It is here folks. Yes, very soon, a fate better than sandy shorts and blistered skin will wreak havoc upon Orlando, Florida. The 3D modeling mass of SolidWorks users will join their compatriots in the massive gathering of SolidWorks related products, information and technology lovingly known as SolidWorks World 2009. It’s time to prepare, bribe…
Have you ever seen pictures that move? I hear they call it ‘Video’ or something. I also hear that there are some snazzy ‘video’ demos of the new SolidWorks 2009 functionality at a place called ‘the YouTube’. Sounds kind of personal to me, but I checked it all out and I think you’ll like what…
Of all the things you could use to get from point A to point B, the best and most obvious choice for the future, I’m convinced, will be the Jetpack. Martin Aircraft Company is making sure of this with the first mainstream jetpack to hit the market. Efficient personal transport is certainly a hot commodity…
I see you wavin’ your hands around like your folding laundry, but that imagery floating around you is just all kinds of freaky… OHhhh, those are holograms and your moving them around with your knuckles and those sensors in your hands. I shoulda known. It’s here. Obscura Digital is using their multi-touch technology along with…
I imagine if you’re a regular reader of this colorfully pleasant blog you are perfectly capable of modeling a design idea up in SolidWorks. If you’re not, this site will help you realize your creative genius. DesignmyIdea.com can work with you on a design and give you some guidance on how to get you’re idea…
I’ll tell you right now, get ready to break into song if you are a SolidWorks user. In a few months, you are going to wake up, putter off to work and see that familiar splash screen pop up when you start SolidWorks. But this time it’s different, this time it says SolidWorks 2009. Can…
It actually happened right after I turned it on. They spilled out like beans on a metal floor, attacked my metacarpals, and ate my biscuits. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking and these links, we would all be goners for sure. Blow Up – Cause blowing down doesn’t work as well, this computer and…
I know you all get excited when you have the chance to read about CAD news and the excitement happening around our tiny globe. This week has been chock full of interesting tid-bits of info. There’s so much in fact, that I didn’t even get a chance to tell you about them earlier, so I’ve…
Twitter = accessibility. It has opened up clogged lines of communication and expanded personal and community networks around the world and it just keeps getting bigger, I tell ya. When some of us were on months ago, there’s wasn’t much buzz on the 3D CAD side of things. That has changed big time in the…
“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.…
Isn’t display technology just wonderful? No? You want something curved? well, if you’re not happy with the flat Microsoft Surface with multi-touch, get ready to literally wrap your hands around the Spherical version. Microsoft Research took the globular multi-touch screen out of the box today to reveal just how gaming, advertising and messing around with…
One week from NOW, yes, one week from this day we know and love as ‘Monday’, will be another day called ‘Monday’… It also happens to be the same day the veil of SolidWorks 2009 will be lifted and the lone Beta testers will be free to reveal all the goodness that is to come.…
I’ve been reminded lately of one of the most frightening man-made beasts, glancing over my shoulder and shuddering at the sound of any loud, mechanical whirring. If you thought humanoid bipedal robots were nightmarishly creepy, wait till you see the video below. I remember pictures of the DARPA ‘BigDog’ military troop support robot years ago,…
The random number generator from random.org picked the number 80. Out of 113 entries that means the winner is: John D! John works for GageMaker, maker of, yep, fine gages. His PDF video idea was to, “use video in PDF’s to demonstrate the use of our gages and assembly procedures of our gages.” So what…
Wondering what some of the most popular post on SolidSmack are? Me too. Here’s a rundown for the best of what SolidSmack has and am example of what you’ll see on this site.
I’m tellin’ ya now. One of those wiggly little creatures is bad enough, but I draw the line at two. That’s when you gotta get out an extra wetnap, a banana and some tasty links like these. The Sphere Project – What can you do with a sphere in 3D? Hurts the brain to think…
We’re doomed. The robot armies are massing. As if simple non-humanoid robots were bad enough, now tiny, toddler-like and highly functional robot are coming to the market very, very soon people. Start packing. Aldebaran Robotics is bringing on the dream that many have of a personal robot companion to romp around with and they just…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
“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…
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…
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…
Lou Gallo of SolidWorks Heard (twitter) has apparently recorded a recent phone conversation between us and has put it up online so that all my glean my mildly incoherent ramblings. I told my friend Alex Ruiz that my voice sounds like a conversation between Kermit the frog and miss piggy, but in actually, it sounds…
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…
You may start to see some changes around the trusty ol’ SolidSmack site. For one, I’ve integrated the Disqus commenting system into the site. Sound fancy? It is, and it’s got some cool features that will make commenting 100% more fun than before. I’m using the Disqus commenting system for a few reasons, but mostly…
Really, are you saying you squeezed a blueberry between your elbows and created anti-matter? I believe sir, that you are a natural energy source. Please attach these links, it won’t hurt a bit. Texture Showcase – Wow, textures can be downright dangerous to play with in design, but when used like some of these sites,…
3D online maps are so yesterday, and so is the news of Google’s new web-based 3D Virtual World, but after looking into it more, I had to let all of you interested in 3D and CAD know what the possibilities could be. You may know about the popular Virtual World SecondLife. It’s a full-featured World…
I had a conversation with someone yesterday about how to create really great looking images without using the SolidWorks rendering add-in, PhotoWorks. I told him it was simple and you can do it in just a few steps. ‘No way, show me.’, he said. If you have PhotoWorks, great; you can create some very slick…
Ahhh, it’s the middle of the summer. Vacations are planned, mosquito are biting and there’s so much going on in the world of SolidWorks the coffee pot at SolidWorks HQ in Massachusetts is on 24/7. Yes, things are heating up and it’s a perfect chance for you to get all your incredibly helpful designs, thoughts,…
Feast your eyes upon this odd lookin’ chair. Some products you can just look at and know it was designed with SolidWorks. The The Dreeben Billet Chair is one of those. It’s as if you are looking right at the model and recognize the features used to create it. Micheal Dreeben is the designer and…
Recently, SolidWorks thwarted a would-be Zombie attack by launching the SolidWorks Geniuses marketing campaign. First up was the Leonardo Da Vince Self-Powered (Zombie-eliminating) Cart. You saw it, I’m sure, and desired to get your hands on the model so you too could prevent an ensuing Zombie onslaught. Well, you’re in luck. Rob Rodriguez is putting…
Suddenly and without warning, I leapt to my feet, only to realize I had no feet and the ceiling was much shorter than it was when I had a beard. That can really throw off your concentration. Fortunately I came across these links. Desktop wallpaper for July – I was gonna make one for ya,…
I know what you’re going through. Every time you boot your computer the Windows ‘Bliss’ background, circa 2001, burns holes right through your retinas. You desire something with a little more snap. Maybe a cool looking product design. huh? yeah? Then check out the SolidWorks World Wallpapers site. This isn’t new though. It was put…
Right now, I currently have 3 versions of SolidWorks installed on my computer – 2007, 2008, and 2009Beta. oh, and 2005 till just recently. It’s crazy I tell ya. I use 2008 mostly right now, but have to switch back to 2007 for some models. It made me wonder what everyone out there is actually…
Lena Gieseke has taken Picasso Guernica and transformed it into a version of the painting that will leave you deeply immersed in the canvas of the Cubist master, Picasso. Guernica has got to be incredible to see up close (it’s currently at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain), But when you look at it…
I’m telling ya people, robots are taking over the world and SolidWorks is doing their part to aid in the onslaught of automated fulfillment like you wouldn’t believe. SHOES. The robots are in control of our footwear and it’s all starting at Zappos, perhaps the most brilliant shoe store you’ll ever find. Kiva Systems has…
BOM’s. Bill o’ Materials. That list of parts that moves across the disco floor like only you wish you could. DID I really just compare a BOM to a dance genre we long to forget? Yes, yes I did, and I’m feeling the nostalgic and stomach-churning affects of doing so. Nevertheless, a BOM provides that…
Despite the fact that it looks like a very large, very colorful, yet well designed, doily, this is one of the winners of the lucrative 2008 Red Dot Design Award. This year alone 3,203 designs were entered ranging from textiles, like this fancy rug, to technology and just about anything else that spans product, conceptual…
They didn’t attack at first, but then Earl threw one of his gravy biscuits at’em and right after they made some real weird screeching noises, they devoured all these links. Dale Mathis Gear Sculpture – Yes, you too can make gear sculpture, but not like this guy. 101 Photoshop Tip in Five Minutes – Try…
MCAD is running like heck from the desktop. The possibilities of where CAD data is accessed from and where you are when you access it just keeps on growing I tell ya. First you have laptops coming out sporting the AMD Turion X2 Ultra to integrate processor and graphics card capabilities. That equals more power,…
As if our soon to be robot overlords are not scary enough, now there’s a Robot University for them to systematically learn how to take over the minds of small children and impressionable young college students. I exaggerate a bit. This is actually a place where the academics and the automaton-interested can gather via an…
Oh man, your SolidWorks assembly is looking a little crooked my friend. In fact, I’d say it’s just about to tip over and probably hurt a small family of mice or a vagabond waiting for you to set some scraps out on the porch. I’m going to suggest a way to improve assembly creation, so…
That atomic rubidium vapor you’ve been storing in those old canning jars may soon be put to good use as a storage medium for images which, in turn, could allow 3D data storage, display and possibly manipulation. A group of physicists from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel… yeah, that place, warmed up…
I was working on a somebody’s computer this morning and their email notification kept popping up asking you to choose to go to the email or not. For one thing, that was incredibly annoying, and incredibly inefficient for another. A little experiment So it made me want to offer up a little experiment to show…
Last week on June 20th, Google Trends for websites was launched to allow a look into competing sites and aid your plans for worldwide domination. Similar sites, like Compete (my favorite) and Alexa already exist, but this leverages the power of Google’s simple, yet masterful use of analytical data. Anyone can use it to find…