5 SolidWorks Tips that may possible be helpful kick starting your 3D day.


1.You can make a perspective view in a drawing. First, create a named view in the model using the Orientation dialog box, then insert that view in the drawing.

2.Converted edges are fully defined. You can drag the endpoints of these edges, however, to change the end points to under-defined.

3.You can set up a gradient color schemes to appear in the graphics area in Tools, Options, System Options, Colors.

4.Color Display Mode (Line Format toolbar) allows you to toggle between displaying layer and explicit colors assigned to sketch entities and colors representing the status of that entities (defined, over defined etc.)

5.Coordinate values that appear in the Property Manager are measured relative to the sketch’s coordinate system, which can be different from Tools, Measure, values, which measure relative to a selected coordinate system (default is the model origin).

2011 Year in Review:

This podcast covers a summary of 2011 and the specific SolidWorks most memorable moments starting with Jeff Ray leaving to SolidWorks 2012 SP1 shipping and everything in between.  Topics covered:

SolidWorks 2011 Highlights:

- Jeff Ray out, Bertrand Sicot In

- Solidworks pre-announces 3 web products

- DraftSight for Linux 

- IE9 and Windows 7 SP1 

- 3DVIA Composer ships two major releases

- SolidWorks 2012 

- Jon Hirschtick leaves SolidWorks 

- Toolbox Woes

- Top 10 list goes live (just to name a few)

Technology Highlights:

- Google launches Google+

- Windows 8 in Developer Preview

- RIM is fading

- HP open sources WebOS

- iPad 2 ships

- Steve Jobs dies at 54

- Android is killing it

- Amazon launches an Android Market and the Kindle Fire

2011 was quite a year in the tech industry and there changes across SolidWorks in many areas.  SolidWorks was business as usual for the most part.  CEO change at the turn of the year, SolidWorks World announced new products, and a new version of SolidWorks shipped.  Despite early announcements of 3 cloud tools (n!Fuze, Post3D and Live Buildings), none of them really caught on due various reasons.  SolidWorks 2012 is a quality release with some solid additions but mainly seems to be embraced due to the little things.

The active SolidWorks blogging community somewhat slowed way down this year with many stopping blogging all together. Although blogs still bring the most helpful content, the social networks seem to be where the interaction is today across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+.  

2011 also brought a tremendous growth in mobile, especially in the ubiquity of smart phones.  Everyone has a computer in their pocket today and use it to be productive (and not) on the go.  Companies across the globe are producing apps and mobile sites to allow their users to do device-specific activities on the go. Personally I believe SolidWorks needs to get into the mobile game in 2012 in order to meet and exceed that of the competition, some of which (AutoDesk) have built a number of apps to view, markup, and collaborate across a number of their products.

I want to thank you all for listening/reading for another year and look forward to bringing more tech news and other tech tips to you in the coming year!  Happy New Year! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

Walk through other designer’s models feature-by-feature or play the entire part automatically.

One of the means to learn more about SolidWorks is to review how others developed their models. This often was done by using the rollback bar and then walk through step-by-step and see how each feature was created. You could also review how the feature and/or sketch was created.

The SolidWorks Part Reviewer was created to help automate reviewing how a part was created and make it more effective. With the SolidWorks Part Reviewer you can “play” the part and also see any comments that were placed in to help describe the feature >>>

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Touch Maide Possible:

This podcast covers a new 3D control app for the iPad (and soon iPhone/iPod Touch) developed by a startup called Maide Inc in Toronto.  The app allows you to pan, zoom, and rotate your models with intuitive multi-touch gestures on your iPad. Topics covered:

- Product introduction

- Supported 3D CAD applicaitons

- Setup and Configuration

- Feature set of Maide Control for iPad

- Tips of use with iOS5 and the iPad (1st gen)

- Overall first impressions

3D mice and control devices have been gaining momentum over the past decade, bringing a level of 3D control that a mouse alone just cannot provide.  In my early CAD days after migrating away from a digitizing tablet, I was using Spaceball 4000 and really started to get hooked.  It was almost to the point where I found I could not even use CAD without it!  I have since moved away from it since I travel and am on the go (despite having a space traveler that collects dust in my bag!).

A few weeks ago I received an email from Maide's CEO & Founder Oleg Kostour asking if I was interested in taking a spin on their 3D control app for iPad since it had now entered a beta for SolidWorks.  After freeing up some time to really take a look, I installed the app and Maide Connect (desktop component) and dove in.  I tested on both Mac and Windows with Sketchup since support for SolidWorks is in beta but only for 2011 and I have since removed all but 2012 from my systems!

The app works as advertised and can be customized in most (not SolidWorks yet) for menu commands, similar to the way you have mouse gestures in SolidWorks in a ring.  I am excited to see their iPhone / iPod touch app that is coming out since it uses the gyros, allowing movement of the device in conjunction to touch to navigate the 3D space.  For more information about Maide Inc check out their blog!

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

5 SolidWorks Tips that may possible be helpful kick starting your 3D day.

1.You can use the Swept Flange Feature to create bends in different directions for more complex Sheet Metal parts.

2.You can set new sketches to Auto-rotate normal to the sketch plane under Tools, Options, System Options, Sketch.

3.You can right click a drawing view and select Show In Exploded State to easily create an exploded view of an assembly.

4.Changes made to a model with a design table update the design table.

5.Sketch Pictures can be suppressed so they are displayed only when the parent sketches are being edited.

Most people will agree that SolidWorks is an fairly easy software to learn, however at the same time you will find few who will claim they master the software fully.

Could you imagine have one of the best as your dedicated trainer and of top of that he will follow your schedule?
“Learning SolidWorks 2011″ by Alex Ruiz.

I was very excited when I received a copy of the DVD for the purpose of this blog post. Being employed by a SolidWorks reseller and very familiar with the in depth training programs SolidWorks has written for the reseller network.
My question to myself was, is it really possible to record and distribute a training DVD for SolidWorks that will not have the same destiny as late 80′s and 90′s home workout VHS tapes that is sitting in the corner of the garage.

You get more than you pay for…
This is a DVD that contains 96 movies what totals up to 11.5 hours of SolidWorks “Learn Geek tricks” material. I tell you it is not packed with a ton, but with tons of great stuff. You will not find yourself thinking that you got to the end quick on this one.
You learn from the 1st chapter, and then you learn from the next one, oh and that was a great trick, let me just watch one more chapter…you will forget about time and with a smile inhale SolidWorks knowledge.

First the technical stuff. The DVD starts right up with a very easy menu to navigate. The quality of both graphics and sound is very professional. You can easily switch, rewind and choose from fly-out menus that quickly disappear out of the way.

Before we drill into what some of the material on this DVD is, it is important that you have a chance to be familiar with the instructor. In the SolidWorks community Alex Ruiz is known as The SolidWorks Geek. A highly regarded nick name in a 3D modeling software community, that is very well fit for this guy. As his blog The SW Geek has a big selection of articles, interviews, tutorials and tips that also gave birth to a SolidWorks Geek community SW Geeks that offers forums, chat and even its own store. And to round this up as for Alex Ruiz as an educator, he has been around the blog before as author of a book SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required

The DVD begins at the beginning, really it does…
Very cool that the DVD start by showing the steps of instalation and also give some tips and best practices. Further more going through some of the tools found in the Windows Start->SolidWorks 2011->SolidWorks Tool folder. And the different message windows that comes at you when you open SolidWorks for the first time.

As you can see in the picture above, the content of the DVD covers a vast variety of key topics when it comes to learning SolidWorks. Alex Ruiz is taking you for a ride where he will shares his knowledge of key functions, helpful tips and best practices.
Learn about assemblies

Alex does a very theral explanation on everything from the user interface to detail functions such as using favorites with Hole Wizard. So if you are not familiar with functions as the “S” key or moving around the part while holding shift+ctrl and hitting 3d gnom . You will find this DVD helpful….I guarantee that many seasoned SolidWorks users would pickup a big stack of knowledge from this round shiny data storage device.
Learn about exploded views

I have to admit that there was times I thought “The Geek” was spending to much time on details, such as I recorded 8 minutes was spend explaining the SolidWorks measuring tool, or going through explanation of each type of sketch arc available. The truth is that with 11.5 hours and exceptional topic selection its alright.
Learn about BOM in drawings

So by popping in this disc you can learn about Parts, assemblies but also how to add decals, or what about eDrawings and Pack and Go functions.

Alex Ruiz sayes. Its a fact of life, like death and taxes. you WILL have to edit your parts. And then all you have to do is pay attention and he will give you a good doze of wisdom on how to handle this at times difficult task.

Alex talks about Part properties, best practice and then recommend that you talk to your CAD manager or PDM manager. Check with your company he says. That is good solid quality advice in my book. Not what you might expect getting out of a DVD.
Learn about rendering

Conclusion…
I strongly believe that you can not replace class room training. The interaction between student and instructor. On occasion taking the lesson from the SolidWorks interface to a white board. Of course a DVD is not going to replace this, but “Learning SolidWorks 2011″ by Alex Ruiz could absolutely be the piece of learning material that could spice up your CAD department for some easy refresher training. Or the part time SolidWorks user who will find it like having the SW Geek dusting of the spiderwebs of tasks not crafted often. The price of this DVD is less than a normal families weekly grocery trip…Dudes and Geeks…You get more than you pay for.

To purchase this this product click here

5 SolidWorks Tips that may possible be helpful kick starting your 3D day.

1.You can create a split FeatureManager design tree by grabbing the gray bar at the top of the FeatureManager design tree, and dragging it downward.

2.After you import a file into SolidWorks you can run Import Diagnosis to find any faulty faces or edges. Import Diagnosis is often able to repair these errors, or eliminate them.

3.You can split an arc, circle, ellipse, or spline in a SolidWorks sketch or drawing (sketch entities only). Right-click the entity and select Split Entities.

4.When rotating components with transparent faces, you can improve performance by clearing ‘High quality for dynamic view mode’ in Tools, Options, System Options, Performance.

5.You can have notes linked to drawing views (they will move to maintain their position relative to the drawing view). Double click on a view to focus on it. This keeps the view active, even when the cursor moves over other drawing views.

December Tech News:

This podcast covers the SolidWorks and CAD-related tech news that broke since mid-November covering the SolidWorks Blog, various tech alerts and other industry news. Topics covered:

SolidWorks Blog:

- Need a gift? SolidWorks Holiday Gift Guide

- Team Dassault, 10 years of pedaling for cancer research

- SWWC Japan, Bertrand Sicot reporting

- Chin's iOS apps of choice and why

- Top 10 list for SWW12 is open for suggestions

- USS Midway sails into the annual CSWP event

- Let's Go Design team is ready to put this project to bed .... soon

- Intrigue bring a lucky SW user all the way to San Diego from Japan!

Tech Alerts:

- Benchmark your rig and share your score

- Download examples for the SW Part Reviewer (new in 2012)

- SolidWorks EPDM 2012 SP1 is available for download

- Top 10 list is open for business

- Updates to support, forums and resource center 

Well this is the last tech news cast for 2011 and it was a bit of a slow month for tech news but a few good nuggets. This is that time of year where everyone is ready for the year to end and the buzz of the new release has worn off and SolidWorks World is about 2 months out. Next month the news will be ramping up for the big show.

Currently the deal for SolidWorks is $100 off a single registration or the 3 for 2 deal till January 20, 2012.  If you have not yet started planning your attack to convince your boss to go, get on it! This is, hands down, the best way to energize your year and boost your knowledge.  This is not a trade show, it is a training session marathon with a ton of perks.  Visit the SolidWorks World site for help in this convincing process.

The SolidWorks Monthly FAQ for December has not yet been posted so I will cover that next week to relay any good tidbits.  I have a couple of roundtable shows in the works to finish out the year so stay tuned! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

5 SolidWorks Tips that may possible be helpful kick starting your 3D day.

1. You can use the Sketch Fillet tool to fillet non-intersecting sketch entities. The entities are automatically trimmed or extended when the fillet is added.

2. You can add some types of relations to multiple entities at the same time. For example, you can select three lines, and make them equal in length.

3. To select the midpoint of an edge, right-click the edge and choose Select Midpoint.

4. To copy an exploded view from one assembly configuration to another, drag the ExplView icon the Configuration tab.

5. You can align and space multiple dimensions in a drawing. Select the dimensions, then use the on-screen Dimensions Palette.

New Release Checklist:

This podcast covers the some general steps to check before jumping into a brand new major release of SolidWorks and the various related products.  Topics covered:

- Upgrade or Uninstall/Reinstall?

- How to clean uninstall

- 3rd Party product checklist

- PDM checklist

- Homegrown tools/macros

- Other random checks

With the new release of SolidWorks 2012 now with a shiny new service pack 1 in queue, many companies take this milestone as a time to take the plunge.  Although some SolidWorks users are anxious to get the latest release on their systems to get some of the new features in hand, there are a few things to check before you jump in with two feet.

Personally as an early adopter, well....and the fact it is my job to dig into the latest software,  I do enjoy getting new software on my system and pushing it to the limit.  However, I also find that there are so many other products, tools and compatibility checks that should happen first to ensure a smooth transition.  Whether that is a 3rd party product you rely on or your favorite peripheral's drivers, all these things need to be weighed prior to launch.

I recently decided to clean out one of my testing systems after years of SolidWorks versions, beta builds, 3rd party products and trials.  I had 3 or 4 working version of SW, various toolbox builds and a number of tools that I had not touched in 4-5 years.  I really should nuke that system but decided to use it as a test for this show and a basis for those of you in the same situation. ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

SolidWorks Simulation can solve it — without complexity. Can you?   How far can you chuck a pumpkin?

See how Jimmy easily handles mechanism optimization and dynamic impact with SolidWorks Simulation to take his dream of being the world’s Pumpkin Chunkin champion one step closer to reality.

    Watch NOW >>>
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5 SolidWorks Tips that may possible be helpful kick starting your 3D day.

1. Use Command Search to locate and execute SolidWorks commands. The default keyboard shortcut for Command Search is W.

2. You can drag a command Search result list onto a toolbar of CommandManager tab.

3. Use Search shortcuts in Tools, Customize to create your own custom Command Search aliases.

4. You can map OK, Cancel, and Escape to mouse gestures.

5. Hold Ctrl+Tab to close multiple windows at a time from the Open Documents window

It only took a few days for HSMWorks to follow CAMWorks adding another Xpress (“Light Version”) CAM solution to run inside SolidWorks.

I picked the following feature highlights from the HSMXpress section on HSMWorks website.

What is HSMXpress?
HSMXpress was created to show designers, engineers, and even veteran CNC programmers that integrated CAM not only makes sense, but you shouldn’t settle for anything less.

*HSMXpress requires SolidWorks 2009 or newer; and Microsoft® Windows XP®, Windows Vista®, Windows® 7 (General Release; 64-bit or 32-bit).

*Same 64-bit, Multi-core HSM CAM Kernel as HSMWorks.

*Industry leading toolpath quality for Basic Milling Machining including 2D Roughing and Pocketing, Drilling, Facing, Contouring, and more…

*Incredibly fast 64-bit JavaScript-based Post Processor System including many generic posts.

*All CAM data stored in your Part (.SLDPRT) or Assembly (.SLDASM) files.
(They have listed this twice so it must be important )

And from the HSMWorks email newsletter published by NexGenCam(A HSMWorks VAR).
It is fully functional. It includes all 2D Milling toolpaths, including our powerful 2D Adaptive Clearing technology. It will simulate, post process and transmit G-code to your machine and includes the most common CNC machine post processors.
If you have SolidWorks and agree to a simple and sensible licensing agreement you can use HSMXPress commercially, privately or in an educational institute. Learn. Have fun. Make money.

Conclusion…
As I stated in my CAMWorksXpress conclusion, this product is defiantly worth testing out if you are looking for some basic CAM.
As to compare HSMXpress vs. CAMWorksXpress well, HSMXpress is free…

(We have talked about HSMWorks here on cadcamstuff before. Check out this list if interested).

CAD Backup:

This podcast covers strategies, methodologies, and options to ensure that your CAD data is being backed up by you or those parties within the company that should.  Topics covered:

- The definition of backup

- 3-2-1 Backup strategy

- IT or Me?

- Roll-your-own or off-the-shelf (what to avoid)

- Local copies vs Cloud (best mix?)

- Is PDM backup?

- Making a plan

Backup. It is not a flash topic or one that typically draws out excitement from those who wield a mad CAD system and create gigabytes of data a week.  Statistically we do not backup as a mass content creating culture and the most unfortunate part about it is the devices we store our data on WILL fail one day.  Even those of us who do backup or important files don't check our backups regularly or follow a plan to ensure we have more than just one other copy.

For those of us whose employers staff IT, there is a belief that they must be doing the backup for us somehow but when files go missing we come to find out that only the network or certain shared drives were in the backup loop.  Losing data or precious time in our projects is never fun but can be avoided with a few simple steps of automation!

So make sure you get your 3 copies on 2 media and 1 copy offsite.  If you are not sure if your company backs up, ASK!  I know we all have been bitten before so get this process automated and get piece of mind. Less stress makes us better engineers! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

5 SolidWorks Tips that may possible be helpful kick starting your 3D day.

1. You can control the component color in Hidden Lines Removed View in an assembly with the parts or the assembly. Select View, Display, and select or clear ‘Use component color in HLR/HLV.’ A rebuild is required for the display to update.

2. Cosmetic threads are able to follow tapered holes as well as simple thru holes.

3. You can use the convert entity sketch tool in a 3D sketch.

4. When creating a curve through free points, you can use a simple text file with x,y,z coordinate separated by commas.

5. You can hide/show surfaces and solid bodies in a SolidWorks model from the FeatureManager design tree or shortcut menus in the graphics area. Since the models are invisible when hidden, it is often easier to use View, Hide/Show Bodies to make the surface or solid bodies visible again.

Take an in-depth look at complex surface modeling >>

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With LET’S GO MANUFACTURE! spelled out on CAMWorksXpress website I think you can say that the express lane has been paved for this CAMWorks “light” version.

I picked out the following FAQ’s from CAMWorksXpress website.

What is CAMWorksXpress?
CAMWorksXpress is the new and easy to use CAM package that offers seamless integration within SolidWorks and the flexibility to explore and utilize the highly powerful features required for machining your parts efficiently.

Is SolidWorks required to run CAMWorksXpress?
Yes. Currently CAMWorksXpress is available only as an add-in on SolidWorks.

What are the supported operating systems?
CAMWorksXpress is a Windows operating system based software program. It is designed to run on both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista and Win 7 operating systems running either SolidWorks 2010 or 2011.

Is there a demo/trial version available?
Yes, we offer free 30-days trial version (both 32-bit and 64-bit) of CAMWorksXpress. Before downloading the trial version, you need to register on our website www.camworksxpress.com . Click on the ‘Download free demo’ icon to access the free download of our powerful CAM software.

How do I get technical support for CAMWorksXpress?
We provide effective email support. For any technical assistance or query, write to us at support@camworksxpress.com

How can I buy CAMWorksXpress?
CAMWorksXpress can be purchased online. Visit our website www.camworksxpress.com, register and click on the link: ‘Buy Now’

And the price?…

Conclusion…
This product is defiantly worth testing if you are looking for some basic CAM. The website is set up to for fill some nice valid content with video tutorials, blog and a user forum.

With all of the speculation about SolidWorks V6, a new SolidWorks based on the modelling power of Catia V6, it’s interesting to envisage some of the capabilities that may become available to SolidWorks users via this transition. One of these include sketching tools like Catia Natural Sketch which was announced by Dassault Systemes last week.

 

Though sketching applications are not new and have been available to designers and engineers for many years Catia Natural Sketch turns the traditional approach on its head by incorporating the use of 2D hand painting gestures with the accuracy of 3D modelling, thus combining the power of both worlds into the one application.

 

 

This advancement means that sketches that would traditionally be 2D now have depth and volume thus meaning that geometry issues can be identified earlier not only resulting in a more efficient process but also better designs.

 

As mentioned earlier, and as SolidWorks users at Produkt Design, we can only wait in anticipation to see exactly what comes of SolidWorks V6 but looking at the development path of Catia V6 things are looking bright for the future.

5 SolidWorks Tips that may possible be helpful kick starting your 3D day.

1. You can step through the creation sequence of a part by clicking the Rollback bar in the FeatureManager design tree, then pressing the up and down arrow keys. To enable this function, select Tools, System Options, FeatureManager, and click Arrow Key Navigation.

2. You can change the orientation of all standard views for a part or assembly. In the View Orientation dialog box, click the name of the standard view that you want assigned to the current orientation, then click Update. The standard views are updated to reflect the new orientation.

3. You can see simple measurements of selected entities in the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen. For more complex measurements, use the Measure command.

4. You can change the angle increment used when rotating a model with the arrow keys. Click Tools, Options, System Options, View, and specify the Arrow Keys value under View Rotation.

5. You can use mathematical and trigonometric operations, such as *,/,+,-, or sin(45deg) when entering a dimension value. You can also use parentheses to define the order of operations.

With everything that’s been happening lately it’s been hard to keep our website up to date, though we hope this will change over the coming weeks. One of the key announcements we missed posting earlier was that SolidWorks 2012 is available for customers to download, in fact this news is so old that 2012 SP1 is available.

 

 Including improvements across most of the toolset it seems like another release where SolidWorks has been tuned to improve many existing tools and the way they’re used rather than the addition of many new tools.

 

Having said that however a number of innovative tools have been added including a costing module for machined and sheetmetal parts, large design review features and the feature freeze tool that was due to be included in 2011 but was however delayed pending some fine tuning and released in 2012.

 

For a good overview see the above video and check our blog in the coming days as we release more specific information regarding some of the new features and functionality.

 

In the meantime if you’d like some assistance with implementing SolidWorks or optimizing your existing installation our engineers can assist no matter what industry and where you’re located.

 

Contact us using the form at the bottom of the page and read more about our SolidWorks services here.