SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 370 - CES 2012: CAD Tech

CES 2012: CAD Tech:

This podcast covers a few tech pics after watching, listening and reading all that has come out of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show from the perspective of a CAD user. Topics covered:

- A few Windows8 tidbits

- The rise of the Ultrabook

- 3D Printing...WOW at CES?

- SSD drives and cloud storage

- CAD via Clound via Onlive?

CES is a vacuum of tech that happens in Las Vegas every year at this time with 2700 booths showing off all sorts of concepts, prototypes and vaporware that might be coming out in the coming year.  Most of which you need to take with a grain of salt since many of the big breakthroughs may never ship (OLED TVs and alike).

As engineers, we are drawing to finding devices that will run our hardware draining tools that will not weigh as much as a jack sitting in our garage floor.  The other thing we are after is speed!  Fast boot, fast load, fast save, just fast OK?  Since there are not enough hours in the world to read about it all I typically rely on listening to podcast that cover the aspects of the show I care about and do some reading over at ces.cnet.com.

Since CES always falls right before SolidWorks World, it reminds me back two years when Netbooks were the talk (saw a bunch at SWWC), then last year with the tablet (and iPads were wall to wall) and now Ultrabooks. It will be an interesting round up by one thing that definitely caught my eye was what Onlive is doing with they streaming video tech to other applications. ~Lou

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 367 - Touch Maide Possible

Touch Maide Possible:

This podcast covers a new 3D control app for the iPad (and soon iPhone/iPod Touch) developed by a startup called Maide Inc in Toronto.  The app allows you to pan, zoom, and rotate your models with intuitive multi-touch gestures on your iPad. Topics covered:

- Product introduction

- Supported 3D CAD applicaitons

- Setup and Configuration

- Feature set of Maide Control for iPad

- Tips of use with iOS5 and the iPad (1st gen)

- Overall first impressions

3D mice and control devices have been gaining momentum over the past decade, bringing a level of 3D control that a mouse alone just cannot provide.  In my early CAD days after migrating away from a digitizing tablet, I was using Spaceball 4000 and really started to get hooked.  It was almost to the point where I found I could not even use CAD without it!  I have since moved away from it since I travel and am on the go (despite having a space traveler that collects dust in my bag!).

A few weeks ago I received an email from Maide's CEO & Founder Oleg Kostour asking if I was interested in taking a spin on their 3D control app for iPad since it had now entered a beta for SolidWorks.  After freeing up some time to really take a look, I installed the app and Maide Connect (desktop component) and dove in.  I tested on both Mac and Windows with Sketchup since support for SolidWorks is in beta but only for 2011 and I have since removed all but 2012 from my systems!

The app works as advertised and can be customized in most (not SolidWorks yet) for menu commands, similar to the way you have mouse gestures in SolidWorks in a ring.  I am excited to see their iPhone / iPod touch app that is coming out since it uses the gyros, allowing movement of the device in conjunction to touch to navigate the 3D space.  For more information about Maide Inc check out their blog!

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 303 - Benchmark Resources

Benchmark Resources:

This podcast covers options to measure the performance of the hardware to run SolidWorks and related CAD activities.  Topics covered:

SolidWorks Benchmark website:

- PassMark Performance Test

- SPECCapc for SolidWorks 2007 

- Anna's SolidMuse

- Windows Experience Index

- SolidWorks 2011 Rx Performance Test

SolidWorks users are often asking me at rollout event and other meetings how to get the best performance out of their hardware or what new hardware to purchase.  Some decisions can be made easier with resources like the graphic card site that SolidWorks has or reading through the SolidWorks forums to hear the reviews of a user's new system.  The trick is measuring your system with those who have similar uses and needs and a way to see what differences in hardware have the most impact on performance.

SolidWorks' benchmark site has a few resources, some more useful than others, to assist in the ongoing quest for better CAD performance.  One listed is Anna's SolidMuse, a longtime user here in Arizona, who has made a name for herself in the SolidWorks community as the CAD hardware guru. Her benchmarks range from surfacing, complex parts and other file sets and allow capture of a number of variables to really parse performance gains.

In SolidWorks 2011, there is now a performance test build right into the installation folder (Programs -> SolidWorks 2011 -> SolidWorks Tools -> Performance Test). The test uses a variety of parts, assemblies and drawings (some of which are thanks to Anna!) that run through a routine 5 times each to measure rebuild times, zoom and pan performance and rendering times.  These are then computed and can be shared among the community to really help understand how your hardware stacks up.

Both SolidMuse and the new 2011 Performance Test can give you great insight into why some systems perform better than others. I hope that now that one is built into every install of SolidWorks, more users will opt to share their results to help us all make wise hardware decisions in the future! ~Lou

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 271 - Hardware Performance 101

Hardware Performance 101:

This podcast covers common specs and questions that come up with the selection of desktop/laptop hardware for SolidWorks and other CAD applications.  Topics covered:

- Processors (Core, Core2, i3/5/7)

- Threaded processes in SolidWorks' products

- RAM amounts and why

- 64 vs. 32 bit operating systems

- Video card selection and common video related issues

- Hard drive selection (mechanical vs. solid state, rpm & read times)

I am constantly asked questions on hardware recommendations, whether it be manufacturer or specs, everyone wants to know what to buy to run CAD.  Things on the high-end hardware front are changing by the week and in order to stay on top of the technology I rely on reading and listening to tech blogs and podcasts.

With the new "i" series here from Intel, there are some great technologies that can be leveraged by threaded CAD platforms and it is important to understand what performance gains there are with respect to price.  64 bit is also something who's compatibility shortcomings have faded and with Windows 7 being embraced by many IT departments, the question arises quite a bit.

The other area, besides which video card to choose, that is sometimes missed by many is the selection of the right HDD. Now that solid state drives are making their way into many systems from manufacturers, the access speeds and quick launch benefits are within financial reach and can boost performance related to disk access up to 10X.  ~Lou

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

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 257 - CES, CAD Style

CES, CAD Style:

This podcast was an overview of technologies I thought were important to those of us in the CAD industry.  This year CES was focused on 3D displays, touch enabled "Slates" and powerhouse mini laptops.  Topics Covered.

- Laptops and computers

- Input devices

- Displays

- USB 3.0

CES is a monster show and I find that there are so many people covering it that the best stuff typically floats to the tops of the media string through blogs, podcasts, videos and of course, Twitter.  Since not everyone cares about CAD or we engineers, the goal of this show was to talk about some of the technologies that caught my eye as a CAD user and overall techie.  With the introduction of so many touch enabled devices over the past few years, CES made it known to the world that 2010 will be the year of the touch screen.  PC manufacturers were coming out left and right with touch screen, netbook-like hardware that would run Windows 7 and well as Linux.

Personally, I am not so sure about the gesture-based interaction with CAD like that of Project Natal by Microsoft (due out Holiday Season 2010), but the thought of having a CAD system similar to the one shown in Iron Man keeps my interest near. ~Lou

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