CATIA Imagine & Shape, the virtual clay modeler based on subdivision surface technology, delivers world-class surface tools to address body shape details such as cutting face. Designer take also advantage of realt-time rendering visual feedback during the creation phase. This makes CATIA Imagine & Shape fully suitable for body design in the automotive industry.

CATIA V5R21 extends its advanced and powerful freeform surface modeling, modification and analysis capabilities within the Class A modeling domain. V5R21 improves the quality of the produced surfaces with more efficient tools to validate shape quality. User efficiency & Workflow are also improved thanks to a dedicated modeling environment embedding an adapted user interface. This completes the feature set alignment of V5R19, V5R21, and V6R2012.

The Loft command has been enhanced to define continuity in curvature (G2) with section supports or guide supports where previously only tangent continuity was supported. This new capability increases the quality of the Loft because you can define precisely which continuity you want to apply on sections and guides. Another improvement lets you create a surface with a punctual extremity in one shot. In the Loft command, one section and two guide curves intersecting each other at one extremity are sufficient to create such shapes, resulting in increased productivity.

CATIA Part Design brings time savings in the Conceptual Design phase thanks to new associativity that exists now between  reflect lines or internal profiles and the product shape. You can then refine accurately a design with 2D geometric details from the associative silhouette of its 3D faces/features. The area included in this outline can also be used to show a specific treatment area. Projection and intersection curves provides user with the same ability.

Conceptual study may start from 2D legacy data, with the direct import of DXF and DWG files, dealing the content of each 2D layer into a specific sheet. The concept can then be studied taking advantage of the overlaid sheets, as well as of any relevant 3D data. Generating all this data into a single drawing sheet ensures sharing it using 2D external formats whenever needed.

CATIA V5R21 brings more flexibility to the user in the definition of tolerances and annotations of pattern of holes. Each pattern instance can get its own semantic annotation. Distance and position annotations are automatically proposed to the user during the pattern creation step, thus providing a significant productivity gain.

This release delivers Ergonomic improvement through a new 3D Label selection process during the user manual mapping step for better user productivity. The Synchronise command has been enriched with a better branch management and can now also properly handle hybrid (support + mechanical part) parts components.

This release brings new machining strategy dedicated for Hard Material machining in order to increase the tool life duration.  Numerous enhancements Multi-Pocket Flank Contouring such as feed rate reduction in corner or Control overlap for close tool path for unmatched programming and machining time reduction.

New format support includes ProE WF5, UG NX6, SolidWorks 2009, SolidWorks 2010, ACIS V19 and Parasolid V21.

To ensure that our customers can be as successful with deployment moving from V5 to Version 6 as they have in moving from a V5 release to another, DS delivers upward and downward compatibility between CATIA V5 and Version 6 data equivalent to the compatibility between two releases of V5. To enable unmatched collaboration, within a company as well as between OEMs and their suppliers, Version 6 has been engineered to support relational design collaboration between all supported CATIA V5 releases and Version 6. To protect customers’ investment in their existing V5 projects, DS plans to continue the development and support of V5.