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Since the dawn of time, man has contemplated the frustrating effects of the big read error icon and has come to the conclusion that, yes, veins can indeed pop out of your head whether your sitting down or standing in a defensive crouch in front of your computer.
Computer errors pretty much feel like being hit repeatedly in the face. Errors in a SolidWorks parts and assembly feel like the repeated face hits but with missing the face and popping you square, and very annoyingly, in the ear.
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Oh to have ways of creating models faster. Moving your mouse around really fast-like doesn’t help, gripping your neck and squeezing real hard doesn’t help much either. Sometimes, it’s just what you have in your bag o’ tricks that can get you moving along… or in our case, a library of tricks.
In SolidWorks, you may use the Design Library to store everything from common features to standard assemblies, but what it’s rarely used as, is a library of surface features; surfaces that can be used to aid design. This may feel a little soupy if you’re unfamiliar with surfacing in SolidWorks, but I think you’ll be able to pick up some ideas even if you don’t use surfacing.
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Well, last weeks mystery tip about PhotoWorks DOF. I get a bit of emails asking questions about SolidWorks and alot of them are really good questions that I’d love to turn into posts. So once again that’s what we’re gonna do.
First Person to Ask a Question
The first person to asks a question about SolidWorks in the comments below will turn this post into a 100% grade-A topic for everyone to join in on. All I ask, is that it’s not a question like, why does SolidWorks suck or can eyes really pop out of their socket… this is serious stuff people.
So ask away, chime in if you know the answer, and we’ll crank out another topic that will send people home to their families in a pleasant mood.
The Mystery Question IS…
UPDATE: Steve Calvert ask… “Will Solidworks follow Siemens (UGS) with more direct modeling techniques or are we just stuck with history based modeling?”
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Ok, I’m gonna try something here. I get a bit of emails asking questions about SolidWorks and alot of them are really good questions that I’d love to turn into posts. So that’s what we’re gonna do.
First Person to Ask a Question
The first person to add a comment below that asks a question about SolidWorks will turn this post into a 100% grade-A tip for everyone to join in on. All I ask, is that it’s not a question like, why does SolidWorks suck or can monkeys use SolidWorks… this is serious stuff people.
So ask away, chime in if you know the answer, and we’ll see how this goes. If you like it, we can turn it into a regular type of thing on this here blog.
The Mystery Question Is…
UPDATE! Jeff (at 7:22 am CT) asks - “In Photoworks, do many people use both the depth of field and indirect illumination? I find the two don’t work together well- turning DOF on causes indirect illumination to make little difference. I know this isn’t the most exciting question, and maybe a better one will be sparked from this.”
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
This is the grandpa scenario in full-effect. Whenever my brothers and I would go over to my grandparents, there would be Twix and Twizzlers in the top cabinet over the stove. I’m completely convince my gut is lined with whatever Twizzlers are made from. There were also giant chocolate chip cookies that made it seem grandma was the head ringer of the cookie cartel.
All those good memories become sadly obscured with the emailin’ and taskin’ and blog writing, but I’ve managed to harness 6.5 ounces of good ol’ grandparent wisdom and turn it into a blog post with some helpful tips about getting the most out of SolidWorks Training. A stretch? Only to the cabinet over the stove. Continue reading ‘How to Make Learning SolidWorks Tasty: The Grandpa Effect’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Just when you thought you knew everything about SolidWorks Explorer, Devon Sowell gives us his first post discussing tips to make your venture into the abusive and murderous world of data management easier to handle.
Some Things you’ll learn:
What SolidWorks Explorer is for
If parts are open when a drawing is open (Hmmm…are they?)
How to set up references
How to make Windows Desktop Search not suck
This little program has more uses that a bowl of rice pudding and looks wonderful on the screen when the boss walks by. Here’s what I like about SolidWorks Explorer and some additional things to keep in mind.
When using Pack-and-Go on big assemblies, uncheck and collapse the first item, then expand it and pick the items you need.
You can use Rename to fix “built-in-context-of…” references that have been lost. Rename to the assembly it’s built in-context of, then name it back.
You can use SolidWorks Explorer to Rename configurations, but it will not update the Design Table it’s linked to.
You can’t change properties on components you have opened. Just shut that sucka down and change away.
You do have some SolidWorks Explorer Options. It’s the third circular icon on the top menu. I would set-up some common where-used and search locations there.
How do you use SolidWorks Explorer?
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It’s amazing how simple this is. You can actually do this in less time than it takes you to learn how to trap small animals and sell them outside Wal-mart.
Draw a cube
This is like the multi-tool of CAD. If you don’t know where to start, draw a cube.
Use the annotation tool
This is the tool that pretty much knocks out all that unnecessary detail. Overuse it because it’s easier to change text than it is to change a parametroid shape thing.
There you have it. No surfaces. No lofts. Just some good ol’ primitives junk.
Note: I realize this is completely useless and while it’s fun to draw cubes and 3D stuff, there’s a real problem with the amount of time people spend trying to sell animals outside of businesses and on the side of the road. I can understand selling watermelons or turnips, but leave the cats to coating every living thing with a fine layer of fur. Please, that’s all I’m asking.
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
So where is everything about the world of SolidWorks being stored out there? It’s not under your patio bench. It’s actually spread out across the entire chasm of the interwebular galaxy and is very difficult to harness at times.
Soooo, here’s a bunch of links that help me find SolidWorks content when I’m trying to find something to share with you all. Some of these I don’t talk much about, like the videos. There’s a bunch of them. And if children laugh at your SolidWorks skills, check some of them out.
Any other resources you use? Let me know and I’ll add it to the list.
News Google SolidWorks Public - This is my personal SolidWorks Feed you can access anytime. Includes all the feeds from SolidWorks. Google SolidWorks Blog Public - This is my personal feed for SolidWorks related blogs. Let me know if I’m missing any. SolidWorks on Technorati - You can also find things through Technorati. This is a “Real-time search for user-generated media” so you can get good stuff and not-so-good stuff. Google SolidWorks News - With this, you can pick up any news story that has SolidWorks in the content. It’s usually press releases and such, but every once in a while there’s something else.
Video SolidWorks on YouTube - There’s a lot of SolidWorks video content on YouTube. The quality is not spectacular on all of it but much if it is good enough. One Minute Tips - You can see this on the SolidWorks Homepage. So far there are 15 videos created by SolidProfessor. SolidMentor Video Section - A newish section on SolidMentor from some of the best users. There’s about 15 videos on here as well, but the quality is GREAT. CADJunky - Hosted by SolidWorks but has video with anything related to CAD. It has it’s own video player and is a bit of a mash-up itself that supports video from Youtube and Google. The tips are good but I keep wishing the video quality was better.
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
For all of you crazed 3D-modeling, equation-using junkies out there, you may be really, really excited to know that your equations will update in real-time when using Instant3D in SolidWorks 2008.
Jeff, from ExtensibleCAD, shows this happening when using logical (if-then) equations to drive features. See video below. The equation is set up to change the number of spokes when the diameter changes. If the diameter is X then number of spokes is Y and it’s all done as you drag your mouse around.
One caveat to this is that the model and the Instant3D updated can get really slow and clunky the more complicated the equations and changes are. If your dimensions are driven by other features you’ll also not be able to adjust those.
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Here’s a slightly useful and not-at-all complicated tip on reducing features by using 3D sketches. It’s more fun to have people gather around your desk, get all attentive and then yell the first step very, very loud as they hunker down around your screen… Now move in close people…
Two Tips in One
This is really two tips in one. What a deal. I’ll show how to create a plane at any angle against a curved surface and do it with a minimum number of features, all thanks to the handy 3D-ness of the 3D sketch tool. There’s a video later on, but here’s the step-by-step. Continue reading ‘How To Use 3D Sketches To Reduce SolidWorks Features’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Since the dawn of time, man has contemplated the frustrating effects of the big read error icon and has come to the conclusion that, yes, veins can indeed pop out of your head whether your sitting down or standing in a defensive crouch in front of your computer. 
Oh to have ways of creating models faster. Moving your mouse around really fast-like doesn’t help, gripping your neck and squeezing real hard doesn’t help much either. Sometimes, it’s just what you have in your bag o’ tricks that can get you moving along… or in our case, a library of tricks.
Well, last weeks mystery tip about 
Ok, I’m gonna try something here. I get a bit of emails asking questions about SolidWorks and alot of them are really good questions that I’d love to turn into posts. So that’s what we’re gonna do.
It’s amazing how simple this is. You can actually do this in less time than it takes you to learn how to trap small animals and sell them outside Wal-mart.
So where is everything about the world of SolidWorks being stored out there? It’s not under your patio bench. It’s actually spread out across the entire chasm of the interwebular galaxy and is very difficult to harness at times.
For all of you crazed 3D-modeling, equation-using junkies out there, you may be really, really excited to know that your equations will update in real-time when using Instant3D in SolidWorks 2008.
Here’s a slightly useful and not-at-all complicated tip on reducing features by using 3D sketches. It’s more fun to have people gather around your desk, get all attentive and then yell the first step very, very loud as they hunker down around your screen… Now move in close people…
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