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Archive for June 21st, 2008

Last week I attended the second meeting of the Tri-Valley SolidWorks User Group. I’m glad I was able to make it to this one, because it turned out to be a great learning experience for me and, I think, for many of those in attendance. Meetings such as this one are great for getting exposed to tools and strategies that otherwise you may not hear about. The agenda was changed a few days before the meeting, and, as a happy consequence of these changes, the whole meeting ended up devoted to the topic of how to automate SolidWorks  in order to increase productivity and make our work easier.

I was able to film great part of what was presented at the meeting. I have edited the content and put it together in a few videos.  I apologize for completely missing the plane during Jim Doxey’s presentation!  Jim Doxey, from Solid Partners, talked to the group about a product called Activault, and that is very similar to PDMWorks.  His presentation was so casual, relaxed and open to questions from the group, that I didn’t notice it was the real deal until he was almost done. I guess I was too busy eating my sandwich… I’m sorry!  Anyway, you can always find more information about Activault by visiting Solid Partners website.

We also had Jeff Lyo, from Hawk Ridge Systems, presenting about DriveWorks Express and design automation.   I was fascinated by this tool that, until now, I didn’t even know existed in SolidWorks… and completely free of charge! But I don’t feel so bad; I wasn’t the only one unaware of its existence. Quite a few users in the room, and not precisely the newbie kind,  had never used it or even heard about it before. Basically, DriveWorks Express allows you to create multiple variations of parts, assemblies and drawings based on a set of rules you establish previously. It reminds me a bit of programming: If this happens, then do this…  At the meeting, we were given “The Little Book of Rules”, by Ian Yates, to help us get started. You can get the book for yourself by visiting their website at DriveWorksXpress.com.  There you can also find tutorials and videos that illustrate how to use DriveWorks Express. I was able to film Jeff’s presentation and here it is for you. I apologize for the times when the camera moves a bit. I really ought to get myself a tripod!

So, without further ado, I give you Jeff Lyo, presenting  about DriveWorks Express at the second Tri-Valley SWUG meeting.  Stay tuned for the second part of this post, with videos of Brian Titus’s (owner of Zeometric LLC) presentation on strategies and tools for automating  SolidWorks  and make your work (and your life) easier.