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.

SOLIDWORKS makes it easy for engineers to design in 3D. But once the design is complete, we have to manufacture the parts, ensure they meet quality standards and assemble the product. Assembly fixtures and molds need to be designed, assembly guides have to be created for the manufacturing floor and parts have to be checked against the engineering drawings.

Here at TriMech we don't think our job ends once the sale is final. We want to help throughout your entire SOLIDWORKS journey. Instead of flipping through manuals and Googling question after question, we have a handy Technical Communication Webinar Series to answer your MBD, Inspection and Composer questions. 

With so many new enhancements, it’s hard to decide which SOLIDWORKS 2018 features to try first. If you work with multiple CAD systems, consider adding SOLIDWORKS Inspection 2018 to the top of your must-try list. Here's why the new Smart Capture feature is a TriMech favorite!

Model Based Definition (MBD) is becoming more and more prevalent in today's designs.  Through SOLIDWORKS MBD and the DimXpert tool, we can add our dimension and tolerance data directly to the 3D model, helping to eliminate the need for 2D drawings, while more effectively communicating our designs. Keep reading to learn how SOLIDWORKS Inspection 2018 now allows us to utilize this information to create first article inspection reports right from the 3D model.  

With the snow coming down we thought it would be the perfect time to show off SOLIDWORKS Composer and how it can be used to create an interactive animation assembly. In the on-demand webinar below, I demonstrate this by using the software to assemble a 3D printed snowflake from four unique components. 

In 2014, SOLIDWORKS released SOLIDWORKS Composer, a tool that design companies use to leverage their 3D CAD data from any source to develop assembly instructions, end-user manuals and intriguing animations.

When importing files into SOLIDWORKS Composer, you may need to reorient the default vertical axis of the viewport to get the desired shadows and lighting effects. The process is quick and easy.

JL Audio is creating assembly instructions that go BOOM! with SolidWorks Composer