RE: [rp-ml] SYCODE Releases Four New Free RP Plug-ins

Markus: "There are encryption algorithms publicly available which are secure
as well as open source, e.g. OpenSSH. No matter how much you hack OpenSSH,
the data encrypted with it stays encrypted, unless you can provide the
password/passphrase."

Deelip: There is more to it. The OpenRP software uses proprietary data
compression algorithms developed by SYCODE over the years and which cannot
be disclosed. Our data compression algorithms are closely tied to the data
encryption algorithms and hence cannot be separated.

Markus: "The interesting thing about an STL replacement would be to have a
more compact geometry representation."

Deelip: First off, RP is not meant to replace STL, just to eliminate its use
over the internet. At the destination, a RP file will most probably be
converted back to STL to be processed further. You can consider RP as a
format of data transfer, not storage.

Markus: "Additional representation of colors."

Deelip: Since the RP format is meant for transfer of data and needs to
converted back to STL at the other end, any extra information such as colors
would be lost when converted back to STL. We are contemplating creating a
new format (probably called RPX) which is capable of holding extra
information, such a colors, process (SLA, SLS, etc.) material properties,
finish options, etc. Obviously, this format would be used for data transfer
and much more. We have got there yet. It's hard to allocate time and
resources on something when you are not going to derive any financial
benefit from it. But we hope to do this hopefully sooner than later.

Markus: "Sharing of widely used source code to ease the creation of new RP
software"

Deelip: As you can imagine, the source code of the standalone software and
the plug-ins is very dear to SYCODE and quite simply cannot be shared.

Adrian: "So what does this give that simply running a free public-key crypto
package like GPG (http://www.gnupg.org/) on an STL file wouldn't? "

Deelip: Under the OpenRP Initiative, we offer "RP Toolkit", a Windows DLL
that can be easily called from any software to convert between STL and RP.
In fact our RP plug-ins do exactly that. There is also a command line
executable called "RP Converter" which can be called from something as
elementary as a batch file to convert between STL and RP. Suppose you have
an in-house system that processes STL files (say for quoting purposes) you
can use "RP Converter" to add support for RP files by calling it just before
you process STL files.

Although some may think that we have a grand plan to completely replace the
STL file format, that is not the intention and the software under the OpenRP
Initiative is not designed for that purpose. We realize that STL is too
engrained into the RP industry and replacing it would involve a huge and
concerted effort by a lot of people. A format like RP is certainly not the
answer. We are simply offering all the tools required by end users, service
bureaus and software developers so that the two major drawbacks of the STL
file format (size and security) can be taken care of.

Whether we like it or not, the STL file format is going to remain the
dominant file format in the RP industry for some time to come and there is
absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Regards,

Deelip Menezes
www.deelip.com
Received on Sat Oct 04 15:28:28 2008