CATI Tech Notes

SolidWorks Sheet Metal and Flat Pattern View Direction

One of the questions that came out of one of our training classes today is “How does SolidWorks determine the direction of the view layout for the Flat Pattern view it automatically generates?”

So we started looking and trying out different options and here is what we found, prior to SolidWorks 2011 we were unable to specify a Grain Direction in a sheet metal part so the Fixed Face viewed Normal To was the direction for your Flat Pattern. With SolidWorks 2011 SolidWorks added a series of new properties for Sheet Metal parts that a lot of information that is useful for manufacturing. Two of the Properties are Bounding Box Length and Bounding Box Width and because of this SolidWorks now lines up your Flat Pattern view with the Length in the Y and your Width in the X directions, thus for many people not give them the desired view layout. So if you want to change this you can use the Grain Direction, found by editing the Flat Pattern feature, and selecting an edge or sketch line for the Grain Direction (X).

The alternative option is:

1. Select the view to rotate.
2. Select the Rotate View icon found in the Heads-Up Toolbar.
3. Enter the value of the rotation angle.

How Do You Batch Convert Files to the Latest Release of SolidWorks?

With each new release of SolidWorks, the file format is updated to take advantage of the latest performance upgrades, Each time a file is opened that has not been saved in the new release, a message will appear that this is an older file. Customer's continually ask what is the easiest way to convert all their files at once.

The Easy Solution - SolidWorks Task Scheduler
You can create a task to convert files from an earlier release of SolidWorks to the current release.  This optimizes them for the latest software enhancements. You can create a task to convert files on your computer or create a distributed task to run on a group of computers. You must have a SolidWorks Professional, SolidWorks Premium, or SolidWorks Office license to create a distributed task. In general the Task Scheduler should convert all the old version files.

Note: Please back-up all files before converting files. Once files are saved in the latest release, they cannot be opened in an earlier release of SolidWorks.

Click Start - All Programs - SolidWorks Install Directory - SolidWorks Tools - SolidWorks Task Scheduler

1. Click Convert Files on the sidebar, or pull down the Tasks menu and pick Convert Files.
2. In the Convert dialog box, type a title for the task or leave the default.
3. Select the files or folders you want to convert. Simply click the Add File or Add Folder button and select the files or folder to update and click Open. Repeat to select additional files or folders. If you do not want to include subfolders, uncheck Include subfolders. To delete a file or folder from the list, click its number or path, then click Delete.
4. Under Task schedule, set the Running mode (Specifies how often the task runs: Once, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly.), the Start time and the Start date.
5. For distributed tasks: Click Network Monitor if it is not running. Select Distribute Task. Click Network Test (recommended) to verify group read and write access to files and folders.
6. Click Options to change conversion options and backup locations.
7. Click Advanced to change the working folder, time-out values, and other options.
8. Click Finish.

SEED PATTERN WARNING MESSAGE

I ran acoss this little gem the other day while teaching Essentials. It doesnt just fail with no explanation anymore. It actually gives a brief description of what might happen......

 

Todd Werginz

Technical Analyst

CATI

 

 

 

More SolidWorks Tips for Microsoft Excel

Last week I posted links to tips for using Microsoft^® Excel and SolidWorks.  Here is a link to an additional 6 videos to help you use Excel with SolidWorks.

Watch Videos - SolidWorks Tips for Microsoft Excel Part 2

Microsoft^® Office Excel helps designers and engineers organize their design data, manage design information, and communicate statistics and ideas. Excel can also help solve difficult design problems. It can accelerate calculations as well as control all aspects of a SolidWorks model.

Watch Videos - SolidWorks Tips for Microsoft Excel Part 2

SolidWorks Engineering Tips for Microsoft Excel

One of the most popular, yet under-utilized, engineering tools is Microsoft^® Office Excel. Excel is far more robust than most people think. Are you missing a chance to improve your design productivity? Excel can accelerate calculations as well as control all aspects of a SolidWorks^® model. SolidWorks has put together a set of tips, in the form a few short videos, to help you use Excel to automate some of your daily engineering tasks.

Watch the Videos.

Video Highlights:

• input data more efficiently
• build easy-to-use interfaces
• utilize powerful functions for advanced calculations
• optimize how the data is displayed

Watch the Videos.

Watch these videos and be more productive today!

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing
CATI

Sheetmetal/Wood Products DXF Workaround

I had a customer looking to streamline the process of outputting DXF files to the shop floor with minimal work. This is what we came up with..

 

 

Hope you can use something like this....

 

See you at Solidworks World!

 

Todd Werginz

Technical Analyst

Computer Aided Technology

SolidWorks Sustainability 2012

Solidworks has built Life Cycle Assessment tools to measure environmental impact of your 3D model. Every license of SolidWorks comes equipped with SolidWorks Sustainability, try it. click on evaluate and then pick SolidWorks Sustability.

Check out this short video showcasing Sustainability.

 

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager - Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.

Streamline Product Documentation With 3DVIA Composer - Part 7

Part 7. Conclusion

As manufacturing organizations strive to identify ways to save time, cut costs, and improve their competitiveness in global markets, mining the value contained in their product design and 3D CAD digital assets holds great potential for substantially improving productivity. By automating downstream product information publishing functions—ranging from assembly, manufacturing, and field-service instructions to product documentation, training, and marketing materials—your company can realize shorter times-to-market, improved operational efficiencies, and better quality documentation.

Manufacturers that use an integrated documentation authoring package not only enjoy greater accuracy, increased productivity, and more cost savings, but also realize significant ROI within the first year.

By automating the creation of product documentation and related content—and linking it directly to 3D CAD models—manufacturers can improve profit margins, achieve faster times-to-market, and increase sales related to better customer education. A 3D authoring tool empowers you to produce documentation faster and at lower cost, while reducing levels of rework and lowering production overhead. With more effective training and service, your company not only will enhance customer satisfaction, but also will realize shorter maintenance down times and greater profit margins.

To learn more about 3DVIA Composer, visit cati.com or email us at cati@cati.com.

 

*This article provides excerpts from the "Streamlining Product Documentation across the Manufacturing Enterprise with 3DVIA Composer White paper, published by  DS SolidWorks Corp.

 

Streamline Product Documentation With 3DVIA Composer - Part 6

Part 6. Creating vibrant, exciting marketing content and web-based catalogs

Because CAD data enables you to create imagery for print and online marketing purposes with a 3D authoring tool, it is an incredibly valuable asset. Many manufacturers spend millions of dollars annually on professional product photography to present and market their products when a more cost-effective, high-resolution, CAD-derived image could satisfy the same need. Some media, such as television and magazines, always will require live-action video and photography. However, the burgeoning need for digital content and the explosive growth in online, web-based catalogs both demand visual content that manufacturers can best supply by re-purposing product design data.

Even if a manufacturer already derives catalog visuals from CAD files, the process requires the input of both an engineer and a marketing professional to separate engineering data from marketing needs. With an integrated documentation system, marketing professionals can render, modify, and change images to meet specific printing or marketing needs, such as controlling resolution—pixels and dots-per-inch—which is not easy to do with CAD screen captures. Because the CAD model can be used to update views and animations that match the final product, marketing professionals no longer need to wait for Engineering to finish the product to create content.

With CAD-derived imagery and animations, manufacturers can make their online and digital media marketing vehicles more exciting, dynamic, and interactive, while saving money at the same time. With an integrated 3D authoring tool, just about anyone can transform a CAD model into a dazzling interactive animation.

Furthermore, manufacturers can begin marketing the product upon its release for production rather than waiting on initial production runs or photography to begin creating market demand. By re-purposing CAD models as marketing visuals and animations with content creation software, you can reduce photography costs, increase visual flexibility, and get out in front of product introductions.

Check back tomorrow for the concluding Part 7

To learn more about 3DVIA Composer, visit cati.com or email us at cati@cati.com.

 

*This article provides excerpts from the "Streamlining Product Documentation across the Manufacturing Enterprise with 3DVIA Composer White paper, published by  DS SolidWorks Corp.

Streamline Product Documentation With 3DVIA Composer - Part 5

Part 5. Publishing effective training materials

The ongoing development and publication of product training materials—for customers, new employees, and global partners—is another area where the repurposing of CAD design data can pay big dividends for today’s manufacturers. Because the native CAD files serve as the single source for all product content, using a 3D authoring tool to customize training materials for specific groups is far easier and more efficient than crafting these materials independently. This capability is especially useful—you can create effective training materials without using the costly textual translation services once required for communicating with overseas audiences.

With integrated documentation software that can embed 3D content, markups, and animations in any ActiveX-compatible business application, manufacturers have the power to create, manage, and deploy product training documentation on a global scale, at much lower cost. This capability allows you to embed product training content in common communication applications, such as Microsoft® Word, Excel, and PowerPoint®; as a standalone executable for viewing with free player software; or in HTML format to distribute over the web.

Many manufacturers spend millions of dollars annually on professional product photography to present and market their products when a more cost-effective, high-resolution, CAD-derived image could satisfy the same need.

Check back tomorrow for Part 6 of 7 covering "Creating vibrant, exciting marketing content and web-based catalogs."

To learn more about 3DVIA Composer, visit cati.com or email us at cati@cati.com.

 

*This article provides excerpts from the "Streamlining Product Documentation across the Manufacturing Enterprise with 3DVIA Composer White paper, published by  DS SolidWorks Corp.