Do you lie awake at night wondering about the possibilities of accessing your data from anywhere via the cloud? Me neither, but perhaps you trudge off to work, boot your computer and start working in a system that is completly dependent on the 10 year old, onsite PDM server… that also serves as the print…
If it were up to me, everything important to sustaining life–computers, blenders, sinks, beer–would be kept and deployed via a briefcase, mostly for the effect of grabbing the briefcase in times of panic and letting everyone know, not to worry, you have your briefcase. Ben Heck has the same idea, and he has fit one…
Luxion is dishing out a a slew of render tech this week at SIGGRAPH 2012 and even though I work for the company, it’s a refreshing look at visualization on the web. Visualization I didn’t think we, in the 3D world, wouldn’t see so soon. A couple weeks ago, I caught the first glimpse of…
If you’ve ever made your own speaker cabinet, you probably didn’t approach the project using long strips of wood veneer and a tea cup. Maybe I’m wrong and maybe you created it using exactly the same wood craft manufacturing technique that BUNACO uses. BUNACO is Japanese brand and maker of tableware, lamps and other interior…
Slowly, sifting, drifting and drenched, past the glistening glade he flew. Just off the scooners dark bow side, foliage, cries and beady eyes, gave rise to what may come. Yet not the air, not the fear, but one thing soaked his mind. Could he reach the den beyond, the buried lair, the silver minks? Could…
Some things make viewing your 3D files easier. Like a monitor. Without it, you look pretty silly typing on a keyboard whilst pretending to adjust the screen brightness. Some things also make viewing your 3D files more enjoyable. This 27″ monitor from HP is one of them. It’s just a monitor sure, but if you’re…
Everyone loves a snazzy lookin’ car handle on a snazzy lookin’ car, right? Me, I prefer to command my car (or trained monkey) to open the door so I don’t have to put down my pipe and whiskey (it’s just apple juice, officer.) If you do, however, prefer to pull, push or yank on a…
Deep with in the dark crevasses of time, there were other, smaller crevasses and deep within those, there lived a people. A people so furry, they were known only by one name. A name we do not know. Anyway, they lived rich and bountifully off the land, all thanks to the SolidSmack Cool Tools of…
Believe me, I was so tempted to headline this story with “Geomagic and Creaform Ass-Scan Gets Australian Kayak Team Fitted” Damage done, but to be honest, the scan is of much more than the posterior. The process of how Ami Drory, biomechanist at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), is forming the kayak cockpit, seat…
Love steam power? I know, stupid question. Who DOESN’T love steam power. Well, it just so happens that Open Source Ecology is looking for a saavy Project Manager type for their Steam Power initiative. If you recall, Open Source Ecology is the group creating the Global Construction Kit, 50 different industrial machines to make DIY…
This could also read, “Man machines gun parts, people freak out.” Hundreds of stories and thousands of comments erupted on the interewebs this week after HaveBlue, a gunsmithing member of the AR15.com forums, posted about printing the lower receiver of an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. It’s not the first print of a firearm, the first freaking…
Paint peeled off the surface of its metal shell. With each footfall the blades of oat grass folded flat against the ground. And in the roots we waited. Shaken, but not unaware. Burned, but not lacking. Swinging out, heels of the charred beast visible, we fired these links. Michelle Muldrow – Department stores, Grocery isles,…
Ok, another turning point for CAD collaboration via the web and it’s not the big software companies making it happen. TeamPlatform (that we’ve covered here and here) is turning into the best collaboration platform for CAD related files. They’re consistently bringing out new features aimed at helping you, not only collaborate on a product, but…
That… is a flying yak. Next to a flying girl. Nevermind the girl though. The yak is what you have to worry about. Why, you ask? It’s a blood-thirty yak, and by blood, I mean talent. We’re looking for a Production Ninja Whitebelt ready to take on the hairy yak beast that is EvD Media.…
It’s shoes like these that make me wish I was a girl assassin 500 years in the future. For Janina Alleyne the future is now and she’s making here shoe designs happen with the help of a very talented modeler and a good dose of 3D printed precision. The Exoskeleton is just one of here…
The battle raged on. All the small onion people had skinned their last layer, leaving nothing but their tender underbellies ripe for the squeezing. Fortunately for them, they were joined by the herbaceous chive, the sharp scallion, the assertive garlic–ripe, juicy and subscribers to the Cool Tools podcast. Have something cool you’ve come across? Don’t…
Oh, how I love a good typeface. If you cut one open, a good one–a Helvetica or a Gill Sans or a Futura–you would see the inner workings of a technical process that is filled with passion, color and inspiration of the time period in which it was brought to life. Oh, how I love…
Once the creature sat up–dazed, but eyes open–we could see, much better, the type of shield it had constructed and what exactly it was wearing. Gritty, long bits of hairs, patched together from its feline victims over the years. Ours would not be part of it. One more blast to the neck and it would…
Point your camera phone toward your face and post your reaction–This week, Autodesk announced the acquisition of video shooting/editing/sharing app Socialcam for an approximate $60 million. Socialcam is the year-old video app that has taken over social video sharing and thrives as an integral part of your Facebook feed. It’s a move that makes the…
Son, go get your ma, looks like SpaceCliam done got into the PDM’in, gone Sharepoint, and is gettin’ the IT folks all excited. It’s true, the young-ish 3D software company has sprouted some data management hairs on the bare chest of its direct modeling software, bringing you both an addon for managing SpaceClaim files and…
When you thought that mossleaf tepee was the best idea in the world, then met it’s doom to a herd of wild boar searching for your hidden cask of clover honey, just remember, SolidSmack was there to help with the finest concoction of useful resources, tool and DIY you have yet to see… for the…
Well, mark this down as something-that-should-have-happened-four-years-ago-but-never-did. People have used a Wiimote to control 3D models (way back in 2008??!), but man-handling that 3D geometry is something else entirely. Micah Denn, a Linux geek and Blender user, finally brought the two together and has a grand ol’ time showing you how he deforms a cube in…
So, you have an idea for a helmet. Not just any helmet though. A helmet that makes all existing helmets look totally lame by comparison. You want to bring a design team together–collaborate on it, create different versions, share files, renderings and thoughts about how to pummel any other would-be helmet maker. GrabCAD has revamped…
The moss was scraped from the steel. Sun hadn’t shown in this room. Moisture was a mist below the waist with nothing visible but a few flashing lights on the crumpled console. Then suddenly, the turbulent wisps dusted cold our fear. They were here. These links. Andrew Archer – A wonderous, yet surreal, mix of…
That fine young lad you see in the image is giddy with touch-sensitive joy this morning. Soon, he will be able to dish out nearly $4k for the massive Wacom table-top, touch-enabled tablet. After seeing the first iteration of the a Wacom Cintiq multi-touch tablet over two years ago, Wacom has announced that the all-new…
The shards of glass have been tossed in the air. You have but 5 seconds to roll across the floor to the protection of your desk, escaping the falling glass and weeks of applying bandages to the small, uncomfortable gashes. The SolidSmack Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is here to help. Have something cool…
I’m sure you remember the days of storing large prints in flat-files or the binders full of B-size sheets gaurded ever so preciously by the office admistrator’s glaring eye. Those days are (almost?) gone, but now we’re left to stacks of file folders on a network drive, available to be accessed only when we’re in…
I tell you what. You never quite know what you’ll find on Kickstarter from week to week. Sure, we’ve seen 3D printers and the like, but there’s definitely no lack of sweet tech toys and gadgets. We look at two this week that are sure to capture your sense of office pranking and treasure hunting.…
Hidden away within the thick branches of the sycamore, the boy watched. Hunting the Maliporp Mule Heen had never been easy. It was, however, the adventure that started it all. Hearkening back to the day he first stole away, out into the underbrush, never imagining he would find himself in a feeding freenzy–all of them…
As you gaze far off into the distance, a quiet rumble begins. The tremor is felt through the ground. Your ear hairs quiver. Your nostrils quake. Then suddenly, like a caffeinated clown exploding amidst a plume of fire, it appears, the SolidSmack Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff. Have something cool you’ve come across? Don’t…
Imagine chugging eight gallons of milk in one second? What would happen? Your stomach lining and pretty much your entire mid-section would no longer exist due to sudden and massive expansion. Fortunately, wireless vortex beams don’t have stomach linings. However, they have been limited to a single signal being transferred across the airwaves. That’s all…
If you really, I mean truly, desire the best Rhino training and tutorials, you’ve got no better choice than cadjunkie. (And I actually thought that before SolidSmack teamed up with them.) The new Tip o’ the Horn series by Scott Schneider (who we interview on EngineerVsDesigner) is live and half-way through the series bringing you…
Once Poppero had entered the wooded clearing, the thundering clouds rolled atop the trees, the shadows falling to the ground between the wind and golden leaves. Nothing stopped the ground from splitting, opening the rooted layers, reveling the tendrils frozen by these links. Rodrigo Enrique Luff – His moleskin sketchbook pieces (as well as his…
The Internets is about to become much more active with 3D viewing of your exported 3D data. Sunglass.io has just announced the release of plugins to import your models into the web-based collaboration and CAD-app platform. There are a set of plugins available for SolidWorks, Rhino, Processing and SketchUp along with direct integration of both…
If you’re part of a minibus fanclub or have often thought of joining an electric minibus revolution, this new concept from design group Entastudio, may make the cut to go on all your event flyers. Oktay Türkoglu and Ramazan Kaya are the founders of the studio, heading up the five person group based out of…
If you’ve felt a weird tingling sensation in your AutoCAD blueprints, you may be victim of a new worm that has been infecting machines over the last half of the year. The ACAD/Medre.A AutoCAD worm is suspected to be an industrial espionage tactic to get the hands on drawings. Here are the details.
Rock and roll is here to stay… and so is the new Cool Tools of Doom n’ stuff! We received some letters (sent to ourselves from across town) saying how helpful the resources and sites are. We’ve got a whole new pack of sites spanning graphics, apparel and DIY to make your life way more…
When you’ve removed the saw dust from your hand, stand up from the table and realize your hand is still there, it may be time to think about prosthetics and a different cutting device. One that involves laser. Lasersuar from Nortd Labs is an open source laser cutter that can bring all your desktop cutting…
Crumpled against the ground, the badderhorn lay. Most of the mist had cleared. The pine knots surrounding the small hedges near the basecamp broke through the moist ground sopped with leaves of year’s past. Where smoke and fire had left its nostril, the sword lay singed, glowing with the magical metalwork from an edge sharpened…
My question. Would you even ride a folding bicycle? And if so, bike shorts or totally gangsta? There seems to be an awful lot of folding bicycle designs. But I’ve yet to see someone actually riding one or carrying one. Not in the city. Not in the park. Not anywhere. Still, they’re an intersting experiment…
It’s here! I’m doomed, you’re doomed, we are all DOOMED! Doomed to use a whole bucket of cool tools and apps for design, DIY and so much more. This is a brand new feature for SolidSmack (replacing the Weekly Update) providing you with resources to make being an incredibly creative person more enjoyable. Each week…
CAD… on a tablet. I’m sitting behind a 30″ display (with another 27″ display to the side) and dreaming about using 3D software on touch-screen tablet. What is wrong with me? Could it be possible? Could it be usable? The iPad had been all the rage, but other tablets like the Samsung Slate, Acer Iconia,…
Put your thinking caps on. If you could, what would you instantly scan and slice into perfectly sized portions using a laser-scanner machine with a blade? Clay? Steel? Cheese? MEAT? Yes, MEAT. Long, irregular masses of tender, juicy meat that go partially undigested in our intestines for quarter of century. Nantsune, manufacturers of massive food…
Peeling back a large bucket of silver punch monkeys, he found the container had all but cracked open. What would he do next but stretch his neck skin across the top in hopes of containing the beasties? To do it without harm however, he would surely need to lather on these links. Six More Vodka…
How do you fold metal? Assuming your arms are not grafted with bionically reconfigured, pneumatic driven suction nubs, that’s an easy question to answer. ROBOTS. Big, 6-axis robots with a 120kg payload and… a delicate touch. RoboFold is making complex, metal bent facade and furniture with a fabulous new approach to shaping the steel. The…
It’s a big week for Solid Edge users and the SiemensPLM Solid Edge crew this week. They’re holding their first second, purely Solid Edge event and it’s going down in the annals of CAD Industry event history. Solid Edge University came about as a bit of a revolt by the Solid Edge users (and staff)…
Let me ask you one thing. Have you ever spent 299 hours doing one, single thing? Besides eating? or sleeping? or jumping in place as you strum your ukulele to the sound of wet marshmellows hitting your bare belly? I didn’t think so. People who design and engineer machines or make instruments and art have…
The wind coursed through the open breezeway. Diamond dust sparkling against the vine-laden floor. The scar it left slowed time. Had it really taken the buttered hams? All of them? Fearsome indeed. Likely there were more, but they were not going anywhere until they loaded their weapons and sharpened these links. Jan Ditlev – Not…
It happened. Oh yes. The five-fold intensity of CAD, PLM, SSLM, RM and every other type of lifecycle management need/want/desire happened this week at PlanetPTC Live. Adam O’Hern, my cohort in design crime at EngineerVsDesigner.com, and I were there being brain gorged and slightly traumatized with interviews, customer spotlights, hamburgers with onion sauce, vodka and…
The graphics in video games just look better than the 3D objects in design software. No surprise there. That games have better(-looking) physics simulation than 3D CAD software though… that amazes me. It just shouldn’t be, but it is. CryEngine3 is a Game Development Engine available for free with non-commercial use. Developers are pushing the…