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For those who just won’t allow that shiny, white MacBookPro to be torn from their cold, dead hands and insist on having the best of both OSX and Vista on one box, this post is for you.
We’ve shown you how to go about soft-modding your nVidia graphics card for RealView graphics on a Mac with Windows XP. This will show you how to get SolidWorks with RealView up and running on your MacBookPro within Microsoft Vista.
Total Credit goes to Lou Gallo from SolidWorks Heard! who uses a MacBookPro, has done this software mod and wrote it up to share with all the SolidSmack readers interested in using SolidWorks on a Mac. It’s quick, it’s simple and everything you need is right here.
Continue reading ‘A MacBookPro + Microsoft Vista + SolidWorks RealView. The nVidia SoftMod.’
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There’s nearly 8 ways to create the same 3D model in SolidWorks… along with the 4 other ways. That’s a lot of flexibility, but many of the features just don’t get the use they deserve until someone shows them how to bring forth the hammer of power that is all the crazy, little SolidWorks feature combos you’ve never thought of.
You could stack up a bunch of extrusion, planes and cuts to create, oh, something like your grandpa’s favorite boxy, yet creepy, dead robot guy.
However, there’s other features out there and probably a few you have in your own 3D CAD tool belt as well. What is the most obscure combination of features you use? Here’s some simple ones I use that have 3 out of 4 engineers (at my office) thinking a bit differently.
Continue reading ‘The Most Obscure SolidWorks Feature Combos. What are Yours?’
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Last year, SolidSmack riveted the academic community with some mighty fine tips for students success in SolidWorks.
One year later and those measly tips are just not enough. Times are’a changin’ folks and there’s all sorts of things students and ‘the aged’ can do to have more success and more opportunities in 3D CAD and particularly with SolidWorks. So, check out that other post, then tear into these meaty morsels.
Continue reading ‘Four Fabulous Labor Day Tips for Student Success in SolidWorks’
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Getting just the right detailed drawing view of a model can take immense amounts of time. More than they really should for products designed in 3D. When you open a drawing and nothing is there but the dimensions, that can really make you throw blunt objects.
So, you stare real close at the computer screen. It doesn’t show up. You hit rebuild, nothing. Forced rebuild (Ctrl-Q), nothin’. Pushing on the screen, making loud grunting noise… Your hand slowly reaches for the stapler….
Wait, there’s one very simple trick you can use to get a vacant drawing view to return to your brilliant masterpiece of drafting delight.
Continue reading ‘The Mystery of the Disappearing SolidWorks Drawing View’
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I know. You’re just screaming, “I work with the CAMERA. Striking a pose this way and that.” *whoosh, whoosh*
I’m actually talking about how you model your 3D design in SolidWorks. Ah, now this post is suddenly boring. No tips to get that gritty engineer look on film, just stuff about drawing lines and extruding stuff.
But look here, a question for ya and a challenge for your top-down design idea to be featured on SolidSmack.
How Do You Model Parts in SolidWorks?
Continue reading ‘Ask the Reader: How Do You Model? Plus A Top-Down Modeling Challenge’
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“Stop. You’re killin’ me. My models are immaculate. It’s the software that’s the problem.” A lot of people get riled up about bad performance and poor stability, blaming it on the SolidWorks software. I have too. But who would of thought it could actually be the way the models are created… by ME?
Great, huh. You were probably skipping through the fields of 3D CAD model euphoria and now I’ve gone and ruined it all by telling you the way you model affects your load times and how many crashes you have in SolidWorks.
Should it matter what you do?
Today, I’m going to say ‘yes’ to that question. What you slap across the screen can affect performance. So, let’s talk about some of the initial options you have in SolidWorks that make your models suck the ever-living resources out of the pit of ‘puter processing power and what you need to do to make SolidWorks life more stable.
Continue reading ‘Why Your SolidWorks Models Suck… Memory Out of Your Computer’
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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’
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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’
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Your SolidWorks drawings are standing out in the open like a very large and overly dressed target of 3D ninja violence. Hey, I’m just sayin. It’s actually a secret society of defected and very agitated ANSI and ISO standard authors that have passed this info on to me.
Your fancy drawing is filled with more views than you can throw a 6-pointed shuriken at and that is exactly what we’re going to do, but real secret ninja-like. PREPARE TO WITNESS, the 5 ninjas to unveil a righteous fury upon your drawings.
Continue reading ‘The SolidWorks Ninja Guide to Reducing Drawing Views’
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