Tag Archives: Communication

CAD for Kids

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Joseph Richter

 If you are a parent or guardian, then you most likely want the best future for your kids.  And as such you may wish to help them with some of life’s major choices.  As for example what they will do for a career after they get out of High School or College.

If you enjoy Engineering and Design, then why not share your passion with them?  Here are a few ‘FREE’ program recommendations for getting children of all ages involved in CAD Engineering to help make it fun and interesting:

For younger kids, here is a push/pull NURBS Modeler, it is like playing with digital clay.  Dassault Systemes successor to the popular Cosmic Blobs: Lab Rat Edition. 
CB Model Pro- http://www.cbmodelpro.com/

For Teenage Kids, here is an object and shape creation tool complete with Tutorials on the website.
3Dvia Shape- http://www.3dvia.com/products/3dvia-shape/

For High-school and College aged kids interested in studying Drafting, here is a professional 2D DWG CAD editor used in the industry. 
DraftSight- http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/

And for Kids of all ages, after all who doesn’t like playing with Lego’s®?  Here is a CAD system for assembling Lego® blocks and MindStorms robots:
LEGO® Digital Designer- http://ldd.lego.com/

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Importing/Exporting Formats within SolidWorks

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Quinton Rocke

Many SolidWorks users already know you can import and export the common 3D CAD files such as IGES, STEP, and Parasolid.  What most don’t realize is vast number of less common file types SolidWorks has the ability to work with. For example did you know you can import & export Adobe Illustrator files?  The following table displays the data translation methods available:

For more information on compatible file types see the SolidWorks help file.  In addition SolidWorks is always improving the importing and exporting with each version of the software so its a good idea to check the what’s new guides each year.

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Document your Feature Tree with Comments

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Joseph Richter

To avoid confusion when modifying models, you can add comments to features to explain or clarify vital information necessary for making changes.  Planning out a model with great design intent really makes your models easy to change, but only if it is CLEAR to anyone who needs to make the changes.

In order to add a comment, right click on a feature and select Comment>Add Comment.

In the Comments dialog simply add your notes and information necessary for making accurate changes.  In addition to your Comments, you can add a Date/Time Stamp to clarity who made the comment and when.

The comments will then appear in a balloon the next time someone hovers over the feature.  Additionally the feature will also appear at the top of the FeatureManager Design Tree inside of a Comments folder that contains only the feature(s) that have a comment applied to it.

Finally when using the new SolidWork 2012 Part Reviewer add-in comments will appear during the playback of a model.

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SolidWorks Part Reviewer

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Maurice Cherian

The SolidWorks Part Reviewer was included in the SolidWorks 2012 release. It allows you to “play” a part by using the rollback bar to show how a part was built.  Any comments that were added to the features will show as the part is being “played”.  Among its many possible uses the SolidWorks Part Reviewer can be used as a training tool or help give new hires insight into existing company designs.

The SolidWorks Part Reviewer add-in can be turned on by going into Tools, Add-Ins… and checking “SolidWorks Part Reviewer” on the bottom of the list.

Once enabled it will show up as a tab on the bottom of the SolidWorks Task Pane. It has a play button so you can automatically step through the part’s features.  You can also use the step forward and back buttons to manually step through the part.  Any associated feature comments will show below the buttons.

There are several sample part files available in the forums section of the SolidWorks website. There is a wide selection of models including machined parts, sheet metal, weldments and surface models. These files have feature comments to help understand how and why certain features were used, why certain options were selected, and sometimes even go over best practices. There are now also themed assemblies that can be reviewed. Note: the Part Reviewer only works in part mode at this time.

Below are two links to SolidWorks Part Reviewer files in the SolidWorks Forum. The first link is to the complete list of available models and the second link is a monthly featured part or assembly. You will need to have customer portal login and be on maintenance to download these files.

SolidWorks Part Reviewer Examples

Monthly Featured Content

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Line, Note, and Dimension Color on Drawings

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Michael Nolte

Do you ever need to highlight part of a drawing or need to “Red Line” a print?  One way to do this is to change the color of lines, annotations, and/or dimensions.

To do this you need to use the “Line Color” command which allows you to change the color of an item to something other than the system defaults.  The “Line Color” button is located on the “Line Format” toolbar.  This toolbar is typically off by default so you may need to turn it on. 

Once enabled the “Line Format” toolbar normally shows up in the lower left corner of SolidWorks.

To change the color of an item(s) just select or ctrl-select them and click the “Line Color” button. From there you can pick your desired color then click ok.

Note: If you want to switch this item back to the default system color just follow the same procedure as above but this time check the “Default” box on the “Edit Line Color” window.

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