I’ve had it. I’m tired of being an afterthought. Just because I’m only colorblind doesn’t mean you can ignore it, SolidWorks. Actually, it’s not just SolidWorks, it’s any software that uses color coding. It would be nice if you’d think about me, and my brothers and sisters out there, when it comes to identification. Why [...]
Aug
31
Aug
25
SolidWorks Simulation
Today, while running a simulation, I saw on Twitter that Roopinder Tara had put up a new blog post titled ‘Practicing FEA Without a License’. Naturally, I surfed on over because, well, the title described me. The gist of his post was that CAD jockeys shouldn’t be doing analysis, it should be left to PE’s. [...]
Aug
01
SolidWorks’ “Creating Animations” Self-Study Guide
Yeah, yeah, boring title, I know. I was pretty limited in my options here, y’know? I suppose I could have gone for some long, convoluted title, but why? I’m mean, when all is said and done, you’re here now aren’t ya? SolidWorks has put out a great self-study guide, but I’m a bit late to [...]
Jun
03
DJO – Supporting athletes one knee at a time
If you watch College football, you’ve seen their products. If you’re a Chargers fan, you’ve seen their products. Bengals or Packers? Yup, you too. DJO, Inc. designs and produces state-of-the-art knee braces, among other things. 90% of NCAA Division I teams use them. Shawn Merriman, Mark Tauscher, Chad Clifton and Carson Palmer use them. What’s [...]
May
26
Dynamic Mirror
Do you know about the Dynamic Mirror tool in SolidWorks? No? Well, stick around and I’ll show you. The Dynamic Mirror tool is a sketch tool that allows you to dynamically mirror (duh) as you’re sketching. To use it, you first have to find it as it’s won’t be on your sketch toolbar, or ‘S’ [...]
May
18
Who’da Thunk?
I’m constantly amazed at the stuff that’s designed in SolidWorks, or 3D-CAD in general. The layers of complexity, the swoopy surfaces, the level of detail; it all amazes and awes me. Then there’s the “everyday” stuff that it never even crossed my mind that it was designed, period. How about this, from Crayola: Yup, your [...]
May
12
Toolbars: Yes or No?
Warning: this is going to be another of my opinionated posts. I welcome any, and all, well thought out comments. However, should you make things personal, I’ll be forced to call for the immediate removal of all your body hair so that you end up looking like this (yes, it’s safe for work). You have [...]
May
05
Favorite User Group Subjects?
When it comes time to deciding whether you’re going to attend your upcoming SWUG meeting, what topic(s) would compel you to go? I know that everybody loves Tips & Tricks presentations, but how many can you actually see before they become mundane? SolidWorks employee speakers? Much easier to get for the east coast groups than [...]
May
02
Book Review – SolidWorks 2010 No Experience Required
How does one go about reviewing a book, without bias, when said book was written by friends? Well, if you’re me, you just do it. I’ve never had a problem separating business and pleasure and, in this case, this is all business. Alex Ruiz, with help from Gabi Jack, has written a SolidWorks book for [...]
Mar
12
SimulationXpress – You can do it!
By a show of hands, how many of you have tried SimulationXpress, or any of the ‘Xpress’ products available in SolidWorks? Sure, they’re meant to be like gateway drugs, tempting and teasing you into purchasing the full-blown product, but that doesn’t mean that they’re bad for you. SimulationXpress is a decent, first-pass, analysis tool. It’ll [...]