Hello! if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the SolidSmack RSS feed or to the free email updates. Thanks for visiting!
Hold on to your 3D lovin’ hats people. Shapeways is about to change how you feel about 3D Printing… and also how you go about doing it.
The issue is getting a quality 3D Print of your design fast and cheap. ShapeWays is aiming it’s 3D hearted plastic extruders right at that market and plans to take it layer by plasticy layer, so to speak. What’s really cool though is the ability to export a model and have it printed in less time than it takes to wonder if you should try it.
I’ll go through the process after the jump, but check this out. They’re in Private Beta, but there are 200 invites for SolidSmack readers. Just enter Beta Code - “SolidSmack”
Continue reading ‘ShapeWays: Print 3D Designs Fast and Easy + Beta Invites’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
I occasionally choose to point the fire hose of SolidWorks tips and information into an unsuspecting person’s face without realizing how overwhelming it can be.
A few hours later I see the the expressionless blank stare of a skinless and slightly tattered face gazing, begging me to stop.
A few tips to simply get started will do just fine, thank you.
The Top 12 SolidWorks Tips
Some of you have a bunch of tips for new users, and some of you wish those people would stop the flow of info for a few minutes while you catch up. So, I stopped, sat down and wrote out my top 12 favorite SolidWorks tips. The first tips I thought of that I would want anyone to know that is just starting out or wants better results out of SolidWorks.
Group project
Ya know what… for a little fun, I may turn this into a group project. If you have better tips that make more sense, I’ll replace some of mine or add yours to the rest. We’ll keep it under twenty for now and keep the fire hose at a small trickle. Here are the top 12.
Continue reading ‘The 10+ Best SolidWorks Tips to Teach Someone Else’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
I’m lovin’ me some algorithms. I’ve actually become so interested in them it’s affected my posting frequency and I’m starting to see domino-like creatures forming beautiful patterns in my numerically challenged nightmares.
An algorithmic approach to design. Boring huh? Well, the results these patterns of numerical data create are the most amazingly fluid and kinetically pleasing designs you’ll feast your eyes upon.
Continue reading ‘Amazing Algorithms: 3D Visualization and Kinetic Design’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
The giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announce Monday July 28th! Thanks for entering and be on the lookout for more contest coming up soon!
This is the 500th post here at SolidSmack and what better way to celebrate than giving away an expensive piece of software that will make you so productive you will probably start shaking and fall to your knees… in a happy, unpainful way.
I’ve been using Acrobat 8.0 with all the 3D features added to that version. I’ve been thoroughly impressed. It’s simply provided one of the best collaboration experiences I’ve had with clients and vendors.
After looking inside the new version of Acrobat and Acrobat.com I knew I had to provide an opportunity for you to get a copy of your own. So let the fun begin. The giveaway is super easy to enter. Here’s what’s included and how to win your copy of Adobe Acrobat 9.0 Pro Extended.
Continue reading ‘It’s GiveAway Time - Win Adobe Acrobat 9.0 Pro Extended.’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
I’d say it’s about like when you’re in the barn moving bails of hay and you’re suddenly surrounded by all the farm animals for no apparent reason. Yeah, these links are kinda like that.
2008 Web Design Trends - Some of you think this web design stuff is cool. This link is for you and only you, cause you’re special.
Follow Your Dream - It’s actually really easy… if you do what these guys did.
Easy Kid’s Terrarium - It’s hours of soily plant entertainment with a jar and your uninhibited creativity! Thanks DanielB!
Best of E3 2008 - THe Wired team has all the best coverage and galleries of the biggest gaming event of the year.
Working at Home - A bloggers perspective on the pros, cons and how to make it better.
Trazzler - A site to help you figure out where to travel to rid yourself of all that time and money you have.
Have more cool links or ideas for the Friday Smackdown? Hit the comments or Contact me!
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Why, it ws only a few weeks ago we did a comparison of the Twitter talk about SolidWorks and AutoCAD. Jeff Clark at Neoformix is at it again with their stream of consciousness version that shows the density of words used in for a term over time. What do you think the most used word when discussing SolidWorks is?
“The Twitter StreamGraph shows the usage over time for the words most highly associated with the search word. One of these series together with a time period are in a selected state and coloured red.”
Continue reading ‘More SolidWorks and AutoCAD Data Visualization on Twitter Plus Extra’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Way back, in a recent post that showed all you Mac-ophiles how to use SolidWorks on a Mac a commenter named Peter Privitera was having graphics issues with his MacBook Pro when using SolidWorks.
His MacBook Pro uses a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT video card, a low-end 512MB card that runs around $130 and up. He did a simple soft-mod (modify in software) to turn it into a beefy NVidia Quadro crankin’ beast and now has the graphics performance you would expect on a Mac.
Continue reading ‘Run SolidWorks on a Mac: Soft-Mod Your GeForce into a Quadro’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
“That storefront looks spectacular. I’m tellin’ ya, it looks like it’s sizzlin’ right up from THE GROUND.” Yes, the colors are mesmerizing your eye holes and you grasp for word to explain how structures can seemingly float curvaceously in front of you.
Steel, screws and a little SolidWorks magic, I say, and Feature Factory has got loads of magical magic-ness - by which I mean, they’ve got some engineers, designers and fabbers that know a thing or two about creating fine architectural features using parametric modeling.
Continue reading ‘Feature Factory: Product Design and Architecture in SolidWorks’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
It’s absolutely insane, I tell you. How are you suppose to get a good nights sleep when your brain is obsessing about the intricacies of how to model inventive new products?
I wonder what it is that makes us bring our 3D models into our nightmares dreams. Is it the challenge? the hours? subliminal messages in the software? EVIL mice using radiating surface features to manipulate our brainwaves. hmmm…the dreams are now affecting my sanity.
This happens from time to time for me. It’s usually when I’m very involved with how I’m creating a design in SolidWorks or when I’ve been looking into the depths of the design for hours. What’s cool are the dreams where I feel like I’m floating around the model. Ok, I’m getting a little personal about my possible psychosis. Hit the comments and make me feel not so alone in my 3D altered reality. bless you.
Image Credit: BabyGene.net
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Funny thing, these 3D CAD user interfaces. I figured I’d spare you any 2008/09 SolidWorks interface opinions and show you what the other CAD companies are doing. It looks like some are getting a little inspiration from each other, but really it just the onslaught of Ribbon bar bliss brought about by Microsoft and their Office 2007 program interfaces.
Think about it, how much can you really do with a the top left corner of a CAD program? Here’s the three - SpaceClaim, Siemens SolidEdge and AutoDesk Inventor.
Continue reading ‘SpaceClaim, SolidEdge, Inventor: User Interface A-Go-Go’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
