Well, it’s not every day you come in from towel whipping pigeons, sit down to your computer, swat away a few feathers and find a screen full of fresh SolidWorks video tutorials waiting for you. Today is such a day. Left coast bad-boy Alex Ruiz, who you may know as the SolidWorks Geek, has been…
We’ve seen iPad apps that allow you to view your 3D models, but nothing adding the cranial crushing aspects of collaboration. Except for one… We first caught a glimpse of the CADFaster iPad app at SolidWorks World 2011. Since then they’ve lit the switch on development and added features on par with the desktop version…
You know who love students? I mean, really, REALLY loves student? Autodesk. They’re getting all giddy with excitement about their relationship with students (who in the past have been the biggest software pirating extension of the Autodesk marketing plan *ahem*) and making it possible to turn their passion for learning into a passion for all…
Good news for all of you hankering for a poseable male figure to put in your models. We twisted the arm of Eric Lagman, creator of the figures at CADHuman.com and convinced him to give all SolidSmack readers a bit of a discount on one of his models. From now until June 27th you can…
If these model were any more real, they’d crawl their way out of your screen and eat you. I’ve actually just scared myself a little bit, but what’s even scarier is that these 3D human CAD models are the most accurate representation of the human form I’ve ever had the joy of opening in SolidWorks.…
Of all the things that Google announced yesterday at the Google I/O developers conference, the one I find most exciting is their new Android Open Accessory standards and the Accessory Development Kit (ADK) that goes with it. The best nerdy part of this nerdy story is that the ADK is centered around the Arduino open…
You may want to stop suckin’ that SolidWorks model through the regular old modo SolidWorks import for a few days. Why? You’re about to get a stronger, rockin’er, suckin’er solution to bring all those bits and bobs into modo. It’s the modo for SolidWorks kit. It’s coming soon along with more materials, more compatibility, SolidWorks-like…
Avert thine eyes!!! No wait, it’s okay to look. The discomfort will only be temporary… and then the eye-blinding awesomeness will melt hot, molten modo directly onto your cornea… which sounds way more painful, but really, is quite the opposite. Adam Ohern of CADJunkie has put together yet another tutorial stepping you through the process…
Oh the joys of being able to put ‘Smack’ in a headline and having it actually rhyme. Don’t forget this day folks. DON’T FORGET IT. Not for the reason of rhyme, but for the very reason that Luxology, has automated package design ecology, and is crackin’ render scenes with no apology. Check the tech-nology.
There’s a time coming when we’ll all transform into machines who need no sleep and could care less if cupcakes had too much icing. One company who already realizes this vision of the future, and preparing us all for it, is DriveWorks. They’ve brought automation to SolidWorks with DriveWorksXpress, DriveWorks Solo and DriveWorks Pro. DriveWorks…
Maybe you didn’t make it to SolidWorks World 2011. Maybe you’re still wandering the streets of San Antonio after days of drinking Riverwalk water and salsa picante. No worries for you. If you missed a few sessions due to work or inebriation a busy schedule, you have the option of catching up. A good month…
There is nothing, quite like the sound of the pan flute. Particularly when you’ve just escaped the mechanical mandibles of a decapitated swarm of robot heads robot rabbit babies. To celebrate your escape and then attract attention back to your meat flabs, why not offer up a song with the eerie melody brought forth from…
If you can believe it, there’s a webinar this week. I’m usually not one for webinars, as the word ‘webinar’ itself reminds me gagging on pen caps after drinking milk. However, this webinar is something that has caught my interest and it just so happens that good ol’ Ben Eadie of UsingSolidWorks is the one…
What’s better than being beat with the rough edge of a 3D printed car door? Many things… many, many things, but one activity that’s better, which totally relates (to cars, not being beaten) is surface modeling! Yes, hooray for surface modeling. You’ve seen Matt Perez’s site. Now, we’re gifted by another SolidWorks user who’s pulling…
How do you keep from bashing the keyboard against your skull out of frustration with modo commands? Simple. A modo 501 keyboard shortcut guide. It’s all the rage with the modo kids these days. Jason Bartley has updated the version he laid out for 401. They could probably even be used with keyboard pants.
If you ever go ridding a horse bareback through plate glass windows, you may often wonder how to reduce the amount of scarring by attaching a thin acrylic shield around yourself and the horse. I propose Ponoko as the single best resource for creating such a shield. However, you don’t want children attempting to try…
Careful with that sharp putty knife. You don’t want to jab a main artery, grape salad or nostril as you read this. Oh! too late. The vessels have ruptured, starting with the SolidWorks user who brought you the free Camaro Tutorial and free Speaker tutorial. Now, he has a website offering even more. Certified SolidWorks…
Well, shove some translated geometry in my eye! Here’s something you may not have known. Dassault (SolidWorks) has developed a CATIA to SolidWorks translator so you can import the hundreds of millions of CATIA files you’ve stored up over the years. It doesn’t ship with SolidWorks. It’s not anywhere in the software. It’s not a…
When collaborating on a design, there are just so many blood vessels you can pop before you scare your co-workers to jaw-tensing tears. It can be frustrating. Collaboration and discussion about a design should be simple, visual, and not leave you feeling completely defeated… Get ready for this. CADFaster is taking on design collaboration and…
It’s grueling isn’t it? Every time you turn your Droid on and start nub flickin’ the screen through your favorite apps, there’s that special one always missing. That app which allows you to create abstract art of yourself standing next to a glimmering pond holding 50 pounds of ground meat in one hand and a…
You see that hot looking Camaro up above? That’s a thousand features of SolidWorks surfacing coolness you’re about to create. There’s an even cooler aspect to this as well. Matthew Perez, a Certified SolidWorks Expert (CSWE) and designer of injection molded parts, created this tutorial for you to learn all he has learned about modeling…
Our good friend, world record-breaking, seafaring and slightly beady-eyed Canuck, Ben Eadie is at it again. You might know him from an encounter at a SolidWorks event or from his multiple online presence at SolidMentor, SolidJott and MechanicalMashup. The latest of his offerings for the info-hungry SolidWorks user has just launched. Give a warm welcome…
Sometimes there are simply not enough laser beams you can shoot out your eye holes to automatically change how geometry is modeled. They should have built it this way, they should have built it that way, they should have quit and taken a job as someone who jabs lard into large buckets. Stacking model features…
There are a whopping 500 apps in Apple’s AppStore for architects and contractors. This includes apps categorized as “games,” “lifestyle,” and “entertainment.” While SimCity Deluxe might alleviate stress on the job site, it’s not going to help create layouts or access floorplans. So, Software Advice has slapped together a list of the best iPhone and…
Yeah, you spend your days modeling food dispersal system for fish hatcheries, but your evening activities tell a different story. Let’s just say people should think twice before challenging you to 5-day Mario Kart Marathon. Perhaps, as you’ve sat in silence waiting for the next installment of the Halo series to come out, you’ve wondered…
I bet you’re squeezing a giant pot pie into your mouth right now. I am. In fact it’s one of my favorite things to do while sharing and discussing 3D models amongst friends. GrabCAD is where it’s all happening. We covered GrabCAD when it first came on the scene as a place to outsource your…
There are times in our life when we stand behind a wall, peek around the corner and snicker at someone pulling dimensions off a PDF document to sketch out a part. The tears roll down their overworked cheeks. If only they could convert the PDF to an .dwg file. They can. It use to be…
I know, I know. You get so giddy thinking about shopping, you just totally lose it. Then someone mentions shopping for CAD products, and you go completely nuts and lose control of your stomach juices. You may start to feel the gurgle yet again though. In the past you had but one option, Novedge. Their…
Sometimes when you’re weeding through your co-workers file drawers, you’ll come across a thumb-drive with all sorts of interesting files on them. Often they’ll meet your suspicions that they’ve been messing around with other 3D file formats, but what you see is strange to you. What could they be? How can you find out? File…
Sure you could fritter your time away and fiddle with a 3D City on an iPad, but what if you could create realistic 3D cities… with a push of a button, and for free? That’s what I’m talkin’ about. It’s also what Arnaud Couturier is talkin’ about. He’s developed the very fast, very cool Suicidator…
Even though it’s just 2D, this makes the whole line-by-line drawing space much more interesting. DraftSight brings a full set of 2D drawing features to users and has full .dwg and .dxf compatibility. It can be downloaded now for Windows and will be available later this year for Mac and Linux. Here’s whatcha want to…
What’s better than exporting out an .STL file and uploading your precious 3D geometry to be printed? Not exporting an .STL, that’s what. Today Shapeways releases their 3D print add-in for SolidWorks which allows you direct upload capability from the SolidWorks user interface. There are other 3D print add-ins for SolidWorks but none with the…
You remember when you were a kid… or maybe yesterday, when you would plow your head into a clump of clay, wall, or mama’s mashed potatoes just to see the imprint? I do. Good times. I’ve grown up since then, so when there isn’t a pile of pliable material around, I sit in a chair…
In the wide, wide, wide world of 3D training videos, there’s a lack of unfamiliar voices speaking dubbed over video of a guy picking around in your favorite CAD program. Not to worry. A small band of tech support pros on the West coast is putting that to an end. GoEngineer is a SolidWorks reseller…
Remember the Audi R8 SolidWorks Car tutorial and remember the video that preceded it showing the entire modeling process in 5 minutes? Well, we’re about to taunt your senses again, frustrate you into a panic and build the anticipation for yet another amazing tutorial. Dan Lavoie is at it again. This time… with a Lamborghini…
Feel like fiddling with a few polygons on a Friday? You’ll be feeling the joys of pushing pixels around the screen creating monsters, aliens, architectural masterpieces and more with the news this week from the West Coast. Pixologic, makers of Zbrush, have launched a fresh update to their Zbrush modeling resource, ZClassroom. With it comes…
The design process is something we absolutely CRAVE here at SolidSmack. You can throw up pretty pictures all day, but going behind the scenes and getting an idea of the work and thought that goes into a design… simply wonderful. This is a perfect example. Jonathan Bergqvist wanted to have a shoulder mount for his…
You see that image to the left with the weird purple guy shooting green out his hand? That’s actually your brain being whipped repeatedly with the enjoyable sound of SolidWorks video training, but not just any video training, oh no. This is Inspirtech SolidWorks 2010 tutorials, on your computer, in SolidWorks and if full-effect with…
Look out folks, there’s a CNC storm a’comin’. A wee, cute little storm of laser cut, three-axis THUNDER! It’s the DIYLILCNC and it is so lil’ you’ll want to build it, give it a hug and then command it to do your gantry-mounted bidding! In the same open-source artery as the Makerbot 3D Printer, Chris…
If you ever walk down the streets of Anaheim, California you may come across a fine young man who doesn’t look like a gangsta at all, throwin’ down rhymes about managing SolidWorks users and installing license servers. That young man is Alex “SWGeek” Ruiz and the author of SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required. This is…
Ladies and gentlemen, put on your handlebar mustaches, leather chaps and prepare to tankslap your mind with hardtail modeling happiness. Renowned designer and SolidWorks user Jan-Willem Zuyderduyn from Eindhoven, Netherlands has exactly what you’re looking for, if what you’re looking for is a SolidWorks Chopper Tutorial… but, sweet giblets, it’s way more than a tutorial.…
Amongst the various things you like to grab on a daily basis, CAD geometry may very well be the lowest on your list. Not to worry, there’s a team that is totally into grabbing CAD for you and they’re here to handle all the ideas you can throw at them. They just so happen to…
I know what you’re thinking. Last night, you had enough Vuuch with that Spaghetti to kill a small Rhino, but that’s not the point. The question on your mind should be, was it the Beta version of Vuuch or the new V1 version of Vuuch? yeah? Today, Vuuch V1 is launching to slay the wicked wiles…
It’s not much of a surprise, ya think? The poll last week asking “If You Could Design Anything With 3D, What Would It Be?” did in fact show that approximately 30% would love to hunker down for a nice evening of modeling vehicles in 3D. And by pure coincidence the very next post was a…
You’ll need 67 terabytes just to contain the excitement your storage-deprived mind is about to feel. How do you build huge cloud storage? This is how. Online backup company, Backblaze, now providers of one of the cheapest cloud storage solutions known to man, gives you the cloud storage step-by-step scoop. It’s storage on a budget…
Have you ever wanted to create a 3D model of a car in SolidWorks? How about this? Have you ever wanted to be taunted by a video about how to model a car in SolidWorks? Well, you’re in luck, but it’s not all that bad. I contacted Daniel Lavoie after seeing his SolidWorks Car Tutorial…
Last week 3DVia started shooting broadcast signals out it’s eyes straight into your cerebral cortex. For some this may be disturbing, for others that use 3DVia products, it may be a long awaited resource for video on using them. 3DVia is part of the Dassault family, to which Catia and SolidWorks also belong. 3Dvia has…
Trust me, you’ll want to remove yourself for a few moments from the pile of various material samples heaped upon your pale face. You may also want to clear out some space in your “Useful Resources” bookmarks. The Material Information Society (ASM International), known for their material workshops, also has a very helpful material database…
Now look, there’s no reason to suddenly start flailing about. Even if you’re being eaten alive by mutant aphids there are options that will help distract you enough to, not only, improve your CAD modeling skills, but escape the mental torture that goes along with being ravaged by unfriendly insects. You may be out of…
Don’t ya just love slapping down a couple grand for a smokin’ hot 3D model pumpin’ workstation? There’s a whole heap memory-laden machine to smooth out design, render and simulate, but there’s comes a point when you hear what has worked best for others. Today we take a look at the magnificence of a perfect…