On this page we have collected some frequently asked questions about DynaMaker. The questions and answers are sorted by topic.
DynaMaker projects and implementation
Can we get help with implementing DynaMaker?
Yes. We can connect you with an expert suitable for your needs.
Can we implement DynaMaker ourselves?
Yes, you can! If you have developers or people who know their way around scripting, you can have them creating your DynaMaker applications. All documentation including tutorials and how to's is available online. Registration is also free, and you pay upon publication, so you can try DynaMaker risk-free. If you want your developers or IT-staff to evaluate DynaMaker, just create a free developer account.
What is the general roadmap of a DynaMaker project?
A project is usually four to six weeks and it entails analyzing the current situation, making a prototype, detailed product modeling, integration and release.
Is DynaMaker suitable for my product?
We have a page with visual configuration examples that demonstrate some use cases. However the possibilities are very broad. Contact us if you're curious if DynaMaker is suitable for your products.
Can we get a demo of DynaMaker?
Yes! In the demo we go through your needs and your product, some examples of how DynaMaker has helped our clients, and if you'd like some technical insight into what's going on under the hood, and possible ways for you to use DynaMaker according to your needs. Request a demo by visiting this page.
What do I need to run my app?
You can use your app either internally or externally, or both. You usually need somewhere to publish your app, and it could be as simple as a Wordpress website (we have a really easy integration), in an e-commerce solution or in a B2B customer portal(CPQ). In either case, the app is run in the web browser.
If you're just starting to sell online, we recommend you keep it simple and try out the concept of website + a visual product configurator.
How long time does it take get up and running?
Projects in DynaMaker are usually a lot shorter than your typical IT project. If you have a CPQ or configurator in place, you can expect to be live with your application within four to six weeks. You can have a prototype to show within a day or two from project start.
Developing in DynaMaker
What programming language do I need to know for developing in DynaMaker?
When developing advanced rules or 3D visualisations in DynaMaker, Javscript or TypeScript is used. However, product data, translations, static 3D models and in some cases even product rules, can be managed in another software and imported into DynaMaker. This means that some development tasks can be carried out in tools that you already are familiar with. Learn more about TypeScript here.
What skills do I need to start developing in DynaMaker?
We recommend to have some coding background. DynaMaker is built with TypeScript which is similar to JavaScript. If you have some prior experience with other scripting languages you will have no problem learning TypeScript.
If you're new to scripting and code, we recommend you do a beginner course of JavaScript.
Can I try DynaMaker for free?
Yes! You can try it out by creating a developer account and doing tutorials or creating a test app. DynaMaker is free to use until you want to deploy your app for commercial use.
What can I do in DynaMaker? Are there examples of apps?
Check out our visual configuration examples, our customer stories and our developer documentation.
The visual configuration examples are also available as templates - just ask us for the one you want and we'll add that to your DynaMaker account.
What is an "app" in DynaMaker?
A DynaMaker app (or application) is a collection of code and possibly other resources such as images that run on top of the DynaMaker service and is the result when deploying a Project. An app usually consists of a user interface, some product components and drawing exporters.
What is a "Project" in DynaMaker?
A DynaMaker project is the development environment for a specific app.
What does "deployed application" mean?
To deploy an application means to publish it online in your commerce platform or on your webpage so your customers can use it.
Before you can deploy an app from a project, it needs to be assigned a application slot. Application slots are included when you subscribe to a plan.
How many developers can work in the same team?
You can have an unlimited amount of developers in a team.
Do you have any specialized/certified courses in DynaMaker?
Yes, apart from the free online documentation, you can also buy training that can boost your development experience in DynaMaker.
Is it possible to have DynaMaker as a learning tool in a school/university/makerspace?
Yes, you can ask for a non commercial account for hobbyists and students.
How do I contact support?
You can contact support@dynamaker.com for any question regarding DynaMaker.
Do you have a dedicated developer FAQ?
Yes, we have a development focused FAQ in our developer documentation.
Technical questions about the platform
How can DynaMaker be so fast even though it's cloud-based?
DynaMaker is run by our proprietary CAD kernel called SkyMaker Geometry kernel, which is built exclusively for web. This results in high performance in both 2D and 3D.
How can I work with 2D and 3D geometry?
You can of course upload static models like 3D cad files in formats like gltf or stl, or 2D files like dxf to use in your visualization. But what makes DynaMaker handle infinite variants is the possibility to create your own parametric models inside the DynaMaker editor. With CAD features like Extrude, revolve, split and cut you no longer need to stretch and morph your static models to achieve an exact visualization.
Can DynaMaker be integrated with other platforms?
Yes, DynaMaker can be integrated with other platforms such as CPQ solutions, CMS, E-commerce and ERP. We have integrations in place that makes connecting to other platforms really easy and fast. Read more about integrations.
Which file formats can DynaMaker export to?
DynaMaker can export several file formats to fit several types of workflows, including 2D files in DXF and PDF, as well as 3D files in CAD (step) and BIM (ifc). DynaMaker can also export BOM lists, text files, gcode, cut lits, etc.
I am used to other known CAD softwares. How different (CAD-wise) from DynaMaker are they?
Unlike other known CAD softwares, DynaMaker runs in the cloud and has a built-in code editor that allows you to program your CAD products instantly.
Does DynaMaker handle FEM solutions?
No, in DynaMaker you can simplify your model to equations, from which you can build your model and show any desired output. You can however use data tables and interpolation to configure from simulation results.
Does DynaMaker handle simultaneous developers?
Yes, if they are not working on the exact same component.
Is there a version handling in DynaMaker?
Yes, every change is version handled with git. Restoration of previous versions can be handled by the support team.
Is there more technical information regarding developing in DynaMaker?
You can find more technical information for developers on docs.dynamaker.com
Can I download and run DynaMaker offline on my desktop?
No, DynaMaker is a cloud service and it's intentionally designed to run online in the web browser.
Are there any uptime guarantees?
You can read about our availability strategy on our service specification page.
Are there any reccuring maintainance windows?
Not currently. You can read more about how we handle maintainance and updates on our service specification page.
What key performance indicators (KPI) does DynaMaker have?
You can read about this in detail on the service specification page.
Do you have an acceptable use policy?
Yes. Read about it here.
Do you have a privacy policy?
Yes. Read about it here.
Do you have a security policy?
Yes. You can read about it here.
How DynaMaker can help you
Is DynaMaker going to save time?
Yes, DynaMaker can reduce time to quotation as well as freeing up work hours from your sales team and from your engineering team. You no longer need to make all documentation for each quote, DynaMaker can create sales CAD files to accompany the quote.
Isn't it better to export drawings in all combinations from our existing CAD system?
Usually you have an astounding amount of drawings that you need to generate, update and maintain. That is both tedious and time consuming. DynaMaker lets you generate the correct drawings and files after the user has finished the configuration.
Which type of company can benefit from using DynaMaker?
If you are making or planning to make customized products DynaMaker can be of great use and benefit. DynaMaker can enable your customers to customize the product themselves, given the rules that you provide. You will save a lot of time by automating tasks, and you will serve your customers with correct quotations in minutes instead of in hours or days.
How can DynaMaker help sales people?
Selling customized products is very time consuming with unique quotations and pricing for each product. With DynaMaker it's possible to automate several steps such as generation of sales CAD files. In combination with CPQ it's possible to create fully automatic quotations.
DynaMaker can also be used as a tool to tell the customer about the possibilities of the customization and show how options and changes affect the product.
How can DynaMaker help engineering?
Creating custom drawings and other CAD documents for each customized products is a very common and tedious task for engineering. With DynaMaker these kind of files can be automatically exporter, in formats such as PDF, DXF, BIM and STEP.
Configuration and manufacturing
We already use a configurator, why should we change platforms?
With DynaMaker you can move away from fixed sizes to an entirely parametric configuration of products. And adding 3D visualization makes the process easier for the users. DynaMaker can also automatically export all the CAD-files you need and you can tailor the UI to make it easier to use for your customers to use for purchasing directly on your webpage. If you have a configurator in a CPQ you can connect DynaMaker to it in order to get parametric visualization of what's already in the CPQ's configurator.
We already use a configurator, can I combine it with DynaMaker?
Yes, its easy to extending an existing configurator with the parametric visualization in DynaMaker. You can just hide the input fields in Dynamaker and pass new values back and forth seamlessly between your existing product configurator and DynaMaker. You can combine DynaMaker with a configurator in a CPQ/customer portal or the configurator in your ERP.
Isn't it better to export drawings in all combinations from our existing CAD system?
Usually you have an astounding amount of variants that you need to generate, update and maintain drawings for. DynaMaker automatically generate the correct drawings and files after the user has finished each configuration.
Can we design our products in DynaMaker like a traditional CAD tool?
We recommend you keep designing your product in a traditional CAD tool, as DynaMaker's purpose is to automate and streamline production of customized products.
Do we have to use DynaMaker on our external webpage?
No you don't have to use our configurator externally. You can use DynaMaker internally to support your sales and backoffice employees, as well as for streamlining and facilitate the production of customized products. You can also make DynaMaker available through providing selected customers a login.
What parts of the chain from purchase to manufacturing can DynaMaker automate?
It's possible to get files that can be used for automation further down the chain towards the machines. Contact us to learn more.
Integrations
Can DynaMaker be integrated with other platforms?
Yes, DynaMaker can be integrated with other platforms such as CPQ solutions, CMS, e-commerce and ERP. Read more about integrations. Our official integrations cuts development time significantly as you only need to make a few clicks in order to get the data flowing.
Why should I consider using several platforms and integrating them?
We believe that your digital ecosystem should be comprised of several solutions that do their task really well, and that data should flow between them. A system or platform that handles all tasks in the ecosystem is rarely really good at all tasks. That's why we advocate for creating your own ecosystem with nodes that work really well.
What do you mean by "integrations"?
An integration is a connection between two systems where data can be passed in order for them to "talk to each other". Either integrations can be made from scratch each time there's a need to connect two systems, or an integration can be created in a standardized way that makes it reusable. Making an integration from scratch is time consuming and often hard to maintain as the developer who created it knows how it works. Using standardized integrations means someone works with maintaining and upgrading the integration so it holds up over time. Our standardized integrations are designed to be easy to use and only require a few clicks.
What is a CPQ solution?
CPQ is an abbreviation for Configure, Price, Quote and is a business to business (B2B) commerce platform. Similar to an B2C e-commerce platform, the users can browse the website and look at products. However, using a CPQ solution, complex products can be configured based on rules or constraints, and instead of purchasing directly the system makes a quote for the customer. A CPQ solution can be used internally by the sales team of a company, or it can be used as a customer portal where select customers can log in and configure and quote.
Demo FAQ
What is a demo via video-link?
This is a digital meeting via Google Meet or Microsoft Teams where you get to talk to someone from the DynaMaker team. You will be contacted to book an appointment. A demo meeting is usually 30 to 60 minutes and during the demo we will:
- Show live examples of DynaMaker apps
- Show how manufacturing companies have saved time and money with DynaMaker
- Show the main features and how you can deploy them in your quotation process
- Discuss your needs and possible gains by using DynaMaker
- Discuss how you can proceed with a DynaMaker project
Can I have a look at some demo applications myself?
Yes, we have plenty of apps in our visual configuration examples.
Can I try DynaMaker myself?
Yes, you can create a free account and start building applications. With a free account you cannot publish your application online.
Still haven’t found what you were looking for? Contact us and ask away!