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!

A few weeks back I attended my 1st ever TEDx event which was held locally.  The event, TEDx Macatawa, was limited to 450 attendees and was an invite only event in which I was LUCKY enough to receive 1 of the invitations to the sold out event.

So what is TEDx?  The best way that I can describe it to SolidWorks users is to compare it to a General Session at SolidWorks WORLD when they have innovative & inspirational speakers on stage.

The theme of this independent TED event was “Do More Good” and it got me thinking about myself and in turn the entire SolidWorks community.  What are we (including me) doing to make a difference in this world?  I think back to a few years ago at SolidWorks WORLD when they highlighted the company that is making the baby incubators for 3rd world countries.  This company is “doing more good”.

When I think of the SolidWorks community, there are some of the brightest, most innovative people that are a included in this AND we all have 1 of the best design tools (if not the best) at our finger tips each and every day that can assist us in “doing more good”.

So I ask you, what are you going to do or what can you do to “do more good”?  I have not fully come up with an answer to this myself yet BUT I am trying to search deep inside myself for an answer.  MAYBE you are already do something to make a difference in this world.  If so, I encourage you to share.

Maybe you need some inspiration.  If this is the case, here is the link to all of the talks from the day I spent at TEDx Macatawa.

Also, if you ever have the chance to attend either the annual TED event or a independent TEDx event near you, I highly encourage you to do everything in your power to attend it.

This year was no different (other than that I didn’t get to see it live).  Introduced thru a Back to the Future skit that including a guest appearance from Jon Hirschtick, one of the founders of SolidWorks, that SolidWorks 2013 enhancements were sent out to the masses.  It is always good to keep in the back of your mind that not all of these enhancements make it to the first release but for the most part they do.

The complete list of 2013 enhancements along with some pictures can be found here at Ricky Jordan’s blog.

Here are some of the enhancements that I am most excited for / interested in (in not particular order).

1. Revision Cloud – as someone that loves the idea of going paperless, I get excited about new features that can help assist in this.  One of my biggest annoyances at my job is document control when you have to print everything off so that they can get reviewed and marked up.  Hopefully, this will make this much better.
2. Quick Filter in File Open – for anyone that has worked on a large project that has assembly, part, and drawings in a single Windows folder you will be able to appreciate this as much as I will.  I wish I could have seen this demonstrated so I had a better idea of how it will work.
3. New Favorites Folder – I love my Windows favorites so I am excited to see what this is all about.  I am always a fool for UI changes.
4. Hole Wizard Dowel Holes & Dowel Annotations in Drawings – because of my background of designing stamping dies we use a ton of dowel holes.  I am excited that SolidWorks will finally accommodate these better.
5. Copy & Paste From DraftSight to SolidWorks – Dassault Systemes products talking together???  I love the idea and as someone with a ton of legacy data left in AutoCAD this will be very helpful.
6. Backwards Compatibility – well, it sounds the start to something good but I am afraid that this is just a marketing ploy unfortunately.  I still can’t understand why a full backwards compatibility can not be available, if nothing else for just 1 release back (2013 –> 2012, 2014 –> 2013, etc.).  I understand the new tool argument but I can build a full feature tree off of an imported part, so why can’t SolidWorks do all of the work for me on existing functions and ask me how I would like to build features that were created with new tools.  However, this is a start so I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will be expanded in the future.

Well there are my Top 6 new enhancements that I am looking forward to seeing in Beta and then in the first 2013 release this fall.  What are your thoughts on these or you most anticipated new enhancements?

Well, to start, in October I was offered a dream opportunity of being an Assistant Coach on the Varsity Basketball team at my alma mater.  By the way, my alma mater is the 5th winningest basketball program in the history of Michigan High School basketball.  For those that don’t know much about me, basketball is a HUGE passion of mine so when this opportunity arose, I could NOT turn it down.  Little did I know at that time was that being part of a Varsity basketball program is as close to being a full time commitment as you can get.  Practice every night, games Tuesday’s & Friday’s, and basketball camps for the younger levels on Saturday mornings.  However, it has been an amazing journey to work with young men and to help them become men of character both on and off of the court.

On top of my new position with basketball, my wife and I welcomed a new baby boy to our family last month.  Our new baby boy joins his 2 year old sister in our family so needless to say, life is CRAZY but AWESOME right now!

As some of you know, or may have guessed, I missed my 1st SolidWorks WORLD this year since 2008 which absolutely killed me.  This, however, does not mean that I was not paying attention to the loads of information that was flying out of San Diego last week.  I am hoping to have my response and $0.02 to the preview of SolidWorks 2013 up here by the end of the week along with any other “stuff” that was previewed or discussed last week.

So, please bear with me, I haven’t fallen off of the face of the earth.  I promise, I will have some new content up here shortly!

Starting with SolidWorks 2012, the nightmares about this situation should cease because of the new Command Search tool.  So where the heck is it and how does it work?  Unfortunately, there is no search tool to find the Command Search tool but it is actually quite easy to get to.

Where – In the upper right hand corner of your SolidWorks window is the search bar that previously housed the SolidWorks Help, Knowledge Base, Community Forum, and Files and Models search options.  Now there is also a Commands search option that you can select (see image below).

How – Simply select the Commands search option and then start typing the name of the command you are looking for.

One of the really cool features of this I think is that no matter what the search bar has selected, as soon as you launch your Shortcut Bar, the search bar will automatically switch to the Commands option.

Also, what about when you want to customize a toolbar and you can’t seem to find the tool you need?  The Command search still is functional even when you have the Customize window active.  As you can see in the image below, all of the commands will be grayed out BUT you can still drag and drop them onto a toolbar as you normally would from the Customize window.

This is an AWESOME new tool.  The one future enhancement I would really like to see however is a way to get this option closer to the Shortcut Bar when you activate it.  This would require a lot let mouse movement in order to use it.  But, baby steps for now and these are great steps.

Awesome job SolidWorks development team!

As a user that deals a lot with customer data or creating models using our customers 2D drawing, units are always something that I seem to switch back and forth between a lot.  In SolidWorks 2012, this will be a lot easier.  In the bottom ride hand corner of the Status Bar, you will see a button (located next to the Help button) that shows what your current units are set to.  Now, with a simple click in the Status Bar, you will be able to quickly change your units and/or have access to the status units screen in Tools > Options.

If the new Recent Documents enhancement was a homerun by the SolidWorks developers, this would be a 3 run homerun.  The 1 thing that would make this a grand slam would be to add units as an option to be added to a keyboard shortcut (without a macro).  Either way, this is a great enhancement that will be very,very useful!

This is the category that todays enhancement falls into.  In previous releases, SolidWorks has offered a nice visual style when creating section views that allows you to color code or cap your sections.  The image below shows this workflow however, you will notice 1 additional KEY option in the Property Manager.

In SolidWorks 2012, you will notice a checkbox that allows you to keep your cap color.  What does this mean, well now when you hit the Accept check mark, your cap colors will stay on your model as shown in the image below.

Like I said at the beginning, this is not one of those WHOA enhancements, but it is a very functional enhancement that I think all users will come to love. 

Today’s enhancement might even be a little bit better.  SolidWorks 2012 now comes with multi screen support.  This is an enhancement that users have been clamoring for since the introduction of multiple screens.  As you can see in the image below, there are now 2 additional buttons that are located next to the window minimize, maximize, and close buttons.  These 2 buttons serve primarily 2 functions.

The first function is if you are running multi screens, by clicking 1 of the buttons it will move that window whichever direction you tell it too.  This is hard to show in an image, but trust me, it works.

The other function is if you are only running 1 screen, those 2 additional buttons allow you to easily tile 2 windows to your screen similar to the Windows 7 functionality when you tile windows to the left side and/or right side or your screen.  This is what the image below shows.

This enhancement is only capable of handling 2 screens currently.  I would say that this enhancement proves that SolidWorks is listening to its users.  Again, nice job SolidWorks developers!

The Recent Documents command has been around for a while now but the enhancements made in 2012 are game changers in my eyes.  One of the features in Microsoft Office 2010 that I like the most is the ability to pin Recent Documents that you use a lot so that you have quick access to them without crowding your desktop with shortcuts.

SolidWorks 2012 also now allows you to pin Recent Documents which will be extremely nice when it comes to commonly used files.  The Recent Documents window can be launched by using the “R” keyboard shortcut (default).  As you can see in the image below this window now allows you to not only pin Recent Documents but it also allow you to quickly open the folder that the file resides in.  Quick and easy access to a project.

But it doesn’t end there.  Your Recent Document can also be accessed using the File dropdown menu as shown in the image below.  You will notice that your pinned documents are carried over there as well with the option to show the file in its folder here as well.

I think that this enhancement is a homerun and will increase the usage of the Recent Documents tool by many users.  Nice job SolidWorks developers!

Design That Drives Your Business!

This seems to be the rallying cry behind SolidWorks 2012.  The embargo has been lifted so we are officially allowed to talk, write, tweet, etc. about the 20th, yes 20th, release of SolidWorks.

This year SolidWorks is again loaded with over 200 enhancements.  The focus of these enhancements can be broken down into 4 main themes.

This year the themes are:

1. Automates Design Functions That Drive Your Business
2. Improved Performance and Quality for a More Continuous Workflow
3. Enables Fundamental Changes to Your Product Development Process
4. Extensive Support for Project Collaboration and Team Connectivity

As in years past, there was again a focus on performance and quality (#2) but it doesn’t seem to have been as big of a focus as the last few years.  SolidWorks 2011 I felt was and is a tremendous release in regards to performance and I see SolidWorks now getting back to launching software with more visible enhancements as opposed to behind the scenes enhancements.

Over the next few weeks I will be covering some of the BIGGER enhancements (in my eyes) right here.  But to get your mouth watering for these juicy posts, here is the OFFICIAL press release from Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation that mentions some of the enhancement highlights from this release.

SolidWorks 2012 Delivers Design Solutions to Drive Business

20^th Release of Leading CAD Software Provides More than 200 New Functions to Community

CONCORD, Mass., USA, Sept. 7, 2010 – Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. (DS SolidWorks) today unveiled SolidWorks^® 2012, a comprehensive 3D design solution that enables users to work more efficiently and have the data they need to make better design decisions throughout the product development process. Benefits take shape throughout SolidWorks 2012 through a variety of improvements in areas such as assembly and drawing capabilities, built-in simulation, design costing, routing, image and animation creation and product data management that will positively impact design teams each and every day.

Empowering innovation and design team productivity are at the center of over 200 enhancements in SolidWorks 2012, most of which will help designers:

• Automate the design functions they use most often;
• Improve performance and quality for a more streamlined workflow;
• Fundamentally change product development processes for faster designs;
• Extend support for collaboration and team connectivity for creativity and efficiency.

“SolidWorks 2012 focuses on the areas that will help our customers drive their businesses to higher productivity and profitability,” said Austin O’Malley, executive vice president, R&D, DS SolidWorks. “It also marks the 20^th release of our CAD software, remaining true to the mission of helping users transform innovation into business success. We are excited to see the passion and enthusiasm from our customers, and rewarded when that passion is channeled into great designs.”

“SolidWorks continues to listen to the people within its user community,” said Scott Maro, Maro & Associates. “What I appreciate about this is that the executives and product development teams are more in touch with what is happening in the community than I see with any other organization. Research and Development teams are always listening, asking us great questions and providing alpha testing not only internally but also at the user conference, which is a fantastic forum. The result is more than 90 percent of the features were prioritized by users as ‘SolidWorks continues to listen.’”

Automated Design Functions for Productivity

SolidWorks software helps engineering and design teams  streamline their design processes simply by removing one or two steps, profoundly impacting usability and productivity. SolidWorks 2012 offers improvements in the areas of:

· Drawings – New tools help create better-looking and more-accurate drawings in order to cut down on the revision process and help users detail designs faster. For example, changed dimensions are automatically highlighted and show previous values to help with revisions. Sequential balloon ordering and magnetic lines automatically help order and position balloons, allowing users to spend less time detailing and aligning drawings.

· Sustainability – SolidWorks Sustainability’s new, advanced user interface means users can more accurately model products with “what if” scenarios and better support unique and custom materials. Users can also closely model processes with parameters such as recycled content and duration of use. Also, access to the latest SolidWorks Sustainability supplemental materials will be instant and continuous as they become available.

Continuous Workflow Through Improved Performance and Quality

SolidWorks 2012 makes the design experience flow more naturally, and without disruptions — meaning faster designs with fewer errors based on features such as:

· Large design review – Allows instant opening and review of massive assemblies or any individual component with walkthroughs, sectioning and measuring without the need for a high-powered computer or any special file preparation.

· Feature freeze – Eliminates unwanted feature rebuilds by locking all features above the “freeze” bar, speeding up the design of complex models where rebuilding of specific features isn’t needed. Features can also be unfrozen at any point.

· Equation editor – New equation capabilities allow users to create equations faster and understand order more easily, providing new levels of flexibility and productivity.

Significant Improvements to Overall Product Development Processes

SolidWorks 2012 increases productivity and streamlines the overall customer product development processes with:

· Design costing – A flexible tool that automates manufacturing cost calculations for sheet metal and machined parts. Designers can make more informed decisions based on cost throughout the design process and continually model new scenarios for instant up-to-the-minute manufacturing estimates.

• Sheet metal – Design from scratch or convert customer 3D parts to sheet metal with new tools that provide control over the unique challenges of working with sheet metal — such as precise control of edge flanges, including up-to-vertex end conditions. Designs can be automatically flattened and documented for manufacturing, with export to CNC and manufacturing equipment.

· Simulation – SolidWorks Simulation includes enhanced motion optimization that automatically uses motion study results to create sensors and refine complex and time-intensive machine aspects such as motor size, bearing loads and range of travel. Users can optimize designs in a fraction of the time as they refine inputs and immediately see changes to restraints or goals.

Extends Support for Collaboration and Team Connectivity

As manufacturing becomes more global, design collaboration between disparate teams is now more important than ever. SolidWorks 2012 brings teams of all sizes together through:

· Integrated search, customization, and wider support with SolidWorks Enterprise PDM – Now integrated into the Windows^® Explorer, designers have easy access to favorite searches and a full search tool. Users can also customize the Windows Explorer UI to get faster access to the information they need. In addition, SolidWorks Enterprise PDM has new support for Office 2010 and an x64 web client.

· Life-like experience with 3DVIA Composer^TM – Designers can take more control over their renderings for a more realistic appearance. Enhancements include the easy addition of part-to-part shadows, ambient occlusion and shadows to 2D panels with precise control. A glow effect can also be added to highlight specific areas of interest.

For more information about SolidWorks 2012, including video demonstrations, visit: http://www.solidworks.com/Launch2012_PR

Availability and Pricing
SolidWorks 2012 is available worldwide through SolidWorks authorized resellers. Contact a SolidWorks authorized reseller for pricing. To locate one in your region, visit: http://www.solidworks.com/locateVAR/

Share with a Friend

Do you have colleagues that would benefit from SolidWorks 2012?  Encourage them to attend one of our live seminars: (include link to VAR seminars).

Or feel free to share via twitter with these suggested Tweets:

· @Solidworks 2012 is now available! Check out a local reseller event to learn more: www.solidworkslaunch.com

· Interested in moving to 3D CAD? Check out @SolidWorks 2012! www.solidworkslaunch.com

· Want to see your ideas go quickly from design to development? Check out @SolidWorks 2012! www.solidworkslaunch.com

About Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., a Dassault Systèmes S.A. subsidiary, is a world leader in 3D solutions that help millions of engineers and designers succeed through innovation. Our products deliver an intuitive experience in product design, simulation, publishing, data management, and environmental impact assessment. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit our Web site (www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-978-371-5000).

About Dassault Systèmes

As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 100,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance to recycling. The Dassault Systèmes portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product – SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design – DELMIA for virtual production – SIMULIA for virtual testing – ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management, and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. Dassault Systèmes’ shares are listed on Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA). For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com/.

SolidWorks is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation and 3DVIA Composer is a trademark of Dassault Systèmes in the US and other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. © 2011 Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.