All my friends have AutoCAD.  Why should I choose SilverScreen?

Because it will save you money.

SilverScreen technologies provide powerful development environments.  Script commands are a simple, efficient tool for development. Every programmer who has worked with SilverScreen will attest to the speed with which they can develop a product.  By reducing your development time, you will get your product to the market more quickly.  And you will do it with fewer programmers.

 

I have never heard of SilverScreen.  Isn't it risky to bet on something I have never heard of?

You may not have heard of SilverScreen, but you may well have seen it.

Over a 1000 lumberyards and home improvement centers in the United States use deck, fence, garage, polebarn, and gazebo software based on SilverScreen development tools.  Many thousands of residential houses have been built using SilverScreen software.  If you visit the Mechanical Engineering Department of a major university, there is a good chance that you will find JP System 5, a SilverScreen rapid prototyping product.

SilverScreen is proven software with a range of successful application products.  There is no risk.

 

How long has SilverScreen been on the market?

It has been on the market for over 10 years.  The first program was written in SilverC in 1987.   The first commercial product, a deck program, was released in 1990. 

 

I have a NURB-based project.  Does SilverScreen support NURB's?

No.   SilverScreen is a faceted solid modeler.  Curved surfaces, such as those in a cylinder, are approximated by a set of polygons.  If NURB's are an essential part of your project, then you should look elsewhere.

 

If you do not support NURB's, why do your rendered models have smooth surfaces?

The OpenGL renderer and the SilverScreen renderer use a technique called "phong shading" to eliminate the edges of a faceted model.  Using this technique, a faceted cylinder will have the same appearance as a true cylinder.

 

Should I use SilverC?

SilverC is very attractive due to the speed with which you can compile-test-revise.  Because of this speed, we often use SilverC to develop new SilverScreen features.  Recently, we developed 3D Fillets in SilverC.  Once the fillets were fully tested in SilverC, we ported the SilverC program to SilverScreen.

But SilverC does have its limitations.  First, there are only primitive debugging facilities.  This means that you will have to use debugging messages to display variable values.  Second, its user interface, although adequate, is not fancy.  There is no provision for custom dialogs.

Although SilverC is substantially slower than native C++, this slowness is noticeable only in computationally intensive programs.  In programs where the execution of commands is the dominant activity, SilverC and C++ programs are not distinguishably different with regard to speed.

 

What does it cost?

There are several options.

If your company intends to sell your product on the open market, then you should enter into a royalty agreement with SDC.  Our agreements generally involve a one-time initiation fee, an annual technical support fee, and a royalty on sales.  These fees are dependent on the nature of the developer's product and projected volume of sales.

If your company intends to use the product for internal use, then you should enter into a site license and technical support agreement with SDC.

 

I have a CAD project.   Who do I contact?

Send us e-mail:  engine@Schroff.com