SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 317 - Post3D

Post3D:

This podcast covers the 3D immersive collboration tool introducted by Dassault's CEO Bernard Charles at SolidWorks World 2011.  Topics covered:

- Post3D Overview

- Getting started

- Creating a 3D post

- Inviting Users

- Options and controls

- Collaborative options

- Uploading 3D content to your post

- Overall thoughs of "Second Life for CAD"

Post3D was debuted at SolidWorks World on Day 1 by Bernard Charles and Jeremy Luchini of Let's Go Design and they gave a demo of the Ultimate CAD Chair with another person from a remote location (told to be China).  The demo looked alright but I wanted to log in and tool around to see exactly what is involved to create this "immersive" design review.

The setup was actually very ease, uploads were simple to do and navigation and model placement didn't take that long.  It is an interesting way to share and collaborate with others. Although a bit corny at first, the introduction of the avatar more importantly shows you their visual perspective so you can interact in ways that you would when physically standing in the room with them.

Post3D seems to take the recently retired tool SolidWorks 3D Instant Website and takes it to a new level with 3D being the environment as well as the design and adding a true collaborative layer with chat, comments and a single point, 3D workspace.  It is in technical preview right now so the folks at 3dvia are very interested to hear your experiences and your feedback, so get to testing! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 316 - SWW11 Product Announcements

SWW11 Product Announcements:

This podcast is a summary of the new products that were announced by SolidWorks at SolidWorks World 2011. There were more product announcements in 2011 than any other SWW I can remember. Topics covered:

- SolidWorks CEO says "ALWAYS a Desktop Version!"

- SolidWorks n!Fuze announced early on SolidWorks Blog

- Post3D - Life-like Immersive 3D Collaboration

- SolidWorks Live Buildings - AEC Building Design tool powered by Enovia Online Platform

- SolidWorks n!Fuze iPad app announced (available later this year)

- DraftSight iPad app announced (available later this year)

- What's New (revealed) in SolidWorks 2012

SolidWorks World 2011 was one of the best venues, best speakers, most vast breakouts and by far the most product announcement packed SWW I can remember.  This was my 10th SWW and I can say it was one of the best of all time.  Despite the great training, most people probalby remember SWW from the speakers, collegues and new product annoucements.

SolidWorks World Day 1 typically has a few little tid bits but Day 3 General Session is the day that everyone waits for so they can get a sneak peak of the next version of SolidWorks.  This year SolidWorks announced 3 new products, all of which were not desktop apps but web-powered apps running on Enovia V6 platform.

Unlike "SolidWorks V6" and "SolidWorks PDS" from last year's SWW, SolidWorks n!Fuze, Post3D and Live Buildings are already products that are in beta (n!Fuze & Live Buildings) or released already (Post3D).  I am anxious to do more testing and will follow up with a review of this new era of online CAD products. ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 312 - State-less CAD

State-less CAD:

This podcast covers the pros and cons of "state-less" systems and cloud-based applications like the ones shown at SolidWorks World 2010.  With SolidWorks World 2011 just around the corner, these are my thoughts, wishes and predictions for the coming conference.  Topics covered:

SWW10 Refresher:

- SolidWorks Connect (formerly known as SolidWorks PDS)

- "SolidWorks V6" - Pros/Cons and questions

SWW11 Predictions:

- Reveal of SolidWorks Connect final product

- More in-depth demos on SolidWorks V6 (beta dates, cost, etc)

Cloud Application Thoughts:

- Power of state-less application (parallels to ChromeOS)

- Endless CPU, RAM, Storage options/configuraiton

- Automation backup and restore

- Live collaboration and versioning capabilities

- Rent Technology

- Local vs hosted cloud apps

Crazy Wishes:

- eDrawings online (maybe inside Connect with live Markup and Measure tools)

- Connect opens for Beta at SWW11

- SolidWorks V6 goes into Beta when SolidWorks 2012 does

- SolidWorks announces mobile clients for iPhone, iPad and Android (like eDrawings or Connect)

With SolidWorks World 2011 now just around the corner, the elephant in the room is SolidWorks in the Cloud.  It was announced at SWW10 and had only 3 or 4 followups from SolidWorks on their blog.  Everyone wants to know details and all have a laundry list of questions to how the desktop version will co-exist with the Internet delivered version.

Every year the first and third days of SolidWorks World reveal the next version of SolidWorks to come and now many of us want to get our hands on these new hosted services to see what they might provide and test their reliability with our data.  I know not everyone is as excited to get their hands on it as I am but curiosity still is brewing among most I have talked to.

After switching to Google Apps for over a year ago and living the cloud-based life for nearly everything non-SolidWorks I can see how a cloud-based CAD might be attractive to some.  I think, if anything, it offers some collaborative and light editing capabilities that could be tapped into from anywhere.  We will have many more answers in just a couple of weeks!

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 285 - CAD on the Cloud

CAD on the Cloud:

This podcast is a round table discussion with Matt Lombard (Dezignstuff), Oleg Shilovitsky (Beyond PLM), and Josh Mings (SolidSmack) about the pros/cons of a cloud-basd CAD platform. Topics covered:

- What is your description of CAD on the Cloud?

- Pros/Cons of the technology

- What are the real barriors for the common user/company?

- Hosted "Cloud" vs. local server farm

- How players like SolidWorks, Dassault, PTC, AutoDesk, Siemens will address migrating users from local to hosted applications?

- Payment speculation pros/cons for vendor and customer.

- SolidWorks PDS (light collaboration) and the model for hosted add ons to a local application.

Since SolidWorks World 2010 (SWW10) there have been a influx of articles focusing on the idea of hosted 3D parametric CAD applications and how they would all succeed/fail based on today's technology. Many of the major players in the CAD industry are working on various degrees of hosted offerings but most seem to be technology verification projects.

Although many of us have written about this technology, the response from the users who need these tools, in the end, to model geometry, are weary of the transition to a hosted solution delivered via the Internet. It is apparent that there are far more questions that have been unanswered than answered at this point which is why we have not seen anything launched yet.

I want to thank Matt, Oleg and Josh for taking the time and discussing their views on the topic of hosted CAD. We are in a fascinating time in the technology and the promise of more powerful applications with effortless collaboration and maintenance seems almost unattainable in today's market. There is no doubt that applications are moving to the Cloud but is CAD the right product for the move? ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!