Philips has taken the idea of 3D displays, shaken it vigorously, added some marketing genius and have turned out a display that requires no glasses to see 3D content. Philips has been developing these for a while with the 42″ version being introduced in March 2006. Find out more here. Now they’ve taken one of…
I don’t know if you know this but there are actually many ways an ant can reach the top of a tree. Why he would want to get up there is beyond me, but I’ve seen it happen twice already and let me tell ya, those ants… they’re crazy. 20 Plus Free and Fresh Icons…
A group from USC have created an Interactive 360º Light Field Display. I didn’t understand what was interactive about it until I saw the video. (below) These types of displays are called horizontal-parallax multiview 3D displays and this one is actually kinda scary. It’s basically a light field projected onto a mirror rotating 20 times…
Sometimes working with a SolidWorks BOM may seem like you’re bouncing away on a trampoline just fine, when all of a sudden your leg slides right through the springs on the side as your head slams against the metal support bar… more or less. The SolidWorks BOM (Bill of Material) is actually pretty cool. It’s…
There are a lot of people searching for different things about SolidWorks out there. A lot of the traffic I get is from other sites related to SolidWorks or CAD. In the vein of trying to get more exposure to this site, I read a few blogs to gain some insight on blogging, writing and…
A wife that loves you like crazy. It’s her birthday today. 🙂 I’ll tell you right now, there’s no better way to state the exactness of what “a meaningful life” can be, besides saying, the friendship that is formed and shared with a spouse is the most powerful elemental necessity in life and that any…
It’s one thing to have a 24″ or 30″ monitor to spread your work across, but when you’re working on a smaller monitor the toolbars and sidebars can take up half the screen. This little tip can change that and make a big difference in how you work. Quick Usability I like quick ways to…
For all of you that are going back to school or have kids going back to school, I thought I would give you some nice resources to help out. Check Out the School LocalSchools.com – Interactive site to check out schools, compare and discuss with others. Get Settled with Style IKEA – Roommateliving.com – This…
What in the world does it take to get a few good people to jump up and down at the same time? I mean, maybe I’m asking to much, but I do what I can and I end up having to jump up and down all by myself. At least I have this links. DesignFruit.com…
With Vista spreading like hazy mist, XP may not be around much longer so I thought I’d get this little tip out to you before we’re swimming in the elegance of a new “desktop experience.” I thought about this when Rob Rodriguez mentioned his computer upgrade and one of the tweaks he does called the…
If you’ve seen the movie Transformers or were a fan of the animated series you’ll know how super freakin’ cool this is. The truck that was used in the movie and played the part of Bonecrusher is an actual production vehicle that is developed in SolidWorks. Force Protection Inc. created this monstrous vehicle in their…
In the past 14 years of my experience in CAD the wood end grain hatch pattern has always been one of the most elusive of the nocturnal hatch patterns. At least, it has been in the 5 companies of the lower southern mid-west I’ve worked at. I doubt it has to do with temperate zone…
There’s been some interesting things going on the past week. Here’s some links you may find interesting and the one of the best from last week here on SolidSmack Interesting Posts SolidWorks Super User’s Group – Matt Lombard and Rob Rodriguez report the Central Mass/Norther CT User’s Group is getting a visit from the SolidWorks…
Imagine not paying thousands for a crumby, burnt-looking 3D print out of a part. These guys over in Russia have done it. (This page shows you) “How to make a 3D-printer for your home lab with $340 cnc kit and some junk. It uses cheapest plastic waste or powder paint as raw material to produce…
Ready for a knee-slapin’ good time? What’s that? You don’t like strawberries thrown at you? How bout if I mash’em up real good first? Still no? You are indeed a strange one. I think it best you sit and look at these. Fuzzwich Mini-vids – make your own little animations quick and easy like. Super…
You know the things in life you’ve always dreamt you would have the chance to do? If creating an Isometric Section View in SolidWorks is one of them, get ready to mark it off the list. Actually, dreaming about something like this may be a bit odd. Harnessing frustration might be a better term. Similar…
At Siggraph this year, ATI announced its line of super-powered, new generation, 3D whooping, FireGL™ graphics cards. With features that lends itself to perform better with 3D applications, you would think it’s what everyone with slow graphics performance would want. So what kind of KILLER video card is this going to be? Here’s what Efrat…
While the Northern Hemisphere is getting ready for SolidWorks World 2008, our friends on the Southern Hemisphere are getting ready for SolidWorks World 2007. The SolidWorks 2007 International Users Conference,hosted by InterCAD, a SolidWorks reseller, is being held in Melbourne, Australia on September 10th, 2007. It runs shorter than the User Conference in the States…
Yep, it’s easier than pushing an orange through a keyhole. You can become famous just by doing what you do everyday (that would be thinking) and come up with a new and innovative product or just show off your crazy skills. There are currently two design contest going on for you to expose your genius…
There’s nothing quite like a good hat. Once I had a hat, but it was too tight, so I checked out these links. Instructables.com – Step-by-step instructions on how to make everything. my favorite. 2D Kids Slow Down Traffic – I guess 2D is handy for something. 🙂 BrandBud – a really slick and refreshing…
Developing a way to layout your models can be daunting. It’s kind of like having shards of glass thrown at you by a very small man with beady eyes named Karl. A modeling methodology defines how you construct your models and keeps it consistent across the models and the company. For this reason alone, it’s…
I have absolutely no interest in golf. Before you choke or stop reading the blog, It’s not that I don’t like it, I’ve just never really played. My excuse is that I’m left-handed… which is working less and less each time I’m asked to play. For the first time since 1994, the PGA Championship is…
Google Patent search has been one of the primary means of finding free patent information online since it’s launch in December 2006. Brian Law at Solid Impressions has put up an extremely useful post on Patent Searches and gives his experience with using Google Patent Search. I agree that finding patent information use to be…
It’s one thing to take 3D models and make 2D drawings of them. Sure it’s a lot of work and has it’s place, but what if you could take a bunch of 2D photos and turn them into 3D representations. Several companies are doing just that. Fotowhoosh constructs a 3D representation from a single photo.…
You may be interested to know that SolidWorks PR 1 is available for download. This is the step before the final release and is intended to be used in a production environment to test for quality. If you’re going to use it in production, be sure to make back-ups of whatever you try it on…
When I was growing up, our house was filled with plants. We had a huge greenhouse on the side of the house that I would explore and play in. My mother is a horticulturalist and plants have always interested me, as well as the greenhouses. These greenhouses and conservatories, designed by Alitex in SolidWorks are…
I can dance like you wouldn’t believe, is what I’m saying! I shoot this way and that way! you can’t keep up unless you check out this links! Modern Approaches to Data Visualization – spreadsheets? yeah right! how will we view data in the future. Here’s how it’s being viewed now. DesignFlood.com – a virtual…
The measure command is probably the single most used tool in the arsenal of SolidWorks Tools. But, if you’re slappin’ holes and fillets all over your models and someone ask you to measure a minimum distance between holes, what do you do? I’ve seen some start a sketch and proceed to lay out lines and…
Graphic Systems has a recent post that discusses some considerations when moving ahead with Vista. I’ll address those here and touch on some others. I’ve written before on What You Need to Run SolidWorks on Vista. That post should help you determine if you can upgrade to Vista using your existing system, but if you’re…
Here’s a handy little tip that 4 out of 5 tech support guys recommend for getting a quick perpendicular- to-tangent relation in SolidWorks. This is really simple, but I don’t see it used too often. It can help you avoid a bunch of steps, as well as prevent unnecessary construction lines and geometry. To create…
I just received an email from Richard Doyle telling about a new show in town. A Cad Show. It kinda got me all unexcited, but I thought I would check it out anyway. It’s called CCNTV, which stands for CAD CAM NET TV. It’s a bi-weekly newscast focused on the CAD business and making some…
Most everyone has posted about SolidWorks World 2008 and Mike Puckett has given a really good breakdown of what to expect. I’d just like to add two things: Three for the price of two You can get a ‘Three for the Price of Two’ pass here. That’s a savings of $795 smackers you could use…
If you’re wondering what one of the basic things you can do to make creating parts, assemblies and drawings easier without pushing it off onto someone else, I may have a solution for you. Steps that prevent repetitive tasks can usually be some of the most simple. While things in SolidWorks are not always so…
Today, my little boy is turning 1 year old. I extremely excited and just can’t help but tell you all and show you some photos. His name is Sebastian Alexander and he’s a bubble of fun. He’s taken over our personal blog at joshandmaggie.com where there are some videos also. Here’s some photos. Custest Boy…
I need a banana and a wet-nap stat. These links are bleeding out all over my new rug. Faveup.com – a simple site for inspirational media design. very nice gallery layout. Art in HK – an art outfit in Hong Kong with a sweet 3D sketchy site. CMS Matrix – with so many blog and…
Dassault Systemes released their 2nd quarter earnings today. Overall they’re doing well. Although the increases seem small, Dessault continues to grow thier research in technology, in particulalrly web-based technology with 3DVIA product. I would like to see them spend more in R&D than marketing but they are at least spending as much in Research as…
There’s nothing quite like a fresh-squeezed glass of OJ in the morning, unless you’ve had a traumatic experience in an orange grove and you’re deathly afraid of oranges. Then, not so good. That’s probably pretty common. So instead, I’ve got some fresh-squeezed tips for new SolidWorks users, although just about anyone could use them some…
MCAD, a UK based product development and manufacturing magazine, has put up a 4 page review of SolidWorks 2008 this month. It’s basically a rundown of the most talked about features. If you’ve seen a 2008 demo or have read other reviews it won’t really tell you anything new though. I would just skip to…
Reading a post over at WorldCAD Access about a recent article makes me realize just how fortunate we are that AutoDESK “finally broke the market open” in 1999 with Inventor and saved us from expensive modeling programs like CATIA. Hmmm. Man, if it wasn’t for the creative talent behind Inventor, I would still be typing…
DELCAM has a CAD CAM product that allows you to open, view, manipulate, measure and save 39 different CAD formats. It’s called PowerSHAPE-e. The ‘SHAPE’ part is in caps cause they mean business… FREE business. They put out a press release about it today. Just last week, I was looking for something I could use…
Seriously, that squirrel was just standing there puffing away on a cigarette. Tell me, have you ever seen anything as crazy as that? I think not. Google streetview invades America – coming to a window near you. Bioshock Trailer – Xbox 360 game out in August 07 with incredible graphics and non-linear responsive environment. dang…
Here’s a quick tip that will help keep your eyes from spurting blood when you’re working those long hours. ClearType Tuner This tool will help the fonts on your screen show up better which can make a night and day difference in how productive you can be. You may need to download the Powertoy Version…
I’m not sure if this will be a regular type of post, but I thought, after being slightly over-exposed to the sun and having an icy beverage, I’d tell you a short story about a little company and a big company and what happens when 3D is used with 2D processes. A little drama, a…
I particularly like furniture design and I recently came across this company in a SolidWorks Case Study. Strand-Hvass is a furniture and product design company in Denmark. It formed as a merge between the two design companies of Christina Strand and Niels Hvass. The two attended the Danish Design School. Some may think this style…
Many times I will be cruising along on an assembly and realized I should be slapped hard for not taking time to do a few things that will make my work much easier. Yeah, my assembly is looking like that thing from John Carpenter’s “The Thing” and the room is getting dark. So, to keep…
I’ve had to search for some models lately and I was going to do a helpful little post on the best places to find and download models, but after searching for hours and messing around on a bunch of sites, there is just one that stands out. I bet some of you could have told…
Burton Car Company, the largest sports car manufacturer in the Netherlands, holds a design competition each year for a new concept sports car. The 2007 grand prize is a €12,000 Burton kitcar. The concept has to be designed in SolidWorks based on an available chassis and meet specs for kitcar manufacturability. SolidWorks.nl, HP, W3D, and…
Congrats to Steve Calvert for winning the 2GB SanDisk Crusier in lasts weeks dimensioning tip contest. He now has 2GB more room to carry stuff around with him. I have one and have even run an Apache web server off of it! enjoy Steve! Keep an eye out because there will definitely be more contest…
In response to the post about The Vital Key to an Organized SolidWorks Team, one of our readers, Kyle Mason, sent a response about his experience at college where Inventor is really pushed. I have [created a Reg file for Inventor users] to make SolidWorks a little more “Inventor friendly.” I am going to college…