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 SolidWork...

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....

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...

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...

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 ...

It’s amazing how sidetracked one can get! Quite a few months ago, I was very excited about the new SolidWorks Surfacing book that had just come out and adamant to go through it as soon as possible. However, as time went by, I got distracted with other things:  spent some time preparing for the CSWP test, got bitten by the rendering bug, and discovered a fascination for Sheet Metal I never knew ...

I’m working on a new video, but before that I wanted to add a small post as a way of an answer to a question I’ve been asked quite a few times already: where do all those buttons and toolbars that you’re using come from?  I know this is something that the more experienced user already knows, but it is a very real and very justified question when you’re just getting started. So here it goe...

The Insert Part command is used to add one or more solid bodies (parts) into an active part. This is not the same as creating an assembly, although there are certain similitudes about the way the inserted part is oriented using the Locate Part dialog.  The big difference, however, is that what we end up with is a multi body part, that allows no movement of the bodies relative to one another, and ...

    Wow! Time really does fly when you’re having fun!  While going through old blog posts, fixing categories and what not, I realized that this blog is turning one year old this week.  Amazing! I never really thought it would last this long or get this far, but just look at it now!  I’m even starting a whole new chapter after moving it to my own domain and looking for ways to improve it a...