4 D   G R A P H I C S

In 1983 I had been working at the Boeing company for more than 5 years. During the first four years I used several mini-computer based CAD systems to do mechanical design. Then I was recruited into a special training program and reclassified as a software developer which is what I did during the remainder of my tenure at Boeing.

I aspired to have my own mechanical design firm and wanted to use CAD software in that endeavor, but the $125,000 price tag for mini-computer based systems at the time was more than I could afford. So about a year after the introduction of the IBM PC I decided to see if I could develop my own CAD application to run on this much more affordable platform. I had no idea whether a PC would have the horsepower necessary to be a genuinely useful engineering tool. I worked on this software for several months in my spare time. After completing the initial development, my CAD application finally came to life. I was delighted to discover my software performed as well or better on a PC than the mini-computer systems I had been working with at Boeing. Subsequently, I decided a CAD software company might have more potential as an entrepreneurial venture than a mechanical design firm.

In November of 1983 I left Boeing to created 4D Graphics. In 1984 I partnered with Computervision, the largest CAD company in the world at the time. Later that year Computervision introduced Personal Designer. Computervision handled the sales and marketing while I lead the development team at 4D Graphics adding most of the functionality that set PD apart from its competitors. It is now more than 25 years since the initial introduction of PD and more than 10 years since the last software release. PD is a very robust application and was widely used throughout the 80s and 90s. Even though it was developed for the DOS operating system it is still used today by many people around the world. This is a testament to its stability and genuinely useful functionality.

More on the History of Personal Designer
Personal Designer Highlights

3D Modeling
PD was the only PC-based 3D CAD system in the world when it was introduced in 1983. This is the very first drawing ever made with Personal Designer, a 3D model of the monitor used for the initial development.

Robust
Associative
Dimensioning

Multiple View Modeling
PD's implementation of this concept is both powerful and easy to use.

Configurable User Interface
PD offers the user a powerful and intuitive interface with almost unlimited options for customization.

User Programming Language PD also provides a powerful compiled programming language and several macro languages for user defined application enhancements.

NURB and Bezier Surface Modeling
and
Surface Shading

Fully Integrated CAM
Manufacturing
Toolpath Generation

4Design
In 1999 4Design, a derivative of Personal Designer without surfacing or CAM, was released as Freeware.
Click here to download 4Design for FREE.