Mark provides a video showing how to use the flex tool. This quick four-minute video covers the basics of flex, specifically with the bend and twist options. Watch the video here:
Or download a copy: Introduction to Flex
Mark gave a presentation covering general tips and tricks for advanced modeling. His tips include how to repeat a command, using the search bar, quickly creating an offset Ref Plane, repairing dangling dimensions, toggling between driven and driving dimensions, thumbwheel control, move, replace, and delete face, 3D sketch extrude, boundary connectors, normal to view orientation, intersection curve, selecting hidden edges, using instant 3D, and tricky fillet intersections.
You can download the accompanying SolidWorks files here: NHSWUG – Tips and Tricks SolidWorks Files
You can watch his presentation video here. Click on the word “vimeo” to watch in HD in a new window:
SolidWorks Tips and Tricks, NHSWUG – 8/4-2011
Or download the video here: NHSWUG – 8/4/2011 – Tips and Tricks
Presented at SolidWorks World 2011.
Jeremy provides an outstanding discussion on how splines can make for better engineering. Fan blades, Venturi tubes, hoppers, optics, sheet metal, streamlining, ergonomics, springs, load-bearing spans, wire paths, cams, and aerodynamics. All the spline tools are demonstrated, with tips on the trickier ones.
This is best watched as a video, as the slides mostly provide the background for his discussions.
Watch the video from the SolidWorks proceedings site here: Explaining Splines Video
Download the accompanying slides: Explaining Splines
Customer Use (CU) drawings are just what they sound like, a drawing made for a customer to use. They are different from production drawings that contain every detail needed to manufacture something. The information they offer is sufficient for the customer to make proper use of your product in their application. Amos discusses some of the benefits of customer use drawings and how to optimize and use SolidWorks to create customer use drawings.
Download the PDF: Customer Use Drawings
Download the SolidWorks Files: Customer Use Drawings SolidWorks Files
This tool can be used to import *.es, *.3ds, *.ply, *.stl, *.obj, *.qobj, *.dae, *.asc *.off, *.ptx, *.vmi, *.bre, *.pts, *.apts, *.xyz, *.gts, *.pdb, *.tri, *.x3d, *.x3dv, and *.wrl
This technique will allow much larger STL files to be imported into SolidWorks than the native SolidWorks STL import tool. It uses .dxf as an intermediary format.
This technique requires MeshLab, which is open source software available here: http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/
This technique is limited by your system memory. Do not attempt this on large files with a 32 bit operating system. This is for 64 bit only, and I suggest it for users with a large amount of RAM. The PS3 controller imported for this video was imported on 4GB RAM on my home machine, an can be downloaded here (151MB). I hope to test the limits of this technique soon, to see just how large of an STL file can be imported.
I suggest clicking on HD in the following video:
Importing STL Files into SolidWorks from Charles Culp on Vimeo.
Presented at:
St Louis Technical Summit 2008,
Colorado SolidWorks User Group 2008,
Phoenix SolidWorks User Group 2009,
SolidWorks World 2010,
Kansas City Technical Summit 2011,
SWUG of Nebraska 2011
Are you a machine designer, but interested in what surfacing tools can do for you? This presentation covers the basics of surfacing tools, including boundary surface, fill, and trim. Then the discussion moves to a few examples of how you can apply simple surfacing techniques to your machine design part. Examples include how to use delete face, untrim, create smooth thinned areas, and fixing bad fillets.
This presentation has been revised many times, you can download the latest presentation, and watch the video from SolidWorks World 2010.
Download the 2011 Version Here: Surfacing For Non-Believers
Video Presentation of the SolidWorks World 2010 Proceedings: Video from SWW 2010 of Surfacing for Non-Believers
This video tutorial is an introduction on how to use tsElements, the plug-in made by T-Splines, to import Modo files. Mark covers how to create a model in Modo, then use the tsElements plug-in to import as an .obj file in SolidWorks.
Currently this video is only available as a download, which includes the video and solid models: tsElements for SolidWorks – Modo Workflow
This video tutorial is an introduction on how to use tsElements, the plug-in made by T-Splines. T-Splines is a plug-in for Rhino. Mark covers how to start with curves drawn in SolidWorks, imported as curves to Rhino, use the T-Splines functionality to form the shape, and then control the details back in SolidWorks.
Currently this video is only available as a download, which includes the video and solid models: tsElements for SolidWorks – Joystick Demo
This video tutorial is an introduction on how to use tsElements, the plug-in made by T-Splines. T-Splines is a plug-in for Rhino. Mark covers how to start with a primitive shape in Rhino, use the T-Splines functionality to form the shape, and then control the details in SolidWorks.
Currently this video is only available as a downloadable .wmv: tsElements for SolidWorks – Faucet Demo
Here are some models created by Mark Biasotti. They are useful as rendering subjects.
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