SolidWorks 2009 SP2.0 EV…Now Available!
Just in time for Christmas! Yesterday, SolidWorks Corp. released the early visibility of SolidWorks 2009 SP2.0. You can download it from the customer portal as long as you are signed up for access to the early visibility program in you SolidWorks Customer Portal profile. If you are having any troubles seeing the EV download in the Customer Portal you might want to check out the post that I did when SolidWorks 2009 SP1.0 EV came out. You can expect the normal release of SolidWorks 2009 SP2.0 about 2 weeks from now.
To download this new release you can get it from the Downloads and Updates section of the SolidWorks Customer Portal.
Keep an eye on the Fixed SPR’s page for a list of the items changed in SolidWorks 2009 SP2.0. NOTE: It had not been published at the time of this post.
All I Want for Christmas Is…These 10 SolidWorks Enhancements
I think it actually says something about 2 front teeth, but SolidWorks is giving everyone the opportunity to vote on their own SolidWorks enhancement wish list that they will be able to sink their teeth into come February at SolidWorks WORLD. Every year, at the Wednesday general session, SolidWorks announces the top 10 enhancement wish list that is compiled during the first 3 days of the conference. This year you will be able to vote on what you would like to see in the next release of SolidWorks whether you will be in sunny Orlando, Florida in February or not. Yesterday, SolidWorks introduced a new web page that will allow you to vote on your top 10 SolidWorks enhancements. The one catch to this new offer is that you need to be a subscription customer with a SolidWorks Customer Portal log in.
This new site is AWESOME! It allows you to browse around and see what other users are requesting and vote on theirs, submit your own new enhancement request, see the most popular and the most recent requests that have been submitted. They have also broken down all of the enhancement requests into individual categories and also have included a search box that will allow you search for the special key words that you may be looking for. You can see some of these features in the screen shot I have added below.
So, if you have ever said to yourself, man I wish SolidWorks would do this or do that here is your chance to make your voice heard. Head over to this site (which will be up until SolidWorks WORLD in February) right now and start voting and submitting. Here is your chance!
On a side note I can see a site like this being really awesome for enhancements requests throughout the year, not just for SolidWorks WORLD. I am hoping that SolidWorks is thinking about and looking into making these site available all year for those requests that you are submitting on a day to day basis. This would be a great way for SolidWorks to listen to their users all year long.
Can’t Be There? Follow Along Easily Online!
WOW! It feels good to get back on here again and write a blog post. I have actually gotten swamped with work and some side jobs the past couple of weeks (which is a good thing). I think I may be through the eye of the storm for now so hopefully I will be able to get some more posts on here on a regular basis.
As most of you know SolidWorks WORLD 2009 is right around the corner (only 53 days away to be exact) and I, for one, am really looking forward to getting out of the cold and blustery Midwest and heading down to sunny Orlando, Florida. However, with everything that our country and economy is going thru right now I am interested to see what kind of turnout there will be this year for the event. Well, whether you are in Orlando or not come February 8, you will find this awesome new web page extremely useful and informative from now until well beyond the end of SolidWorks WORLD. The SolidWorks WORLD 2009 has added a page called “Community News” (bottom tab on image below) that is aggregating all of the SolidWorks WORLD 2009 blog posts from the “blog squad” and all of the SolidWorks WORLD discussions that have been going on on Twitter.
This is going to be a great place to follow along with all of the breaking news before and during SolidWorks WORLD and also get great reviews of the conference after it is all done (that will be a sad day). Check it out NOW, bookmark it and visit it every day to see what the latest buzz is about this great conference coming up.
Orlando or Bust…The Interview
As most of you know by now I have been doing a series of posts on how to get your management to send you to SolidWorks WORLD 2009 in Orlando, Florida. I had the chance to pick a couple of SolidWorks employees brains lately and put together an interview with them that I could share with you. I believe it is pretty straight forward with the questions and answers so I hope you enjoy.
Q.) Tell us who you are and what your position is at SolidWorks Corporation?
Darren Henry, Director of Product Marketing.
Jeremy Regnerus, Product Marketing Manager
- We create both the online content such as videos and demonstrations, as well as keep our global technical sales force up to date on industry trends and innovations. We also equip the same sales force with compelling presentations to deliver both to new prospects, as well as existing customers with new content with each release of SolidWorks (knows as What’s New Presentations).
Q.) How many SolidWorks WORLD events have you attended?
Darren – I have attended them all. I have been with SolidWorks a long time, and have been fortunate enough to witness SolidWorks World grow from a few hundred people to the thousands we now meet with every year.
Jeremy – In all 6 times.
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I have actually attended SolidWorks World in several capacities
- San Diego 2008 I attended World as a SolidWorks Employee
- New Orleans 2007 & Orlando 2003 as a Customer
- Vegas 2006, Orlando 2005 & Boston 2004 as a SolidWorks Reseller
Q.) What role do you play before and at SolidWorks WORLD? (i.e. planning, presenting, hands on sessions, etc.)
Darren – I am part of the team that builds the corporate demonstrations, and video content around the SolidWorks product offerings. Many people would recognize our team as the ones that show the preview the next release of SolidWorks on stage at SolidWorks World. Around this time of year, we begin thinking of fun ways in which to showcase our next release. It’s a very exciting time for us, because we are some of the first people who get to use the new software.
Q.) What is your favorite part about SolidWorks WORLD every year?
Jeremy – As a customer and a SolidWorks reseller, I think the networking with other SolidWorks users and learning from their personal experiences is both interesting, but also rewarding in terms of being able to take back home a new found knowledge. This is usually in the Partner Pavilion, and that is also one of my favorite parts. Getting to see and try all of the new technology, and possibly finding a new way to do something that was challenging before.
Q.) How would you convince the management at your company to send YOU to SolidWorks WORLD 2009? (in a non SolidWorks Corp. employee perspective)
Darren – The number one thing a designer should do to convince management to send him/her to SolidWorks World is simply ask. Good managers and executives are concerned about both increasing productivity and developing the skills of their employees. SolidWorks world is really a unique event in that it does both. The 150 technical breakout sessions are actually in-depth training. There is no better way to increase your proficiency on the software than to attend these sessions. There are also multiple opportunities to have one-on-one discussions with product specialists. By simply describing your process, there is a great chance that we can show you alternative methods of design that will result in higher efficiency and productivity. There are so many reasons to go. But first, you need to ask.
Q.) What in your personal opinion is the single greatest benefit of attending SolidWorks WORLD?
Jeremy – The new found pieces of knowledge that I walk away with every year. In an environment such as this, it is nearly impossible not to walk away without having learned something new that will benefit you. Even as a SolidWorks Employee I still find new things each year.
Q.) What is your best memory from a previous SolidWorks WORLD that you attended?
Darren – My favorite memory of SolidWorks World reoccurs every year. On day three, when they open the general auditorium doors, it gives me goose bumps to see the attendees literally run to their chairs. It really is rewarding for all of us at SolidWorks. I would have never fathomed a software company could generate that much enthusiastic energy.
Jeremy -
- I would have to say it is a tough match between two memories. In New Orleans I went to SolidWorks as a customer. General Purpose Vehicles. In that year we took one of our Homeland Security Vehicles that had been used in the rescue efforts of Hurricane Katrina. Actually being there with a vehicle that I had worked on was very rewarding, and to see the reaction from people by its sheer size and technology that had been incorporated into the vehicle. Some people were a bit intimidated by it having military connotation, but in the end it was easily to explain that the goals of the company were protection, and rescue.
- The other, this same year would have to be winning the Model Mania Design Contest for a second time. This challenging event is one that I think strikes home with a lot of the people who attend this event. A challenge that both test knowledge of the software, but also design challenges. I think it’s inside of every engineer to challenge themselves everyday; this type of event feeds that desire.
Q.) What advice would you give a 1st time attendee?
Darren – Register for your breakout sessions early and introduce yourself to everyone you see. Do not be shy, we are a community that is there to help you. Bring your work on a pen drive, and ask people how they would approach your design challenges.
Q.) What advice would you give a seasoned SolidWorks WORLD veteran?
Jeremy – I would take a look at what you’ve spent time with in years past, and try to diversify your plan of action this year. In this way, you’ll most likely be walking away from the event with a whole new set of knowledge that you never got a chance to see last year. Some would be concerned about missing that session, that’s a lot like last year’s. However, chances are, you will learn a great deal more from attending a much different set of session than the previous year. At most there might be 25% new content over a session you attended last year. In this way alternating sessions year to year adds 50% more value to twice as many sessions!
Q.) Are there any “special” details that you can leak to RockSolid Perspective exclusively about SolidWorks WORLD 2009?
Jeremy – Certified SolidWorks Professionals usually know there’s a pretty good time in store for their achievements at SolidWorks World with an offsite event. However, this year’s Off Site event will prove to be wildly different than anything they’ve done in the past.
I hope this gives you some additional insight about what SolidWorks WORLD is all about. Also, if you see either Jeremy or Darren this year at SolidWorks WORLD please introduce yourself to them and let them know that you read this. They are a complete pleasure to talk to and I am sure that they would love to meet you, the users.
If you are still having some trouble convincing your management there is a post on the SolidWorks Discussion Forums about “SolidWorks WORLD 2009 Justification” that would be a great resource for all people trying to get to WORLD this year despite the economic down turn.
SolidWorks Labs is at it Again…Treehouse
SolidWorks Labs has again released a really cool and useful new product that is available for you to download. A while back there was a lot of buzz about another SolidWorks Labs project called Presentation Studio which allows you to easily create a 3D PDF of your design so that you can send it off to your customer for easy communication. Not to be outdone, they have released another great product that will benefit a lot of companies. This new product is called Treehouse which allows you to completely lay out your entire SolidWorks assembly without even having to fire up SolidWorks. Below I have attached a screen shot of the product web page that goes a little more in depth of what this tool allows you to do.
Here is what I envision this product being REALLY useful for, at least for the company that I work at. Your company has just gotten a big project and it has been handed to the Director of Engineering. Instead of him having to relay everything they are thinking of for this project to the designer, they can now completely lay it out, including file names and custom properties, before they even lets the designer know that this project exists. Not only will a lot of the “grunt” work be done already but it will be easy to convey ideas during a pre-design meeting.
Once you export the tree structure out to SolidWorks you will have all of your documents created already and all of your parts will be inserted into an assembly under defined (except for the first file which will be fixed inside of the assembly).
This is a really nice tool and you owe it to yourself to check it out and see what it can offer your design group.
Here’s Your Chance…Become a CSWP for Free!
Over the past year or so SolidWorks has been offering some great deals for you to get your CSWP or CSWA certifications. The latest deal is something that you will not want to miss, especially if you are planning on going to SolidWorks WORLD this year is Orlando, Florida. If you are a subscription service customer and would like to become a CSWP or CSWA you are entitled to 1 free exam if you sign up before December 31, 2008.
You can also use this offer to redeem a free CSWP-SMTL or CSWP-CDES certification exam.
Now you are probably asking yourself…first, what in the world does a CSWP or a CSWA exam do for you and second, what does that have to do with SolidWorks WORLD. To answer your first question you can check out exactly what the CSWP and CSWA certifications are by clicking on their respective names. What does it do for you…well I have heard stories of a CSWP’s application being in a rather large stack of applications for a certain job and his app was moved to the top because of his certification. It also is good for your respective company to be able to tell current and prospective customers that they have a certified CAD designer on staff. And also, it gives you the right to brag about how great of a SolidWorks user you are (or something like that).
Now to answer your second question…what does all of this have to do with SolidWorks WORLD. Well every year on the Monday night of the conference SolidWorks puts together an unbelievable event that is only available to CSWP members. This year I have heard rumors that the CSWP event will be second to none. So if you are not a CSWP yet or are interested in expanding your certifications click on the picture below to get all of the information that you need.
Ultra Cool SolidWorks Animation
A couple of weeks ago I was browsing around YouTube for some SolidWorks videos and stumbled on this old but awesome SolidWorks animation done by Mark Biasotti. Mark is known as the surfacing guru at SolidWorks Corporation (so I have been told) and after seeing this video again I know why. This video peaked my interest and I wanted to find out some more of the back ground information about it so I contacted Mark and here is what he sent back to me, word for word. Enjoy!
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The “Kill another CAD Process” Video was first presented at SolidWorks World 2003 in Orlando, Florida. I created it in the fall of 2002 while I was still a SW customer and working at IDEO. I built the Aston Martin Vanquish V12 on SW 2003 beta and it took me almost 3 months to complete the car itself. It is by far the most difficult model that I have ever built. I remember a meeting with Mike Payne a couple of years earlier when I was lobbying SW hard to get more surfacing capabilities into their product, where he espoused “Mark – we (SW) don’t do planes, trains, or automobiles!” Little did he know what I (and not many others) have attempted to do.
When I was creating the Vanquish, I remember that there was a fatal bug in the beta version that if not overcomed, the film would have never happened. In December the car model was almost finished but the file had become corrupt to the point that just passing my cursor over one of the features in the FeatureManager crashed SW. I sent the model to Jim Wilkinson (then in Tech Support) and in a few days, got back my Christmas Gift on Christmas Eve 2002; a fixed, and rebuilt version of the file. From this point on I could go forward and complete the film for SWW. I brought the 8 minute film to SolidWorks World on DVD without SolidWorks’ knowledge. On Monday afternoon, I showed the film to Jim, Scott Harris, and a few others and they in turn showed it to Johnny Mac (John McEleney) and Vic Leventhal and by that afternoon, decided to show it the next morning in the general session. It goes without saying that the showing of it was an extremely gratifying moment for me.
The film shown at WORLD, is not the film that is distributed today. The original version of it has only been shown once (at SWW2003) and since then I edited it to eliminate the names of the antagonists in the film, which were AutoDesk, EDS (now Siemens-UG) and PTC to be more innocuous names. These three antagonists were represented by the Bell helicopter gunship, the FA118A Stealth fighter and the Hummer respectively. The film, of course, is a parody on the James Bond film that came out in late 2002 call “Die Another Day” and which features the real Aston Martin. Another hurdle to showing the film was to make sure that I was not violating any copyright laws with Aston Martin. I did contact their head of Engineering, but that really did not go anywhere so I worked out a disclaimer with our IDEO lawyer that is stated at the beginning of the film.
In addition to the Protagonist star of the film, the Vanquish, which was modeled in SolidWorks 2003, the rest of the film was made possible using LightWave3d, and final composite is in Adobe After Effects. You might not know it but the creators of our newest rendering product PhotoView 360 was created by the principle founders and architects of Lightwave3D, Luxology in San Mateo, California. I learned to use Lightwave3d at IDEO to step up the rendering and animation capabilities of the company and what we wanted to present our clients. When a small group of us here at SW were looking into new rendering technologies last year, Luxology was on the short list we wanted to pursue and Joe Dunne was responsible in establishing a relationship with them; of course, with my full blessing and enthusiasm. I think it was a good choice and I look forward to seeing what my next film could be given the partnership we now have with them.
The next “production” that I did, along these lines, was for SolidWorks World 2007 in New Orleans call “Better Products for the Future” in which, again, I used the combination of SolidWorks, Lightwave3D and After Effect to create. You can download it here: http://files.solidworks.com/special-videos/better-products-for-the-future.wmv
For a few years now, I have had an idea for another film that I want to do along the lines and would be way over the top, but demands of SolidWorks (and our customers) have precluded me from doing it. Perhaps I’ll have to take a sabbatical in 2009 and present it at SolidWorks WORLD 2010.
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On top of all of this great information Mark gave me some additional links to check out so I am passing them on to you. Check these out:
- You can view the hi-res version of the film here: http://files.solidworks.com/special-videos/kacp.wmv
- You can also get the poster (suitable for printing) here: http://files.solidworks.com/special-videos/KAC-for-print.zip
- Or the wallpaper for your windows desktop: http://files.solidworks.com/special-videos/KAC wallpaper.zip
Be sure you check this stuff out and if you hear anything about Mark taking a sabbatical during 2009 I would make sure you sign up immediately for SolidWorks WORLD 2010.
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