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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
Ok, someone has asked me what my single greatest SolidWorks tip for large assemblies is. That, all you SolidWorks Pros may know, is a large request in itself. If I had to split my knuckles across the edge of my desk about anything, it would be the frustration that comes with large assembly management in…
I’m sure of it. Your ankles are swelling with excitiment at the thought. SolidWorks on a Mac? Is this another post teasing of the possibility? Totally. Yes. But this time, you get to find out a little more about what’s going on in the mind of SolidWorks. Particularly, it’s CEO, Jeff Ray, courtesy of a…
I throw yooooou! I throw you in some noodles! Bow before pooooower of my cast iron wok and these siiiiiiizling links. haay! Ojofrito 3D – The crazy, cool 3D characters of Ojofrito. You should enjoy these and then draw one of your own to scare some children. BMW vs Audi – Clever marketing? yes. Funny.…
Pull up your socks. It’s about to get ruckus up in the CAD Engineering Software world. The Conference is going down the next few days in Scottsdale, Arizona at the Palace Resort. COFES 2009 (Conference on the Future of Engineering Software). The topics focus on ‘Innovation’*, from how software affects design to predicting the future…
Just when you thought everything was calm and it was safe to bring the kids in and show them the wonders of using a 3D mouse to create amazing products and fly around virtual worlds… 3DConnexion slaps a brand, spankin’ new 3D space manipulatin’ device on the table to completely shock your senses. Gather the…
It’s not as if robotic cats are out to keep you from gaining knowledge about certain SolidWorks drawing features, but with their hollow gaze and reduced allergens they certainly would have that power in the right cubicle space. While they’re indeed much more adorable than a stodgy, ol’ FeatureManager in SolidWorks, they won’t provide you…
Yes, It’s that day, and you need some 3D geometric inspiration. Look no further. We’ll take that 3D geometry hunger and add the sci-fi appeal and architectural construct of a single Brooklyn-based artist. The intricate sculptures of John Powers captures a form that absolutely glorifies all the ideas of the mathematical properties of space. It…
Squeezin’ into that browser just isn’t as easy as it use to be. You’ve got 3D search capabilities busting out all over. It’s even spilling onto your desktop to make your media searching and organizing a multi-dimensional trip to Zoom-ville. ‘3D searching’ – It’s here and it’s getting more intense. From web pages to images…
Steep ledge, isn’t it? and a bit sharp too. I’d avoid the dark hollows up ahead though. You never know when a wily link will pop out and grab ya. LOOKOUT. There’s some now! TronixGFX – With a name like ‘Tronix’ it can only be good. Feast your oculars on some phenom 3D graphics Hunter…
You may like to argue about whether or not 3D Printers will go mainstream, but one thing is for sure, you can get started pretty easy, pretty soon and do it on the cheap. Prepare your fingers for nicks, scraps and beautiful droplets of layered ABS plastic. Next week, Makerbot will start shipping their Cupcake…
What could be more exciting than a thermos filled with your favorite soup flying across the room and hitting you in the neck? A heated, self-illuminating thermos filled with your favorite soup, that’s what. Nicolas Bernal, from Montreal, Quebec, has been busy finding ways to keep his mama’s best recipes warm on a long hike…
Look out unemployed and soon-to-be-unemployed engineers and designers… SolidWorks has gone and done the nearly unimaginable… free software. For a limited time, they are offering a free trial download of SolidWorks 2009 to stimulate the corpuscles out of your ever-loving, unemployeed facial pores. And although your excitement may instantly look like a bad case of…
That’s gotta feel like being attached by wild raccoons with stale pizza crusts. Retreat! Retreat!! take shelter beneath these links fair maiden. Sibocks 3D Abstract Gallery – Inspiring and also representing the way I fee about right now. Hold the noise down. 50 Free lessons in Graphic Design Theory – ah, you can never have…
Grab the nearest cardboard box and have a seat, we’re gonna take a look at a chair aimed at making you 17.8% more productive and your dwindling butt muscles more comfortable through those long hours of your busy computer-busting life. Designing and Engineering, browsing and writing tend to take toll on our bipedal bodies. You’ve…
Allright gang. (Yes, I just called you gang) I didn’t get a chance to post this incredible look into the future of 3D CAD and Social Media madness yesterday, so here a treat for ya today. It’s all come together and Blake Courter from SpaceClaim has done it single-handed with a single add-in to the…
Stop your clikcin’ and a’drawin’ there for a few seconds. There’s a way to make your SolidWorks drawing experience much more enjoyable and your Bill of Material manipulation a whole lot easier. SOlidWorks BOM’s have gotten a lot of nice functionality, but somehow, there’s bits and pieces of working with them that 1) take getting…