Well surprise, surprise. You don’t have to wait till SolidWorks 2009 Pre-release 2 comes out to try PhotoView 360, the new rendering software announced by SolidWorks and Luxology is now available for anyone with SolidWorks 2009 to poke around in.

You’ll want to see the First Look Ricky Jordan has along with Gabi Jack rendering some models for her first time ever.

I’ll have some rendering up moments from now to show you some of the capabilities PhotoView 360 has. Until then try it for yourself. Download PhotoView 360

UPDATE:
Ok, I’ve had my chance to get into PV360 and run some rendering for you to see some of the different capabilities. Here’s some rendering just created:

top-down modeling in SolidWorksI know. You’re just screaming, “I work with the CAMERA. Striking a pose this way and that.” *whoosh, whoosh*

I’m actually talking about how you model your 3D design in SolidWorks. Ah, now this post is suddenly boring. No tips to get that gritty engineer look on film, just stuff about drawing lines and extruding stuff.

But look here, a question for ya and a challenge for your top-down design idea to be featured on SolidSmack.

{democracy:5}

And when I say TeamUP, I mean TeamUP with a capital UP a two giant arm motions that scare you into a flared fetal position. SolidWorks and Luxology are rockin’ the 3D rendering scene with a whole new technology that is gonna FLOOR you. Rob Rodriguez has all the bits of detail in his latest blog entry.

Basically, PhotoView360 is the divination of two products brought together in a new technology that will allow you to see SolidWorks models in an ultra-realistic setting… without rendering, without RealView.

As Rob puts it, it’s “real-time on screen image updates…very fast at saving high quality final images.” Does that sound like something you would want? huh?

I’d have to say, forgive my Industrial Design tendencies, but then this site would not be SolidSmack if I did.

I’m not an Industrial Designer officially, but I like the drawin’ and the inkin’ and the sketchin’ and that is exactly where IDSketching.com curls up nice and snug in your arsenal of super freakin’ cool design sites.

It’s the brainchild of John Muhlenkamp and Spencer Nugent whose pure goal is to share their methodology with anyone interested.

SolidWorks Tips on TwitterWhat good is Twitter for?

It’s a powerful tool for many people as well as for businesses building brands, but it’s even more powerful where there’s a strong user base. In the CAD world, and SolidWorks in particular, the connection between users just keeps getting stronger. On twitter, you can interact with SolidWorks user, SolidWorks employees, a Former CEO and now you can even get a heavy dose of SolidWorks Tips. Check this out.