News Archives - SolidWorks Legion

SOLIDWORKS’ 3DEXPERIENCE World 2021’s Top Ten List

Yup, it’s that time of year again! The drive for ideas in the annual 3DEXPERIENCE World 2021 SOLIDWORKS Top Ten List is happening right now!

Yup, it’s that time of year again! The drive for ideas in the annual 3DEXPERIENCE World 2021 SOLIDWORKS Top Ten List is happening right now! For example, do you have ideas that address any of the following?

Do you know of a workflow that’s been annoying you?
What functionality just needs one more thing to make you job 100% easier?
Will a shortcut to current functionality help you?
What missing functionality do you need?
Is there a workaround for which you’d like a native SOLIDWORKS solution?

Submit your ideas to let other SOLIDWORKS users see. Learn how your ideas stack up when compared to other submissions! Comment on other ideas that you like or don’t like.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve only been using SOLIDWORKS products for a year or 20 years. Your ideas will be read by other SOLIDWORKS users and the Product Definition team at SOLIDWORKS! When it comes time, SOLIDWORKS user-base can vote on submitted ideas. Also, there’s a great track record for implementation of Top Ten ideas!

Platform for SOLIDWORKS Top Ten

As with last year, the platform upon which the Top Ten List resides is now 3DSwym. So, if you are new or you didn’t submit an idea last year, please see the main SOLIDWORKS Forum article and video. There’s information on how to access the Top Ten. Once you have access to the Top Ten forum, check out the video at the top called “Starting Here: Informational Video!”

SOLIDWORKS Top Ten Idea Instruction Video link

Important Dates:

Idea Submission Open	November 10th, 2020 through January 4th, 2021
Voting Open	January 4th through February 1st, 2021
3DEXPERIENCE WORLD	February 8th through February 12th, 2021

You have no ideas? Your input is still important!

This isn’t just for people who want to submit an idea. This for all current SOLIDWORKS users to see what’s on everyone else’s mind! Maybe you don’t have an idea yourself, but you find that someone else’s idea might disrupt your own workflows. Your comment about such is very important! Likewise, perhaps you see a great idea that needs a bit more polishing to better suit your own needs. Your about about that is also very important!

There’s already some great ideas to check out:

Make Face Curves Editable
BOM to Filter Visible Components
Left Hand Cosmetic Threads
In a “Multiple Page Drawing” scenario, Add a Property Tab to Change Drw Format

Have fun reading everyone else’s ideas and hopefully submitting your own as well!

Return of Ctopher’s Custom Material Database

Custom materials in SOLIDWORKS are important if you are using materials not included in the default set. Around a decade ago, Chris Saller compiled a bunch of such custom materials from varies sources based on requests and submissions from many different people. This list is informally known as Ctopher’s Custom Material Database, “ctopher” being Chris’ handle.

Various versions of this file have been available on now long-gone websites over the years. Well, the material database is finally back and bigger (better) than ever! Chris has complied a new version in SOLIDWORKS 2016. This new version has many new materials. The new database is now available directly on SolidWorks Legion in the File Downloads tab as Ctopher’s Custom Material Database.

There are two methods to point SOLIDWORKS to use a custom material database. The easiest method is described on Ctopher’s Custom Material Database download page. Below is a slightly more advanced method which should also work on networks.

To point SOLIDWORKS to make the materials in this database available:

1.To use, place custom_matls_091516_sw2016.sldmat file into an easily accessible folder, such as S:\SOLIDWORKS Shared File\Custom Materials. The folder is your choice, based on your network and operational set up.

2.Start SOLIDWORKS.

3.Goto Tools>Options…>System Options>File Locations. In the Show folders for dropdown, select Material Databases.

4.Select Add button. Navigate to your chosen folder, such as S:\SOLIDWORKS Shared File\Custom Materials.

5.Select OK button.

6.Repeat for all instances of SOLIDWORKS within the network that need to access this database.

To use the custom materials:

1.Open any part file.

2.In the Feature Tree, right click on Materials and then select Edit Materials. “Custom_matls_091516” folder will be on your material list.

4.Click on desired subfolder, such as Copper Alloys.

5.Click on desired material to view properties.

6.Click on Apply to apply that material to your part.

7.Click on Close to return to your part.

Ctopher’s Custom Material Database

Resellers are already making great videos about SOLIDWORKS 2016 new functions

This morning, I started looking around Youtube to see what’s already popped up for SOLIDWORKS 2016 What’s New. There is already several great videos by several resellers. Here’s a few for Mate Controller, Foreshorten Dimensions and DimXpert.

Osaka, Japan SOLIDWORKS 2016 Beta Rollout event

SOLIDWORKS 2016 Beta There are many SOLIDWORKS Beta rollout events throughout the world each year. Beta rollout events gives local companies and particular users an opportunity to preview SOLIDWORKS functionality for the upcoming release. They are able to test drive the new SOLIDWORKS release with their own SOLIDWORKS files from their projects. The rollout events allow them to help us find bugs and to preview functionality so they can get a heads up on what to expect in the next release. Rob Jost Presents SW2016 beta These also give customers a chance to directly interact with SOLIDWORKS team members from Development, Product Definition and User Experience. Japan, China, Germany, Brazil, US, Mexico, etc all host events during the summer leading up to the official product release in September. This year, I attended the Beta rollout event in Osaka, Japan and Shanghai, China.

The SOLIDWORKS 2016 Beta rollout in Osaka was a great two day event. We met with several large customers and user influencers. Rob Jost of the Product Definition team did most of the presentation, going into detail about what’s new in SOLIDWORKS 2016. I presented on the topics drawings, MBD, eDrawings and a couple of other areas.

After the What’s New presentation, the SOLIDWORKS Japan team conducted a technical session to talk about the functionality. Our customers had a lot of good comments about what they had seen so far.

I love rice and many Japanese dishes. Each day, lunch was a treat!

Box lunch in Osaka, Japan

On day one, the SOLIDWORKS team had a great opportunity to talk with our customers all day, and answer their questions, not just about new functionality, but also about existing tools too.

On the second day of the SOLIDWORKS Beta rollout, our customers were able to try the new functionality on their own in our lab. There were a lot of great discussions. Rob and I gave impromptu presentations about What’s New again for customers who were not able to attend day one of the event.

Impromptu What's New presentations

Testing SOLIDWORKS 2016 beta

At the end of the second day, we wrapped up by gathering everyone for a final discussion. Customers talked about what they liked about SOLIDWORKS 2016, and in some cases, what they felt needed further improvement.

For me, and I hope everyone else, this was a great event! Many thanks to our SOLIDWORKS Japan team for hosting this event and making it a success!

If you are interested, this event was covered real-time on Instagram. Check out current SOLIDWORKS related postings by following the official Instagram account. You’ll see more of my photos from this event, plus many more by the new Community Manager, Rachel York.

Found a gem about David Copperfield

In an interview earlier this year, David Copperfield apparently mentions SolidWorks eDrawings iPad app. His comment doesn’t appear in the released edit of the interview video, but it is mentioned in the body of the article about the interview: David Copperfield is looking to tech for new tricks. His interview was at the CES 2015 and also his museum. In the interview, he talks about modern interaction with his fans and how he utilizes social media to add depth to and improve his shows.

David Copperfield is looking to tech for new tricks

Category: News