SolidWorks:HEARD! - Episode 429 - Woodworking With SolidWorks Revisited

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Woodworking With SolidWorks Revisited:

This podcast is a quick update and replay of episode 266 from March 21, 2010 when I covered how to use SolidWorks as a woodworking tool.  The show covered how to automate aspects of woodworking from trim and molding to complex joining techniques.  

Original Show notes:

- Using Weldments for trim (base, crown, casing, shoe, etc.)

- How to create a profile library for Weldments

- Building Library Features for joints (lap, tongue & groove, mortise & tenon, pockets, rabbets, etc.)

- Creating Smart Components for inserts, biscuits, dowels, hardware, etc..

- Common pitfalls

- Using DriveWorks for design variation

Back in the Midwest, my family's business is carpentry and I grew up building homes and doing finish work for many summers.  I also have used SolidWorks for years to do all types of building and woodworking projects of my own and found it to be very powerful.  SolidWorks has some great tools for building the woodworker's library to assist in complex joint operations, standard millwork libraries, and find assembly problems.

For years I have built tools using the Library Features (even in the old days of the Feature Palette) that would add a dado or cut a biscuit joint but there was still much to be done.  In the past 5 years, SolidWorks has added Weldments and Smart Components which can automate cultists and the insertion of hardware with fasteners and drilled holes in adjacent components.  

Even though much of this is not "out of the box" and requires users to build that library up from scratch, the payoff is huge for those that want the power of CAD behind their designs.  Once a baseline is set, I have found design automation (DriveWorks) to be a more reliable way of varying a design to avoid in-context references and multiple rebuilds to get changes to propagate.

This past week, Digital Dimensions moved our offices across town and with packed, moving and getting all our systems setup I just ran out of time to prep a show and record.  So I apologize for missing my first show in the 7+ years of podcasting.  

In prep for this week I had started digging into the new update to eDrawings for iOS but there was a glitch that was discovered with the camera in the new Augmented Reality (AR) feature.

So as a favor to Rick, I decided to push the show till next week so I can get some hands on time before talking about it on the show.  So since the show must go on, I started looking back through the catalog and looking for a topic that had not had airtime in a while.  I really enjoyed the show on Woodworking so I hope it finds you well.  ~Lou

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SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 395 - Transition to Cloud

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Transition to Cloud:

This podcast discusses the possible scenarios that SolidWorks could take with their introduction of SolidWorks V6.  Make not mistake, this is not an all or nothing choice but the move has more questions than answers at this point. Topics covered:

- What we know about SolidWorks V6

- What we still have to learn

- What the "Cloud" can offer

- Possible options for the transition to the V6 platform for SW users

- Miscellaneous questions and how to be ready

To say that SolidWorks has been quiet about the next generation of SolidWorks would be an understatement, especially since we are approaching 3 years since we saw a first take at SW World 2010.  Not only was SolidWorks shown as a cloud-based app running on a number of devices, it was demod in front of it's biggest fans and the CAD press.  Looking back, many would say they let the cat out of the bag way too early, but caused an uprising of doubt of the future of SolidWorks itself.

Like many technology previews, SolidWorks V6 has been the topic of conversation on many blogs and commenters around the web.  The web is something we all use in and out of work for a variety of applications, however when discussions about moving our precious CAD tools to the web start, the open-mindedness goes right out the window.  I believe this is because many of the necessary technologies are brand new or are not fully adopted yet, therefore the desktop works so why "fix it"?

If this move request the "all in" approach, I believe the transition will not happen for a vast majority of users.  A platform shift of this magnitude required a long list of benefits as well as a gradual transition period.  Taking a lesson from the mobile platforms like iOS and Android would tech us that "Apps" are designed for local performance while harnessing the cloud for collaboration, sync and other powerful cloud services. ~Lou

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SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 369 - SolidWorks World Prep

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SolidWorks World Prep:

This podcast covers the steps to get prepared for the biggest CAD conference, mega training, and overall engineer geek fest there is!  Still trying to get there or not going at all? Not a problem. Topics covered:

- What SWW really is.

- How to get the most out of attending (plan, plan, plan)

- Resources and ideas to convince the powers that be to send you.

- What SolidWorks:HEARD! is broadcasting from SWW.

- Other resources to get SWW news and tips.

SolidWorks World is just 5 weeks away and the anticipation for those who have the "green light" on attending this years event it building.  In order to truly get the most out of this crammed-pack event with 185+ sessions and not even close to enough time to see them all is planning.  A lot of planning or else you will show up and be overwhelmed and wonder why you stood in the hall for 3 days with your jaw open!

For those who are still fighting the fight to get to this mega training extravaganza, SolidWorks has a great list of resources for you to help convince your management to send you.  Whether it is videos, podcasts or an old fashion letter, educating management that SWW is not a "trade show" but a "build-your-own" training boot camp by users for users.  Getting that "nugget" or awesome tip to help you out in your industry with your tool of choice can be the difference between joe-user and ROCK STAR!

Understanding not everyone can convince, trick, man handle, cagoule and maim their way to SWW12, I will be live blogging all the general session and posting live notes with Google Docs on sessions that I attend.  When I can, I will be streaming video from the floor and trying to interview some partners.  Go sign up for the live-blog and watch Twitter for hash tag #sww12.  I will also be posting notes to the SolidWorks:HEARD! Google+ page as well. ~Lou

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 342 - Future of CAD

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Future of CAD:

This podcast covers my thoughts on the Future of CAD and how things seem to be progressing on the tech front. Topics covered:

- A little background where this topic creeped into the cast

- How engineering tools were like in the early 90's

- Today's CAD landscape

- Parallels in moving to Google Apps & the Future of CAD

- The definition of a "real" web app 

- Hopes for the future of CAD

Two weeks ago I received a shipment from my dad that contained a number childhood memories, one of which was an Armatron.  This 12" tall, 6-axis robotic arm that had two joysticks and was fully operational that finalized my love of robotics as a kid.  This same toy was the focus of a Freshman year project in my ME tools course with CADKey and it got me thinking about how much the tools have changed in just a segment of my life.

Over the past 1.5 years my switch to Google Apps for all our corporate email, calendar, docs, chat and internal intranet I see a shift in how we use services and applications. It did not come without some frustrations and trials but overall the switch has been very positive and has grown many areas of our business.

And then there is mobile. No-one wants "an app for that" (at least I don't) but they want to be able to access their content where they are, on what they have, and be expected to do what is "device appropriate".  I personally do not like the "APP" model but prefer the web model so any device that has a browser is in play.  ~Lou

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 334 - n!Fuze Beta Testing

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n!Fuze Beta Testing:

This podcast covers the pending service offering from SolidWorks built on the 3DSwYm platform from Dassault Systemes.  Topics covered:

- Overview of n!Fuze the service

- Client types (web, SolidWorks and iPad)

- "What we pubically know" about n!Fuze (UI, pricing model and storage options)

- Outline of n!Fuze vs other online storage/collaboration tools

- Concerns, hopes/dreams!

This past week I was informed that Beta 3 had begun and that it was going to be invite only and about a week long.  With the promise of a public beta to follow, I wanted to talk about this service and what information we do know pubically about it and what it's goals are as a service.

Back in April we had a SolidWorks User Summit and SolidWorks and I shared a lot of details about the product, what the experience was like as well as some of the pricing and option model that will be offered at first release.  Hosted, version controlled repositories are nothing new (Dropbox, Box.Net, Google Docs) but what is unique about n!Fuze is the understanding of the associative model and tree structure.

I look forward to digging into the service again this week but the unfortunate thing about testing early is the pool of testers is small.  The phase of beta will allow outside invites so if you are interested in testing n!Fuze with me, send me an email and I would be happy to invite you to help me out.

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 327 - April Tech News

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April Tech News:

This podcast covers the SolidWorks and CAD-related tech news that broke since mid-March covering the SolidWorks Blog, various tech alerts and other industry news.  Topics covered:

SolidWorks Blog:

 - ElliptiGO: Elliptical machine meets bicycle? AWESOME!

- Let's Go Design Project 2 done, use Post3D to tour

-  Bertrand Sicot challenged to pass CSWP by SWW12

- Sun + Grill = Warm Beer. SolidWorks Flow Sim to the rescue!

- Cane Creek, Rockin' SolidWorks for their headset designs

- 1000% production time savings, Howe and How they did it?

- 1483 parts in a watch? Yeah, that's what I said.

- Electric Atomik Fiat 500 conversion with 30kWh, keeping the backseat and trunk!

- Frustration - Not all pain in created equal

Tech Alerts:

- SolidWorks 2011 SP3 available for download

- Sheetmetal Design/Fab/Costing survey launched

- SolidWorks Enterprise PDM SP3 launched (then pulled for daylight savings time issue)

- SolidWorks Enterprise PDM SP 3.1 launched (fixed SPR 601234)

Support Monthly FAQ:

- Support Lifecycle overview (Eligibility/Service Packs/Hotfix/Support End dates) 

- Details about EPDM 2011 SP3 daylight savings issues

- IE9 support status

- Windows7 SP1 support status

- Simulation Loads/Fixture symbols not working on dual monitor setups

- New Knowledge Base Articles on config performance vs file size, Excel fonts and zoom, etc..

Industry News:

- COFES was this weekend, lots to discover at www.cofes.com

As you can see from the list above, not too bad of a month for SolidWorks and CAD-related tech news.  It was a busy month and with the launch of SolidWorks 2011 SP3 and the launch/pull and launch of Enterprise PDM SP3/3.1, many of us racked up bandwidth points for sure.

SolidWorks Blog was busy with some interesting posts on case studies about very interesting products from eliptical bikes to 1483 component watches and 1000% savings in production time. Although case studies, in general, don't typically interest me, all of these seemed relivant, practicle and interesting, especially when they around around hobbies of mine! (cycling)

I have to applaud SolidWorks with the quick turnaround on Enterprise PDM 2011 SP3.1 since it did address a major issue for those that upgraded.  However I think it was those of us in the field that found this error since we upgrade right away for testing.  The introduction of the Monthly Support FAQ page on the SolidWorks Forums is a great addition, bringing awareness to the SolidWorks community! ~Lou

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 318 - Tablet Engineering Tools

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Tablet Engineering Tools:

This podcast covers a growing trend of tools available on the tablet to aid Engineers to do lightweight tasks while on the go.  Topics covered:

CAD Tools (iPad):

- AutoCAD WS - open, edit, and share DWG (Free)

- iRhino 3D - Viewer for Rhino 3DM files ($3.99 USD)

- 3dvia Mobile HD - Viewer for model on 3dvia.com

- Inventor Publisher Mobile - Viewer for Tech pubs 

- vueCAD - Universal 3D viewer and markup tool ($9.99 USD + $$$ per translator)

Current iPad App Announcements (not shipped):

- SolidWorks n!Fuze - Viewer, Browser and Comments 

- DraftSight - View, Edit, Share (no elaborate details were shared)

- CADFaster - Collaborative Tools

- NEI Nastran Mobile FEA App - FEA Cloud Computing

My Wishes...

- SolidWorks Live Buildings - View & collaborate?

- Post3D - Pull participation with chat and 3D avatar?

- eDrawings - something web-based and live clients for view and markup?

I have been wanting to do a show on a landscape of some of the applications available on the iPad for Engineering purposes.  Due to the iPad really being the only mainstream tablet on the market I focused mostly on the apps available on this platform.

Although 2011 will probably be the year of the tablet with HP, Rim, Motorola, Samsung and Apple all having players in the market, I am probably going to stick with the iPad for now since that is the platform that gets the quickest access to new applications.  What I would like to see is mobile clients built on HTML5 and other browser based technologies so the tablet platform is not as important.  Choice is good but creates complexities when it comes to application support!

As more CAD companies begin to create experiences that fit the mobile platform, engineers are going to have more choice of how they perform certain duties.  Pairing tablets with cloud based computing can deliver a "lean-back" options to certain aspects of the design process.  Tablets will not replace the desktop but can definitely complement them for certain tasks.  ~Lou

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 287 - August Tech News

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August Tech News:

This podcast covers the SolidWorks tech news that broke since the middle of last month.  August tends to be a slow tech news month but with beta releases coming out and SolidWorks World registration open, the selection of topics grew.  Topics covered:

SolidWorks Blog:

- SolidWorks World 2011 Registration now open

- SolidWorks World 2011 Hotel Deals

- CRN names Sabine Gossart, VP Worldwide Channel Marketing & Sue Evans, CEO of SW reseller MCAD in "Most Powerful Women of the Channel"

- SolidWorks World 2011 Call for Presentations (Selection gets you in free!)

- SolidWorks, Boy Scouts of America, and the Inventing Merit Badge

- 5 Questions Friday with Robbie Liotta of SolidWorks 

- Submit your design of the 2012 Summer Olympic torch!

- 6 More Excel tips from Darren Henry

Tech Alerts:

- SolidWorks 2011 Beta 2 available for download

- SolidWorks EPDM 2011 Beta 2 available for download

- 5 iPads added to Beta 2011 Prize pool

- Nearly 19,000 views on SolidWorks 2010 SNL and VPN issues

Other News and CAD Blogs:

- 3D graphics performance rundown (Deelip.com)

- Design Intent definition (Dezignstuff.com/blog)

- SolidWorks World 2011 Online? (Dezignstuff.com/blog)

- Dassault's focus on CAD or Gaming? (Dezignstuff.com/blog)

- DraftSight shows up under "Free 2D tools" on SolidWorks website

- Updates and clients for THE HEaRD

- Details about Microsoft's record "Patch Tuesday" (Don't forget to patch!!)

We are right in the middle of beta testing the next release of SolidWorks and Beta 2 just went live, leaving us all digging for bugs.  August is usually a bit slow for tech news but with details now out about SolidWorks World 2011 in San Antonio, Texas and lots of stories among the blogs, we had quite a bit to cover.

Good topics out there this month at both Deelip and Dezignstuff blogs, especially around the comments.  Deelip, a developer of 3rd party plugins to many CAD applications in the market and took his unique access to all these platforms to do a comprehensive comparison of graphics performance.  A ton of videos and great detail of what the various platforms offer.  

Matt over at DezignStuff also had some posts that sparked great banter in the comments around design intent, an online version of SolidWorks World and where Dassault's focus lies.  Dassault's interactive division, 3dvia, has a number of tools for social interaction, gaming, and other artistic tools that was questioned by Matt and some readers of where their focus is and should be.

Beta is still under NDA but that will probably open up in the next month or so and we will begin the flood of coverage, outlining all that is coming in SolidWorks 2011.  We will be doing the famous "What's New Series", brining an audio version of what is to come once that NDA is lifted. ~Lou

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

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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!