May 2 2012

eDrawings for iPad – NOW AVAILABLE!

As most of you probably know by now because of all the various media outlets that are at your fingertips, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks launched its 1st mobile platform app (not including the SolidWorks WORLD apps) yesterday morning.

For quite some time now, users have been asking for a CAD viewer that they can carry around with them on their phones & tablet style computers. With the launch yesterday of eDrawings for iPad, we are starting to see this become a reality. At this time, it is only available on the iPad but I can only imagine that this is just the gateway to more mobile applications that will come out of SolidWorks.

I have not personally had time to really sit down and go through this app BUT I have downloaded it and fired it up to see what it has to offer. At 1st glance, it is really nice.

eDrawings for iPad allows you to open native SolidWorks parts, assemblies, & drawings AND also DWG and DXF files via either emails, iTunes File Sharing, or internal networks. You can get a feel for how these files will look on the iPad app.

On top of just being able to open, zoom, pan, & rotate your models and drawings,

eDrawings for iPad also allows you to view the configurations & sheets inside your file,

explode your assemblies with the click of 1 button,

and dynamically highlight components on your assembly by selecting them in your Feature Manager.

The File Management screen is broken into 2 “tabs”, 1 that is preloaded with Sample files (which currently you can’t delete as far as I could find) and the other that is for your User Files.

All in all, this app is really nice for its 1st release and is well worth the cost of $1.99 USD if you have a need for viewing models on the go.

There are some features that I would like to see incorporated into the next releases such as…

Ability to link file sharing services such as Dropbox or Box.net directly into this app so that you can open files without having to go to any other apps.
The ability to mark up changes and then resend to other users via email
The ability to measure and section your parts & models
The ability to hide & show components

Don’t get me wrong with the items listed above, this app is READY to go but the above enhancements would really put it over the top in my eyes.

Big time KUDOS to the SolidWorks Management & Development team for making this new platform a reality!

Jul 22 2011

you have options with draftsight

How much do you use DraftSight? Is it multiple times a day or is it only once a month or less? 2D CAD is quickly becoming an antique tool but the need for it is still there because of the mass amounts of legacy data that is still out there.

Core DraftSight is a free product that is available on a multitude of operating system platforms. If you are strictly using DraftSight to access and slightly modify your existing legacy data, core DraftSight is all that you will need and I feel you will be extremely happy with.

However, if you are using DraftSight to create new projects, drawings, etc. you might want to look at the paid DraftSight packages that are available. Since its inception, 3DS has offered a package call DraftSight Premium Service Pack which is a paid version but it offers you the following additional resources.

Telephone and Email Support
Network Licensing (minimum of 5 DraftSight licenses required)
Access to the DraftSight API’s and API updates

As someone who uses SolidWorks to create and design new projects, the only use I have for DraftSight is to open legacy documents and print or measure items so the above resources / options would be severe overkill for me.

But, yesterday, 3DS announced a new paid service called DraftSight Prosumer Service which again is a paid service but it offers you technical support for installing, activating, configuring, and using DraftSight. If you are a CAD Admin that ends up installing this on multiple configurations of workstations, this may be a service that should interest you.

Whether is does or doesn’t interest you, I wanted to make sure you were aware of the options that were out there for you in regards to what should be your favorite 2D CAD software.

Jul 19 2011

beta test now to turn off the heat later

Summer is in full swing here in West Michigan this week with the temperatures supposedly sustaining in the upper 90’s all week. Some of you are probably thinking that it would be nice to have a cool down to those temps but here in West Michigan, people are freaking out. I would say 90% of the items on my Facebook newsfeed have to deal with how hot it is.

The launch and release of a new version of SolidWorks can usually make CAD Admins feel the heat no matter what the weather is like outside. If you are a CAD Admin, I am sure you know what I am talking about. You will here comments like…”2011 worked better than this” or “how come this is different in 2012” or “we should have waited longer to launch 2012”. At times these comments are valid, however, more often than not, a little research done up front can eliminate 95% of these snide remarks.

How to Turn on the Air Conditioning?

Every year SolidWorks offers all of their current subscription customers the opportunity to beta test the next release of the software. This is a great opportunity for you, whether you are the CAD Admin, a power user, or just a user to test out the normal functions that you do every day. This way, when you are ready to launch the next version to the masses at your company you have developed a comfort level that the software will or will not function properly in your unique design environment.

How to Beta Test?

Simple – click on this link and sign up! SolidWorks 2012 Beta

Also, take note that on that same website there is some other really useful information such as Beta Testing Tips and the current Beta 2012 Leaderboard. Leaderboard? That’s right…while you are doing yourself a favor by testing out the software before it gets released to the masses, you can also when some sweet prizes which are listed here.

So there you go! Get out of the sauna and start beta testing today!

Jan 5 2011

season of change

Yesterday, in a shocking press release, Dassault Systemes announced that their will be a switch in leadership at SolidWorks Corporation.

Bertrand Sicot (left) will be taking over for Jeff Ray as CEO of SolidWorks. Jeff, who has held this position since 2007, has been appointed the Executive Vice President of Global Operations and also has become a member of the executive committee of SolidWorks parent company, Dassault Systemes.

Bertrand has been working at SolidWorks since 1997 in sales, both in Europe and in the United States.

As of right now I have not seen a time frame of when this change will take place. I am hoping to talk to Bertrand at SolidWorks WORLD 2011 in a couple of weeks to find out more information about the change.

Nov 1 2010

solidworks in the app store?

SolidWorks on the iPhone is officially here!

Officially released on November 1, 2010, SolidWorks finally has a presence in the Apple App store. Now it is not the app that I think most of us were looking and asking for recently but it is a start.

This app is a marketing tool that shows all of their products with links to the whitepapers on their website, it includes videos of their products but also has a link to the SolidWorks Innovation Conference 2011 which starts today.

I am interested to see how it exactly interfaces with the conference today. Will I be able to watch video? Will it be just audio? I guess only time will tell.

Like I said, most of us have been asking for some sort of a SolidWorks viewer on the iPhone / iPad but at least this is a start. Maybe this is their trial run at writing code for more apps.

Download it and let me know what you think about the new app!

Oct 7 2010

draftsight is taking over

As speculated earlier this year, SolidWorks Corporation is officially retiring SolidWorks 2D Editor (formally known as DWG Editor) when SolidWorks 2012 is released. In an announcement sent to their reseller network it states that the link will be removed from the SolidWorks Customer Portal.

To allow an adequate transition period, the SolidWorks 2D Editor download will continue to be available through the Service Pack cycle of SolidWorks 2011, after which time the download link on the customer portal will be removed.

via CATI Tech Notes

Speculation started the beginning of July when Dassault Systemes released a new product called DraftSight which is also a free 2D CAD Editor. I personally do not have a problem with this as I think that DraftSight is a nicer/better program than what SolidWorks previous 2D programs were.

What are your thoughts about this product retirement? Have you tried DraftSight yet? Have you tried DraftSight on the Mac yet?

Jun 30 2010

here’s your chance! solidworks 2011 beta coming soon!

SolidWorks 2010 brought out some glaring problems with usability testing on new features. While I do “blame” SolidWorks for this somewhat I feel that it also the SolidWorks user base has to accept some of the “blame” as well.

In an effort not to alienate my readers I need to clarify what I mean here. In my opinion SolidWorks can only do so much in regards to testing new functionality. At some point it needs to get into the hands of the people that use the software for 40 hours a week to test and report back on how it affects their workflow and so on. Along with this, I will agree that SolidWorks maybe should put in an on/off switch for certain but not all new functionality. By now you might have guessed that I am talking about the dimension palette and the rapid dimension manipulator fiasco.

Well the release of SolidWorks 2011 is fast approaching so that means that the beta testing of SolidWorks 2011 is right around the corner. How does this all tie together you ask? By having more end users beta test, the likelihood of fiascos like we witnessed this year will drop significantly. In my opinion, there should be 1 user from every SolidWorks customer that at least looks and plays with the beta version of the software. I say this because you never know how the new release will affect you normal day to day workflow. The beta period is the time where it is definitely easier to submit bugs than after service pack 0 where you have to wait until the next service pack to be released for a fix. Meanwhile, while you wait, you may be forced into working with buggy software because your customers are requiring you to use the new release.

So like I said in the title, here’s your chance to help yourself, the rest of the end users, and SolidWorks Corporation. The SolidWorks 2011 beta program will be released in early July. To find all of the information you will need to participate follow this link.

Beta and Pre-Release Programs

This year the beta program has been changed a little bit. There will be a bunch of individual competitions that will make up the beta testing period. You can find details of all of these competitions by clicking this link.

SolidWorks Beta Contests

You can also win some awesome gifts by participating. You can check out all of the prizes by following this link.

SolidWorks Beta Prizes

So there you have it. I strongly encourage all of you to at least download 1 of the beta releases. It is up to you whether you want to spend 1 hours, 20 hours, 40 hours, or over 100 hours testing but I think that you owe it to yourself to at least play around with it to see what it has to offer and hey, you never know, you could win 1 of the beta prizes.

Oct 20 2009

christmas for solidworks users…solidworks 2010 sp0.0 is live!

It’s that time of year again for SolidWorks users, Christmas in October. The highly touted, highly publicized SolidWorks 2010 showed up in the Customer Portal yesterday for anyone that is on a current SolidWorks subscription plan. If you are ready to download it and are ready to jump in with both feet you can access it by going to the Downloads and Updates page in the Customer Portal and it is listed there. I did notice on twitter this morning (thanks @tyler524) that it is about a 4.9 GB download.

So what is this release all about? Well you can find a lot of information out there on all of the blogs (see links to the right) and/or you can check out the series that I did on it the last couple of months.

Sep 16 2009

we’re getting closer…solidworks 2010 pre release 1

There has been a lot of buzz in the SolidWorks community the last 3 weeks or so, including my own posts here, about SolidWorks 2010 and today is the first sign that we are getting closer to its release. SolidWorks 2010 Pre Release 1 went live in the SolidWorks Customer Portal today. To go and get this release follow these simple steps.

Log in to the SolidWorks Customer Portal
Go to the Downloads and Updates page
Switch the “Select Version” dropdown to 2010
Click the SolidWorks tab
Download

Aug 27 2009

solidworks 2010…the “other” ui changes

This week so far I have been covering the SolidWorks 2010 user interface changes that you can expect to see. To wrap up this first week of daily what’s new articles I wanted to give you just a quick rundown of other changes that probably aren’t big enough to warrant a whole post.

Instant3D

In SolidWorks 2010 you will notice a slight change to the command “Move with Triad” in assembly files. Now when you use this command you will see a ruler appear along with the triad.

PropertyManager

There are a couple of changes made to the PropertyManager in this release but for the most part it is behind the scenes types of things that the real improvements can be noticed. Following the theme of this release the main changes in the PropertyManager were making it work similar to other “manager” features in SolidWorks. Also, the workflow has been improved by automatically focusing from one control to the next while using this tool.

Larger Icons for Vista

If you are running Vista you may have noticed that SolidWorks does not currently support the larger icons that Vista offers. That will change in SolidWorks 2010 as you will now be able to have 256 x 256 pixel icons of the SolidWorks applications and SolidWorks documents.

Touch & Multi-touch Support

Flick touch & multi-touch gestures will now be available if you have a touch-enabled computer with SolidWorks installed on it.

According to the “What’s New in SolidWorks 2010” PDF the back, forward, drag and scroll flick actions are mapped to SolidWorks view rotations. You can also add gestures for zoom, rotate, pan, roll, right click and zoom to fit commands.

Touch enabled computers is not something that I have a whole lot of experience with but I definitely think there is a place for them. But (yes, there is always a but) as of right now I do not think that running a CAD program on one is the hot new fad so this new feature seems a little more of a “see what we can do” type of addition. I may be totally off base with that but it is just my $0.02.

That pretty much wraps it up for the User Interface enhancements that you will see in SolidWorks 2010. Stay tuned next week to see what has been changed in the other areas of the program.

RockSolid Perspective – Jason Raak

Category Archives: SolidWorks News