(16.09.2018) Rethinking CAE post-processing, is that possible / meaningful?  In 2016 my colleagues in Ceetron and I thought so, and today we are releasing Ceetron Analyzer Desktop.  It has been a long journey and some of our readers may have seen various alpha and beta versions over the last 6 months.

Of course, Analyzer builds on a 20-year lineage of various GLview Inova versions, but it is in fact a complete rethink of post-processing in CAE.  Here is what we thought important at the start of this journey: i) true cross-solver capabilities; ii) cross-discipline capabilities; iii) cross-platform, across desktop and web; iv) Python scripting; v) performance; vi) a price point that would facilitate licensing across simulation departments, not on an individual level (what organization would ever consider licensing Excel only for those in serious need of spreadsheet software?); and vii) cloud-based storing, viewing, sharing, and collaboration, across organizations, value chains, and disciplines.

It was ambitious, but at the end of this challenging and pretty expensive journey, I can solidly claim: We delivered.  I will encourage our readers to test for themselves.  Here is the link: https://ceetron.wpengine.com/product/ceetron-analyzer-trial/.

Regarding cross-solver capabilities, which I expect is many readers’ first question: Today the list is: Abaqus (*.fil), ABAQUS Input Interface (*.inp), ABAQUS Odb (*.odb), ANSYS Input Interface (*.cdb), ANSYS (.rst;.rth;*.rfl), CGNS Interface (*.cgns), Ensight (.case), Fluent (.cas/.dat), Femap (*.neu), Ideas UNV (*.unv), LSDYNA Keyword Interface (*.k), LS-DYNA State Database Interface, NASTRAN (*.op2), NASTRAN (*.dat), OpenFOAM (*.foam), STL files (*.stl), VTFx and VTF (.vtfx and .vtf), VTK VTM/PVD File (*.vtm,* .pvd), VTU (VTK UnstructuredGrid) (*.vtu).  And we are still adding; we are currently working on finding a technically and commercially sound approach to Star-CCM+.

The second question may be: Is Ceetron Analyzer ‘better’ than the post-processor I am currently using?  I believe that in most cases it is, but that is not my point.  Ceetron Analyzer has indeed been built for versatility: all solvers, all workflows, all disciplines, all verticals.  That said, there will certainly be use cases where a solver-specific, workflow-specific, discipline-specific, or vertical-specific post-processor can do a slightly better job.

The third question may be: Is Analyzer Desktop ‘better’ than GLview Inova?  In my opinion, ‘different’ is a better word.  GLview Inova has been a workhorse in the industry for close to 20 years, and it has, as a result of a continued inflow of feature requests, a very rich feature set, with some features having been sold to a market of 1.  Good news to Inova licensees: we will continue to maintain GLview Inova for years to come, but over time we expect most current Inova licensees to move over to Analyzer Desktop.

A final comment: Our readers may be puzzled by the fact that Ceetron seems to be releasing Analyzer Desktop, Analyzer Cloud and Ceetron Cloud within a short period of time, and all appear to have the same price, Euro 149 per month.  There is a reason, they are part of a same bundle.  Rather than charging additional fees for additional parts of this bundle, we have more or less concluded that if you buy one part of this bundle, you get the rest for free.  We need to sort out some technical / licensing stuff to make it happen, but this is the current plan.

Ceetron Analyzer.  Our contribution to democratization of CAE.  Here is the link: https://ceetron.wpengine.com/product/ceetron-analyzer-trial/.

Grim
Head S&M Ceetron AS
grim.gjonnes@ceetron.com