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…
If you’ve birthed a wee one, or have been involved in the process of choosing an appropriate container to cart them around in, you might be familiar with Phil & Ted’s. They make the buggies that make your head turn when you’re trudging down the running path like an angry marsupial mama with three children…
This is a guest article by Michael Lord. Michael is a Design Engineer at Trakka Pty Limited in Sydney, Australia where they use SolidWorks to design Campervans and Motorhomes. I first talked with Michael on Twitter and asked if he would write up his experience using PhotoView360. The iPad Rendering Challenge is finished and won…
You know you’re cool when you pull up in a truck blasting Atreyu’s Bleeding Mascara and wearing your freaking rad bike helmet. Yeah, people know it… YOU… ARE SERIOUS. Serious. Like the “Kiss of Death” or like Troy Lee Designs when it it comes to designing helmets that look impressive whether you’re flying through the…
If your nerves, family or free-time have been affected by the frenzy of the shiny new iPad from Apple, you’re not alone. In less than a month Apple sold over 1 million of the 10″ touch-screen tablets. However, only a small percent of those people are obsessed with getting a 3D model of the iPad…
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…
Not all of us are able to build wild contraptions that strap to our backs and allow us to shoot plastic out the tips of our fingers. That’s why there are places like CloudFab who will take on the task for you. However, instead of depending on a couple three-jointed appendages for plastic forming, they’ve…
Why it was only a month ago that Hypershot fans around the world were up in arms about the news of Bunkspeed losing the licensing for the tech behind Hypershot to it’s creators at Luxion. We knew but one thing, Luxion would be developing and launching a new release… shortly. Well, shortly is here and…
If you’re like me, you’ve been a bit uneasy and perhaps bitter that you didn’t get the foam projectile device you wanted so badly for Christmas. Wipe those tears, because it’s a new year and there’s something even cooler you’ll want to get your hands on. Phil Sluder of Triaxial Design has all the boys…
My math teacher hated me. She would beat me unmerciful and use sounds of warrior robot apes fighting over canned meat in equations in a feeble attempt to stifle my creativity… It didn’t work. And neither did her or anyone’s warnings of manipulating the estimated mass of objects. In SolidWorks you can apply materials to…
Slowly step away from the cheese spread and permanent markers. You no longer need to dowse your sorrows with imitation milk products to add color to your 3D prints. If you know Shapeways, you know they keep excreting multiple ways to create 3D printed products. Now they’re adding a new machine to the mix that…
It’s just not working. You spit on your screen, rub your eyes and wait for your models to turn into a beautifully rendered animation, and all you get are frightened looks from your co-workers. We can fix that. If you do any rendering or use SolidWorks and their PhotoView 360 rendering product, you’re probably familiar…
Once again 3D is hitting the iPhone with a fearsome tenacity that makes you just plain ignore regular phone users. But this time the 3D goodness isn’t in the iPhone, it’s on it… and it’s on it in a not-over-the-top-at-all, ultra-fashionable way. FreshFiber, with the styling skills of Janne Kyttanen, has launched a fresh line…
Well, gone are the days where you just go off willy, nilly and make a samurai costume out of hole-ridden, lead containers for nuclear waste. That’s right, the dems in the US Senate and House are busy correcting your mis-use of material for electronic component design by drafting up legislation that will provide grants via…
If there’s anything that cramps your daring sense of style, and your flaring lower back muscles it’s an inadequate office chair with absolutely hideous lines and a crushing lack of support. To counter those effects, Herman Miller has launched another stylish chair. The Setu. If you recall the Embody chair, you’ll know a lot went…
3D slicin’ spiders are cool and all, but how would you like to harness the power of VACUUMS… and LASERS? Well, guess what, some fancy group called ‘NASA’ has done just that. The claim is they can melt certain heat-sensitive metals layer-by-layer into parts, with advantages of decreasing waste and forming it around electronics or…
So, last week we looked at a lot of new features in SolidWorks 2010 – the ‘best’ features and how to use some of the more prominent ones. It was, by far, a brief look at what will spill onto your screen come release day. There were a few mentions of what was lacking in…
Not that configurations aren’t pokeable or that I’m trying to stop something you enjoy doing, but really, it’s just a Configuration Publisher. It just so happens that is new in SolidWorks 2010. Kinda new, anyway. Call it an upgrade of sorts. It attempts to make the whole configuration creation a whole lot easier. What I’m…
Slam a caffeine drink and stick some sparklers in your eyes, we’re about to take a surface-level look at the new features of SolidWorks 2010, complete with cheesy little award graphics and some special SolidSmack commentary. The 2010 version is still in beta, but that won’t keep us from pouring it half-baked from the beta…
What else is happening the last week of August? NOTHING. Absolutely nothing, but the raucous sound of you splitting your eyelids wide to read what lies in store for the upcoming release of SolidWorks. And it’s happening right here on SolidSmack. This week only, we’ll squeeze all we can out the SolidWorks 2010 Beta release…
I bet two old tires and a bag of tortillas you’re a Engineer or Designer that loves to model flat-pack, laser cut designs in SolidWorks, but has never ventured to have them made, yeah? Or, maybe you’re curious about a company called Ponoko, but not sure how to get started creating your designs. Well, it’s…
Are you ever ‘dropping a beat’, and it’s just not flowin’? This won’t help. I’d actually love to see a raise of hands though. How many people use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for flow analysis in their designs? My experience with flow analysis and looking at scenarios surrounding flow of any kind has always been…
Pump up the Thump on the Bump man! Your renderings of soup cups and cyborgs just might get a bit more realistic, and guess what, it won’t require any harmful immunizations or soap throwing. Bunkspeed has released Hypershot 1.9, the latest version of their rendering software. If you’ve read the press release, you’ll see it…
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…
They’re among us. Little robots flitting about, busy with the task of taking over this part of the world and demolecularizing that part of the world, exploring caves and enjoying the natural setting of coastline and atmospheric radiation. It’s all but a few know of… till now. Cris Rose, supreme leader of all creatures mechanically…
Well, from last weeks poll on Zombie Co-workers it’s clear… most of you feel your jowl kickin’ skills are in fine form. Good for you, not so good for your undead coworkers. This week, something to ravage your thought process and provoke the estranged feeling that you’ve forgotten something. We all probably have some sort…
Plug it in and crank up the DIY make machine baby, we’re about to roll out a huge vat of speculation. Last week at the SolidSmack Posterous site, I put up a tidbit on the new Shapeways 3D Part Database. I commented that it would be interesting to see 3DContentCentral, a user-generated 3D part library,…
Yes, materials, by nature, are 3D, but this one is the thinnest of them all. It’s also super-conductive, super flexible and makes steel look like a 90-lb weakling. At one atom thick, Graphene is the newest in materials being studied for applications in high-speed computers and other nanotechnology. It’s a material that was first discovered…
I’m not saying that, one day, robots will eat and digest you for energy, but yeah, I am saying that. Especially given the state of the two minds that are creating carnivorous robots that run on the juices extracted from various pests and their materials.
Put down the oil can you’re dumping into the river and rev your electric motor Mr. Clean, we’re gettin’ sustainable and Xpress-ive up in this design. Yes, you could single-handed prevent further disintegration of the atmosphere and taxpayer burden by properly analyzing your design and applying a material that reduces those nasty carbon molecules causing…
What has Fur, Bumps, stereoscopic 3D support and reeks of SolidWorks Import possibilities? The brand new version of Luxology’s modeling/rendering/animation package, modo 401. Yes, all of that, in one integrated tool. Since first being show early this year, many a rendering fanatic has been anticipating the new rendering capabilities, while deep in the lair of…
I found it! Right here under this bowl of oats of all places. Now how does something that furry end up under a bowl of oats. I think we need to have a talk with the committee and subject them to these links. Industrial Decay – Who doesn’t love to see how things rot? Here’s…
Put the crackers down. The shop is calling. Nope, not to tell you they have to remake everything, but to let you know the part-makin’ is going perfectly. Why? You knew what to look out for. On the screen it looks spectacular, right? but can it actually be made? For many designers and engineer’s designing…
OOOOOhhhhh, it is ON. SolidSmack has been challenged… and when I say challenged, I mean we are pickin’ fights with anything or anyone. Mr. Joseph ‘Mass Customization’ Flaherty over at Replicator Blog recently wrote about Why 3D Printers Won’t Go Mainstream. That’s just yelling to have an opposing view thrown at it. So that’s what…
Oh man are we about to blow the door of your creative gourde WIDE OPEN. You might just call a meeting to discuss new ways to design those pump housings you model all day. Be warned. I’ve been wanting to find some simple design to showcase. Simple design that can inspire designers and engineers alike…
News travels fast up har in the hills and mountains o’ CAD country… stimulatin’ news… news on the magnitude of HUGE and TIMELY. This is just such news. SolidWorks announced at SolidWorks World 2009 the enormous plans of helping every ailing engineer that has meet the cold hand of unemployment. The SolidWorks Engineering Stimulus Package…
Exactly how rockin’ would you be with your own guitar? Not as rockin’ as you would be with a sweet, custom manufactured axe made to your exact style and specifications. Amit Zoran, from the MIT Ambient Intelligence Group, has been fiddling with the concept of Rapid Prototyping acoustical instruments. But are the materials that rapid…
I know. It happened here as well. Five people and a large parrot fell over convulsing when they thought of the possibilities. It’s one thing to use SolidWorks to turn your design and engineering department into a concept-crazy, model churning machine of product-cycle pleasure. It’s quite another to whip that interface into a tool that…
Ready. Aim. Rapid-prototype your freagin’ cool idea before someone else does. That’s exactly what Stu Fingerhut did with his gun rack organizer, fully-loaded to help you clean-up that mess gathering on your entryway table. The Process? Modeled in SolidWorks, rendered in PhotoWorks, and manufactured via Ponoko. It’s the steps that a lot of designers and…
The deafening screams of the demand for live content are alive and well. Even though much of you in the US are still staring at the back of your eyelids, here’s the last minute attempt to fire up the old laptop and give you the play-by-play on what’s going on out here in Barcelona. What’s…
I’ve covered a little of what Ponoko does with their laser-cut, create your design approach to manufacturing. Coupled with the ability to sell your own design, it’s simply the most unique and creative DIY site out there. Their blog is no less and has been one of my favorite to read some time. A group…
There’s nothing quite like waking up to a new day. The birds singing, the smell of toasty oats, and then a blaze of SMOKIN’ HOT marketing material being transferred directly into your brain cage. To create this special effect for all you CAD junkies in need of being persuaded by direct marketing campaigns, SolidWorks has…
It’s both parametrically intense and oddly invigorating to look at. It’s like jumping in the air through a small hole and coming out on the other side with all the knowledge of perspective while marching rhythmically outside the confines of an inverted parallelogram. What is it? Surrealism. An artistic expression of the early 1900’s that…
The mist clears and a brassy, leather-clad apparition appears towering above with nothing but a low hum and muffled wirring of clicks and springs. Prepare to inspire your rigid 3D mind into the most pliable, inventive machine of mechanical renaissance madness you’ve ever experienced. Steampunk. It’s the coolest new ‘old’ on the internet. It brings…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…