the highlights of Creo 8.0. To get the full list of enhancements, you can attend an upcoming webinar by PTC on June 16, 2021 at 14:00 PM EDT.