In a slightly misleadingly entitled release, Luxion, developers of KeyShot (one of the replacements for HyperShot) has just sent out a press release about how “Ford relies on KeyShot Technology for Press Images.” While the statement is a wee bit accurate, the truth of the matter is that this is about how critically acclaimed car photographer David Burgess has been using KeyShot as a key part of his workflow for sometime and has just delivered press images for the 2012 Ford Focus - which made its worldwide debut at the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.

Since 2006, critically acclaimed car photographer David Burgess has repeatedly used Luxion’s technology to deliver photographic masterpieces of many vehicles - right from his studio, hotel room, or wherever else he may be. Previously, David would photograph cars on location and depend on weather conditions and several staff members to assist with setting up the actual car model. Luxion’s technology gives full control over the lighting and the corresponding reflections in the car model, which in the end, delivers the ultimate artistic control.

This is a growing trend for many within the professional photography space, particularly those working with the automotive field. Automotive photoshoots are hugely costly in terms of time, the resources (camera crew, ground crew, staff from the auto-company etc etc) and shear bloody hassle of shipping five of the next hot car to the gobi desert, Icelandic glacier or indeed, getting permits to shut off a street in Chicago for morning, There’s also the issue of security and those cursed spy shots ruining the expensive launch at a tradeshow. Taking things digital makes huge sense. But what counts is getting the right photographer, with the right team behind them (in some cases) doing the render work and making it look jaw droppingly realistic.

I’ve just been briefed on Dell’s Precision M4500, a brand new 15-inch mobile workstation, which will join its bigger brother, the 17-inch Precision M6500. On paper it looks rather good.

With a weight of 6lbs, a thickness of 1.1 inches and a claimed maximum battery life of 7 hours 40 mins, the Precision M4500 will now be Dell’s only truly mobile workstation. The Precision M6500 is too heavy and battery life too short to be used as an everyday laptop and Dell confirmed that it will not be producing a 14-inch mobile workstation to follow on from the Precision M2400, which was a little underpowered in the graphics department.

Underpowered is not a word you’d use to describe the Precision M4500 and it comes laden with six processor options. This includes three dual core chips (Core i5 520M, Core i5 540M, and Core i7 620M) and three quad core chips (Core i7 720QM, Core i7 820QM and Core i7 920XM). This choice is great for CAD users, who don’t always want, or need, more expensive quad core chips. Dell also confirmed that it will now be offering dual core processors as options in its top end Precision M6500.

For professional graphics there’s a choice of two 1GB Nvidia cards, the Quadro FX 880M and Quadro FX 1800M, which should be adequate for most CAD applications. And for memory, the M4500 only has two slots, up to a maximum of 8GB, so use them wisely.

The M4500 provides support for a solid State mini card drive up to 256GB in size, which means the system can have two drives without having to swap out the optical drive. In a typical setup Dell said the solid state drive could be used for OS and applications, while data could be stored on the standard mechanical hard drive (up to 500GB).

Compared to previous models, the M4500’s display has lost a few pixels, with Dell opting for a shallower aspect ratio of 16:9. This means resolutions up to 1,920 x 1,080 and not 1,920 x 1,200, but Dell said this is an industry trend.

A neat feature of the M4500 is the ability to access to e-mail, calendar, and contacts within 5 secs of booting up the machine using a technology borrowed from its Latitude line up called Dell Precision ON. I’m not entirely sure of the ins and outs of this, but instead of Windows it boots up to a Linux OS. Other features include a 3mp camera, high security FIPS encryption and fingerprint scanner, and Gobi 2.0 mobile broadband support.

We hope to get our hands on one of these real soon.

Dassault Systemes has announced that BMW has signed a strategic 5-year global agreement to “pave the way to meet the automotive market’s new challenges.” According to the press release, “Through this agreement, the companies will establish a close link between their research & development centers that will not only improve the DS automotive product offering but also the BMW development and production process. Dassault Systemes software solutions support BMW in core areas for design and manufacturing process planning with Catia as the backbone for product development.”

The necessity to reduce C02 emission levels has forced automotive manufacturers to reshape their business processes to deliver greener cars. Fully embracing the cause of leaving a minimum carbon footprint on the planet, the implementation of the DS solutions will help automakers conceive, analyze and simulate eco-friendly low-emission vehicles like the Project I, a new Megacity vehicle, optimized for better performance and low energy consumption.

The BMW Concept ActiveE is powered by a new synchronous electric motor specially developed for this vehicle. Its maximum output is 125 kW/170 bhp, the maximum torque of 250 Nm / 184 lb-ft is available from standing as is typical for electric motors and remains available over an unusually broad load range.

The release also gave details of what BMW would be using:

By consolidating design in a single PLM software platform BMW can tap into “proven design” concepts and re-use them across all product lines achieving time savings in the design and manufacturing of new cars. The single platform also enables all designers, including development partners in the supply chain, to collaborate, which is another factor in streamlining the design process. Simulia realistic simulation solutions combined with Catia further allow BMW to virtually test their vehicle’s real-world performance early in the development cycle which helps improve product quality, while reducing time and cost of physical testing.

What’s also a small note in the press release is that:

“The agreement also defines a set of strategic projects where BMW will evaluate possible migration paths that ensure a smooth transition to Dassault Systèmes V6 PLM solutions for all its vehicle development programs.”

BMW already use Catia V5 and have been a flagship user for many years. This Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) that’s integrated in exhaust gas recirculation systems is typical.

There are many rumours and tales of unhappiness amongst many Dassault customers with the introduction of V6 - in both the small and very large account, with some major customers allegedly looking at a shift in platform for their product development. This shows that for some, and BMW have been a key account for DS for decades, the decision has already been made and the transition is a part of their long term strategy. Interesting that there’s no mention of Enovia.

Occasional DEVELOP3D contributor, Joe Moak, also runs a rather wonderful blog called FormLovesFunction. It’s worth a visit. Joe’s been discussing all manner of things that relate to design, to engineering and to manufacturing. For me, this is valuable content. Joe works for one of the most respected design-led organisations on the planet and if there’s one thing i’ve come to realise, he knows what he’s talking about. While many blogs focussing on the design space look at the form alone, FormLovesFunction looks at how design for manufacturing affects that form and what’s needed to deliver truly world class products. Want some evidence? Here’s an introductory paragraph from a recent blog entry on the design of Injection Moulded Plastic Part Design:

Designing plastic parts is deceptively complicated. There are many factors to consider along with the obvious part function, performance, and cosmetic requirements. The checklist below outlines most of the important factors affecting performance and cost for any given application. Not all of these items will be applicable to every part you design, but going through this list will undoubtedly give you a better understanding of your part and what it needs to do. This understanding will undoubtedly help you make changes to optimize the part design.

There’s a mix of 3D tools, manufacturing processes (love the EDM tolerance article as well) and just plain old coolness. Alongside this, Joe is trying to get a forum off the ground where designers can discuss these types of issues and I’d encourage you to join up and take part, discuss the issues and find some new vectors of thought. Sign up is here or if you’re a twitter user, follow Mr. Moak (@joemoak) and send him a message about an invite.

There was a recent thread on the Core77.com discussion boards about whether engineers ever ‘design’ anything that’s equal parts arrogance on the side of some and shear realism on the part of those in the trenches, doing the work and creating the products. People like Joe and the vast majority of DEVELOP3D readers show that the lines between design and engineering are blurred moreso now than ever before. Dive in. Make it your own people.