Product Review Archives - Page 5 of 12

SolidWorks 2011 official launch

SolidWorks 2011 launch is now official. The funny thing about launches is that this doesn’t necessarily mean the product will ship right away. That comes later. For this launch, SolidWorks Corp invited a panel of bloggers and journalist to their headquarters in Concord, MA yesterday and today to get a first hand look at SolidWorks 2011. As a matter of disclosure, my accommodations, travel and most meals for this event are covered by SolidWorks Corp. No one has made any requests regarding article creation nor content in connection with this event. Some material (such as images and basic information) was derived from the SolidWorks 2011 What’s New (beta) file. The content of this article is solely of my discretion.

As with each year, there are a number of enhancements in SolidWorks 2011. Here are a few, briefly covered. More detailed articles will follow over the coming month.

Assemblies

Chamfer and weld One area of note is that SolidWorks now supports fillet and chamfer features within an assembly. Though these new features can be useful by themselves, their is another feature enhancement that helps set a theme. Fillet welds will no longer be necessary as components within an assembly. Instead, simplified weld beads is a new feature that is a simple representation of a weld contained within the assembly itself. These additions and changes will give users more abilities in adding welds and weld specifications to assemblies and drawings.

Design Checker

Design Checker is one of those functions that has a more stealthy existence in SolidWorks. Well, maybe not stealthy, but under-utilized. It is a function that sees incremental improvement each year, but without much fanfare. In the past, I’ve been a little critical of this function’s lack of functionality. SolidWorks 2011 has eight enhancements for Design Checker. The enhancement that I feel is most important is the ability to create standard files (.swstd) from existing SolidWorks file formats. This is step beyond the Learn Checks Wizard currently available. This allows the user to create a new set of check rules based on an existing file.

Drawings

Scale on view For some reason, SolidWorks never had an automatic way to add a scale label to orthogonal views. There is a macro (that I helped create) which gives the user a non-dynamic method to add scale. The limitation of this macro is that if the scale of the view changes, the macro must be re-run. SolidWorks 2011 now gives the user the ability to add a true scale label to orthogonal views.

The macro may still be of use if there is a need to add pre-established labels to drawing views. For example, if view is pictorial or isometric, the macro provides a quick way to add that label.

ASME drawing standard

ASME Y14.5 2009 I’m not really sure why SolidWorks still calls ASME by the other name ANSI. The switchover to ASME happened like 20 years ago. Either way, SolidWorks 2011 claims that it now “supports some of the requirements of ASME Y14.5-2009”.

One of the important areas of support is geometric tolerance symbols. ASME Y14.5-2009 expanded the role of the ALL OVER modifier to a Profile feature control frame. With this expansion comes a new symbol (the double circle leader). Also included are the new Independency symbol (encircled I, which declares an except to Rule #1) and the Continuous Feature symbol (oddly boxed CF, which applies Rule #1 more broadly).

Parts and Features

More end conditions are now available with the Revolve feature: Up to Vertex, Up to Surface, and Offset from Surface. These can be specified separately in each direction (clockwise and counter-clockwise) of the revolve. These new end conditions are available in Revolved Boss/Base, Revolved Cut and Revolved Surface. This allows for better control and more flexibility in the use of Revolve features.

New Revolve end conditions

More enhancements available

These are just a few of the enhancements available in SolidWorks 2011. The What’s New file for SolidWorks 2011 has a fairly impressive list. However, none of the improvements this year seem monumental. I am impressed to see minor improvements continue on the Workgroup PDM product. There are improvements to Sheet Metal functionality, Motion Studies, and a new Walk-through function to expore or create a video of 3D geometry in large scale designs. More details will be discussed on later dates.

Social Media Aided CAD

Companies like Saleforce.com are changing the very nature of business communications by embedding social media technology within their products (Chatter). There are engineering software companies that also understand the value of this new media and how to use it within CAD and PDM applications. Communication between collaborating engineers doesn’t have to be limited to face-to-face or phone conversations, as these methods are not always practical.

Though seemingly not as developed as solutions from Salesforce.com, PTC (maker of Pro Engineer and Windchill) is offering a “repackage” of social-networking features as part of a product development system, termed Social Product Development. This takes several forms under the ProductPoint label. Included in their set of solutions is a wiki style design log and a chat application which may increase communication between engineering collaborators.

The model-wiki function offered by PTC in ProductPoint is a critical idea. At first glance, there doesn’t seem like much of a difference between it and SolidWorks’ Design Journal. However, the ability to access the model-wiki from the PLM environment is a big bonus that takes design collaboration to new levels that are becoming increasing important in the engineering environment. There can still be drawbacks to this approach. Seriously, to have true wiki functionality would require a lot of crazy coding within the wiki. The PTC model-wiki strikes a good next-step to improve design collaboration.

The instant message functionality seems a bit redundant. There are hundreds of chat programs now available. I’m left wondering if yet another one is necessary and if it is really all that useful to have it embedded inside of my CAD application.

Even still, there is something else compelling about bringing social product development into product design. The file lock, unlock and out-of-date pop-up notifications (MS Office style) seem like they can be extremely useful. Another impressive development is the collaboration workspace. The PTC promotional video is worth a look to get a sense of how they’ve implemented these concepts within the design process:

Book Review: Creating Animations with SolidWorks

Creating_Animations_Cover Creating animations with SolidWorks can be both fun and challenging. With the capabilities and options that SolidWorks now supports, making animations of models can fell like walking through a maze. The book Creating Animations with SolidWorks is a self-study guide that attempts to teach readers how to navigate that maze to create animations with SolidWorks. SolidWorks Corp provided me with one copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my own content without input of others.

Even though some of the animation functions in SolidWorks seem intuitive to me, please know that I have a small amount of professional video editing and production experience. Most readers will not likely have this sort of background. There is a lot of complexity in the creation of animations with models. To inexperienced SolidWorks users, many functions can be missed, particularly when using physics. Creating Animation with SolidWorks covers animation functions in great detail. However, I feel that the flow of the book needs some improvement, as the tutorials are sometimes hard to follow and information is needlessly repeated.

Content

This is a big book with over 500 pages. It’s big for a reason. This books covers all three methods (called motion study types) for creating animations in SolidWorks. These are Animation, Basic Motion and SolidWorks Motion. Many users will only have access some of these, as license type determines the add-ins which are available.

There are 18 chapters.

Chapter 1 is a general overview of the book itself and animations within SolidWorks.

Chapters 2 through 5 cover animation basics.

Chapters 6 through 8 go into detail about motion and animating parts.

Chapters 9 through 14 cover Basic Motion and SolidWorks Motion.

Chapters 15 through 18 cover advice on how to get best results when creating animations and editing video.

Purchasing options

Creating Animations with SolidWorks is available in the SolidWorks store for $89.95. It comes with a DVD that has all of the files for each exercise and case study, so there is no need to download them separately. Although I did get an error when I installed the package from the DVD, the files seemed to work fine.

Findings

This book covers just about every topic necessary in the creation of animations with SolidWorks. In this, the book is very thorough. It is a step-by-step guide. I do not recommend starting at some point in the middle of the book. I also do not recommend using this book as a reference guide unless the reader is already fairly familiar with creating animations with SolidWorks.

I found the formatting of the book to be harder to follow than the authors intended. For example, in the step-by-step SolidWorks exercises, the headings for each step seem more confusing than helpful, as they are often redundant or lack any useful information. My recommendation to the authors is that this book should list each step without the headings. This would improve space on the written page and likely reduce the size of the book itself while enhancing readability.

Redundancy is common in this book in other ways. On page 6 there is a section entitled “Animations”. This section defines animation in the context of SolidWorks. Then, right on the next page (7), the reader encounters another section entitled “What is an Animation?”. Better organization of the topics will help reduce these redundancies.

As mentioned, the step-by-step instructions are sometimes hard to follow. This is why I don’t recommend using this book as a reference guide. In an attempt to cover every detail about animation, this book includes many variations of similar tasks within each step-by-step exercise. This is good, right? Well, the problem is that it is not always clear when the reader should start a new series of steps or when to continue from the last step. I found several occasions in the step-by-step exercises where I could not continue because a task completed in the previous step was interfering with the very next task. The exercises should be better organized to let the reader know how to transition between different tasks.

This book impressed me in one way. Creating any sort of video requires a bit of art. Creating Animations with SolidWorks actually provides very useful advise on the art to help the reader create animations with better results. This is somewhat outside the scope of a simple tutorial and adds a bit of value to the book.

Overall, if someone is looking for a book that will self-teach them how to create animations in SolidWorks, this isn’t a bad book. It does cover practically every aspect necessary for that work. However, using this book may require a little patience.

Book Review: SolidWorks 2010 No Experience Required

SolidWorks 2010 No Experience Required (“SW2010-NER”) is a new book by Alex R. Ruiz that takes a detailed approach to teaching SolidWorks to new users. Though the book is structured as a tutorial, it is also a reliable reference guide to fundamental aspects of SolidWorks. Ruiz provided me with one copy of his book for the purpose of this review. This review is my own content without input of others.

For experienced 3D CAD users, much of SolidWorks user interface and functionality is intuitive, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be covered in a book designed for new users. SW2010-NER takes a detailed approach to learning SolidWorks. It is so detailed that even some experienced users may learn something by browsing its pages.

Where the SolidWorks Help file tends to take a spartan approach to describing SolidWorks functions, SW2010-NER gives more detail that provides context. It does a good job of linking related ideas together in a logical manner. For example, the FeatureManager (one of the primary user interface areas) is frequently discussed in the context of its use within each particular area. This helps the reader gain real understanding of its value as they perform certain tasks.

As SW2010-NER addresses each topic, it thoroughly covers every detail of the choices presented to the reader. This gives the reader a clear understanding as to why they choose one option over the other within the tutorial tasks. This adds significant value to this book as an actual reference guide. The reader learns more than just how to go through a simple step-by-step process for one exercise. They learn how to use SolidWorks for any design project.

Content

SW2010-NER is 17 chapters. It starts out by covering every detail of the user interface in chapter 1, including customization techniques.

Chapter 2 covers many practical aspects of how to interact with SolidWorks.

Chapters 3 through 6 cover the fundamentals to create parts, drawings and assemblies. This provides a solid foundation for the use of SolidWorks in the real world. This is were this books shines. The reader learns how to create different types of documents and how those documents interact. In the SolidWorks Help file, functions are described as separate entries. In SW2010-NER, the tutorial brings all the functionality together in a way that provides context to the reader. This gives the reader a stronger understanding of what they are doing. This should allow the reader to use that knowledge for any other projects.

Chapters 7 through 10 cover the advanced interaction. It goes into creating assembly drawings, more complex modelling techniques and editing documents once they are complete.

Chapters 11 and 12 are entitled “Putting It All Together”. These chapters go into advanced functions such as Design Library, advanced mates, flexible assemblies, BOMs within assemblies, and exploded assembly views.

Chapter 13 then carries on by taking the reader through the process of creating a top level assembly drawing.

Chapter 14 covers an area that is often forgotten about in other training sources. It is entitled “Sharing Your Documents with Others”; it discusses how to provide your drawings and models to others who may not have SolidWorks or may require your information in a separate form.

Chapters 15 and 16 cover the often confusing topic of document templates and sheet formats, their definitions and how to create them. These chapters also provide tips to improve efficiency with highly automated templates.

Chapter 17 covers how to make your product look good on the computer with PhotoView 360 (included with SolidWorks).

Purchasing options

SW2010-NER is a widely published book that is available from any book store that covers CAD topics. It is available on Amazon.com, currently for under US$30. The files for the book’s tutorials are available from Sybex.

Findings

This book does an excellent job of covering necessary elements to use SolidWorks to create 3D models, drawing and assemblies. It takes such a detailed approach in describing each area, some experienced users may even be able to use this book as a general reference guide. However, sometimes the detail may be too much in the context of a tutorial. For example, chapter 1 teaches the reader about the SolidWorks user interface, but it also provides information on how to customize that interface. Perhaps a chapter on editing the user interface might be better at some later point in the book (or even in another book)?

Even still, this book is a great source to learn SolidWorks for new users. Academia might find this book very useful in their 3D CAD courses. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have this book available in any company that often hires people that may not be completely familiar with SolidWorks.

This book is not for advanced or expert SolidWorks users. CAD managers should not buy this book thinking they will learn something new. It is an education tool for new users, and a reference guide for others.

Product Review: Template Wizard (2010)

Several years ago, I reviewed one of the earliest versions of Template Wizard, published by 3 Dawn Consulting, LLC at SolidWorksTemplates.com. Template Wizard is an application which fills a gap in SolidWorks functionality by creating the process to automatically generate document templates for drawings, parts and assemblies. Kevin Van Liere of 3 Dawn Consulting has provided to me a new license of Template Wizard for the purpose of this new review. This review is my own content without input of others.

The current version of Template Wizard is refined and more capable. Template Wizard gives the user the ability to create templates from scratch. Users may also create drawing templates from AutoCAD generated files. If the user wishes, they may use it to edit existing SolidWorks drawing templates.

User Interface

Template Wizard is an add-in that runs within the PropertyManager pane inside of SolidWorks. Selecting settings within the interface is similar to other functions that run within the PropertyManager. Users create new templates in a 9 step process. The process starts with a blank drawing sheet and ends with a fully functional templates for drawings, parts and assemblies. When creating a drawing template, some user interaction with the view pane is required to place objects and anchor points.

Installation

Installation is quick and painless. Just execute the downloaded install file, then start up SolidWorks. Template Wizard appears as a pulldown menu. The user will be prompted to enter a registration code (provided at the time of purchase) the first time before they create a new template.

Workflow

If a user wishes to create new templates, it is recommended that they create a drawing template first. As mentioned, Template Wizard takes the user through a series of steps. Once the drawing template is complete, it then allows the user to transfer applicable settings over to new part and assembly templates.

The order of drawing template creation tasks is fairly logical. The user is prompted at each step:

Drawing size, view projection, standards, units of measure, etc.
Border creation, margins, zones, border layer. Although Template Wizard does automatically create borders based on user choices, a nice function to include might have been the ability to choose settings that automatically follow standard ISO or ASME borders, based on drawing size.
Title block and custom properties. Title blocks may be created from existing title blocks or created from scratch using dozens of field blocks. This step is likely the most complex.
Establish tables and their anchors. This one function by itself may make Template Wizard worth its price. SolidWorks has anchors that serve as automatic starting points when the user inserts tables onto a drawing. However, this anchor functionality is somewhat under-documented and hidden. Template Wizard labels each anchor which allows the user to see where and what they are.
Fonts, bent leader length and tangent edge settings.
Save “Page Design”. One thing that I find confusing is the use of alternative terminology in Template Wizard. A page design means sheet format.
Establish the “next sheet” variable and save “template design”. “Next sheet” variable is a quirky SolidWorks setting that establishes the drawing template. Template Wizard uses this variable in a cleaver way to allow drawing templates to utilized a different sheet format for additional sheets of a multi-sheet drawing.
Create part and assembly templates, and the custom properties file. This reduces the effort of creating part and assembly templates down to a push of a button.

Update Wizard

Though I have not tested this functionality, it is important to note that Template Wizard has a function called Update Wizard. This tool gives the user the power to update the sheet format of a whole bunch of drawings at one time. The tool even allows the user to find and replace specific text in the same way!

Purchasing options

Template Wizard is available through the SolidWorksTemplates.com website. Given the value and time-savings potential of Template Wizard, the price of US$295.00 seems reasonable. Visa and MasterCard are accepted for immediate delivery of the software license. Paypal, invoice and check are also excepted.

Findings

Template Wizard was created because SolidWorks does not provide a simple method for template creation. The process in SolidWorks is not well documented nor easily understood by new or some experienced users. Template Wizard allows the user to bypass the learning curve by providing powerful tools in a fairly straightforward process. However, even though Template Wizard is a great tool, it is not completely intuitive.

The user should read Template Wizard’s Help file before using it. Treat the Help file as a tutorial. The Help file gives the user information they need to make certain choices. For example, during the Title Block creation step, the user is presented with tons of choices. Those choices are defined in the Help file under “Pre-Designed Title Blocks” and “Title Block Elements”. I would like to see this information included within the Template Wizard’s workflow in the form of a preview window or something similar.

Where Template Wizard excels is in the fact that it breaks down the template creation process into a series of steps. Many of these steps are wonderfully automated, drastically reducing the time it takes to create a template. It even changes settings in SolidWorks itself to allow the user more flexibility in how they wish to save and use their new templates. As a byproduct of its workflow, Template Wizard also serves as an education tool. It teaches the user about what is needed to make sheet formats and templates in SolidWorks.

tw2010--2

Template Wizard’s value comes from the time and effort saved during the creation of SolidWorks templates. It is not an application that has a high reuse value. However, I do recommend keeping it installed (but inactive) on SolidWorks. This will allow the user to make adjustments to their templates over time, as needs change.

Template Wizard is not for that do-it-yourself person whose independent spirit and drive pushes them to create their own template and sheet formats. It is for the person or company that does not wish to spend a lot time creating, changing or maintaining templates.

BatchProcess 2 Product Review

For people that frequent the SolidWorks Forums and the SolidWorks area on eng-tips.com, the name Luke Malpass is likely familiar. Malpass is the founder of Angelsix.com and the author of several SolidWorks API books. He developed a powerful, yet simple SolidWorks add-in called BatchProcess. This add-in was recently updated as BatchProcess 2. The new version is fully integrated within the SolidWorks task pane.

What does BatchProcess 2 do? It allows the user to quickly perform and repeat complex tasks on any number of SolidWorks documents with very little set up.

Full disclosure

Before I get into more specific details and opinions, let it be known that Luke Malpass has provided me with licenses for BatchProcess 2. The licenses give me full access to the functionality of the software in real world usage. This allows me to write this review as accurately as I am able. No request for content within this review (favorable nor otherwise) was expressed or implied by Luke Malpass. The content of this review is solely my own.

User Interface

The user interface for BatchProcess 2 is unique in the SolidWorks realm. It seems to be vaguely reminiscent of colorful flowcharts. The interface is attractive and flows well with the workflow of the add-in.

Installation

BatchProcess 2 requires that Microsoft’s .Net FrameWork 4.0 and SQL Compact 3.5 are installed. The BatchProcess 2 installer will notify the user if these applications are missing. I have found that tracking down the correct versions of .Net FrameWork and SQL Compact on Microsoft’s website can be a cumbersome task, even when URL’s are provided. I realize that Microsoft controls the distribution of these files. Even still, it would be nice to have the installer be a bit more proactive in acquiring and installing all software required for BatchProcess 2. However, once the pre-installations are complete, [T]he BatchProcess 2 installation is a breeze [and it no longer requires the user to perform any pre-installations as of 6/18/2010]. The installer even activates BatchProcess 2 within the SolidWorks Add-ins list.

Projects

As with any batch application, before any batch activity can be started, the user is required to select the documents that are to be affected. In BatchProcess 2, this is done by building a project (a list of documents). Single files, whole folders, open and recently open documents may all be quickly added to the project. This may be accomplished by clicking on the appropriate button in the Import Document into Project List row.

Projects may be saved and loaded for repeated use across multiple sessions.

Project Toolbar Strip

Once a project is built, there are functions in the Project Toolbar Strip that allow the user to add associated documents (assembly components, drawing references) and remove specific documents in the project. Other toolbar tools are also available.

So far, my favorite toolbar tool is the powerful Print button which will automatically print all highlighted documents from the project. Other tools allow the user to open, preview, and check-in/out files in Enterprise PDM.

Jobs

For more complex tasks, BatchProcess 2 has a multi-layered job building tool. What’s a job? A job is a list of tasks that execute on every document within the open project. Jobs may include tasks for:

Complex printing options
Custom properties (add, delete, or modify)
Exporting models and drawings into dozens of file formats (such as DXF, IGES, STEP, PDF, etc)
Drawings templates (reload, set, or replace)
and the execution of API macros

Once a job is created, it may be run. While a job is running, other activities in SolidWorks are generally not possible. This is because a running job makes changes directly to documents within a project. For example, if a job task says “Open”, then each document is visibly opened within SolidWorks.

Once a job is complete, BatchProcess 2 provides a detailed report of the completed tasks for each document in the project.

Functionality improvements

I’ve noticed that BatchProcess is constantly being improved. New functionality is added regularly. For example, BatchProcess 2 has a new minor release pack that allows the user to send all jobs to any other instance of BatchProcess 2 that is running on the network. With this new feature, a CAD administrator can install one extra copy of BatchProcess 2 on a server and have all other seats send their jobs to that one to do their work.

There is one apparent drawback with BatchProcess 2. There is no access to BatchProcess Help within SolidWorks. Users have to go to the BatchProcess website to view a written tutorial. Malpass has stated there are plans to integrate Help at a later date.

Purchase options

Currently, the only purchase outlet for BatchProcess 2 is on the BatchProcess website. Purchases are made in British Pounds. There are two product options available. Option 1 is a one-time purchase of BatchProcess 2 for 235.00 Pounds (about $345 as of 6/1/2010). Option 2 is 525.50 Pounds (about $775.00 as of 6/1/2010) and includes BatchProcess 2 with one year maintenance. Maintenance includes minor and major updates to BatchProcess for one year, and preferential handling of technical support requests.

With the US Dollar being so strong against the Pound right now, this is a great time for American companies to buy this product. However, I would like to see a North American purchasing outlet for the BatchProcess line.

Findings

I found time and labor is saved when using BatchProcess 2 in real world scenarios. The time it takes to set up and run a job on many documents is almost incomparable to the time spent manually completing those same tasks. Particularly, I’ve found the Project Toolbar Strip printing function to be very useful.

One function that I didn’t get to test yet is BatchProcess 2’s execution of API macros. Hopefully I’ll provide a supplemental report on that at a later date.

With BatchProcess 2, a ROI report should very easy to create (even with a currency exchange rate to consider). Simply compare how long a user takes to complete a series of tasks on a batch of documents with how long those same tasks can be completed in BatchProcess 2.

Overall, BatchProcess 2 is a good SolidWorks add-in that has accessible functionality and may provide significant cost savings for many SolidWorks users.