I have created a video course for basic SolidWorks 2013 that is being offered by Infinite Skills for $99. There is also an advanced course which is about 80% done, and should be ready in weeks (probably around $150). You can buy them separately or as a set (once the advanced course is finished).
The “Good Ole Days” with SolidWorks means the days when all we had to complain about was bugs in the software. Bugs were at least something you stood a chance against. Corporate insanity is a different beast, and while I enjoy mocking it, I’m not vain enough to think I can have any effect on it.
According to Tenlinks, Fielder Hiss, the VP of Product Marketing and Management is leaving SolidWorks after 14 years.
I knew Fielder first as a tech support guy. He rose through the ranks very quickly, but SolidWorks was a company with a lot of guys who started in tech support moving to other positions of more responsibility.
One of the mantras I’ve adopted in my time with the SolidWorks product is “be careful of what you ask for”. Sometimes the answer is to simply remove the functionality you complain about. Or maybe create a whole new set of problems to make you forget about the old problems. Their answer has rarely been either trouble free, or something I had imagined/hoped for. I like the “Show Flat Tree View”. So far that hasn’t had any unintended consequences.
The question mark in the title was necessary because I’m not proposing an answer but trying to start a brainstorming session.
I guess the question makes some assumptions that you have to be on board with before you try to answer it. First, it assumes that Dassault Systemes has done serious damage to SolidWorks as a company, as a product, and as a brand. And second, I think you have to assume that the situation can be repaired. It is becoming more fashionable among the real CAD press to acknowledge that SolidWorks and Dassault are engaged in some sort of internal struggle, and that Dassault has at least mis-communicated, maybe even miscalculated.
In retaliation against their own unwillingness to talk straight, SolidWorks has come out with yet another “set the record straight” blog post.
Dassault has started referring to the legacy product as “SolidWorks Mechanical CAD”, and the future product as “SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual”. These are the products that we here refer to (tongue in cheek) as “Mechanical Desktop” and “Catia Lite” respectively.
Read more on SolidWorks Clarification: “We Don’t Have A Plan”…
There are two things I want to discuss about SolidWorks 2013. The first is the Conic sketch element. Remember that when 2013 originally released, you were not able to make a spline c2 to a conic. There was a discussion on the Conic in the SW forums a while back, where Mark Biasotti, who is usually correct, and usually fair-minded got caught up in saying that it was mathematically impossible to give the conic c2 capabilities. There is a point of view from which that statement might be correct. I’m not sure that you can drive a conic by the first derivative, although the derivative of second order stuff is easy enough, you might not be able to drive by it, although you’d have to show me why.
Today I attended part of a web cast from Autodesk introducing their 2014 line of products. I have to say that they have an amazing breadth of tools. Some of the tools they have acquired are truly tops in their respective industries, like Alias, 3DSmax, Moldflow, and many others. It’s hard getting past my vision of Autodesk as being the cheap junk aisle of the CAD market. Products in the past such as AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop, Inventor, and Algor have reinforced this notion. It’s a bit telling that all of the truly world-class stuff they have for sale is stuff that other companies have developed.
Old stodgy CAD conferences got you down? Can’t remember the difference between this year’s conference and last year’s? Moving around make you feel like part of a cattle stampede? Curious about how the rest of the world lives?
I was anxious to receive my first Windows Phone 8 to review for several reasons. First, I thought it would dovetail nicely with a Windows 8 tablet or desktop. Second, HTC always designs a nice case for each phone. This one comes in several great colors – red, yellow, blue and black. Again, the case of the phone conforms to HTC’s formula – thin at the edges, a gentle curve onto the back with a soft-touch finish applied to a plastic case.