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Use CAD, FEA Software to Generate Illustrations
In addition to the Internet, another potential source for illustrations is specialized
software such as CAD (computer-aided design) or even FEA (Finite Element
Analysis). You can ask your in-house experts to generate customized illustrations
for your presentation, at possibly very little effort on their end.
For instance, if a 3D view of a rectangular box is needed, any CAD tool could
generate one. CAD drawings are also convenient to illustrate company products,
sometimes more than actual photos.
Finite Element Analysis software like LS DYNA, Autodyn and others, can also
generate nice colored illustrations (sometimes through other software like
Hypermesh). For instance, LS DYNA includes a “Hybrid III mannequin model”,
used for car crash studies. Even if you have no interest in car crashes or human body
impact, LS DYNA can generate mannequin images in any position, at very little
effort from the “programmer”. This can be convenient, for instance, to illustrate
someone in a kneeling position, at a specific 3D angle.
Think outside the box! Software tools are built for specific applications, but they
can also be used to generate nice images for presentations that have nothing to do
with their main purpose.
4 Images