In an interview earlier this year, David Copperfield apparently mentions SolidWorks eDrawings iPad app. His comment doesn’t appear in the released edit of the interview video, but it is mentioned in the body of the article about the interview: David Copperfield is looking to tech for new tricks. His interview was at the CES 2015 and also his museum. In the interview, he talks about modern interaction with his fans and how he utilizes social media to add depth to and improve his shows.
Category: eDrawings
What’s New in SOLIDWORKS 2015: eDrawings
One thing I forget to mention about eDrawings for Android yesterday
One thing I forget to mention about eDrawings for Android in yesterday’s article is how wonder something simple like an actual standard Back button is with this (and any) app! In eDrawings for Android when you have a document open, your device’s Back button takes you out of that document back to the list of documents loaded onto your device. Of course, there is a hidden UI back button too if you have a document open: the eDrawings logo in the upper left corner.
eDrawings for Android ( #edrawings #edrawingsforandriod )
Overview
This initial release of eDrawings for Andriod represents the first time that you can inexpensively open and view native SolidWorks files on an Andriod device. Not just on tablets, but pretty much any device with 4.0 or higher Andriod OS. I have eDrawings running on my ancient Galaxy S2 smartphone. All images in this article are direct screenshoots of eDrawings from my phone.
As with other mobile version releases of eDrawings, this app provides familiar functionality. You can now access and use 3D CAD models and 2D drawings anywhere you can take your Android device! This provides a great tool to communicate 3D data with co-workers on the road, or quickly reference a drawing without lugging around a laptop (or printouts). This app can be used all the way up and down a supply chain from vendors to end-customers.
User Experience
Once you launch the app, a list of currently available models and drawings is shown, with thumbnail previews. You can select from the standard selection of Samples or from the files you’ve uploaded to your device. As with other mobile releases of eDrawings, the sample files provide greate examples to try out eDrawings functionality.
When you open a supported 3D model, you can rotate, pan, zoom in and out, zoom fit (double-tap), and zoom home. Also, the play button will take on a tour through the standard views of the model.
Usability and Performance
eDrawings for Android is very intuitive for amyone familiar with multitouch screens. One finger drag rotates the model. Two fingers initiate a pan. Pinching two fingers is zoom in and out. Switching between configurations and sheets is fast using the dropdown menu.
Loading files onto an Android device is even easier than with iOS devices. You can simply connect your Android device with your computer using a standard USB cable and then copy the files over to the eDrawings folder on your device using Windows explorer (for PCs).
Assemblies
For assemblies, you can highlight an individual component with the options to immediately set to hide, make transparent, isolate and show all.
Of course, configurations are supported for eDrawings files, allowing you switch between them with a drop down menu. And then, what would eDrawings be without the ability to explode assemblies? I think there is actually some entertainment value to watching assemblies explode out to their individual parts.
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Disclaimer – Though this article was not reviewed by SolidWorks, nor its parent company Dassault Systemes nor any other entity, the author of this article is an employee of Dassault Systemes and is internally familiar with eDrawings. As such, this article should not be understood as being from an uninvolved and neutral third party.
What’s New in SolidWorks 2013: New capabilities of Exploded Views
Multiple exploded views per configuration
In assemblies and multibody parts, the ability to create multiple exploded views for each configuration is now available. As before, each exploded view appears under the specific configuration in the Feature Tree at the Configurations tab. Now, multiple exploded views can appear as a list under each configuration . This means you now longer need that the old workflow of having to maintain separate configurations for separate exploded views, even when the configurations are otherwise identical.
This functionality is also now supported in eDrawings.
Copying exploded views
Additional power has been added to exploded views and configurations where you can use normal windows Copy-and-Paste functions (CTRL-C/CTRL-V) to copy and paste exploded views between configurations! To do this, highlight an exploded view in one configuration and hit CTRL-C. Go to another configuration in the same assembly, and hit CTRL-V. Easy!
eDrawings Pro for iPad is here! ( #edrawingsforipad )
Overview
The official name of the new app is eDrawings Pro for iPad from SolidWorks. This new product release brings core eDrawings Professional functionality to the iPad. In addition to viewing, you can now inexpensively markup native SolidWorks files on a mobile device. Additionally, permissions (such as the ability to measure) that are saved into eDrawings files via SolidWorks are respected in this mobile version.
User Experience
Similar to eDrawings for iPad, when the app is started, you are presented with a menu of models and drawings. There is an area of sample models and an area for your files, called “User Files”.
The sample files provide good cases to try out new eDrawings Pro for iPad functionality. The User Files area lists any files which you have added to your iPad to view in eDrawings Pro.
When you open a supported 3D file, you can rotate, pan, zoom in and out, zoom fit, zoom home (last view when file that was saved). Same as eDrawings for iPad, this Pro release can Play a model by transitioning between different views of the model.
While eDrawings Pro for iPad remains in memory, leaving and returning to the app will maintain settings and view orientation of the file that was left open. This can potentially save a fair amount of time.
There has also been several incremental improvements too, such as an improved docking panel to allow quicker access to drawing sheets, configurations (models and assemblies), and components (assemblies).
Measure
You can now measure models in eDrawings formats where permission has been allowed by the SolidWorks. When entering the measure tool, you are presented with the Measure cursor. Simply tap and drag the cursor over the geometry you wish to measure, then tap again to select the highlighted element. Tap and drag again and select a second geometric element to measure the distances between two elements. The results will be very familiar to users of both eDrawings and SolidWorks.
Similar to the desktop version of eDrawings, filters are provided to speed up the element selection process.