I just received an email from Richard Doyle telling about a new show in town. A Cad Show. It kinda got me all unexcited, but I thought I would check it out anyway. It’s called CCNTV, which stands for CAD CAM NET TV. It’s a bi-weekly newscast focused on the CAD business and making some…
Most everyone has posted about SolidWorks World 2008 and Mike Puckett has given a really good breakdown of what to expect. I’d just like to add two things: Three for the price of two You can get a ‘Three for the Price of Two’ pass here. That’s a savings of $795 smackers you could use…
If you’re wondering what one of the basic things you can do to make creating parts, assemblies and drawings easier without pushing it off onto someone else, I may have a solution for you. Steps that prevent repetitive tasks can usually be some of the most simple. While things in SolidWorks are not always so…
Today, my little boy is turning 1 year old. I extremely excited and just can’t help but tell you all and show you some photos. His name is Sebastian Alexander and he’s a bubble of fun. He’s taken over our personal blog at joshandmaggie.com where there are some videos also. Here’s some photos. Custest Boy…
I need a banana and a wet-nap stat. These links are bleeding out all over my new rug. Faveup.com – a simple site for inspirational media design. very nice gallery layout. Art in HK – an art outfit in Hong Kong with a sweet 3D sketchy site. CMS Matrix – with so many blog and…
Dassault Systemes released their 2nd quarter earnings today. Overall they’re doing well. Although the increases seem small, Dessault continues to grow thier research in technology, in particulalrly web-based technology with 3DVIA product. I would like to see them spend more in R&D than marketing but they are at least spending as much in Research as…
There’s nothing quite like a fresh-squeezed glass of OJ in the morning, unless you’ve had a traumatic experience in an orange grove and you’re deathly afraid of oranges. Then, not so good. That’s probably pretty common. So instead, I’ve got some fresh-squeezed tips for new SolidWorks users, although just about anyone could use them some…
MCAD, a UK based product development and manufacturing magazine, has put up a 4 page review of SolidWorks 2008 this month. It’s basically a rundown of the most talked about features. If you’ve seen a 2008 demo or have read other reviews it won’t really tell you anything new though. I would just skip to…
Reading a post over at WorldCAD Access about a recent article makes me realize just how fortunate we are that AutoDESK “finally broke the market open” in 1999 with Inventor and saved us from expensive modeling programs like CATIA. Hmmm. Man, if it wasn’t for the creative talent behind Inventor, I would still be typing…
DELCAM has a CAD CAM product that allows you to open, view, manipulate, measure and save 39 different CAD formats. It’s called PowerSHAPE-e. The ‘SHAPE’ part is in caps cause they mean business… FREE business. They put out a press release about it today. Just last week, I was looking for something I could use…
Seriously, that squirrel was just standing there puffing away on a cigarette. Tell me, have you ever seen anything as crazy as that? I think not. Google streetview invades America – coming to a window near you. Bioshock Trailer – Xbox 360 game out in August 07 with incredible graphics and non-linear responsive environment. dang…
Here’s a quick tip that will help keep your eyes from spurting blood when you’re working those long hours. ClearType Tuner This tool will help the fonts on your screen show up better which can make a night and day difference in how productive you can be. You may need to download the Powertoy Version…
I’m not sure if this will be a regular type of post, but I thought, after being slightly over-exposed to the sun and having an icy beverage, I’d tell you a short story about a little company and a big company and what happens when 3D is used with 2D processes. A little drama, a…
I particularly like furniture design and I recently came across this company in a SolidWorks Case Study. Strand-Hvass is a furniture and product design company in Denmark. It formed as a merge between the two design companies of Christina Strand and Niels Hvass. The two attended the Danish Design School. Some may think this style…
Many times I will be cruising along on an assembly and realized I should be slapped hard for not taking time to do a few things that will make my work much easier. Yeah, my assembly is looking like that thing from John Carpenter’s “The Thing” and the room is getting dark. So, to keep…
I’ve had to search for some models lately and I was going to do a helpful little post on the best places to find and download models, but after searching for hours and messing around on a bunch of sites, there is just one that stands out. I bet some of you could have told…
Burton Car Company, the largest sports car manufacturer in the Netherlands, holds a design competition each year for a new concept sports car. The 2007 grand prize is a €12,000 Burton kitcar. The concept has to be designed in SolidWorks based on an available chassis and meet specs for kitcar manufacturability. SolidWorks.nl, HP, W3D, and…
Congrats to Steve Calvert for winning the 2GB SanDisk Crusier in lasts weeks dimensioning tip contest. He now has 2GB more room to carry stuff around with him. I have one and have even run an Apache web server off of it! enjoy Steve! Keep an eye out because there will definitely be more contest…
In response to the post about The Vital Key to an Organized SolidWorks Team, one of our readers, Kyle Mason, sent a response about his experience at college where Inventor is really pushed. I have [created a Reg file for Inventor users] to make SolidWorks a little more “Inventor friendly.” I am going to college…
Yep, he jumped off thar and his kneecaps done shot out his legs and clear through that window over thar. Said he was tryin’ to get to these here links. PicFindr – free stock photo search engine. Will an iPhone Blend? – The ultimate product stress test. guess what. it fails. A new breed of…
In the realm of somewhat useless but cool stuff you can do to customize SolidWorks, I recently did a post about making your own background. This can in actuality be very useful for two things Making things on your screen easier to see Giving a custom feel to product presentations So, in light of all…
There’s lots of things that can make a team efficient – collaboration, coordination, communications, 24” monitors, donuts. But there’s one thing that can make a team of SolidWorks users take those first three things and spread them like a warm stick of butter. It has to do with standardizing SolidWorks settings in your group. At…
I know it’s been hard on us all having to manually unroll the toilet paper for the past 100 or so years, but your worries are over and good old SolidWorks may have had a large part in it. News was announced yesterday that Kimberly-Clark, the name most are familiar with in public restrooms, has…
After being with SolidWorks since 1996 and leading since 2001, John McEleney has stepped down as CEO. Dassault Systèmes has named Jeff Ray as his replacement. He brought vast amounts of knowledge, a friendly face and a well trimmed goatee to SolidWorks. I’m sure he’ll be missed… but not till the end of the year.…
A few weeks ago I did a post about Dimesioning tips. Looking back at it, I feel it was limited. So, I want to open it up to you and provide a little incentive as well. I will be giving away this brand new SanDisk 2GB Cruzer Micro USB 2.0 Flash Drive. To enter the…
I was going to wait and have some links from this site in the Friday Smackdowns, but there’s just so much good stuff I thought it deserved a post of it’s own. If design matters to you at all or you’re interested in color, art or just making things look good you need to check…
Since their launch in March of 2007, SpaceClaim, out of Concord, Mass. has been making some waves with their new solid modeler. I’m even starting to hear more talk about it amongst the casual uninterested CAD users. Their assertions to a “highly flexible design environment” make some wonder if this is a fresh approach to…
Have you ever seen five tons of fire-breathing hamsters running at you? It would be best to turn and RUN. Dave Quiggle Artwork – I love this guys artwork. His new Tattoo Flash is incredible. Bionic Arm Uses Elephant’s Trunk as Design Model – elephant trunks can crush a man. I hope they took that…
Last week SolidWorks put out a press release about the two competitors in this years America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand and Alinghi Switzerland. Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and Alinghi are competing in the America’s Cup 2007…Taking place off the coast of Valencia, Spain, the 32nd America’s Cup features a rematch of the two…
And when I say snot, I mean all that messy undefined-ness. That is some nasty stuff and can make your part sick I tell you. Sick, sick, sick. There is one thing that can help you though. One Command to dimension them all, One Command to relate them, One Command to bind them all and…