SolidWorks:HEARD!

SolidWorks World general session day 3 is typically the reveal of the next major release of SolidWorks products.  For the past 5 years or so, SolidWorks has presented this in a skit where the guys in product definition will show segments of the new features with some humor.

This year's skit was a parody of "Back to the Future" called "
Back to the Feature" where Marty, Doc, Bif and even a camio of Jon Hirschtick, the founder of SolidWorks.  They should have a video up soon and I will post more pics once that is out.

Here is a quick list of what was revealed in SolidWorks 2013: (listed in order of reveal)

Segment 1:

- Show Hidden Bodies in Parts (parts)

- Assembly Performance Offenders with assembly visualization (assemblies)

- eDrawings markup imports into Drawings (drawings)

- Quick section views (parts/assemblies)

- Revision cloud - a markup tool in Drawings (drawings)

 Segment 2:

- Snap shots in (like in LDR) in any file (parts/assemblies)

- Sub models for Simulation - chop out a focus area to reduce mesh model and is associative to full model (Simulation)

- Bounding box cut-lis creation (parts)

- Multiple camera (3DVIA Composer)

- Multiple camera location on the timeline (3DVIA Composer)

 Segment 3:

- Quick filter in File Open (parts/assemblies/drawings) 

- Envelopes can be any part or assembly and then toggle (parts/assemblies)

- Envelope parts can have phantom lines in drawings (drawings)

- Envelope parts are hidden in upper levels (assemblies)

- Insert multi components at once - Window or CTRL selection in open dialog then drops one, place, drops the next, place etc. (assemblies)

- Multiple explodes in each configuration (parts?/assemblies)

- New favorites folder - acts like Windows favorites (all)

- New mounting boss options and stored in favorites (parts)

- Toggle cosmetic threads or have the graphic threads (parts/assemblies in Options)

- Find common thread types - In interference detection (assemblies)

- Hole wizard has dowel holes 

- Insert dowel annotations in drawings

Segment 4:

- Surface intersect to remove and add - can do both operations cut and up to face (parts)

- Thin extrude supports multiple contours (parts)

- Equation entry everywhere - Even in the PropertyManager (all)

- Vary pattern instance dimensions - can adjust the dimension values per instance (parts)

Segment 5: 

- Collaborate with others  - hover over username tp chat, email call (EPDM)

- DraftSignt integration (EPDM)

- Copy/Paste from DraftSight to SolidWorks - copies into a sketch (parts/assemblies)

- 2012 SP 5 will support backwards compatibility - will open SW2013 but frozen (all)

- Backward compatibility with Configurations - SW2012 could "see" the body and configurations from the future version (all)

- Backwards compatibility supports updates - if changes are made in 2013, the referenced files in SW2012 SP5 will update any visible attributes to impact the geometry and visual effects. (all)

Although SolidWorks has uploaded a lot of videos, I am still waiting for the videos to come out. I will post an update of pics if they publish the video.  

Things we did not see:

Well mobile and SoildWorks V6 platform did not make their presence at any of the SWW12 general sessions and I hope they have plans to share that information soon so we can all get an idea of what that will be like.  Fielder Hiss, VP of Product Management came out and made sure to clear a bad rumor up:

"SolidWorks kernel isNOT changing," says Fielder Hiss at #sww12 press Q&A. Take that, FUD slinging competitors!

— Roopinder Tara (@rtara) February 15, 2012

SolidWorks 2013 looks good and some interesting cool features are coming that are additions to part and assembly modeling which I like to see.  I do believe that viewers and collaboration tools on mobile or the web are needed in the SolidWorks portfolio.  Time will tell. ~Lou

For the past three weeks I have been showing off all the new features in SolidWorks 2012 products to a bunch of users and it is always interesting what they really get excited about. Despite what gets the "orange star" in the What.s New PDF, users will let you know in their simple smirks or confident nods what is really an "enhancement" and what is demo candy. When I think back through the past 10 years and all the 200+ enhancement releases, there are always the handful of useful updates that can make a new release worthy enough to migrate to.

Many people in the CAD industry (corporate and resellers) start to believe that their CAD Product is some sort of religion or way of life but the reality is CAD is nothing more than a tool. As a long time user myself and maybe a crumugin of sorts due to the amount of time I have been in the channel, I look at the SolidWorks line of products the same as I did when I built homes for the family business, tools of my trade. Because of that, I often admire the competition when they do something better than SolidWorks does because, again, it is just a tool. When the tool gets out of the way and lets the real magic happen, that is an "enhancement"!

After rolling out 7 SolidWorks 2012 events, each 3 hours in length, I am convinced that SolidWorks 2012 is a release about the little things. After showing all the big market features like SolidWorks Costing and Large Design Review (LDR), which were well received, the most applause and smiles of "Finally!" came when a small tweak or adjustment to existing functionality was pointed out. Here is a small list of the "little things":

- Blank custom properties

- Unit switcher (bottom right in the status bar)

- Tab to hide (assemblies)

- Discard changes (when editing a part when the assembly is open)

- Sheet Metal exclude features (modified select tangency to select up to bend faces)

- Control A to select all parts in an assembly or all entities inn a sketch

- S key cursor focus for command search

- Delayed clocking on SmartMates

- Initiate SmartMates with ALT key anytime (not just on initial drag)

- Modify dimension name in Modify dialog

- Highlight dimension from part changes in drawings

- Insert center marks on view anytime, not just when adding the view

- Diamter dimension lock in sketches (dimensioning to centerline locks similar to ordinate dims)

- ESC key in dimensions undoes last selection instead of canceling the command

- Hole Wizard not adding a "default" hole where face was initially selected

~ the list goes on and on...

For me, the little things are those features that we touch everytime we fire up the software.  The little things are also the features that can bring the greatest frustration when they don't work the way we want so it is no surprise the excitement when they are improved.  Even though Equations in SolidWorks 2012 are my favorite new enhancement, many of the above list get touched more often and have a bigger impact on my daily usage. So the "little things" end up being the big things and ultimately become the decision maker/breaker when the question "Do I upgrade?" is asked. ~Lou

Now that SolidWorks 2012 is out for public consuption and out of Beta, the gritty details will begin to surface.  One of my goals with every release of SolidWorks is to figure out what really changed and what other Easter Eggs can be found.  One of the places I start with is the SolidWorks system options.  I open up the previous release and the new release and start to compare the options that have been moved, added or removed.  Major changes are typically outlined in the Release Notes but no all the minor adjustments.  

Here is a list of what has changed in SolidWorks 2012: (Click on the section title to see a screen shot)

General:

Two options were moved from the 2011 General Tab into a new tab called "Messages/Errors/Warnings".

• Show errors every rebuild (moved)
• Warn before saving documents with update errors (moved)
• Maximize document on open (removed)
• Enable Freeze bar (added)

Drawings:  (Unchanged)

• Display Style (unchanged)
• Area Hatch/Fill (unchanged)

Colors: (unchanged)

Sketch: (unchanged)

• Relations/Snaps (unchanged)

Display/Selection: (unchanged)

Performance: (unchanged)

Assemblies:

• Use Large Design Review whenever working with an assembly containing more than this number of components: (numeric increment box) (added)

External References:

•  Show "X" in feature tree for broken external references (added)

Default Templates: (unchanged)

File Locations:

• Bend Table Template
• Costing Report Template Folder
• Costing templates
• Punch Table Template

FeatureManager: (unchanged)

Spin Box Increments: (unchanged)

View: (unchanged)

Backup/Recover:

• Removed minutes/changes selection list for "Save auto-recover information every.."

 Touch: (unchanged)

Hole Wizard/Toolbox:

This screen is also unchanged, however on a system with SolidWorks Enterprise PDM client installed a new screen pops up with details about the attached vaults and if you would like to have SolidWorks search for a Toolbox database in the vault. (Very nice addition)

File Explorer: (unchanged)

Search: (unchanged)

Collaboration: (unchanged)

Message/Errors/Warnings:

This new section replaces the old "Advanced" section which included the dismissed messages list.  This section now encompasses all the warnings/message options instead of being littered throughout the various sections.

• Show errors every build (moved from General)
• Warn before saving documents with update errors (moved from General)

• Display FeatureManager tree warnings (added)  
  • Always
  • Never
  • All but top level

• Display circular references in equations: (added)
  • Everywhere
  • In equation dialog only
  • Never
• Display potential circular references in equations: (added)
  • Everywhere
  • In equation dialog only
  • Never

More details to come as I continue to dig in and find what I can.  Stay tuned... ~Lou

Today DS SolidWorks lifted the SolidWorks 2011 Beta NDA and is allowing anyone to talk about what is in the next product to ship.  Having used SolidWorks for well over a decade now, I am finding myself more focused on how new functionality will be used practically instead of just in awe that a software tool can perform a task. Sometimes the fine tuning is more impressive to "Joe User" than a shiny capability that might be used a few times a year.

Like previous releases, I am planning on doing an audio version of the What's New PDF on the podcast but I wanted to highlight the features that I feel are going to be used by many users across the board.  SolidWorks 2011 is less flashy, in my opinion, than the previous few and seems to be focused on closing some long lasting SPRs tagged to the software.  All forensics aside, it seems that many of my reported SPRs had been showing a closed status, although my primary job is not support so I could be an outlier in that respect. 

5 Enhancements That Matter:

Search...No Really...Search:

I am the first one to admit that the current SolidWorks Search in the upper right of the software has been used ... is not used as much as it should.  I think many of us just got sick of the waiting and hoping it would return exactly what we were looking for.  When setup correctly, the model and file search does work but nobody uses it.

★ 2011 SolidWorks Search can search places we all search for answers like the HELP! (finally!), the SolidWorks Knowledge Base and the newly updated SolidWorks Community Forums. This is, of course, in addition to the model and file search that existed previously.  This is when I do searches for SolidWorks, not as much for finding models (enter PDM) but for information on solving problems.  The help, knowledge base and forums are all great resources and now searching them is right inside of SolidWorks.

Note: During Beta the Web Help is not available and has seemed to be moved out of the search box.  I am assuming this will be back in the search once Beta is over.  Search terms in Help, Knowledge Base and Forums will launch the embedded browser and pass the search terms to those sites' search boxes.

Assembly & Weld Feature Expansion:

Assembly features have a few added benefits in the 2011 release.  Other than simple cuts and holes, fillets and chamfers have expanded the features that can be added in content of an assembly.  This feature is especially useful for those who design weldments and need to prep intersecting members for welding.

Weldments, since their introduction, have been a great feature but when it comes to the welding of these members, the current implementation has been very limited for complex joints.  Since a majority of users want to have welds for detail purposes only, SolidWorks 2011 redesigned the weld bead functionality to be simplified and have no impact on the performance since all welds are now lightweight.

★ Not only has the interface been brought to parity for Parts and Assemblies but the weld feature now adds a graphical representation of a weld (as opposed to a physical solid body) and can apply it to gapped members.  This was a common support inquiry from users with weldments. Welds also have an updated interface inside the PropertyManager to select weld paths, override the weld symbols, and specify weld properties like material, process, mass per unit length, etc.

Note: Now that the welds are graphical, they do not add mass to the overall structure like they did in the past.  Legacy welds will be supported and editable but new welds will take on the new graphical form.

Equations...No Hear Me Out:

Equations are one of those areas of SolidWorks that everyone is aware of but really doesn't use to much frequency. Adding intelligence to models can be done with equations but 2011 adds a few features that redefine this capability.  

The first is the addition to controll suppression states of features and parts, utilizing Visual Basic's IIF function.  Now equations can be written as an expression and have a TRUE/FALSE response that is now evaluated.  Previously this would be done in a design table using Excel's equation functionality but now is wrapped up right inside of the SolidWorks equation editor.

★ The second is one of my favorites and could possibly feed my need for further "global" automation when it comes to SolidWorks.  I am referring to the new Global Variable feature for equations. Equations and variables can now be exported from an existing model and saved as a *.TXT file.  This file can also be created from scratch and then referenced by other models globally.  Once imported, the model can "link" to this exported text file and now changes in the text file will propagate to any model that references it!

★ To push this even further, global variables can also be configured by a Design Table as well so the power of Excel is still there.  Changes to these global variables via Design Tables are within the part only and will not be pushed to all that reference this external list.  I can imagine placing this on a DropBox or shared network drive, for an entire design team to reference.

Note: In testing this feature I noticed that performing a Pack and Go does in fact grab this referenced text file and includes it as part of the reference tree.

Fast 2D Simulation:

Image courtesy of SolidWorks What's New 2011I know this is not considered a core tool but testing during design is definitely trending up and making simulation studies take less time is always a plus if, in fact, the accuracy is still in play.

SolidWorks Simulation was again a serious focus for the 2011 release, adding a number of updates including changes to mesh, boundary conditions and UI. The most prominent change was the addition of a new study option type called 2D Simulation Study (within SolidWorks Simulation Professional).

★ This new study option applies to static, thermal and nonlinear studies giving a boost to run times and performance.  The option is typically used in applications that are calculating plane strain/stress as well as extruded and axisymmetric profiles. 

The example to the left is one that is axisymmetric and would typically be sectioned into a percentage of the cross-section (1/4 or more) to reduce the number of elements needed to be used in the analysis. Now this "sectioning" approach can be taken a step further, using just a 2D representation of the cut, allowing very complex scenarios to be solved in a fraction of the time.

2D studies like this are not new in the industry, but new to SolidWorks Simulation 2011 and the fact they can be applied to the everyday static study as well as the time consuming non-linear studies, more people will opt to using it.  

Note: Another added benefit of this study type is the results can be displayed in 2D as well as 3D or can be configured to display a section of the solid as pictured above.

Install & Administration:

The installation of SolidWorks has changed dramatically over the past 10 years and with it came much scrutiny especially with the SolidWorks Installation Manager (SWIM).  Although it was an attempt to make the growing complexity of installing SolidWorks easier, there were a number of factors that caused problems for a number of users.

SolidWorks 2010 improved things by reducing the download size of service packs by around 75% which previously were always over 1GB. I am assuming this will continue with 2011 but cannot verify that since beta is always a full download and install, not a patch.

On the activation front, SolidWorks 2011 supports multi-license activation/transfer and for those who have removed SolidWorks, forgetting to transfer your license back, only to install it again to transfer will be happy.  SolidWorks now will have a standalone download of the SW Activation Wizard that will be available from the Customer Portal to avoid this hassle.

★ Administrators responsible for deployment to many users will also be happy that images of SolidWorks can be built in a selected language (save size) and can build both 32 and 64 bit images on either operating system (previously building a 64 bit image required a 64 bit OS).  Not only building the images is operating system bit ignostic but managing the options via Options Editor is also supported.

Conclusion...ALREADY!

If you have survived this far down and made it through all the other posts on SolidWorks 2011, I am curious to what features you feel are important and useful (please leave a comment).  Many of us around the SolidWorks community get excited about new features, well because they are new, however the measure of a good release is stability and practical enhancements.  I hope see more releases like this in the future where SolidWorks fills the gaps and make the product as solid as possible.  In the end, SolidWorks is a tool and anything that gets in between the engineer and a tool = a replaced tool! ~Lou