Disneyland, California Adventure and Universal Studios are typically on a must-see list of most travelers to Los Angeles.

Undoubtedly, they have their unique attractions but what grabbed me most on a trip was the 3D films at these three sites.

The power of 3D is amazing: It makes the virtual world in animation films look so vivid and real and you feel you can just reach out and touch.

But 3D is not all about entertainment for engineers and designers, 3D effects make designs look realistic, and more importantly, controllable.

That's why John McEleney, chief executive officer of US 3D software maker SolidWorks Corp, received warm applause when he displayed "electronic playdough" last month at a user conference in Shanghai.

Let your kids play dough with computers in the future, McEleney says.

And let engineers and designers think about the products being designed in the context of electronics.

With 3D-enabled "e-drawing," engineers and designers can "mould" the products freely in their computers.

Design is the lifeblood of manufacturers - it is not all about fashion; you need to consider a lot of factors.

And the aids from computer software make the difference by increasing productivity and shortening the time for the product to reach the market.

That's the implicit logic of 3D design software makers such as SolidWorks and Autodesk.

That notion has lots of implications for China which remains the world's factory.

For long, foreign companies designed products and cheap Chinese labourers made them.

If China wants to move up the world's value chain, it must enhance technology research and development (R&D) and beef up domestic manufacturers' designing capabilities.

And that would change the notion from "made-in-China" to "created in China."

3D CAD software helps.

As Shanghai Municipal Informatization Commission deputy chief Shi Xingde explains, 3D software provides engineers and designers a powerful designing tool.

Shi is proud of the fact that Shanghai makes one-fifth of vehicles in China and one-quarter of notebook PCs in the world.

But he is frustrated with the low profits of local manufacturers, largely due to the poor design strength.

China has set about rebuilding its traditional industries by adopting information technologies but faces big challenges.

Domestic manufacturers are not quite ready to embrace new technologies to spur productivity and achieve lower costs.

But given the robust business growth of Autodesk and SolidWorks, local makers are moving towards 3D.

You may surprised by the small sales figure for CAD/CAM software in China - last year, it amounted to only 111.6 million yuan (US$13.5 million). This, of course, doesn't take into account pirated software.

The positive for Autodesk and Solidworks is that CAD software mainly targets enterprise users which can switch to legitimate software once their purchasing power increases.

Also, China is now at the verge of explosive growth in the 3D software market.

Once Chinese manufacturers are fully aware of the benefits of 3D-enabled designing, they surely will jump onto the bandwagon.

Solidworks and Autodesk are in "a two-horse race" in the 3D software market globally - and that's true in China as well.

Thus, a high-profile stake in the Chinese market is a natural move for the two.

Now, the top priority for the two software giants is to spread the benefits of 3D-enabled designing to Chinese engineers who are still sticking to 2D design or even chewing on pencils.

And they should make more efforts to help nurture people who are good at using 3D software.

To make good in the China market, the two software giants can carry a simple message: the power of 3D is here.