Paracomp
was a leader in Macintosh 3D products with Swivel 3D and ModelShop, it was
acquired by MacroMedia in 1990.
ModelShop focused on the Architectural market and was doing badly due to a
serious deficiency - lack of 2D CAD drawing input.
Re-positioned the product to be a complement to the very successful
ClarisCAD, by developing the 2D CAD import facility as well as doing the
Claris - Paracomp deal.
Boldly used the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and the use of ModelShop to
show how the city would benefit from a demolition of a damaged high rise
highway, rather than a reconstructed highway. San Francisco's Pacific
Bell Baseball Park would not exist if this highway had not been
demolished...
Vision
Corporate wise: position Paracomp as the leader in 3D
Graphics consumer products. Consolidate separate products and architectures
into a common platform with separate UI's and features for each market.
Position ModelShop as a companion to any 2D CAD or Drawing
product, rather than a 'concept modeler' (market size was 20 times larger).
Launch a 'guerrilla' marketing campaign, using PR, some
advertising and a lot of direct mail.
Experience
Developed, Presented and Received approval for New 3D Product
Plans from Paracomp Board (which included Jim Clark, founder of SGI
& Netscape)
Positioned ModelShop as a 3D companion to 2D Leader ClarisCAD.
Executed on the Business and Marketing deals.
Developed and Released V1.1 with needed 2D import.
Launched successful Direct Mail campaign based on Media Event (San
Francisco Earthquake)
Launched a memorable Advertising campaign that attracted attention
for the product.
Paracomp, 1989 - 90
Product Manager & Developer Manager
of ModelShop
I took
a weak product and positioned as a
companion to the successful ClarisCAD. In order to do this we needed to
import 2D files, so I programmed this feature and fixed several other
bugs.
The Loma Prieta Earthquake rumbled through San Francisco and our
building in 1989. The earthquake
damaged several highways, including the Embarcadero Highway going over
the South of Market area. The AIA proposed a renovated area which tore
down the double decked highway and replaced it with open space. Clark Manus, of Heller & Manus,
suggested the creation of the first 3D model of San
Francisco. This provided a theme for a new Advertising campaign and
used the new 2D import capabilities.
3D
Model of San Francisco used for Mayor Agnos presentation on how to
renovate the damaged Embarcadero Highway. We used 2D CAD data and
photographs to create a rough 3D model in two days. The new 2D import
capabilities proved a godsend here. A National Advertising Campaign was
centered around this case study (see below).
San
Francisco Mayor Agnos presenting the new Embarcadero Design. We
received local TV coverage. The Mayor took the presentation to the
Capitol and successfully lobbied for funds for the project. You can see
the results of the project now, the whole South of Market area is one of
the most dynamic growth regions in SF and the new baseball park would
not have been built if the old highway was still going through it.
3D Model of SF You can see a
similar 3D Model of San Francisco to the one used by SF Mayor Agnos. The
original is no longer available, this model was originally built by Eric
Lundquist of Heller and Manus, I adapted it for VRML using the
Abaco translators and SGI's
WebSpaceAuthor. This model is an early version of the full San Francisco
Model that Heller and Manus uses for its presentations.
I
developed this direct marketing brochure as well as the campaign. The
key messages were (they follow the images top to bottom)
Sketch in 3D
Turn 2D into 3D Designs
Present Impressive Designs
This presented the full positioning of ModelShop as an add-on to
existing 2D tools being used by both Architects and Graphic Designers,
which proved to be successful.
Brash headline
for Ad campaign, designed to catch the reader's attention. It was the
first of a series of Case Studies on the successes of ModelShop.
The Ad goes
through the basic steps in creating the 3D model. Here I go through the
basic steps of taking both 2D data and photographs to create a 3D model
for presentation. The Steps are:
Import 2D
Sketch in 3D
Present Solution
Copyright, 2001 - Eduardo F. Llach
ModelShop, Swivel3D and Paracomp are Trademarks of
MacroMedia
Paracomp
was a leader in Macintosh 3D products with Swivel 3D and ModelShop, it was
acquired by MacroMedia in 1990.
I took
a weak product and positioned as a
companion to the successful ClarisCAD. In order to do this we needed to
import 2D files, so I programmed this feature and fixed several other
bugs.
3D
Model of San Francisco used for Mayor Agnos presentation on how to
renovate the damaged Embarcadero Highway. We used 2D CAD data and
photographs to create a rough 3D model in two days. The new 2D import
capabilities proved a godsend here. A National Advertising Campaign was
centered around this case study (see below). 
San
Francisco Mayor Agnos presenting the new Embarcadero Design. We
received local TV coverage. The Mayor took the presentation to the
Capitol and successfully lobbied for funds for the project. You can see
the results of the project now, the whole South of Market area is one of
the most dynamic growth regions in SF and the new baseball park would
not have been built if the old highway was still going through it.
I
developed this direct marketing brochure as well as the campaign. The
key messages were (they follow the images top to bottom)
Brash headline
for Ad campaign, designed to catch the reader's attention. It was the
first of a series of Case Studies on the successes of ModelShop. 
The Ad goes
through the basic steps in creating the 3D model. Here I go through the
basic steps of taking both 2D data and photographs to create a 3D model
for presentation. The Steps are: