sww10 – solidworks 2011 preview
As many of you know, the Wednesday General Session at SolidWorks WORLD is one of the most anticipated sessions every year because you get to see a sneak peak at the next major release of the software. This year, like many others did not disappoint. Below you can find a list of the enhancements that were shown at SolidWorks WORLD 2010 for the SolidWorks 2011 release. Here are some of the top enhancements that I am looking forward to it SolidWorks 2011 and the guys that fought it out doing the preview.
vs. 
- Memory Usage Enhancements
- As has been the theme the last couple of years it looks like once again the developers have put a focus on making the product better and not just about adding new features. The graph the was shown showed around a 460MB usage savings on a model between SolidWorks 2010 and SolidWorks 2011.
- Reliability Enhancements
- As with memory usage, it looks like reliability was thankfully taken serious again this year at SolidWorks Corp. as the chart showed almost a double in reliability from SolidWorks 2010 to SolidWorks 2011.
- Feature Lock
- This is no doubt my front runner for most anticipated NEW feature in SolidWorks 2011. This feature will allow the user to place a lock in his/her feature tree and none of the features listed above the lock will be rebuilt until the lock is moved or removed.
- Cut Sweep in Assembly
- I can imagine some great opportunities to use the new feature in my daily design. In previous releases you could mainly only do an extruded or revolved cut. In 2011 you can add a cut sweep to that as well.
- Extrude Revolve Up to Surface
- How many times have you done this. Create an extrude revolve and then have to thumb wheel your preview until you get up to a surface. I have and starting in SolidWorks 2011 you will be able to just select “Up to Surface” as your end condition and be done with it.
- Thumb Wheel to Change Spacing of Dimensions
- I am always a sucker for making this quicker to access so I enjoy seeing the ability to change the spacing between your dimensions with the thumb wheel on your mouse.
- De-feature to Remove Internal Features of a Part in Assemblies
- De-feature, huh? This will allow you to “dumb” down your design before you send it off to a customer in order to protect your data and I am sure make the file size smaller. You can select certain features or outside faces and let SolidWorks “dumb” down the rest of your model before you publish it to the world.
- Walk Thru Functionality in Assemblies
- Not sure this is something I will use but I think it is cool to have the ability to do it anyways. If nothing else, it will be fun to play with for me. This new feature allows you to walk through your design similar to the way you would in a video game.
- Dual Dimensions Allowed in Hole Table
- You can never have to much information right. In SolidWorks 2011 you will be able to show dual dimensions in your hole tables.
- PhotoView 360 Preview Inside SolidWorks
- ALT-Tab, ALT-Tab, ALT-Tab…no more. No longer will you need to switch back and forth as much between windows when working on a rendering. PhotoView 360 will have a preview window right inside SolidWorks beginning in SolidWorks 2011.
The Rest of the Enhancements Previewed
- Display Manager
- Customizable real view
- Pre rendered animations
- Planar simulation
- Chamfers and fillets for weld prep
- Weld gaps with actual geometry
- Multiple piping enhancements
- Dimensions spaced evenly and in the right view (on new views, or to correct existing views)
- Weld tables in drawings
- Automatic weld callouts
Now keep in mind, these are just a preview of some of the enhancements. There will be many more coming August/September when the NDA is lifted.
big news from 3dconnexion
3Dconnexion has reason to celebrate last week at SolidWorks WORLD 2010 in Anaheim. They announced the release of a new driver for their 3D mice products that allow the user to automatically rotate around the center of the screen or around the users desired point of interest. Read the official press release below.
——————–
3Dconnexion Announces the Next Step in Intelligent 3D Navigation for SolidWorks Users
Newest Update Allows 3D Mice to Automatically Follow Point of Interest for Smarter Model Design Work
ANAHEIM, Calif. (SolidWorks World, Booth 201) – Feb. 1, 2010 – 3Dconnexion today announced new 3D mouse capabilities for SolidWorks, bringing increased navigation intelligence to the design process. With this new feature, 3Dconnexion 3D mice can now automatically follow a designer’s point of interest and continuously determine the optimal center of rotation, enabling an easier and more intuitive exploration of the largest models and the smallest details. In addition, the center of rotation can now be seen at all times via an icon, further enhancing the navigation experience.
3Dconnexion will be demonstrating the new intelligent navigation feature in Booth 201 at SolidWorks World in Anaheim, Calif., Jan. 31 – Feb. 3, 2010.
“Previously, SolidWorks users had to zoom in fairly close and manually select a new center of rotation. We have listened to the feedback of our customers to provide designers with total control over the point of interest,” said Dieter Neujahr, president of 3Dconnexion. “By automatically establishing and displaying the optimal center of rotation, designers are now free to focus on design creativity and flexibility when using 3D mice in SolidWorks.”
When using the new update, two modes of setting the center of rotation are available. The new Auto Rotation Center sets the center of rotation to a point on the model that is nearest to the display screen center, particularly useful for use at higher zoom levels. For additional control, users can easily pick a new center of rotation point on the 3D model to suit the design task.
Availability
The new feature will be available in late February via a free 3DxWare software update, and will support SolidWorks 2005 – 2010 on Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, and Windows 7 across the entire product line. The 3Dconnexion product line includes the Professional Series with the new SpacePilot PRO (MSRP $399), SpacePilot™ (MSRP $299 with promotion) and SpaceExplorer™ (MSRP $299), and the Standard Series with the SpaceNavigator (MSRP $99) and SpaceNavigator for Notebooks (MSRP $129). For additional information, visit www.3Dconnexion.com.
About 3D Mice
3Dconnexion 3D mice deliver a level of comfort and control that is not possible with a traditional mouse and keyboard. Users engage both hands in a balanced and cooperative work style with one hand using the 3D mouse to position the model, while the other hand simultaneously uses the traditional mouse to select, create or edit. By spreading the workload across both hands, users experience productivity increases of more than 20 percent as well as a more comfortable working experience by reducing traditional mouse clicks by up to 50 percent.
About 3Dconnexion, a Logitech Company
3Dconnexion, a wholly owned subsidiary of Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (Nasdaq: LOGI), is the leading provider of 3D mice for 3D design and visualization. 3Dconnexion devices support today’s most popular and powerful 3D applications by offering users a more intuitive and natural way to interact with computer-generated 3D content. 3Dconnexion’s award-winning 3D mice serve a wide variety of industries and are used by 3D designers, animators and artists worldwide. 3Dconnexion is headquartered in Fremont, Calif. with European headquarters in Seefeld, Germany and offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.3Dconnexion.com.
——————–
My $.02
As someone who has been beta testing this new feature for over a month now I think that this is one of the best features I have seen come out of 3Dconnexion. I absolutely love the ability to automatically rotate around the center of my screen no matter where I am working inside my model. This new driver should work for all of your 3Dconnexion products so I encourage you to download this driver as soon as it is released later this month.
sww10 – partner pavilion…customer designs/products
sww10 – solidworks in the cloud…my take
So the BIG buzz word this week in Anaheim at SolidWorks WORLD 2010 was “cloud”. It caused some cheers, some eye rolls, and even some people mythically taking shots everytime that the word was spoken. But no matter how “cool” it is, the real question is how will it affect the daily user and will it be worth to change over to it. So, by hearing it talked about so much over the last 3 days I have been thinking about the effects it will have on me and you, the users, right? So let’s get started right away with some of bigger areas of it and what the advantages and disadvantages are of each area.
Computer Hardware
I think everyone out there realizes how expensive a “good” CAD station costs just in order to experience all of the benefits of the software. Here is where I think the “cloud” computing has a major advantage over the current setup. The software and hardware that you would need to utilize normally using SolidWorks would now be up in the cloud somewhere. From my understanding (and that is not all that good) you would now be able to effectively run SolidWorks on any computer setup. Maybe you need to work on the secretary’s computer for an afternoon, it shouldn’t matter as long as you have a good internet connection which is my next area of discussion. So as of right now…
Winner: SolidWorks in the Cloud
Internet Bandwidth
So how awesome will your internet service need to be in order to run this SolidWorks in the Cloud service. I can not give any nailed down numbers BUT I would imagine that it would need to be pretty high in order to run it. Now, personally, if the company that I work for would want to switch I would probably have no problems convincing them to up our internet service but what about when I take work home with me on the weekends, do I need it there too now? What about when all 15-30 engineers are running SolidWorks at the same time, what will that do to your internet connection. We, at least the CAD Administrators out there, all know the effect that downloading a new release of SP has on the internet so now what about when we are running huge programs off of it all day? So as of right now…
Winner: SolidWorks on the Desktop
Security
I know that this is a huge factor for many users out there and I was also extremely concerned about it when the announcement was made about cloud computing on Monday. But, since then, after hearing some explanation about this I think I have shifted over to the other side on this topic. Most companies think that their data is so safe with their current setup but it may be easier to actually get into your system than you think if you are running just a normal anti-virus like Norton or McAfee or even AVG. My personal feeling is that the cloud is probably a safer spot for your data than locally on your machine or your server. Along with this, all of your data, backups and everything, are stored off site so in case that natural disaster or fire happens you don’t loose everything you have done for the past 15 years. Now I probably will still need to see some more details but as of right now…
Winner: SolidWorks in the Cloud
Compatibility
What I really want to know is if I want to change over the my designers, do I need to change all of our machines over at 1 time or will I be able to work in the cloud & on the desktop at the same time. I think I would have a really hard time convincing management to just switch everything over but maybe if we did 1 at a time and could notice the benefits there might be a better chance. So as of right now…
Winner: Heck if I know, I need more information
3rd Party Applications
At our company we own 3 or 4 gold level partner solutions. How does cloud computing affect those products? I have some major concerns about how all of these things will work and how nice they will play together. I would imagine that all of this has been thought of before hand, at least I sure hope so. Again this comes back to whether or not I will be able to download my cloud files to a desktop so that I could open them up with my desktop 3rd party application.
Winner: Heck if I know, I need more information
Wrap-up
So there are some of the areas I have been thinking about the last few days. Now I realize there are more topics and concerns out there but this is my main list that I wanted to discuss. Also, keep in mind that I am only talking about SolidWorks in the cloud here, I will discuss PLM/PDM/PDS in the cloud in an upcoming post.
According to SolidWorks Corporation, we will begin to see some of these products released later this year.
sww10 – day 3…in pictures
sww10 – day 3
Well day 3 of SolidWorks is also now behind us and SolidWorks WORLD 2010 has drawn to a close. This year for some reason, more so than the last two years, seemed to just fly by. So many months of planning are now done and over with and now we will begin to look forward to SolidWorks 2011 and SolidWorks WORLD 2011. Here is another bulleted list of all the events that took place on Wednesday at the Anaheim Convention Center.
- General Session
- New SolidWorks online store
- Top 10 Enhancement Requests from SolidWorks Brainstorm
- Model Mania Winners
- Customer
- 1st – Nick Vande Waerdt – Kooima Company
- 2nd – Todd Newhouse – Cyan Optics
- 3rd – Michael Hess – mhda
- Reseller
- 1st – Darin Grosser – DASI Solutions / Jeremiah Davis – ModernTech Mechanical
- 2nd – Jason Pancoast – CAPINC
- Neil Custard – GoEngineer
- Customer
- SWUGN Awards
- User Group of the Year – New Hampshire SolidWorks User Group
- User Group Leader of the Year – Anne Yust – Twin Cities Simulation User Group
- SWUGN Lifetime Achievement Award – Rodney Hall – Catawba Valley SolidWorks User Group
- SolidWorks 2011 CAD Smackdown
- Jeremy “Big Rig” Regnerus vs. Ian “The Sledge Hammer” Hogg
- Preview of the new enhancements we can expect to see in SolidWorks 2011
- SolidWorks PLM
- SolidWorks Product Data Sharing
- Online product data sharing collaboration that we can expect to see later this year
- SolidWorks WORLD 2011 announcement
- January 23 – 26, 2011 in San Antonio, Texas
- Press conference with Bernard Charles, Jeff Ray, Fielder Hiss, and Austin O’Malley
- Partner Pavilion tour
- Breakout Session: Tackling Administrative Images – Adrian Fanjoy
- Breakout Session: Unemployed Models – Keep Them Working in Manufacturing – Dan Bertschi
So that wraps up another year at SolidWorks WORLD but the content is just beginning at RockSolid Perspective. Stay tuned for more in depth coverage of all the conferences big news and happenings.
sww10 – day 2…in pictures
sww10 – day 2
This conference is just flying by as day 2, Tuesday, of SolidWorks WORLD 2010 in now in the rear view mirror. Tuesday was another exciting day with a ton of buzz around the Anaheim Convention Center. Here is a bullet list breakdown of what Tuesday gave us at SolidWorks WORLD 2010.
- General Session
- Certification Team
- 25,000 Certified Users
- New CSWE Exam
- 3D Virtual Reality
- Jon Hirschtick interviews James Cameron
- James Cameron was a precision tool & die machinist in college
- James Cameron Press Conference
- Breakout Session: 10 Essentials You Must Understand to Use SolidWorks Effectively – Phil Sluder
- SWUGN Leaders Luncheon
- Breakout Session: SolidWorks Crashes & Slowdowns – It’s Not Always the Software – Jeff Mirisola
- Breakout Session: 10 Administrative Essentials for all SolidWorks Users – Matt Lombard
- Meeting with 3Dconnexion in the Partner Pavilion
- SolidWorks WORLD Event
- Aerosmith Cover Band
- 15 sweet cars
- Great food, drinks, and networking
Again, stay tuned for more detailed posts about all of these happenings. There is a lot of great stuff to write about, just no time to do it unfortunately.
sww10 – day 1…in pictures
Here are some pictures of the Monday morning General Session and 1 of the sign outside my presentation.
sww10 – day 1
So Monday is also now officially in the books and my head is still spinning from everything that happened on the first real day of SolidWorks WORLD 2010. I wanted to get something out to you about what happened but I will need to do individual posts on these things.
For times sake, here is a bulleted list (in order) of what happened on Sunday for me.
- General Session
- Dassault Systemes will be playing more of a role with SolidWorks in the future. Bernard Charles, CEO of Dassault, is around this week to promote that.
- SolidWorks “green” hot rod
- Runs on bus batteries
- 0 – 60 in 3.6 seconds
- Jeremy Luchini and Mike North (Prototype This) work on this project together
- SolidWorks in the Cloud
- Enough said
- James McLurkin
- Breakout Session: Tips, Tricks, & Things – Phil Sluder
- Lunch
- Breakout Session: In-Context Modeling: The Original Design Automation – me
- Breakout Session: Model like a Maniac – Mark Schneider
- Breakout Session: 11th Annual SWUGN Summit
- The West Michigan SolidWorks User Group is 1 of 5 groups nominated for User Group of the Year. It is great to see our group get recognized.
- We will find out on Wednesday at the General Session the final results
- The West Michigan SolidWorks User Group is 1 of 5 groups nominated for User Group of the Year. It is great to see our group get recognized.
- Press Dinner
- Great food, networking, and location. All around great event.
- CSWP Event
- Loud music, RC cars, drinks, and food. A geeks paradise, right?
I will probably be doing this sort of post every day and then going more in depth with some of this stuff in separate posts so stay tuned.
yahoo messenger
technorati
