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Archive for April, 2009

How to Add Custom Lengths to a SolidWorks BOM {Two-Minute Tut!}

30 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in CAD
3D Human CAD Models

Shhhh, in all actuality, this will not only show you how to add custom lengths to a Bill of material (BOM), but will allow you to harness the almighty power of custom properties in SolidWorks. It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s this week’s two-minute Tut.

Often, the shop or purchase department need a little extra info to manufacture or order the part. Looking through a bunch of drawing sheets to find it is grueling, but having it in the BOM makes it very clear.

Oh, and one added benefit? You may have a blast creating a bunch of drawing views to dimension one little length. This, however, can save you time, pages and dealing with large drawings by moving the info to the BOM. Let’s do this.

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SolidWorks Premium: Stay Out of Gas Stations…

29 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in NEWS

Or if you prefer, go to this gas station and drink the coffee to dance with an atypical gas station clerk and entertain grizzly truck drivers.

SolidWorks is after it to juice up your Standard edition of SolidWorks with a Premium upgrade, brought to you in this coffee-flavored, commercial form. It doesn’t make you wonder what the outside of a jerky stick taste like at all. Snap into this video for some good ol’ gas station humor. The reaction of the old guy and his friend are the best.

Update: You may want to head to the link shown at the end http://solidworks.com/upgrade/. More videos and more content. good stuff.
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3D Interfaces. You Bladder Button is in My Electrostatic Sensor Array {Video}

29 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in TECH

Ah, the wild world of 3D Interfaces technology. It’s bad enough you’re being forced down the multi-touch path, huh? Well, for those that enjoy the bliss of moving graphical elements around the screen with your hand, the research and experimentation continue.

There’s two sides of the UI tide – restricting you fingers to the screen and the less practical movement within a large 3D space. Does it have to be one or the other? Both? Neither?

Here’s two projects being with some sweet video to make you start exercising those finger musculars

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Extrude. Print. Manufacture. 10 Tips to Design Your Parts for Manufacturing in SolidWorks {CheckList}

28 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in CAD

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 parts to be manufactured is second nature. However, there are ways we model parts in SolidWorks that can get us severely scorned by the people making the parts and that’s what were here to deal with.

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Sketch It. Tweet It. Rock It. Industrial Designers on Twitter *Updated*

24 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in DESIGN

I’m happy to say that Industrial Design is alive and well in the Social Media sphere due in part to a select few Industrial Designer bringing things together to let everyone else know what’s up.

Industrial Designers around the world are getting organized on Twitter. The coolest thing about it? They’re not just using it to connect with other ID’ers, but to brainstorm designs, discuss how to use it and generally inspire the design each other.

If you’re an ID student, Professional or interested in what’s going on with ID, the conversation is going to be happening on Twitter. Here’s where to start.

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Friday Smackdown: Desperado Prado

24 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in SMACKDOWN

Where? I thought I heard the sound, but ahy, when I looked it was but a wee bunch o’ lil’ furry ones, with coupons for free tire rotations and gnawing on these links.

BambinoMonkey – Robots! Terror! Illustration! like you’ve never seen! plus more at the Bambino Monkey Blog
The Art of Falling – Your most fluid state is probably when you’re falling, that or after appetizers. Thanks Bruce!
Profolio – Elegant. That may not describe your artwork of design, but it describes this free portfolio tool. Go grab it quick. Thanks Brian!
Web Trend Map 2009 – What’s hot in the world of the web. Very cool illustrative approach if I do say so myself.
Twitter Magnets – You’ve been dreaming of this all your life… or at least the last year… or maybe not at all, but you’ll have fun.
The Virtual CBGB – The most famous music venue of all time. Gone, but lives on… via THE WEB.
Food.com – The new site with a steamy interface for all your steamy recipes.

Bonus! 3D in Video Round-up
Adobe Records – I don’t know how to explain this video, but they do sweet beat visualization. Alternate version in the sidebar.
Subprime – A snazzy look at the evolution of the house structures we call home.
Rock the BEAT – Perfect lead into the weekend. be mesmerized by the cube and the rancorous rhythm.

SolidWorks 2-Minute Tut! How to Create Complex “Sweeps” in a Single Sketch

22 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in CAD

So, you like to draw a bunch of sketches and create really complicated sweep geometry in SolidWorks huh? You should be commended for your bravery, but sometimes there’s a simpler way to get curvy with your parts.

All you need is an open part file and about two-minutes… depending on how mad your 3D modeling skills are and how quick your fingers can click the mouse button. It’s a single sketch that creates a single feature and it’s glorious. Here we go.

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SolidSmack 2-Minute Tut!… (soon to be video-ized)

22 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in CAD

Allright, I’m not doing anyone any good by delaying some SolidWorks tutorial goodness just because I can’t get my video act together, so without further ado, I will introduce the SolidSmack 2-minute Tut… soon to be video-ized.

2-minutes of your time in exchange for lessons in glorious 3D SolidWorks, along with supporting images. I’ll post the first one… later today, but I also want to get ideas of what kind of tutorials you would like to see.

This is your chance to totally control the content of SolidSmack and manipulate my will to the breaking point. So, what kind of Tutorials do you want to see?

How Many Plug-ins Does it Take to Put 3D on the Web? Google Releases O3D.

22 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in TECH

3D… on the web. It’s here… again, but this time in fine Google form with all the openness you would expect from the crew. Tuesday, Google opened the gates on their interactive 3D graphics accelerator for web browsers, O3D.

It’s a browser plug-in, complete with a fresh API for anyone interested to play with. For web users, it’s the next rich 3D experience on the web and Google’s attempt at giving you native 3D support in your browser… without a plug-in.

So gather round the screen, load the plug-in and cozy up to the virtual blaze that is emanating from your browser. It’s Google 3D time.

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Face-Tracking 3D Space With Your Webcam. Potential For 3D CAD?

21 Apr, 2009 by Josh Mings in TECH

Welcome. It’s knee-slappin’, face-movin’ time again here on SolidSmack and this week we introduce to you Mr. Doob, who thought it a pleasant idea, in his Flash experimentation, to show you what it’s like to have a 3D scene position itself based on the position of you melon.

You can play with the mouse-driven version, but to really experience it, and you have to experience it, you can get in the Face tracking + 3D Scene action here if you have a webcam.

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