a quick way to share your templates

March 9, 2010 by jason raak 5 Comments

One of the biggest responsibilities of being a SolidWorks administrator is to make sure that all of your users are using the same templates, right?  Well how do you handle that?  The generic answer would be to put all of your templates in a network folder and remap all of the SolidWorks file locations to that network location.  This is great but you will notice some lag when referencing files over a network like this.  So the best bet is to put the templates on the hard drive of each users computer but then how do you keep them updated.

Well I think I may have solved this problem at our company by creating a simple batch file that will run every time that the user logs in to his/her computer.  This idea was given to me from a local user that manages over 35 licenses of SolidWorks and probably closer to a 100 users (by using network licenses).

To create your batch file simply open a program like Notepad and right a command similar to the image below.  When using the xcopy command you will need to follow a format like this.

xcopy “source location” “destination location”

The symbols following that are command switches telling windows how to handle this situation.  To find out what these commands mean follow this link.  The last part of this command line writes a log file so that you can diagnose problems should they occur.

batch code

After you have written your command you will need to save the file somewhere that you can easily access.  My suggestion would be to great a “Batch Files” folder on your C: that you can save this file and any future batch files in.  To save a batch file, give it a file name and add a .BAT extension to the end of it.  Once you have saved your newly created batch file, RMB click on it and select Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).  You can see this in the image below.

send shortcut to desktop

After you have a shortcut to the file on your desktop, open up your Windows Startup folder.  You can do this by RMB clicking the “Startup” and select Open Folder.  Now drag the shortcut from your desktop into the Startup folder.

startup folder

Once it is in there, RMB click the shortcut and select Properties.  In the Run dropdown, select Minimized.  This will make it less obvious during startup that this is running.

run minimized

By doing this, you can now be no further than a day behind to in working off of the same files.  I don’t know about you but I would rather have the lag at startup as opposed to when I am working on a design.  As a SolidWorks administrator this can save you many headaches.

Please feel free to drop me a comment and let me know how you handle your SolidWorks templates.

 

Filed under solidworks tips

dassault systemes on the iphone

March 1, 2010 by jason raak Leave a Comment

3Dvia-Iphone-app1 One of the big new technological advances is the mobile device, whether it be the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or the Android phone (I know I have missed others so save the comments).  I have heard many engineers, especially at SolidWorks WORLD this year, ask for the ability to view their data on their mobile devices while they are on the go.

While at SWW10 this year I asked an employee that was previously involved with SolidWorks Labs if there was any research done with making native SolidWorks files available on mobile devices.  The response I got was that it was being looked at, however, the hold up was where is the data stored and the size of the files because of the size limitations on the mobile device.  These are both viable areas of concern.

Over the weekend I decided to search the App Store on my iPhone for Dassault Systemes apps and was surprised to see 3 apps out there from SolidWorks parent company.  Here are the products currently available from Dassault Systemes in the Apple App Store.

All of this makes me wonder if a native SolidWorks app can be too far down the road.  Even over the concerns that the SolidWorks employee mentioned it looks as if Dassault is figuring some of these things out.  All of this along with the closer intergration between Dassault Systemes and SolidWorks Corporation make me wonder if this is closer than many think.  I, for one, sure hope so.

Here are some of my ideas for SolidWorks apps (Apps, not mobile sites that I need to open my browser for).

  • Mobile SolidWorks Forums
  • eDrawings
  • PDM or PDS program

Let me know some of the SolidWorks apps or programs you would like to see on your mobile device.

Filed under misc. randoms & rants

solidworks mac / cloud update

March 1, 2010 by jason raak Leave a Comment

solidworks cloud

So the buzz about SolidWorks in the cloud and on the Mac is still a hot topic in the SolidWorks community so I wanted to give you a little of an update on timing of these products.

On the main stage during the General Session on Monday at SolidWorks WORLD 2010, SolidWorks Corporation showed off a “technology preview” of some projects that the development team have been and are working on.  These new products are being built off of the cloud computing functionality that is quickly becoming the standard in the computing industry.  The statement was made during the presentation that some of these ideas would be included in and shipped in products later this year.  So to clear up any questions or open holes from this statement I sent a quick email to Fielder Hiss, Vice President of Product Management at SolidWorks Corporation, and this is what he sent back to me.

On day 1 we showed a technology preview of different components that were built to leverage the cloud to solve design challenges.  As of today we have not yet decided how these technology components  will make their way into products or do we have a timeframe. 

On day 3 we talked about SolidWorks PLM and showed the first online service called Product Data Sharing.  This online, or cloud service, we expect to be available by the end of the year.

So, for all of you SolidWorks on a Mac or SolidWorks in the cloud hopeful you might have to wait some time to see where this all ends up.  This demonstration was strictly a look into what the development team is working on and I expect to see some of this functionality slowly get filtered into new and existing products that SolidWorks offers to its users in the future.

Let me know what you think of SolidWorks showing off products on the main stage that are still probably more than a couple of years away.  Was this a good move by SolidWorks or not?  I am interested to hear your thoughts.

Filed under solidworks previews

making splines work in manufacturing

February 17, 2010 by jason raak 3 Comments

Every once in a while you run into something that you couldn’t foresee having problems with.  We ran into this over the past couple of days.

The Problem

When trying to machine a profile that has a spline in it, we would end up with a jagged surface that was not desirable for our end product.  If you can imagine, it looked like a bunch of tiny flats that flow into each other to give you your splined surface.  We wanted an end condition of a nice smooth surface.

The Solution

After some research and testing, it was determined that spline sketch entities were the cause of this problem.  I was hoping that SolidWorks offered some sort of a spline to arc conversion but could not find anything so this is the solution that we came up with.

1.)  Start with your original sketch with the spline sketch entities in it.

step 1

2.)  Select your spline sketch entity > go to Insert > Reference Geometry > Point.  Select the last option which is “Along curve distance or multiple reference points” and then select the last radio button which is “Evenly Distribute”.  Now enter in the number of points you would like to space evenly along your spline.  The higher the number the more accurate your end result will match the spline.

step 2

3.)  Start a new sketch on the same plane as your original > select all of the entities in your original sketch but DO NOT select the spline sketch entity.

step 3

4.)  Hide your original sketch and do multiple 3 point arcs between the points.  For example, Point 1 to Point 3 with a center selection of Point 2.

step 4

5.)  Delete any tangent relations that are automatically added.

step 5

6.)  Repeat step 4 until your sketch is fully closed by adding all of your 3 point arcs.

step 6

Your end result should look similar to the picture below.

step 7

Now you have a profile that you will be able to work with and also but able to machine into a nice clean surface.  One thing to remember is that the more points you add to the spline, the closer your 3 point arcs will match the original spline profile.

step 8

I hope that all of that made sense, if you have any questions or having another way of doing this feel free to drop me a comment.  Eventually I hope would hope that SolidWorks would find a way to automate this process as it seems that I am not the only one that has run into this after scouring the SolidWorks Forums the past couple of days for a solution.

Filed under solidworks tips

dimension palette fiasco

February 11, 2010 by jason raak 15 Comments

The Story

This year I did an internal what’s new in SolidWorks 2010 rollout for the users at the company I work at.  One of the features I was really excited to show off was the new dimension palette because I saw a ton of potential with this new addition.  When I got around to the drawings portion of my “show” and the dimension palette popped up there was a room full of ooh’s and ahh’s.  They all seemed to like it as well as I did, but then the wheels fell off…they started making drawings in production.

The Problem

It seemed as if the palette would appear in the exact locations that you would not want it to and it supposedly became more of an annoyance than what it was worth.

The Solution

Well, a co-worker of mine tipped me off on to a SolidWorks Forums thread that has a solution to turn off the dimension palette.  So here is what you need to do (straight from Jim “Wilkie” Wilkinson of SolidWorks Corp.).

  1. Make sure SolidWorks is not running
  2. Double click the desired registry file (“off” to disable or “on” to enable)
  3. Click Yes and then OK to the messages to load the setting into the registry
  4. Start up SolidWorks

So here are the registry files you will need to do this process.  Download them to your desktop in order to run them.

Take note that these registry files are straight from Wilkie, all that I did was download them and then upload them to my file sharing site.  You can find the same files in the thread linked above.

My $0.02

I think this is a copt-out.  As with many new features in the software, some time is required using it in order to see the full benefits of it.  I heard similar rumblings before and after 6 months of use or so I hear comments like “I really like this feature now” or “I can’t believe how I worked before this was available”.  I like the fact that SolidWorks is listening to its users and coming up with work-arounds for issues like this but WHERE do they stop once this door has been open?

In each release of the software will we expect every new feature to have a on/off switch?  I ask this because for every new feature there is someone out there that doesn’t like change and is unwilling to “get used to it” and see the benefits.  Now I can see possibly adding something to the following major release of the software if the dislike continues but somewhere a line needs to be drawn.  Are you, as a user, willing to get bloated software because SolidWorks needs to write code for an on/off switch for everything.  I, for one, am not.

RANT OVER!!!

I accept no responsibility for an problems you may occur when making changes to your registry.  Use at your OWN risk!

Filed under solidworks tips

photoview 360 and modo 401 customer story

February 10, 2010 by jason raak Leave a Comment

One of the coolest things I think about SolidWorks WORLD is seeing how others are using the software.  Last week I received the below press release from Luxology about how some clients are using PhotoView 360 and modo 401 to open new doors.  Check it out and maybe, just maybe, it will trigger some ideas that will benefit your company in the future.

modo 401 logo

SolidWorks PhotoView 360 and Luxology’s modo 401 Open New Doors for Mechanical Engineering Designers

Designers Stuart Brown and Paul McCrorey Produce High-Quality Visualizations with SolidWorks Models

ANAHEIM, Calif., SolidWorks World - Feb. 1, 2010 - Industrial designers are achieving photorealistic imaging results from designs modeled in Solidworks 2010 and visualized in Solidworks PhotoView 360 and Luxology®’s modo® software. PhotoView 360, which is bundled with the SolidWorks Premium and Professional 2010 editions, offers ease of use for rapid design visualization while modo offers maximum control over design visualization parameters with advanced features like animation.

SolidWorks users Stuart Brown and Paul McCrorey have recently tapped the capabilities of both PhotoView 360 and modo 401 to radically improve the quality of client presentations.

Based in Dorset, England, Stuart Brown is the owner of 3D Engineers, a specialty design firm that applies computer visualization tools to the process of classic car restoration. Stuart’s work straddles the worlds of mechanical engineering and design, and he was enthusiastic about how the rendering features of PhotoView 360 enhanced his SolidWorks experience.

Recently, a client who wanted a custom car asked Stuart to create a virtual wooden render of a buck, which is a wooden rig used to help make automobile bodies. After using Solidworks 2010 and PhotoView 360 to realize the buck and then modo 401 for final visualization, Stuart says, "The results showed an incredible visual performance increase, to the extent that I am often asked whether the picture I am showing a client is real or computer-generated."

Paul McCrorey, also a designer and mechanical engineer, is based in Louisville, Ky., where he runs McCrorey Digital. He recently concluded a project using SolidWorks 2010, PhotoView 360 and modo 401 to create realistic images plus an animation of a unique Merlexi Chair wheelchair design. Like Stuart, Paul is very pleased with how this new generation of visualization tools has extended his SolidWorks modeling and design capacity.

"I was surprised by PhotoView 360′s extreme ease of use, coupled with the outstanding output quality," Paul says. "It has helped me save both time and money, by allowing me to get very high quality images in a short time."

Later importing his model into modo 401 for finishing, Paul says modo’s range of control was much greater than he expected: "For texturing, I used UV mapping to establish the fabric pattern on the back seat of the wheelchair. Displacement mapping was used to generate the treads on the tire. With the rich visualization and animation toolset provided in modo, the possibilities are truly endless. Features like morph maps and vertex weight maps were new to me but proved critical for realistic cloth movement. I used the constraint tools to precisely define the wheelchair’s folding action. Finally, the gradient editor provided extreme flexibility in timing of the animation."

Another recent project of Paul’s led to a computer graphics modeling contract after the final image was posted publicly.

"As a result of my image of the ‘AMC module’ appearing on the Luxology image gallery, I landed a contract providing CG modeling assets for a short film directed and produced by Marc Leidy from Lightdog Films," Paul says. "Using my engineering background and artistic capabilities, we are working together to interpret artistic conceptual drawings and model them in SolidWorks and modo."

Stuart Brown and Paul McCrorey are but two of the thousands of designers finding new creative possibilities in the creation of breathtakingly realistic models produced with SolidWorks 2010 and visualized in PhotoView 360 and modo. This potent combination of tools from SolidWorks and Luxology is pioneering a crossover discipline between mechanical engineering and advanced design visualization that is allowing designs to be presented with greater accuracy and appeal than ever before.

About Luxology
Based in Mountain View, Calif., Luxology® LLC is an independent technology company developing next-generation 3D content creation software that enhances productivity via artist-friendly tools powered by a modern underlying architecture called Nexus®. Founded in 2002 by Allen Hastings, Stuart Ferguson and Brad Peebler, Luxology is home to some of the top 3D engineering expertise in the industry. More information on the company, its licensable Nexus technology, its flagship product modo® and a gallery of artists’ images from the active modo community is available online at www.luxology.com.

© Copyright 2010 Luxology LLC. modo and Nexus are registered trademarks of Luxology LLC., in the USA and/or other countries. All products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Filed under solidworks events & press

sww10 – solidworks 2011 preview

February 9, 2010 by jason raak Leave a Comment

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.

HPIM2089           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.

 

Filed under solidworks events & press

big news from 3dconnexion

February 9, 2010 by jason raak Leave a Comment

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.

Filed under solidworks events & press

sww10 – partner pavilion…customer designs/products

February 8, 2010 by jason raak Leave a Comment

HPIM2123

HPIM2124

HPIM2125

HPIM2126

HPIM2127

HPIM2128

HPIM2130

Filed under solidworks events & press

sww10 - solidworks in the cloud…my take

February 8, 2010 by jason raak 4 Comments

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.

Filed under solidworks events & press

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