If creating big budget animated films such as those produced by Pixar and Dreamworks has been on your bucket list, we have good news for you, friends. Pixar has just announced that they have released their RenderMan software into the wild for non-commercial use. Although the software isn’t an all-in-one modeling, rendering and animation package…

Innocent automobile drivers out for their Sunday drive in London in the fall of 2013 may have felt the noticeable increase in temperature, the sudden blinding windshield glare and continued motoring down Eastcheap Street with little more than an automatic brief adjustment of the climate control. If they were to stop and peer upward through their…

With all of the recent developments between OnShape, Autodesk’s 360 cloud offerings and even DS’ 3DEXPERIENCE, this truly is an exciting time for MCAD and ultimately, what the near-future holds for millions of users who depend on the software to bring their product designs to life. But as discussions surrounding what the best offering is…

We managed to wrangle Jon Hirschtick (Founder and Chairman, Onshape) and Carl Bass (CEO, Autodesk) into answering the same six questions about CAD in the Cloud, including the ultimate, whiz-bang question of the year at the end: “How do Fusion 360, Onshape, and 3DEXPERIENCE differ?” You saw it here first, folks. A SolidSmack exclusive, side-by-side…

When they officially went live at 11 AM EST yesterday, Onshape sent ripples through the product design community as being the first true parametric 3D CAD solution for the browser. The web app, which is able to be used on nearly any device including tablets and smartphones, is not only setting a new standard for…

Parasolid-based Mechanical CAD, for free. You read that right. Unfettered use of the entire Onshape system for up to 5GB and five private documents at a time is completely free, and a mere $1200/yr for unlimited documents. That’s right folks, the much ballyhooed Onshape just stepped into the ring swinging, and they are poised to…

If we were all being honest here, there has to be at least one time where we have all hoped for that never ending supply of LEGO bricks of choice. Thankfully, there is now a virtual option for owning thousands upon thousands of the iconic bricks without the need for physical storage space and the…

Yes, we have a fancy new website and a kick-butt new end-to-end MODO modeling course with over seven hours of ooey-gooey hard-surface SubD goodness. But that’s not all folks, no way no how. From now on, friends, cadjunkie has no memberships and no recurring payments. Download and enjoy anywhere, on any device, forever. What were…

The newly announced SolidWorks Industrial Design product is ostensibly similar to Autodesk’s popular Fusion 360 product. Like, really similar. And at $2280 per annum, the confusing mish-mash of overpriced and overlapping subscriptions in the new SolidWorks offering have us asking hard questions. Here’s why. Before we get into details, our hats are off to the…

I was sipping a hot coffee and Ding! An email from GrabCAD pops into my email this morning. A very unexpected email. “I have some great news – Workbench is now free!” Hardi Meybaum, CEO of GrabCAD says in the email. Workbench is GrabCAD’s highly rated, browser-based model management and collaboration software that was selling…

I was finally able to get a proper live demo of the new SolidWorks Industrial Design product at SolidWorks World 2015, and while we still lack some really critical information (Uh, price?), a lot of the fuzz is finally coming into focus. We spread some misinformation on The Twitters yesterday, so today we set the…

At only 12.7 MB, this new CAD package packs a punch! Although it may come with a bit of a steep learning curve, Monolith enables users to vary the quantity of multiple materials on a voxel-by-voxel basis. New 3D Printing technologies – such as those seen in Stratasys’ Objet multi-material 3D printers – allow the…

When it comes to CAD software, ZBrush, like many other types of digital sculpting software, can oftentimes be compared to the odd friend in the group that nobody really knows well, but always wants to be better friends with. Most often used by character designers and conceptual artists, the extremely powerful digital ‘clay’ modeler is…

One long-standing user problem for 3D content creators has been in turning 2D images into 3D models, as we have the tools of photography within our grasp at all times but fewer tools for 3D capture. Smoothie-3D, a new and free modeling tool, doesn’t automatically turn 2D images into 3D models, however it gives a…

Morphi is a free iPad app that allows users to quickly design and print items using touch alone; targeting younger people to inspire interest in design for all things 3D and artists/designers interested in taking a new approach. Back in June 2014, we covered their first release and we’re fairly impressed with Morphi’s powerful set of…

For anybody who has been wanting to get the most out of their 3D scanner or smartphone 3D scanning app, then the MODO for Repotology series from industrial design training site cadjunkie is just for you. For the low price of $39 ($14 for cadjunkie Premium members), this downloadable video series includes everything you need…

The second week of February is coming up, which means last minute plans for Valentine’s Day, Bacon Week and the SolidWorks World Conference. On February 8-11, SolidSmack will be in Phoenix, AZ covering the event, whilst avoiding rattlesnakes, rabid prairie dogs and (having good intentions of) ensuring everyone drinks and talks SolidWorks responsibly. With three…

It’s been a forest of quiet chirps, gentle rains and hidden high fives in Cambridge, MA, headquarters of Onshape. The company launched quietly in 2012 as Belmont Technology Inc. and started turning heads with an all-star roster of CAD industry elite. Now with a shapely new name and a team of nearly 100, you can…

As far as animated movies go, The LEGO Movie ranks high on the list for not just simply having a great story, but also its impressive use of CG and the fact that everything – including water, explosions, smoke and landscapes – are actual LEGO bricks. Of course, creating a feature-length film of walking and…

Rather than unveiling any new hardware last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2015) in Las Vegas, MakerBot quietly announced a wide array of ecosystem updates to make their platform more useful to a wider variety of users. Considering that their range of existing FDM 3D printer models are still among the most technologically…

When it comes to configuring that ideal computer for your 3D design needs, every last little bit of power can help. However, when you’re working within a set budget, the challenge of swapping some components for others can become a tedious task that sometimes feels more like rocket science than a ‘fun’ build project. Earlier…

Without even being a full week into the new year, we’ve already been seeing an avalanche of new product announcements, tech trends and software announcements that will help shape the next year in product design and engineering. Never one to disappoint when it comes to announcements, Luxion announced today that they have released the KeyShot…

So much news and so little time! As the world of product design and engineering continues to shift shape thanks to recent developments in digital fabrication, cheaper and more powerful CAD platforms, an ever-increasing interest from a younger generation, and all-around interest in the field, SolidSmack exists to help drive the future of product design…

If you’ve been looking for a way to keep those SolidWorks muscles strong going into 2015, then you’re in luck friend. For this week and this week only, industrial design video training site cadjunkie is offering the entire SolidWorks 101 course for free (normally $39) using the following coupon code: happyholidays. The sub-two-hour course starts…

If you’ve been looking for a way to keep those SolidWorks muscles strong going into 2015, then you’re in luck friend. For this week and this week only, industrial design video training site cadjunkie is offering the entire SolidWorks 101 course for free (normally $39) using the following coupon code: happyholidays. The sub-two-hour course starts…

For anybody who’s been wanting to get the most out of their 3D scanner or smartphone 3D scanning app, the new MODO for Repotology series from industrial design training site cadjunkie is just for you. For the low price of $39 ($14 for cadjunkie Premium members), this downloadable video series includes everything you need to…

If you’ve been on the fence about whether to purchase MODO 801 or not, you have until Friday (12/19) to purchase the software package for 40% off of its retail value, which would bring the cost down to $897.00 (normally $1495.00). Discounted as part of a MODO Flash Sale, the steep discount is almost unheard…

For anybody who’s been wanting to get the most out of their 3D scanner or smartphone 3D scanning app, the new MODO for Repotology series from industrial design training site cadjunkie is just for you. For the low price of $39 ($14 for cadjunkie Premium members), this downloadable video series includes everything you need to…

Looking for something to keep your design engineering muscle strong this weekend? For anybody who has been wanting to get the most out of their 3D scanner or smartphone 3D scanning app, then the new MODO for Repotology series from industrial design training site cadjunkie is just for you. For the low price of $39…

It’s no secret that Luxion has been teaming up with everybody from software companies to material manufacturers left and right these days. Regardless of what program you use, chances are there’s some sort of a KeyShot plug-in, LiveLink, or Direct Import option for that. Now you can add one more to the pile. Yesterday, it…

Well, we’ve waited long enough and now it’s finally here. For anybody who has been wanting to get the most out of their 3D scanner or smartphone 3D scanning app, then the new MODO for Repotology series from industrial design training site cadjunkie is just for you. For the low price of $39 ($14 for…

EvD Media’s very own resident industrial design pro Adam O’Hern (he of Cadjunkie fame) has been busy as of late figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Thankfully, he’s also been channeling that sugar rush into developing scripts for our favorite CAD programs and hacking existing…

EvD Media’s very own resident industrial design pro Adam O’Hern (he of Cadjunkie fame) has been busy as of late figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Thankfully, he’s also been channeling that sugar rush into developing scripts for our favorite CAD programs and hacking existing…

Aaaaaand, just like that. Autodesk 123D Web Apps are dead… From the 123D blog (emphasis added): “If you have been using the web based versions of the 123D apps that run in your browser, you probably noticed that they have gone bonkers. We’re well aware and have been anticipating the need to shut them down…

With more than 200,000 models and counting, it’s easy to see why a lot of designers and engineers are using Sketchfab to publish, share and embed interactive 3D models. Aiming to do what YouTube has done for video makers, or what SoundCloud has done for musicians, Sketchfab wants to bring interactive 3D content to as…

Back in October, SolidSmack announced that Autodesk had unveiled a more-robust option for their Fusion 360 CAD package with the announcement of Fusion 360 Ultimate. The announcement included feature upgrades including highly-requested 2D drawings, 3D exploded views and added CAM support. Autodesk Fusion 360 Product Manager Kevin Schneider followed-up on the announcement last week with…

We can’t believe that we missed this one pre-Halloween…but it’s just too dang good to not put out either way. Originally conceived of by Stephen Endersby, a Product Manager over at SolidWorks, this zombie-themed SolidWorks Simulation activity effectively helps you learn the basics of simulation in SolidWorks while testing zombie attack survival strategies. In this…

For those who frequently use The Foundry’s MODO 3D modeling and rendering package, any opportunity to speed up the workflow can be a huge timesaver that can leave more room for actually designing rather than bouncing between tools. If you’ve ever recorded ‘Actions’ in Adobe Photoshop, then the concept will be familiar to you. In…

Back in May of 2014, Luxion released their much-anticipated Keyshot 5 that saw a host of improvements to their popular rendering package. Among other new features included the popular ‘Perspective Matching’ option for accurately placing a model in a scene and the introduction of Keyshot Cloud to further enable the Keyshot user community to instantly…

Each week we’re sharing a new tip with you here on the ‘Smack to help elevate your CAD game to a new level. Our goal is to mix up the weekly tips to cover a wide variety of ground for using CAD effectively as a product design tool. Some weeks might feature basic form-building exercises…

Each week we’re sharing a new tip with you here on the ‘Smack to help elevate your CAD game to a new level. Our goal is to mix up the weekly tips to cover a wide variety of ground for using CAD effectively as a product design tool. Some weeks might feature basic form-building exercises…

Each week we’re sharing a new tip with you here on the ‘Smack to help elevate your CAD game to a new level. Our goal is to mix up the weekly tips to cover a wide variety of ground for using CAD effectively as a product design tool. Some weeks might feature basic form-building exercises…

Do you know why its called “Complex Surfacing”? Because its complicated! I have spent several years specifically working with complex surfacing inside Solidworks. For awhile now I have been working on concept cars, motorcycles, consumer products and general ‘shape-y’ type stuff. I love the parametric design process, and I deal with all aspects of Solidworks…

Each week we’re sharing a new tip with you here on the ‘Smack to help elevate your CAD game to a new level. Our goal is to mix up the weekly tips to cover a wide variety of ground for using CAD effectively as a product design tool. Some weeks might feature basic form-building exercises…

If data portability is so annoying, what format(s) are we talking about here? We asked what formats people use when sharing data with 1) collaborators, 2) clients, and 3) fabrication shops. The results were generally unsurprising, but lead to some interesting conclusions.

Each week we’re sharing a new tip with you here on the ‘Smack to help elevate your CAD game to a new level. Our goal is to mix up the weekly tips to cover a wide variety of ground for using CAD effectively as a product design tool. Some weeks might feature basic form-building exercises…

3D printing and CAD software couldn’t function without each other, they go together like a match made in pythonOCC. As 3D printing continues to build its freight train like momentum for home users and hobbyists, so too does the adoption of CAD software that can be both expensive and difficult to master. Software such as…

It’s not very often when you come across an industrial designer who has a desire to bring what is commonly hidden by a panel or housing out into the open in all of its glorious and mechanical gleam. Such is the case with industrial designer Simon Williamson. The Britain-born designer honed his chops at Frog…

The ‘Hump Day Hot Tips’ series from our industrial design training site cadjunkie has been off to a great start after three weeks of looking at splines in SolidWorks. This week, industrial designer Adam O’Hern takes a look at how to avoid inflections and gain better control over your splines using the most common spline…

As part of the new ‘Hump Day Hot Tips’ series from industrial design training site cadjunkie, industrial designer Adam O’Hern has been looking at various methods for connecting two buttery-smooth splines in SolidWorks. This week features a new method that some of you who have been using SolidWorks 2014 might already know about: the Style…