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Archive for August, 2008

Learning how to properly do drawing and detailing in SolidWorks isn’t precisely the most exciting thing in the world, but it’s necessary, so I try to keep at it, even when it seems I’m making progress in an extremely slow fashion.

Anyway, I was learning how to create Annotation Favorites, when I noticed that something was different about Favorites for SW2007 and SW2008, when compared to SW2009. Well, first of all, an Annotation Favorite is any kind of annotation such as a note, weld symbol, surface finish symbol, geometric tolerance symbol, etc., that can be named and saved to be reused in the document.  They are called Favorites in SW2007 and SW2008, but renamed as Styles for SW2009. The extension of the file in which SolidWorks stores this information has also changed, but never fear, because you will still be able to use your favorites created in SW2008 and SW2007 in documents created in SolidWorks 2009. I’ll tell you all about it in a few minutes.

Using SW2008, I created a favorite by selecting a note (My Note in the image) and clicking on Add or Update a Favorite in the Note property manager on the left. I was prompted to enter a name for my Favorite, and so I named it My Little Note. 

The next step was to save this favorite as a file, so I could be able to reuse it in this or other document. Notice the extension .sldnotefvt given by SW2008. I saved this file in the annotations folder of SW2009 Design Library, just to see if I would be able to reuse it in a document created in SW2009.

And, yes, the Favorite was still available for use in SW2009.

Now, why did I do this? What made me wonder if I would be able to use the same favorites in SW2008 and 2009? Well, it’s just that, as I said before, the extension of the files for SW2009 is now different to the way it was for SW2008. In the following image, notice the extension .sldnotestl given to the same Note when it’s saved as a Style in SW2009, previously known as a Favorite for SW2008.

These favorites or styles can also be deleted and edited at any moment. To edit one of these favorites, simply make whatever changes you need to it, select it, click again on Add or Update a Favorite, select the name of the favorite you are updating from the list, and finally, save it again, same way you did before.

Well, not precisely… This is just a quick tip on how to edit a cropped drawing view. As you probably already know, whenever you create a cropped view in SolidWorks, the two things you need are a model view and a closed sketch that will define the area of the view that you wish to keep. Everything outside the sketch will be eliminated. But what happens if you make a mistake while creating the sketch or if it doesn’t include everything you needed it to show in the cropped view?  Well, you can always edit the crop!

In the following image, Drawing View 3 is a cropped view, but I need to edit it somehow, so that it includes an edge that I left out when I created it.

All I have to do is right click on Drawing View 3, then click on Crop View, Edit Crop.

By doing this, I will be once again able to see the original view as it was before the crop, and I’ll also  be able to edit the closed sketch that defines the crop. Notice how I’m simply modifying the closed spline, to include the edge.

After all changes to the sketch have been made, all I have to do is click Rebuild.

And the new cropped view now also includes the edge, just like I wanted.

Our vacation time in Florida was awesome, tropical storm and all.  It rained non-stop from the moment we arrived, but that didn’t prevent us from going out and having fun.  As a matter of fact, I noticed a huge crowd in almost every single place we went to, wearing ponchos, or just walking in the rain, getting soaked and making the best of it.  There were even quite a few folks in their swimsuits, going down the slides at the Wet n’ Wild water park! I guess it’s true what they say, when life gives you lemons…

But now the vacation is over and it’s time to catch up where I left. Lots going on while I was gone! Let’s see… Ricky and Mike have been very busy posting about SolidWorks 2009, there’s a PhotoView 360 rendering contest, and, sadly, controversy over SolidWorks subscription fees and whether or not SolidWorks values the work of those that volunteer their time and expertise for things like Beta testing, blog writing, user group meetings, etc. While I really have nothing to say about the issue of the subscription fees mainly because I’m a newcomer, unfamiliar with all these politics, I felt I had something to say about my own experience as a volunteer blogger for SolidWorks.   Notice how I emphasize that this is my personal experience; others may disagree, depending on their particular outlook, their experiences, or simply due to the way they approach volunteer work in general.

What I want to say is really simple: When it comes to volunteer work, no matter who you do it for (a church, a group of friends, the baseball league, your local parent group, a shelter, SolidWorks) or what you volunteer for, you should never expect a reward or payment for anything you do, otherwise you’ll always feel cheated and disappointed, and your reward will never seem enough to you, no matter what you do get from it ( a sincere and thankful heart, recognition among your peers, prestige, free entrance to SWW and a trip to Spain, perhaps?) . That’s the whole point of it being a volunteer effort! It’s something you do because you want to do it, because you believe in it strongly enough and you wish to help make a difference. Nobody is forcing you to volunteer!  Ah, but volunteer work is not just reserved for charity, even in everyday life it is important because many times it’s the only way to achieve a huge goal that otherwise would’ve been impossible, and that, itself, is usually the only reward you’ll get from it… and it’s a big reward, let me tell you, just seeing it all come to completion and knowing that you contributed with your little grain of sand. No amount of money can ever pay for that!

When I was offered the opportunity (yes, I call it opportunity) to become a blogger for SolidWorks, several months ago, I was also warned that this was a volunteer work, and there would be no payment. I didn’t care about that because I was, and still am, way too excited simply about having this space all for myself to share my thoughts, experiences and whatever I learn about SW with others. When I talked about it with some people I knew, some thought it was something silly. “What’s in it for you, anyway?” that’s what they’d say; “You are going to put a lot of time and effort into it and get nothing back!” Well, I didn’t know exactly what to say to these people back then, but it sure sounded really good to me for some reason. Over the months, however, I think I’ve gotten more than I’ve put in, and I’m not talking about money or material gifts. Sure, I was invited to Spain and that is awesome, and SW didn’t have to invite me just for blogging, but they did. No, the best I’ve gotten from being a blogger for SolidWorks is a front row seat for learning and networking. This incredible experience and the feeling that somebody believes in me, that they believe I have something to contribute, even after all these years, that is my reward and it’s special for me. It inspires me to go on and keep trying, even when I know some others out there may consider my achievements as insignificant. That, for me, is much better than getting paid any money for doing this… and is also something I didn’t expect and didn’t ask for, which makes it even better.

So, anyway, I don’t mean to create any sort of controversy. Just wanted to state my point of view. Now I only wish I can have the opportunity to continue learning and blogging for the longest time, and that my contribution can be somehow useful to others out there, even if they can’t remember my name.

What’s the only good thing about having a spouse who travels the world all year round, I mean besides (emergency) chocolate from Switzerland and gold plated figurines from Japan? Frequent flyer miles! Thousands and thousands of them! This year, instead of me traveling to Mexico with the kids, Keith decided to take some time off from work, take some of those miles, and head over to Orlando, FL, for a much needed vacation with the whole family. We leave this weekend, and I still haven’t managed to put a suitcase together. I know, this has nothing to do with SW, but I just wanted to give you the heads up that it’s going to be pretty empty and lonely around here for a whole week, but that I’ll come back soon (yes, I will come back, you haven’t got rid of me yet) to continue blogging about SolidWorks and whatever’s new in the community.

In the meantime, check out all the other blogs for very interesting articles about SolidWorks 2009 and perhaps even about all the preparations for SolidWorks World 2009. I know, it seems a bit far away, but believe me, people are already getting excited about it and planning for it. With some effort and a bit of luck, you could even get to go for free.  I still don’t know if I will be lucky enough to attend this one. I really wish I can go, but it’s too early to say. At least, one thing I know is that, so far, I’ve got the airfare covered. Plenty of flyer miles to spare!

See you soon!

PhotoView 360 was made available for download today, August 12^th, and, of course, I had to go and try it out. I must tell you, never before today had I attempted to render anything, but I’m really amazed at how fast and easy it is to use, and how great the results that can be achieved, even by a complete novice, such as me. It was as simple as choosing a material, a scenario, and that’s it, in less than a minute, I had my first rendering ready.

Of course, more experienced users can make it as complicated as needed, by modifying the properties of the materials and environment, but I’m just a newbie, so I was glad with my small achievement… at least for now.

These are some of the renderings I made using PhotoView 360. This is a little practice piece I had.

The soup ladle from Matt Lombard’s new book.  Hope that Matt doesn’t mind that I borrowed his model to practice rendering, but it was the only one I could think of that was readily available and had some interesting shapes, without being too complicated. All I had was too boxy.

And this is another boxy piece that I “made” out of wood, just for fun. I like the way it looks around the fillets.

What do you think? Not so bad for a first timer! 

Although the beta still crashes a lot and I wish for more variety of materials and colors, as well as some improvement when it comes to changing the view orientation, I really like PhotoView 360. I like it because it’s easy. However, after this first experiment in rendering, I feel even more like buying Rob Rodriguez’s book and learning how to do rendering properly.

Aha! I think Ricky Jordan just put up another post about PhotoView 360 with videos and all the trimmings. Don’t miss any of it! If you still don’t have PhotoView 360, go download it today from the Downloads area at the Customer Portal. And don’t forget to check out Ricky Jordan’s and Rob Rodriguez’s blogs, because they’ll have a lot to say about it. This is really good stuff!