Summer 1992 Ditek readies NeXT port of DynaCADD 3-D software by Dan Lavin Hannover, Germany: NeXT has gained another CAD vendor to boost its move to enter the traditional technical workstation market. At the annual CeBIT show here last month, Ditek International announced it will release its DynaCADD 3.0 product on the NeXT by the fourth quarter. DynaCADD, to be priced between $1000 and $1500, will combine 2-D and 3-D functions. Unique to the NeXT version will be full use of NeXTstep 3.0's RenderMan libraries. The software joins Spatial Technologies' ACIS and AutoCAD's TopCAD in a rush of recent CAD announcements for the NeXT. DynaCADD also will add Mac and Windows versions to its market-leading Atari and Amiga products. Ditek President Oren Asher said he has wanted to develop for the NeXT machine since it was introduced, but waited until he received assurances from NeXT that his product would receive full support from the company. After refusing for two years, NeXT recently signed a written contract with Ditek, promising undisclosed commitments in return for the port, according to Asher. Asher called the NeXT machine an excellent graphic system, and said he is hopeful that NeXT may come out with a RISC machine. "We're already 14 times faster than AutoCAD," he said. "I hope [NeXT] moves to RISC. Then we'll be really fast." Ditek has sold 10,000 units of DynaCADD since 1985, with 30 percent in North America and most of the balance in Germany, where Amiga and Atari flourish. Also shipping this fall, according to Asher, will be 10 to 15 third-party products taking advantage of DynaCADD's open, extensible architecture.

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