Hello! if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the SolidSmack RSS feed or to the free email updates. Thanks for visiting!
Getting just the right detailed drawing view of a model can take immense amounts of time. More than they really should for products designed in 3D. When you open a drawing and nothing is there but the dimensions, that can really make you throw blunt objects.
So, you stare real close at the computer screen. It doesn’t show up. You hit rebuild, nothing. Forced rebuild (Ctrl-Q), nothin’. Pushing on the screen, making loud grunting noise… Your hand slowly reaches for the stapler….
Wait, there’s one very simple trick you can use to get a vacant drawing view to return to your brilliant masterpiece of drafting delight.
Continue reading ‘The Mystery of the Disappearing SolidWorks Drawing View’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
I 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.
How Do You Model Parts in SolidWorks?
Continue reading ‘Ask the Reader: How Do You Model? Plus A Top-Down Modeling Challenge’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
“Stop. You’re killin’ me. My models are immaculate. It’s the software that’s the problem.” A lot of people get riled up about bad performance and poor stability, blaming it on the SolidWorks software. I have too. But who would of thought it could actually be the way the models are created… by ME?
Great, huh. You were probably skipping through the fields of 3D CAD model euphoria and now I’ve gone and ruined it all by telling you the way you model affects your load times and how many crashes you have in SolidWorks.
Should it matter what you do?
Today, I’m going to say ‘yes’ to that question. What you slap across the screen can affect performance. So, let’s talk about some of the initial options you have in SolidWorks that make your models suck the ever-living resources out of the pit of ‘puter processing power and what you need to do to make SolidWorks life more stable.
Continue reading ‘Why Your SolidWorks Models Suck… Memory Out of Your Computer’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
I occasionally choose to point the fire hose of SolidWorks tips and information into an unsuspecting person’s face without realizing how overwhelming it can be.
A few hours later I see the the expressionless blank stare of a skinless and slightly tattered face gazing, begging me to stop.
A few tips to simply get started will do just fine, thank you.
The Top 12 SolidWorks Tips
Some of you have a bunch of tips for new users, and some of you wish those people would stop the flow of info for a few minutes while you catch up. So, I stopped, sat down and wrote out my top 12 favorite SolidWorks tips. The first tips I thought of that I would want anyone to know that is just starting out or wants better results out of SolidWorks.
Group project
Ya know what… for a little fun, I may turn this into a group project. If you have better tips that make more sense, I’ll replace some of mine or add yours to the rest. We’ll keep it under twenty for now and keep the fire hose at a small trickle. Here are the top 12.
Continue reading ‘The 10+ Best SolidWorks Tips to Teach Someone Else’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Way back, in a recent post that showed all you Mac-ophiles how to use SolidWorks on a Mac a commenter named Peter was having graphics issues with his MacBook Pro when using SolidWorks.
His MacBook Pro uses a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT video card, a low-end 512MB card that runs around $130 and up. He did a simple soft-mod (modify in software) to turn it into a beefy NVidia Quadro crankin’ beast and now has the graphics performance you would expect on a Mac.
Continue reading ‘Run SolidWorks on a Mac: Soft-Mod Your GeForce into a Quadro’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Your SolidWorks drawings are standing out in the open like a very large and overly dressed target of 3D ninja violence. Hey, I’m just sayin. It’s actually a secret society of defected and very agitated ANSI and ISO standard authors that have passed this info on to me.
Your fancy drawing is filled with more views than you can throw a 6-pointed shuriken at and that is exactly what we’re going to do, but real secret ninja-like. PREPARE TO WITNESS, the 5 ninjas to unveil a righteous fury upon your drawings.
Continue reading ‘The SolidWorks Ninja Guide to Reducing Drawing Views’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
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 graphics. However, if you don’t have PhotoWorks or the time to learn and create those fancy images using rendering programs like Blender and Hypershot (which I would recommend), this is for you.
A few extras
You can do all your work in SolidWorks and get an product image good enough for any portfolio, website, magazine or brochure and there are just a few steps to make it happen. On top of that, if you have Adobe Photoshop, there’s a quick trick you can do to make it look extra good. I’ll go into that at the end.
Continue reading ‘Create Stylish SolidWorks Graphics without PhotoWorks’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Recently, SolidWorks thwarted a would-be Zombie attack by launching the SolidWorks Geniuses marketing campaign. First up was the Leonardo Da Vince Self-Powered (Zombie-eliminating) Cart. You saw it, I’m sure, and desired to get your hands on the model so you too could prevent an ensuing Zombie onslaught.
Well, you’re in luck. Rob Rodriguez is putting on his monthly PhotoWorks rendering contest and this month’s model is none other than, yep, the Zombie-killin’ cart o’ death. You can download the SolidWorks model here.
Zombies?
Yes. Of course. It so obvious. You strap some cricket bats to that sucker and you’ll be knockin’ the heads of the undead while keeping your distance and your brain-cage intact.
PhotoWorks Tips
PhotoWorks is what I’m most unfamiliar with in SolidWorks, but also one of the things I’m most interested in. So, what tips would you give me to get started on the right foot? There’s the new PhotoWorks step-by-step Book from Rob and he’s got some tips on his site as well, but what do you do to start off your rendering? Do you have a process no one knows about? How do you get the lighting just the way you want?
Some have tried PhotoWorks, some use it all the time, so here’s your chance to download a cool model, enter the contest, share some tips with everyone and maybe together we can save the human race.
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
Right now, I currently have 3 versions of SolidWorks installed on my computer - 2007, 2008, and 2009Beta. oh, and 2005 till just recently. It’s crazy I tell ya. I use 2008 mostly right now, but have to switch back to 2007 for some models. It made me wonder what everyone out there is actually using.
I imagine 3 installations is the exception. Most probably wouldn’t want to attempt this. It works fine for me and makes it easy to do comparisons between versions. What about you?
What Version of SolidWorks Are You Using?
What are your reasons for not upgrading?
Continue reading ‘Ask the Reader: What Version of SolidWorks Are You Using? (Oh, and Tips.)’
If you haven't already, consider subscribing to SolidSmack so you can easily receive updates when new articles are published or announcements are made.
What good is 
