Mike Puckett's Blog

Help Shape The Future Versions of Solidworks

One of the best parts of the Solidworks software is that its largely driven by customers.  There are two main ways this happens, one via enhancement requests, and the second is by the top 10 enhancement requests received and voted on at Solidworks World each year.  This year, Solidworks has taken a new approach to getting more users involved on the top 10 enhancements.  Now instead of only being able to participate at Solidworks World, you can do it online as long as you have a current customer portal login.

So why is this important?  First, its important to have the software work how you need it to work.  Each year nearly 300 new enhancements make it into the release of Solidworks, and a large majority of those come from customers.  Second, of these top 10, about 85% of them will make it into a future release.

So if you have a customer portal login, head to this LINK and vote on, or submit your favorites.  A couple of the more spotlighted issues have already been submitted, and are making their way to the top of the list.

Losing Your Tools > Options Changes After SW Crash Part 2

Back in October I wrote about some issues where changes made to settings in the Tools > Options page, would get lost if Solidworks crashed before you were able to exit Solidworks, and then restart.  It was further discovered that the issue also affected toolbars, and command manager settings.  You can read all about that issue, and the partial solution at this LINK.

At the time, the discussion was submitted as an SPR with Solidworks, and it was getting looked into.  What was left open was to solve the issue with toolbar and command customizations getting lost if SW crashed before you exited.  Last week, John Sweeney from Solidworks posted that the issue has been solved:

"I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that we believe we have fixed the issue with toolbar customization getting lost if you don't successfully close SolidWorks after making your changes. This means that moving toolbar positions, adding/removing buttons, etc will now be written immediately to the registry.

The bad news is that this turned out to be a rather large code change because there are so many ways to customize the toolbars, cmdMgr tabs, shortcut bars, etc. etc. This type of change is not typically put into our shipping product because of the level of risk vs. reward. So, the plan is to ship this fix with SW 2010.

As we discussed earlier, all other customization (Tools-Options, Tools-Customize (Menus, Keyboard or Options tabs)) should be geting saved immediately in SW2009.

Thanks for everyone's input... "

If you would like to read through the original discussion, it can be found at this LINK.

Solidworks + Robots + Roller Coasters= A CSWP Event To Remember

Who doesn't love robots?  How about toy robots that were designed in Solidworks?  The Solidworks Certification team has joined forces with toy maker Mega Brands to deliver what should be the most unique CSWP event ever held at Solidworks World.  The CSWP event is open to any attendee of Solidworks World that holds a CSWP certification.  For those planning on taking the test in Orlando, you will also be able to attend should you successfully pass your exam.

So what's in store for the nearly 500 CSWP's planning to attend Monday nights event?  First off, networking.  This years event will be more than just a room full of friends chatting with friends they already know.  A team event will give you the opportunity to network with other Solidworks professionals, you never know who you are going to meet. 

You will also be able to show off your engineering skills, but in a fun way.  There will be Mega Brands products that teams will be challenged to build.  You can compete for the fastest to build a set competition, or even develop a new design of an existing set of parts!  The folks from Mega brands will be on hand to judge everything, and who knows, you may be the one to design the next upcoming configuration of one of their toys!

On top of all that, there will of course be plenty of food, drinks, games, music, and fun.  I was given a sneak peek of what's in store and I guarantee you will have a fun time at the party.  If not, I will buy you a drink at the event itself (ok, the drinks are free, so how about some Mickey Mouse ears?).

If you have signed up for Solidworks World, and you checked the box stating you were going to attend the CSWP event, you should have received an email with all the information about the event.  Don't forget there is a January 31st deadline to submit your entry for the seperate contest listed in the email.  If you are not yet a CSWP, but are planning to go to Solidworks World, then I would highly recommend you take your test and get certified.  You can take it on site, or you can take it before hand.  All current subscription customers can find a coupon for 1 free CSWP test when they log into the customer portal.  That coupon however expires on December 31st.

If you attend the event, please say hi if you see me walking around, it's always a pleasure to meet other CSWP's, and hear what they are using Solidworks to design!

Going to Solidworks World 2009? Session Registration is Live!

If you are attending Solidworks World 2009 in Orlando and you have already registered, you can now go back to the site, login, and register for your preferred sessions.  A bit of a hint, if you want to go to any of the hands on sessions, sign up sooner rather than later as they fill up fast because of limited space.

If you haven't signed up for Solidworks World 2009 yet, there of course is still time, make sure to do it before Jan 9th to receive $100 off your registration fee.  Need some help convincing your manager or boss to send you?  Visit this LINK to get some help.

Hope to see you there!

What Can $40 Get You?

How about $500 worth of quality Solidworks training, the chance to win NVIDIA graphics cards, 3DConnexion 3D Mice, or even a complete conference pass to Solidworks World 2009 in Orlando (a $995 value).  If you are in the greater Los Angeles, Southern California area, read on!

Times are tough, it's impossible to turn on a TV with out hearing that.  If your a manager, or business owner, now is the time to take advantage of low cost training.  It will give you a greater advantage over your competitors by making your employees more productive at a time when you really need to be.  The $40 cost of the training, plus the one day away from the office, will take just days to recoup with the increase of productivity your employees are sure to gain.  There is no doubt that your employees will return to work with lots of new knowledge about using Solidworks more efficiently, and effectively.  Not to mention, if you were to seek this sort of training on your own, you would expect to pay about $500 per employee for one day of instruction thats not as focused as this opportunity is.

So what is it?  It's a 1-day technical summit sponsored by Solidworks.  The $40 registration fee includes breakfast, and lunch.  As far as the training goes, Solidworks brings in top presenters to cover a wide range of useful topics.  All of it shown in a small classroom setting where the focus is placed on learning.  For more information on what will be available, visit this LINK.

If you have any questions, or would like to get some more information on how beneficial this event will be, please feel free to email me personally at: mpuckett@mikescadblog.com

Wall-e Part Two

Well after an overnight trip to Las Vegas to hang out with Al Dean and the crew from Develop 3-D Magazine (Al, Greg, Ron, Martin, thanks for the good times, double down saloon was a blast!), I didn't get a whole lot of time to work on Wall-e this weekend.  I did however get to enjoy a 240 mile ride on my motorcycle each way through the Mojave Desert going there and back.  It was one last chance to get some nice open road California riding in before I leave.  I also decided not to stick around in Vegas for Autodesk University (I also didn't see any Solidworks billboards, must just be an Autodesk type of stunt)!

I did get to sit down for a couple of hours tonight and get most of the main body done.  I couldn't find a suitable font for the Wall-e text, so what you see was done with lines, and fillets.  Anyhow here is a shot of the assembly in its current state, along with a quick Photoview 360 rendering:

Photoview 360 rendering:

Once the assembly is done, I will most likely upload it to 3D Content Central as long as there are no copyright issues? (If so I will try to bribe the Disney guys that attend the User Group meeting with extra Solidworks prizes to not turn me in!)