In this second part of my blog post I’ll show you how I worked the funkey’s feet. The feet were made in a very similar way to the body, with lofted surfaces, but I didn’t use Fill Surface to create a patch in this case, just the lofted surface. First of all, I created a plane that was parallel to the Right plane and used it to trim the bottom of the body, using the Trim Surface command with ...

When you’re on the road with a dog, one thing you learn pretty quickly is that your choices for food are limited because most places won’t allow dogs inside, not even little lap dogs.  I think we must’ve visited every single fast food place along I-70 on the way to Ohio and every single one along I-80 on the way back. Too much junk food!  Master Andrew seemed pleased, however, since he man...

Just as promised, here is the video of the second part of what was going to be my presentation at the local SWUG.  This one deals with Free Motion, changing component properties and changing the orientation and camera views during the animation.  By the way, I added a new option to the controls of the video. If you notice, there’s a button in the video control bar that will allow you to select...

While checking out the 2010 Beta, I ran into this new option available for Motion Studies, when you have SolidWorks Simulation added as well. You can find it listed as Structural Simulation Analysis for Motion in the What’s New Guide.  It simply means that in SolidWorks 2010, and with Motion and Simulation added, you can perform your stress, deformation or factor of safety analysis automaticall...

Just as I promised, I got one of the videos about Animation ready. This one is about the easiest part: using the Animation Wizard to create animations of exploded/collapsed assemblies and rotations. I apologize if the video is not the best, more in particular the audio of the video (I kind of don’t like my voice), but I still hope someone out there finds it useful.  Enjoy!     ...

Well, I just got an email from Kenneth to let all members know the meeting that was scheduled to happen on September 9th has been cancelled due to lack of interest/response. That’s a real bummer for me because I was going to do a presentation on creating simple animations using SolidWorks Motion Manager.  Anyway, just to get it out of my system, I think I’ll make a couple of videos about it w...

On a terribly off-topic note, today was the first day of school on this side of California. My little one is finally a kindergartener, which leaves some free time for me to go back to school and take at least one or two classes this fall.  So, I didn’t win the lotto, haven’t got that super-duper job I’ve been wishing for, and even some project I was very excited about ended up being a bit o...

Just as I promised before, here’s a bit more of what’s new in SolidWorks 2010. This time, let me tell you about some improvements that have been made to the user interface for the Simulation products. Simulation Xpress got some of the biggest changes. I must confess I hadn’t checked any of this out until after I heard about it while visiting DS SolidWorks offices in Massachusetts a few week...

A very cool product we heard about while at SolidWorks headquarters in Concord was what is called Sustainability Xpress, which will be included in every seat of SolidWorks 2010. To talk to us about it we had Jeremy Regnerus and Rich Chin, who was virtually present via remote conference. It’s easy to see that the folks at SolidWorks are really excited about the introduction of this product, perh...

While at Concord we were treated to a hands-on session where we got to try out some of the new functionality that will be available in this new release.  Most of us had already been exploring it through the Beta testing program, but this was our chance to ask questions about it and satisfy our curiosity.  This is a big release and it was impossible to cover everything in so very little time, so ...

While at Concord, MA, I had the pleasure of chatting for a while with Certification Specialist Mike Pucket, who is also a friend of mine.  This wasn’t planned to be an interview or anything remotely similar, by the way, just a friendly chat over lunch. However,  I must admit I didn’t miss the chance to ask him a few questions about the certification process, since it’s a common concern amo...

I wanted to write this before the fact and publish it Saturday evening or Sunday morning. At least, that was the plan, but of course thanks to Murphy things don’t usually go according to plan, so… Anyway, by the time you read this I’ll be somewhere in Colorado… maybe further along on the way to Kansas, who knows…  In case you haven’t figured it out just yet, I’m taking some time off...

It’s past midnight here in Lexington, Massachusetts, and I guess I should be in bed, but after the great time I had today, I really felt like blogging, even if just for a bit. I’m here as one of DS SolidWorks’ guests.  They were so kind to invite yours truly and a few other bloggers to visit their offices in Concord  for a couple of days, chat with several of the key people that work here,...

I’ve never really been a car enthusiast. I mean, I like race cars and I sure enjoy the looks of a few models, like this particular one that was parked at some sort of car expo near the amusement park a few weeks ago. Isn’t it a real beauty? I actually like this one better than its younger cousins that were also on display that day.  Anyway, I like to look at cars and I like to drive them, bu...

If you are one of the few that visits at least every week and you are wondering where I’ve been, well, let me just remind you that it’s summertime here in California, and right now I’m home with a sick dog and eight kids. No, I’m not Octomom.  I only gave birth to two of them, but the other six are friends and neighbors that come to play or get “casually” dropped off by their mothers ...