3DEXPERIENCE Page 3

In our previous blog, we discussed my need to design a case for my Raspberry Pi, and why I chose SOLIDWORKS xDesign to do it. In part two of this series, I will look at one of the options for creating my design: FDM 3D printing. The entire process from start to finish was easier than you may think. 

SOLIDWORKS xDesign is a cloud-based application that is part of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. One of the most convenient and coolest features is the ability to model from any place with an internet connection. I recently needed to design and create a case for my new Raspberry Pi circuit board and decided to use xDesign to do it, which saved me a lot of time and effort.

Yes, but not really. Here's how.

"Can SOLIDWORKS run on a Mac?" is a question we get all the time. Unfortunately, the answer is no, it does not run natively on a Mac. It can only be installed on a Windows environment. So, the question then becomes "How can I run SOLIDWORKS on a Mac and how well does it perform?" Let's talk about how to get SOLIDWORKS running on your Mac and what you can expect in terms of performance with this kind of set up.

SOLIDWORKS xDesign is a new way of looking at CAD design. It is one of the cloud-based CAD applications that are part of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Just by being part of the platform allows this software to do some pretty interesting things that you can’t do with traditional SOLIDWORKS alone.

We’ve looked at reasons to use the cloud, reasons to avoid the cloud, now let's take a look at the benefits from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and see how they outweigh the reasons not to make the move to the cloud. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform is geared and poised to make engineering in the cloud not only seamless but provides substantial benefits to the entire design process. Here are the five main reasons I think design in the cloud on this platform is the future:

You may have been seeing a compass icon in SOLIDWORKS videos, web pages and even in some of your design applications and wondering what it is or what it’s there for. Well, that compass represents the central navigation of the 3DEXPERIENCE “business experience” platform. In this blog, we are going to explore what that means and how SOLIDWORKS users can benefit from knowing how to use it.

I recently created an article on the “Top 5 Reasons to Use the Cloud for 3D CAD.”  And in true engineer fashion, I made a list of pros and cons and wanted to follow it up with the top five reasons to avoid the cloud when working with CAD. The cloud is great for design and there are substantial benefits, however, there are some drawbacks and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention them as well.

When I saw an article request come across for the top five reasons to use the cloud for 3D CAD, I snagged it before it could be distributed. This is something that has always fascinated me and I’m often wondering why the design world, the world in which I live, has been so slow to adopt it. I use Netsuite, Office 365, Gmail, Amazon, Netflix, Pokémon Go and Fortnite almost daily but anytime I want to design, I’m sitting behind my laptop working locally. Here are my personal top five, of many, reasons to move the design to the cloud.