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Archive for January, 2009

As I write this, there’s a five year old child with an ear infection resting in the next room, and a small dog sleeping on my lap.  Why is the dog there? Well, I’m not exactly sure, but at least this way I can keep track of him and manage to get something done for a change.  And just in time, because I realized this morning that I only have ten days (nine actually) to get ready for SolidWorks World 2009.  Sure, I have my hotel reservation, airplane tickets and all the important stuff pretty much squared out, but I haven’t really come up with a detail schedule or a plan just yet.  I guess I’ve been avoiding it because, as a child in a three ring circus, I wish I could attend everything, do it all, and see it all, but  as Jeff Mirisola and others on Twitter pointed out to me today, I’ll have to make choices, and it’s already overwhelming as it is. No, I won’t be able to see it all and do it all, but I’m sure I’ll still have more than a fair share of things to do and see while over there and I’ll make sure to capture it all in my camera.

Lucky for me, Richard Doyle has been publishing a series of articles with detailed information about the speakers that will be presenting at SolidWorks World this year.  This is very useful information for those of us unfamiliar with the event, the topics and/or the speakers!  In fact, I’m using this information right now to choose the sessions I’ll be attending while at SWW2009. I hope it is OK to take pictures during most of these sessions. Either way, I’ll keep you posted and share with you any relevant news, as well as any new tips and tricks I learn during the sessions.

In addition to the sessions and a couple of roundtables I was very fortunate to be accepted into, I’ll be  also checking out the partner pavilion and even meeting with a few of SolidWorks partners and other vendors for interviews and demos of their products. This is really exciting for me, so much that I have to constantly remind myself to avoid overdoing it, and be careful not to do like d’Artagnan and schedule meetings with two or more different partners in such a way that they overlap each other by accident.   I’m especially excited about the opportunity to try HSMWorks, a fully functioning CAM package that runs inside SolidWorks and that, as far as I understand, has developed an exciting and easy way for those of us with little machine experience to learn about CAM.  

Lots to do and to see! If you are attending SolidWorks World this year, I hope to see you there.  If you recognize me among the crowds and you feel like it, please, don’t hesitate to say hello. It is always nice to see a friendly face and, besides, your picture may get posted here in this blog. You’ll be famous!  For those who won’t be attending, I’ll do my best to keep you posted on everything I see and hear, and make sure to check the rest of the blogs for more content that I may have missed!

Now, if I can only remember where I put my copy of the survival guide…

Children and puppies have a way of keeping people busy and my home is no exception to the rule.  My five year old is extremely inquisitive (and possessive)  and has it figured out already that this is not a job I’m doing when I write the blog, so, for him, this that I do must be some sort of selfish hobby. Now, the problem with that reasoning is that, in his book, moms should not have hobbies.  It’s OK for some moms to work, but hobbies… no way!  Unless, of course, their hobbies include baking cookies, knitting sweaters, and driving children to the zoo, then it’s OK to have a hobby.  Luckily, despite my son’s efforts to keep me away from here, and by cleverly playing hide and seek,   I’ve managed to carve some time to put together a little video on Mate References.  The examples are simple, but I hope someone can find this useful. And as always with mates, apply with caution, to avoid creating situations that may over define the assembly.

Click HERE to see the video now or click on the image on the sidebar at gabijack.com.

My family adopted a puppy a couple of months ago. He’s a sweet and easy going dog, but given that he’s supposed to be an indoor dog, it was quickly obvious that he would benefit from some training, and so would my carpets and the rest of the family. I’ve had many dogs in the past, but I’ve never actually trained any dog before.  So we decided to take one of those puppy training classes at the pet store. We were promised that in only eight weeks our puppy would be completely trained or we would get another eight weeks for free. Well… we are in week six and, so far,  the puppy will seat for a goldfish cracker and… well, that pretty much sums up all his repertoire of tricks. OK, he also comes when called, but that he really didn’t learn from the class. We practice at home from what the instructor says we should do and what’s written in the handouts, but it’s hard to tell if we are doing the right thing or not, since the instructor really never demonstrates with a dog or even watches what the “students” do. See, this lady teaches the class inside a very busy store, right there by the food aisle, on one side of the pet clinic. Dozens of dogs (not enrolled in the class) pass by all the time, making it really hard for the dogs enrolled in the class to focus, and, if that wasn’t bad enough, she keeps bringing more dogs (big and aggressive dogs) to the class every session!  I know I’m not the only one who isn’t very satisfied with this class, and I often wonder if this is typical of any other dog training program. Perhaps, I would’ve been better off buying a book or a video, instead!

Anyway, back to the world of SolidWorks, which is what you came to this blog to read about. This situation with the dog training got me thinking about SolidWorks training. Not that we train for kibble (at least I hope we don’t ever have to),  but with all the different materials and options for learning available out there, I couldn’t help but wonder… what makes you decide on a taking a class, rather than grabbing a book or video and teaching yourself? What is really the benefit or the added value that you expect to find in the class?  I mean, sometimes the benefit is obvious, like obtaining a degree after completing your training or education, or having access to technology and resources that otherwise would be out of your reach. Sometimes, there really isn’t another way to learn, like in the case of training in the use of machines and equipment, welding techniques, etc. But let’s say you already have the technology and resources you’ll need (a seat of SolidWorks ), and knowing the only way to get a certification is by passing the test, anyway, what would make you want to take a class?  What is the extra that you can’t get from a book or video?  And, in case you decide for the class, what would make that class an excellent class for you? Would you rather be in a small group? Are you expecting a lot of structure? Would you be content with a class where everyone does exactly the same or would you rather be in a class where the teacher takes the time to challenge each student individually, according to his/her abilities? Would you feel safe in a class that goes “by the book” or would you expect each day to be a new challenge?  Would you rather take a class that teaches you exclusively how to use each command or be in a class that integrates SolidWorks in other areas of design and/or engineering?

I know, too many questions…  But I really want to learn, because I hope someday to become an educator. In fact, not so long ago, I already had my first try on a short education project, and I really enjoyed it. I hope more opportunities like that one will come my way in the not so distant future, and so I want to learn what the needs and expectations are in order to do a good job.  This blog is good for experimenting and researching, you know?  So, please, take some time to leave a comment and share your thoughts on this.

This is a little trick for creating your own studio that I learned from the Step-by –Step PhotoWorks Self-Study Guide, and decided to try on PhotoView 360, to see if it would work. Well, it does, with a few limitations, but it does work.

All it is about is creating a virtual studio with a backdrop, like photographers use in their photo studios, and a set of area lights.  The backdrop is simply an extrusion, like the one shown in the image, large enough so that the edges won’t be seen in the rendering, and with a smooth transition between vertical and horizontal surfaces, if possible, to avoid seeing the seam between them.  The area lights used here are like reflection panels in the real photo studio; a simple square shape will do. These area lights are mated perpendicular to the lines in the 3D sketch (shown in orange), as you can also see in the image. By editing the position and length of the lines in the 3D sketch, we’ll control the position of the area lights in our studio. Our model will go matted to the backdrop, preferably right in the middle. In this image, the model is a small LEGO toy car. As you can see, the model should be small in comparison to the studio, and the lights far away enough, otherwise it won’t work.

The book goes on in great detail about how to use this virtual studio inside PhotoWorks. Basically, you need to get rid of all other light sources and leave only the area lights you have created.  The same is true for PhotoView, we need to get rid of other lights and backgrounds in the scene and in order to do this, we are going to use the Black environment. Note: for better results, we should apply the Area Light material to the square panels before applying the Black environment; otherwise we won’t be able to see a thing. We can increase the intensity of the light in the scene by editing the Area Light material properties and modifying the value of the Luminous Intensity. I used a value of 20 W/srm2 in these examples. Of course,  it would be even better if each area light was a separate part, instead of three instances of the same part, because that would allow us to modify the luminous intensity of each light independently of the others.  In this example, however, every time I change the luminous intensity for one of the area lights, all three of them are affected, because all three of them share the same value.

By zooming and panning, we can obtain a closer view of the model, making sure that neither the area lights, nor the edges of the backdrop can be seen.  This is easier to do in PhotoWorks, thanks to the cameras. We can also add a material to the backdrop. It’s a good idea to try and experiment a few. The materials included in the folder Studio Materials, under Miscellaneous, have a few interesting choices.   I know what you’re probably thinking: it doesn’t really look good in the preview, does it?

Well, render the image and you’ll probably get a nice surprise. It make take some trial and error, some adjusting to the position and intensity of the lights, perhaps even adding more lights, but once you have your virtual studio customized the way you want it, you can exchange the model for some other one in the assembly and use it over and over again.

OK, I confess, I am a faithful subscriber of Elise Moss’ weekly CADzette, a newsletter that offers tips and tricks for AutoCAD and other Autodesk’s products, and even some good advice for SolidWorks users, at least every now and then.   It’s a really good reading, because Elise has tons of experience and is always willing to share with the rest of us. Anyway, this fragment was taken from this week’s CADzette. It just seemed interesting to me and wanted to share with you here, to see what you think about it. Just so you know what she’s talking about, Elise teaches in college. She’s recently begun teaching SolidWorks and is talking about the class that just started.

My SolidWorks class at Laney College in Oakland started this week and it was standing room only with a packed room of students and more students hoping to get in.

 I contrast this with the past two Inventor classes I was supposed to teach over at SFSU – both cancelled due to lack of interest.

 How did SolidWorks beat out Inventor?  I think they used Autodesk’s reputation as a 2D CAD software against them.  The programs are certainly close in features and capabilities.  Hands down SolidWorks emerged the winner and is now the standard in the mechanical world.  But will SolidWorks be able to crack the architectural world?  That may prove to be a harder nut to crack.”

Interesting trend, isn’t it?