We're leaving tonight for a much needed vacation in Akumal, Mexico. Last year, we took a snorkeling boat trip and saw turtles in this bay. No twitter, cell phones, TV, newspapers, and computers, great! Back on July 17, 2009.
Cheers,
Devon
I just noticed these two tweets next to each other on twitter. So, which one would you click on first? What do you want from your software company? What's important?
Cheers,
Devon Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Next week, I return to my alma mater, MiraCosta College, Oceanside, CA, to give a presentation during STEM Camp. STEM, (science, technology, engineering and math) Camp was a huge success last year. I couldn't attend last year, but this year I get to show 9th graders the exciting world of CAD, (computer aided design). Look for a full report next week.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Two weeks ago, I heard SolidWorks Corp. CEO Jeff Ray talk about Mac computers. He said he uses nothing but Macs in his house, his Wife loves them. Mr. Ray said there are about "40 - 50 Macs at SolidWorks HQ running SolidWorks". He thought they used Bootcamp to run SolidWorks. He said SolidWorks couldn't support the use of Macs and SolidWorks because "we (SolidWorks) get no help from Apple".
Here is SolidWorks' Rick Chin showing Sustainability Xpress. Is this a Mac? I don't have a Mac, so I'm asking.
I just finished installing Windows 7 onto my Dell M6300 laptop. Here's a video about that:
Here is what Jeff Ray had to say about SolidWorks at the two recent SWUG Meetings in SoCal:
Last night and Tuesday night, June 16 & 17, Jeff Ray SolidWorks CEO, spoke at two SolidWorks User Group meetings. First up was the Orange County SolidWorks User Group Meeting in Fountain Valley, CA. Group Leader, Gabe Corbett did a fantastic job organizing this event. Held in the Fountain Valley Community Center, over 60 people showed up to hear Jeff Ray and my 2009 Weldments Presentation. Last night, the San Diego SolidWorks User Group held it's 150th meeting, making it the longest running SolidWorks User Group. Congratulations to Leader Phil Sluder. Enjoy these pictures:
This coming Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll have the pleasure of attending two SolidWorks User Group Meetings. First, the June 16th meeting in Orange County. This will be a combined meeting with the Los Angeles, CA group. At this meeting, I'll be presenting the newest version of my 2009 SolidWorks Weldments Tips and Tricks.
Wednesday night, June 17th, I'll attend the San Diego SolidWorks User Group Meeting. Phil Sluder, leader of this outstanding group, celebrates the 150th meeting. Congratulations Phil.
I'll have copies of my 2009 SolidWorks PDM books at both meetings.
The added bonus at these two meetings is that SolidWorks CEO, Jeff Ray will be in attendance. I hope to see you at these meetings.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
http://www.pdmsolution.com
This is my current favorite radio station. Based in Los Angeles, CA (100.3), they play the best mix of new and old, rock, pop, 60's-2009, good stuff, check it out.
Cheers,
Devon Sowell
Last year, at this time, there'd be 10-20 SolidWorks jobs in San Diego, CA listed here. Slim pickings now.
How about in your area?
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
http://www.pdmsolution.com
I've been waiting for this topic to come up and my friend Deelip Menezes has a new blog post about this.
Is the code for SolidWorks really 14+ years old? Is it bloated and possibly prone to issues (they prefer to call them issues, not bugs :-) Are they changing functionality in Service Packs because of bloated code prone to issues? For example, the coming and going of Print Selection and Link Display States to Configurations? Why are Service Pack files so dang big? (1.2GB+)
Does the code need to be rewritten? Will SolidWorks continue to pay license fees to D-Cubed and Parasolid? Can SolidWorks be rewritten to use the Catia kernel? Will it cost a big bundle to rewrite the code? Will the current economy effect if and when the code will be rewritten?
What's your opinion?
After many requests, I've made a .pdf file of the Table Of Contents for the 2009 SolidWorks PDM Book. Click here to find this file. Also, the PayPal Buy Button has been posted to the PDM Solution.com web site. We are pleased with the response for the book, we've met and spoken to many new users. The book has over 150 color screen shots. The included CD has all the files used in the book, including all the Enterprise PDM Export Files.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.pdmsolution.com
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
760 809-9046
I'm burning the candle at both ends these days, following is what's happening:
I just came from from an Advisory Board Meeting at MiraCosta College, Oceanside, CA. As a part time Lecturer and Board Member, I got to attend my first meeting. About twenty engineers, architects, consultants, designers and drafters participated in discussions about the state of our various businesses and how the school can prepare students for the job market. It's no surprise that all reported about the lack of work right now and most shared about layoffs and cut backs. The consensus was that just knowing how to use AutoCAD and SolidWorks is not enough anymore. Students, and all of us, need to learn and become proficient in the advanced subjects in our fields.
Currently, I'm working on a four month contract as a Document Control Analyst. I'm reviewing and approving tens of ECOs per day using 2008 SolidWorks Workgroup PDM and Agile Advantage 2006. I'm also helping to archive hundreds of old pencil drawings by scanning them and them entering them into Agile. Fun eh? Anyway, I needed a way to create many folders all at once. So, I wrote this little batch file called Make Multiple Folders. Follow that link to a .zip folder. Inside you'll find the .bat file and a readme .txt file. I've tested it using XP Pro32 and Vista64. I hope it helps you save some time and be more productive. Another challenge was to model a very complex part in SolidWorks from a 33 year old pencil drawing. It turns out the old pencil drawing was fudged! I asked, "How does this part get though Receiving and Inspection"? A subject for another day perhaps. Anyway, I solved the challenge and a CAD file and Drawing are now in the Vault.
Finally, I yet again added more content to my 2009 SolidWorks PDM book. So, I'm hoping I can leave well enough alone and see the first printing this Monday morning.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
http://www.pdmsolution.com
While our book waits to be run at the print house, we decided to add more content.
The new print date is April 27, 2009 and the cost will be $70.00 plus tax and shipping.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.pdmsolution.com
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
As a 10 year user of SolidWorks, I am burned out on Service Pack Bugs. Most Service Packs have an issue that causes problems, why? My Wife asks every year, why do we pay for SolidWorks mistakes? After 10 years, I'm running out of excuses.
What's your opinion?
Thanks,
Devon T. Sowell
Vista64
I am pleased to announce my new web site, PDM Solution.com. This site offers SolidWorks PDM and Agile PLM support. Also, my new 2009 SolidWorks PDM book will be available directly from this web site on April 20, 2009.
Please take moment to revisit my 3-D Design Solutions web site too. It's been redesigned and shows scores of new design images.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
760 809-9046
This may be old news to some, but I just discovered this. Follow this link to learn more. Now, I can watch my favorite YouTube videos on our big screen in the family room or convert them to view on my iPod.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Today we welcome our 30th customer, XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX. San Diego, CA.
We'll be supporting both Document Control and Engineering and providing assistance using OrCAD, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, WorkGroup PDM, Oracle Agile Advantage PLM, Access, Visio, and Excel. This 16 week assignment is very exciting to us and we look forward to working with Engineering and Document Control.
*March 23, 2009* Apparently I was accused of violating copyright laws, therefore I was told to re-edit this post. Kinda silly IMHO. It was never my intention to cause any problem and I've never been told that a picture of a company website, that is available to anyone, could not be displayed. Again, it was a picture of a home page with a link directly to the site. So, here is the re-edited post.
So I apologize that I posted a picture of a home page and it's link.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
3-D Design Solutions
PDM Solutions
Here's my very first PhotoView 360 image of my latest project.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Last night, I taught this presentation at MiraCosta College. In 75 minutes, I showed and demo'd SolidWorks Explorer, WorkGroup PDM, and Enterprise PDM. I even showed the students how to set up a starter, basic manual revision system using folders and SolidWorks Explorer. Here's the power point presentation.
Oleg
Shilovitsky is Chief Technology Officer at ENOVIA SmarTeam / Dassault
Systems Recently Mr. Shilovitsky called me and introduced himself. He has
extensive experience with SmarTeam, he's been there for more than 10 years.
He agreed to an interview and that presented a challenge to me. Why? Because
I've never seen nor used ENOVIA SmarTeam! So, I called on my friend and
colleague Steve Calvert, Lead CAD Designer, Dresser Wayne. Steve was gracious enough to
submit the following questions, thanks Steve.
As
a user of V5R16 and SolidWorks 2006 and soon to be upgraded to the latest
version of ENOVIA SmarTeam and SW2009, I was wondering if there are any
enhancements that might make my job easier to perform? For instance:
Can I customize my toolbars or create my own? Can I write macros to help
me in the everyday duties? Can I customize the look of the Profile Card?
[Oleg] We are working together
with SolidWorks R&D people to align features support and SW versions certification.
We know that this is important for the customers. Features depend on the ENOVIA
SmarTeam version – therefore I’d recommend that you check to which specific
version of SmarTeam you are going to migrate.
Are
there any ENOVIA SmarTeam User Groups or Discussion Groups that I can attend?
[Oleg] There is an online forum
for ENOVIA SmarTeam users hosted by ENOVIA SmarTeam. http://www.theforum.smartuserforum.com/
Is
there an easy way to have ENOVIA SmarTeam talk with my Oracle based MRP system?
[Oleg] XML data exchange can be
configured using various APIs and the ENOVIA SmarTeam Gateway product.
Is
ENOVIA SmarTeam supported in x64?
[Oleg] SmarTeam is already
supported in x64. You need to check the specific release notes.
Will
ENOVIA SmarTeam be supported with Windows 7?
[Oleg] ENOVIA SmarTeam, from the
beginning, was very oriented towards Windows/Microsoft. We are continuing to
support upcoming MS/Windows versions and technologies.
Here are
my questions.
How
or where can I see a live demonstration of ENOVIA SmarTeam?
[Oleg] If you are a potential
customer, VARs (our resellers) can demo ENOVIA SmarTeam for you. Also, you can Google
and see some online demos on YouTube. In addition, you can check other SmarTeam
blogs – http://blogs.smarteam.com.
How
does ENOVIA SmarTeam fit into Dassault's strategy in regards to Enterprise & WorkGroup PDM?
[Oleg] ENOVIA SmarTeam is part of ENOVIA’s product line, for
collaborative product lifecycle management (PLM). The following slide presents the
positioning of all 3 products around SolidWorks – SolidWorks WorkGroup PDM,
SolidWorks Enterprise PDM, ENOVIA PLM.
Can
you explain a few of the differences between Enterprise PDM and ENOVIA SmarTeam?
Is
there an 'in-place' upgrade tool/strategy from Enterprise PDM to ENOVIA SmarTeam?
[Oleg] There is no tool
provided by ENOVIA. But our partners do provide these tools. We are learning
this topic now together with our SolidWorks colleagues.
Do
SolidWorks Resellers sell ENOVIA SmarTeam and offer SmarTeam support?
[Oleg] Yes. There are companies
that sell and provide services for ENOVIA SmarTeam. There are also companies
that provide services for both products – ENOVIA SmarTeam and DS SolidWorks
Enterprise PDM.
Well,
for me, this is a new PDM/PLM application that I'd like to learn more about,
what's the best way to do that?
[Oleg] I think the best way is
to talk with our partners. They will provide demo versions, training and presentations.
Oleg,
thank you for your time, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.
Look for an interview with Oleg
Shilovitsky , Chief
Technology Officer, ENOVIA
SmarTeam, in a few days.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
This is the working cover of my new book. Please look for it in a few weeks.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
I just upgraded my Quad Core desktop to Vista64. Also, I added a ReadyBoost 4GB Thumb Drive. What is ReadyBoost? Here is a web article I recently found with a good definition:
"...Microsoft has introduced a new feature in Windows Vista called ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost allows you to simply plug a USB flash memory device into a high speed USB port (USB 2.0) and use it as a cache or virtual memory. Although not as fast as RAM it still delivers a performance increase as it is much faster to cache to the USB device than caching to your hard disk, speeding up your system and enhancing overall performance. The USB flash memory device acts as a fast store for frequently accessed data, the average random 4K read from a flash device is about ten times faster than accessing the same information from the hard drive.
For example, 2009 SolidWorks Start Up times; Using Windows XP Pro, my
2009 SolidWorks Start Up Times were about 2 minutes, 120 seconds. Now
with Vista64 and a 4GB ReadyBoost ThumbDrive the 2009 SolidWorks Start Up time is about 8 seconds! Here is a link to view a Jing Video showing my 2009 SolidWorks Start Up. You need Adobe Flash Player to view Jing Videos.
I've noticed it takes about 10 'Boot Ups' for all the files to be
written to the ReadyBoost Drive. If you have any questions or comments
about ReadyBoost, please post a comment or contact me any time. Check
to make sure the USB ThumbDrive is "Enhanced For ReadyBoost".
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Rich Allen is one of my favorite SolidWorks’ employees (it’s a long list, by the way). He is the Global Product Manager, PDM Products, SolidWorks Corporation. I’m a PDM advocate, and I like to discuss PDM with Rich, especially Enterprise PDM.
Hi Rich, thanks for taking the time to meet with me today, I really appreciate it.
Always a pleasure to speak with you Devon.
How can PDM help all SolidWorks Users?
PDM can help all SolidWorks users be more productive and efficient. It all starts with the Vault. By centralizing Engineering information such as parts, assemblies and drawings files, users can more quickly find the data they need and even more importantly know it is the right version.
When it comes to sharing information, PDM again is an invaluable tool is assigning work, getting electronic signatures and accessing information from multiple sites.
We believe that every SolidWorks user, should create a PDM Vault and as a minimum get their SolidWorks data under control. Then they can add supplementary information such as specifications, quotes, pictures, compliance records and more.
What are some of the guidelines to help a company decide when they need a PDM system?
There are a few rules of thumb you can follow in terms of number of users, projects and files, such as typically 3 or more users or 2 or more sites or any engineering collaboration.
Another metric is to listen to the engineering staff and see if they are having a hard time finding the right version of documents and if they ever overwrite each others files.
As the average engineer spends 30% of their time searching for information and PDM can reduce that by at least half, the vast majority of SolidWorks users would benefit and achieve a fast return on investment by implementing a simple PDM system such as SolidWorks Enterprise PDM.
If a company using SolidWorks is not currently using PDM, are there any steps they can take to start preparing for the day when they will implement PDM?
Often the hardest part of getting started with PDM is to clean up your data. This means, that many companies have multiple versions of the same document in multiple locations. So a part file may exist on 5 user hard drives and the network server. Sometimes they are all different and it can be hard to know which the latest version is. So, implementing manual systems, while not as efficient as PDM, would be a good start to cleaning up the data so it could be imported into the future PDM system.
Why start with a basic PDM implementation and build on that success?
PDM can solve many problems and help multiple users and departments communicate, collaborate and control information. The most successful companies start with the basics, getting documents in the Vault, learning check out/in procedures, working with versions and revisions and making sure everyone has the latest copy of files. By starting simple, you get many benefits. It is easier for the users to absorb and use a new streamlined system. As they provide input, you can make improvements gradually over time based on actual user feedback, not initial guesses. From a management perspective, smaller projects are less risky and when you can demonstrate a return on investment of less than one year, sometimes as little as 5 months, you build confidence in the management team which will help justify funding and approvals of future projects.
When a company wants to start managing files using PDM, can they go right to Enterprise PDM?
Yes, SolidWorks Enterprise PDM is designed to be simple enough for first-time users, yet scalable to accommodate hundreds of users across dozens of sites.
Do you see a time when PDM is just considered another tool, like Save or Save As?
We are close to this today as SolidWorks users (as well as Word, Excel or any Windows application) can do a File/Save As and simple save files directly into the Vault. One of the biggest benefits of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM is that it is built as an extension of the Microsoft Windows Explorer and therefore automatically links and works with every application on your system. So in effect, PDM is truly transparent, just hit Save, like you were going to anyway. But now that the documents are in the vault, they can be more easily found, controlled and shared.
Thanks for meeting with me, I look forward to seeing you next year at 2010 SolidWorks World, Anaheim, CA.
Thank you Devon.
Tony Cantrell wears
many hats. Number one, he’s a Product Design Technician at Westinghouse in Columbia,South Carolina
Secondly, Tony teaches
SolidWorks at Midland Technical College in Columbia, S.C. He
loves to teach and interact with his students.
Thirdly, Tony is the
SolidWorks User Group Leader of the Palmetto SolidWorks User Group. Tony
started this group in March, 2005. They meet the third Tuesday of every month, 6:00pm – 8:00pm. Tony’s group has an
excellent reputation, here are some links to the group, Tony would like to hear
from you. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PSWUG/
Fourthly, or probably
number one to Tony, he is a very proud Great Grandfather 2 times!
Hi Tony, thanks for agreeing to this interview.
No, thank you for the opportunity.
Is this your first SolidWorks World? If not, how many have you attended?
No, it’s my third. 2005 Orlando
What’s your favorite part of SolidWorks World?
That would be hard to say, there is
so much to get out of it, Training, meeting other users, meeting the bloggers
like yourself, meeting with other UG leaders, seeing the sites, special events,
Guest speakers, partner pavilion, food and drink. This year I wanted to meet as
many of the blogers as possible, after reading and following many blogs I
really wanted to know these guys and gals. If I had to pick one it would be
meeting the people.
Please tell us about the Palmetto SolidWorks User Group. How many members show up for a typical meeting? What are some of the favorite topics of discussion?
We average around 16 over the past
3 years, but started off with 21 at our first meeting in January. As always, they love tips and tricks,
training sessions, product demos.
Last year, you organized a very successful 2 day SolidWorks Technical Summit. Please tell us about that. How many users showed up? Who were some of the people that showed up?
To start with here is a link to the
website: http://www.freewebs.com/seswuw/
We had approximately 29 sessions
with 6 being hands on, breakfast and lunch both days and computer bags and back
packs from SolidWorks for everyone.
We had approximately 70 people show
up. (I was hoping for 100+)
I considered all of the presenters
to be stars, but here’s the list in no particular order:
Phillip Thomas pthomas@solidworks.com Dumb
Solids, Keyboard Shortcuts - SWW presenter
Matt Lombard matt@dezignstuff.com Curvy Stuff,
General Tips and Tricks - SWW presenter
Darren Henry dhenry@solidworks.com Excel tips
and tricks, Weldments - SWW presenter
Dana Parrish dparrish@solidworks.com CosmosWorks
- SWW presenter
Michael Jolly mjolley@TriMech.com DriveWorks, PDM
Works - SWW presenter
Josh Winn jwinn@solidprofessor.com Solid
Professor - SWW presenter
Jeff Cope jcope@TriMech.com Macros Tips and
Tricks
Ray Proeber ray.proeber@accuratediedesign.com
Logopress3 & 123GO - SWW presenter
Casey Gorman caseyg@sunnuclear.com Sheetmetal - SWW presenter
Richard Alley richard.alley@moderntech.com
Animator, PhotoWorks
Steve Ostrovsky SteveOstrovsky@TPM.com Design
Checker, Drawing Templates and Formats - SWW
presenter
Kevin Stuart kstuart@solidworks.com Blocks
and Layout Sketches - SWW presenter
George McCall GeorgeMcCall@haglersystems.com
Configurations, Assembly Modeling
Richard Doyle rdoyle@solidworks.com Guest
Speaker, eDrawings, Drawings, CSWA or CSWP Exam -
SWW presenter
Tom Ledbetter ledbettert@midlandstech.edu
What can MTC do for you
Rodney Hall CatawbaValleySWUG@gmail.com
Cad Administration Tips and Tricks
Tony Cantrell cantrett@yahoo.com 3DConnexion Space
Navigator
I’ve heard that many people would like to see this summit return for 2009. Will this happen? (No pressure, right?!)
I thrive on pressure it’s like a
challenge, I met with some of the other UGL’s in the Southeast and they showed
interest in being involved, so I guess it’s on. There are no details as of yet,
but as soon as we can get together we will post something, look for it soon.
Thanks for meeting with me, I really enjoyed talking to you
and I hope to see you next year at SolidWorks World 2010, Anaheim, CA.
Thank you, and I really enjoyed
meeting and talking with you and I plan to be there next year too.
Mark Biasotti is P
roduct Manager - New Product Concepts, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp. Mark’s SolidWorks skills are extremely high. For example, the “Outer Space” animation he made for SolidWorks World 2006 (?) is amazing. Mark is very active on the SolidWorks’ hosted Discussion Forum, specializing in Surfacing, PhotoWorks, Real View, Colors, PhotoView 360, and most other topics. After meeting Mark, his enthusiasm for SolidWorks and SolidWorks Users is evident. He’s direct and comes right to the point when discussing any issue, I like that about Mark. He’s easy to be around and enjoys talking about his family and his beliefs. Next time I talk to Mark, I’d like him to share more about how his family supports Missionaries in Africa.
I’d also like to add that Mark agreed to talk about these tough issues and I respect him for that. My questions are not a personal attack on any one person, but pertain strictly to the SolidWorks software. I believe all my readers would agree that the SolidWorks Company is an amazing company that produces a great product, but these questions are important to me and many, many other SolidWorks Users.
Hello Mark, I really enjoyed meeting and talking with you at 2009 SolidWorks World 2009. Even though you gave 4 presentations, you still made time for this interview, impressive!
As a 10 year SolidWorks User, I’ve asked myself, “Are new versions of SolidWorks every 12 months really necessary?” It seems to me that just when my productivity on a version is at its best, I have to start over, relearn the new User Interface, and my productivity drops for 3 months or so.
MAB - Devon, first off, thank you for the kind comments and I was thrilled to meet you and find out more about you, your family and your personal interests. Let me also state that these are solely my own views and perspective and I don't speak for the collective of SW Marketing and R&D.
Now to your question. starting around 2005, we realized that there are a number of SW customers that would like us to slow down and consider releasing new versions every 18 to 24 months instead of our current 11 to 12 month cycle and instead focus on quality over new features. What a lot of users don't immediately realize is that we use these major releases to fix issues and therefore ultimately make quality a priority. In fact, a significant number of quote "enhancements" that come with a new release actually address prior release issues, not to mention the hundreds of unannounced bug fixes that come with the new release.I probably would have been uncomfortable answering this question back in 2006, but it is now evident that we have made quality, robustness and performance thee priority in the 2008 and 2009 releases as well as continuing into our next releases. Also what needs to be understood, for those that feel we did not react fast enough, is that initial planning for a new release happens 14 to 18 months before the actual release date. So when it feels like we're out-of-touch with our customers we are actually in "non-disclosure mode" for the sake of protecting ours and your investment. That might sound awfully stuffy, but it's ethically the right thing to do because we don't want to make commitments (before fulfilling them) that we cannot keep.
You might ask, why don't you fix all the bugs in the service packs? The answer is that we do address and fix quite a number of them, but there are some fixes that are way too risky to be introduced in the SP cycle because, even thou that address the issue, they have the potential of disrupting the current workflow (GUI changes for instance) and we're aware that many of our customers gauge their upgrades by project cycles; that is, they will not introduce a new version of SW while in a current product development cycle.
During the past 10 years, I’ve downloaded and installed over 60 Service Packs (remember 2001-2001 Plus, 14 Service Packs?). In my opinion, that’s a lot of overhead. Yes, you’ve improved and stabilized on 5 Service Packs per version, but will this issue ever be resolved to reduce all this overhead? I certainly hope so. Do you ever see the time when a release of SolidWorks SP0 will be as issue free and as useful as SP5? Can SolidWorks agree to at least consider this, please?
MAB - A little inside perspective might help here so let me disclose a few things without being too specific. The SW application turns 14 years old this fall. Historically, most software of this magnitude doesn't last more than a decade without a major renovation or rewrite. We have been fortunate to have the longevity that we are enjoying, but like any software application of this complexity and versatility, we are in the millions of lines of code now. Compound that we the fact that I know of no other design tool on the planet that has a much integrated functionality as ours and serves some many different design professionals. Most of our competitors chose to "buy" or partner with many 3d party applications to broaden their overall capabilities for product development, but they did it without much integration to the core application and, in the end, users suffer because of the lack of integration. SW took a different approach for the benefit of the customer to create Gold level add-in standards (integrated into the SW window) and in some cases buying and integrating 3D parties all together like COSMOS. Because of the massive amount of integrated functionality already existing, adding just one new feature has an exponential impact on the rest of the system. One new feature (or fix/enhancement to an existing feature) can literally affect thousands of other features. Second, because we offer design professionals a broad toolbox of functionality, there are literally hundreds of different paths to the same solution. User's seems to appreciate this, since it gives them a tremendous amount of control in how they want to create. Now combine the fact that we have hundreds of features and a hundred different ways to use them, you can start to appreciate the exponential numbers of ways that would be needed to test the software before release; we would need literally hundreds of hundreds of testers testing over a several month period. This is why we have a substantial Beta program but even with the hundreds of testers submitting issues, this only uncovers a fraction of the potential issues because the ratio of beta testers to release users is still less than 1 percent. Fortunately, we have extensive auto test procedures that run 24/7 to try and capture an additional percentage of issues, but still, admittedly, it is overwhelming to consider that we can be 100 error free because of the thousands of different ways that our customers can use the hundreds of different features of the software.
As far as number of Service Packs per release, there is an important method to what and when we address issues in a new release. Generally, fixes for SP0 are reserved for X's and R classification of bugs; issues that cause SW to crash or have regressed (existed previously but no long exists) in functionally from a previous version. These, I'm sure you'd agree, we make our most urgent priority. The SP1 is generally reserved for new X's and R's (hopefully we would have caught them all) but then attention is given to A bugs; these are issues in which the user can still work but the function has no apparent workaround, like, for instance, failing to calculate a silhouette edge on a drawing. SP2, SP3 and so on then continue to deal with a remnant of any of the above but focus on B, C, M and S issues. B is "operation failed" but there is a workaround, C has to do with UI issues, M is functionality that "should" be supported but currently isn't and S's are performance issues. Now any of these classifications can be elevated to a greater priority depending on how many customers are affected as well as other overriding factors.
I feel like I'm digressing a bit from your initial question. In the end, I think our customers would not want to have any installs or upgrades altogether. This is something that we are seriously looking into because it would ultimately make customers much more productive to have this "time-sink" out of the equation and make more time for what users really want to do: create!
SolidWorks Large Assembly/Drawing performance has improved and it appears that Crashing has been reduced when using the Vista O.S. However, in my opinion, better performance is required. What are your thoughts on this issue?
MAB - From my personal experience, I can honestly say that the robustness (not crashing) of 2009 is dramatic and I have not seen a release so stable in SP0. Performance, as an issue, will say near the top of priority of things we must do for the foreseeable future. What makes this a tough challenge is the increasingly complex ways our users are using our application; i.e. the drive to simulate physical reality, in all its glorious complexity both visually and analysis-wise. Compound that by the fact that we are an "instant" society - we want more faster. Just look at commercials on television these days or the latest summer blockbuster action flick; the amount of information that we absorb in just a second is astounding compared to just a few years ago. This sets an unconscious expectation for how we achieve in many other areas of our lives.Our users are pushing the application with larger data sets and greater detail. With the help of faster hardware, increased processes (multi-core and parallel) and new performance enhancing features, we are exploring ways of keep ahead of them.
In my opinion, lately new versions have included some new Features that in the end aren’t widely accepted and aren’t used. For example, Instant 3D and Speed Pack come to mind. What’s your response to this?
MAB - New SolidWorks features and enhancements are not all things to all people. There are plenty of our current users that could do without, for example, Instant3D. I was Product Manager back in late 2006 when we started to plan for I3D and honestly, I was against it. The reason for that is that I was advocating for a comprehensive application to all of our modeling features and in the end, we only applied it to Extrude, Revolve, Fillets, Shell etc. i.e. analytical features (because otherwise we'd still be working on it.)
Once 2008 was released, I found myself starting to use I3D more and more. The key idea is that it saves users time by not having to roll-back the Feature Manager and additionally it aids in improved conceptualization. Devon, have you ever tried I3D on a variable fillet feature [Not yet, Devon] - its simply beautiful! Granted it, we still have a long way to go but given what's happened since then with SpaceClaim, Siemens' Synchronous Technology, and Inventor Fusion, I'd say that we are moving the right direction. The reason I feel this way is that in the end, its attempting to solve a critical customer problem - rollback. I don't believe in the previously stated companies solution's because all of them simply throw away design intent in order to achieve conceptual-ability and dynamic interaction.
SpeedPack and Selective Open are still too new to assess a verdict but the response was very favorable in Alpha and Beta testing for users with assemblies of thousands of components. Remember Devon, that we are a diverse community of users and individuals like you and I, that typically don't deal with assemblies larger than 100 components, won't find much value for new functionality like SpeedPack, but you can bet that a significant number of the approximately 370K (commercial users) customers will.
One issue that concerns me is that I have to purchase and use Workstation CAD video cards to use SolidWorks. These cards are very expensive and appear to be a huge profit generator for the video card manufacturers. For example, in my family room computer, I bought a video card with 512MB of memory with 1080p HDMI output for $99.00. Why can’t SolidWorks use video cards like these?
MAB - I have to admit that this question always irks me [sorry, Mark Devon] because I've gotten it so many times since the 2008 release. Answer: if you don't like or have use for RealView: turn it off and don't use it; it is a value-added feature for those who want to utilize it, it has absolutely no effect on your previous OpenGL experience. Cost is also a moot issue. AMD just released a RealView Certified Card for under $100.00. There are many RV cards available by both AMD and NVIDIA for under $500. RealView in 2009 is no long a cost factor, what is still a factor is the amount of (faceted) data and number of views that you want simultaneously open in SW. Since 1995 this has always been an issue and I can remember the FX1000, a $2000 card being the standard for most MCAD - we enjoy the same performance for under $100 now. Ron Bates, our Manager of Graphics Development, just did an in-depth interview with Rob Rodriguez on this very issue if your readers want to learn more.
Well Mark, again it was my extreme pleasure to meet you. Please forgive me if I’ve offended anyone with these questions. I respect your abilities and I look forward to seeing you again.
MAB - Thank you Devon, it was my pleasure and look forward to our continued friendship. Please think of me when basking in your California sunshine - I miss my 47 years of Northern CA bliss as I look out at the 4 foot snow drift in my front yard!
Companies hiring "professional microbloggers" to ghost write tweets? It's a crazy world alright. *Interesting fact, 6 million people using twitter, wow.
"Hello Mom, yeah, I got a new job, I get paid to ghost write tweets on twitter."
*Here's the Newsweek article.
I got home yesterday at 1:00 am from 2009 SolidWorks World. At 10:00 am I returned a telephone call from my friend Paul Clarke, Lead Instructor,Design Drafting Technology Department Chair, Horticulture, Architecture, & Applied Technologies Representative, Academic Senate Council MiraCosta College. Paul asked if I was interested in giving a few 50 minute presentations about specific SolidWorks subjects on 
Thursday nights. I replied "Sure!" I really like teaching and interacting with SolidWorks students. Weldments was the first topic selected, right up my alley, I said. How about tonight, Paul asked. Tonight? I'd only slept about 5 hours, could I do it? Yes, of course I could. SolidWorks always recharges my batteries.
Of course, once I got started with the presentation, I couldn't stop at just 50 minutes, I went for 90 minutes! We all had a blast and the students learned the basics of SolidWorks Weldments for the very first time. Great!
Many thanks to Instructor Hossein Hemati and Paul for letting me crash their class. I look forward to the next time!
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
In the next few days, I'll post 4 interviews from 2009 SolidWorks World. They are:
Mark Biasotti
Rich Allen
Tony Cantrell
Tony Martin
Meanwhile, please enjoy this photo album.
Cheers,
Devon Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
OK, I got my troubled laptop working again and I've uploaded my 2009 SWW Presentations and SolidWorks Model Files. Anyone can download these files from my Google website.
Next, I want to apologize to the attendees of my FeatureWorks-Utilities Presentation on Monday. My laptop crashed right before the starting time. The Audio/Video Techs offered their help and we
tried our best to get my laptop to work, but it wasn't meant to be. This "rattled my cage" at first and it took me a few minutes to get back on track. If you have any questions or comments about the presentation, please call me at (760) 809-9046 or e-mail me at dtsowell@3-ddesignsolutions.com.
More posts later tonight, thanks.
This is the second time my Dell M6300 has quit on me in the past 6 months. When I got back to my hotel room and tried to boot it up, this is what I saw:
Sorry, this may be my last post until later this week.
I'm very sorry if you came here looking for my SolidWorks World Presentation files, I'll post them as soon as I can.
Devon T. Sowell
3-D Design Solutions.
It was my pleasure to take a small part in honoring our friend and SWUGN Leader, "King" Richard Doyle. Richard practically started the SolidWorks User Group Network (SWUGN) single handedly 4 years ago. The number of SolidWorks User Group Meetings, Technical Summits, and Membership counts have grown tremendously the past 4 years. Richard is the perfect man for this job, he loves his job and it shows.
We've been planning this surprise for about 6 months and it was very difficult to wait so long. Phil Sluder came up with the idea for the jester hats and the crown for Richard, it was hilarious! It was very gracious of SolidWorks CEO Jeff Ray to also stop by the SWUGN Meeting and say a lot of kind words about Richard. Mr. Ray also expressed how important Richard is to the SolidWorks Community, we all agree!
So here's to our friend and leader, King Richard Doyle!
It's been a long day of traveling. I arrived just in time to attend the 5:30pm Reception. Enjoy this slideshow!
Here is my schedule for 2009 SolidWorks World. This year, I'm giving three presentations, you'll see the links to these below.
I've planned a special surprise at the end (5:30pm-6:00pm) of the SolidWorks User Group Meeting on Monday afternoon, please try to attend, it will be fun!
I'm excited about this years event. If you see me, please come up and introduce yourself. I like to talk shop!
Sunday 5:30pm - 7:30pm Welcome Reception
Monday 9:00am Interview Mark Biasotti Australia 2 & 3
Monday, 10:30am - 12:00pm Automating BOM Generation Using SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Southern 1
Monday 1:30-2:30pm Increasing Productivity with SolidWorks FeatureWorks® and Utilities Southern 3
Monday, 2:45pm - 3:45pm What's New in SolidWorks Enterprise Data Management for 2009? Swan 9/10
Monday at 4:00pm Interview Rich Allen Australia 2 & 3
Monday 5:00pm SWUGN Meeting Swan 6
CSWP Event 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Tuesday, 10:30am - 12:00pm Enterprise PDM and T-SQL Primer Southern 2
Tuesday, 2:45pm - 3:45pm Data Migration Strategies for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Asia 2
Tuesday 4:30-6:00pm Experience SolidWorks Explorer for Basic File Management Swan 4
Special Event 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Wednesday 10:30am - 12:00pm Surfaces - Handy Little Helpers for Machine Design Mockingbird
Wednesday 1:30pm - 2:30pm SolidWorks Clinic: Is the Doctor In? Swan 1
Want to relive the '60s? Nope, me neither... Instead...
Experts agree, 2009 SolidWorks World will be the best yet. Here's a link to the Shindig*, see you there!
*Shindig refers to any sort of clever party, covered dish gathering, box social (archaic), a brawl. Also it can refer to a dance party with lots of music.
SolidWorks World 2009, SolidWorks Clinic: Is the Doctor In?
Wednesday, February 11, 1:30 - 2:30 (Hands-On)
Mark Biasotti, Product Manager, DS SolidWorks Corp.
Tbd Ltbd, SolidWorks Community, DS SolidWorks Corp.
Room: Swan 1
Have questions about a SolidWorks function or a difficult modeling challenge? In this hands-on session, SolidWorks employees and power users help attendees tackle their issues. Bring your tough problem on a USB drive or CD; workstations will be available.
Ben Eadie – Part and Assembly Modeling, Import-Scanning
Steve Calvert – Part and Assembly Modeling
Mark Biasotti – Part Modeling, PW, PV
Mark Schneider – Part and Assembly Modeling, Routing
Hari Padmanabhan – Cosmos
Ian Hogg – Cosmos, Motion
Stephen Endersby – Simulation
Jeff Mirisola – Sheetmetal, Part and Assembly Modeling
Devon Sowell – PDM, Weldments, PW, Sheetmetal
Marc Leizza – Drawings
Jim Wilkinson – UI, Part and Assembly Modeling
Ron Bates – PW, PV360, RV, UI
Rob Rodriquez – Part and Assembly Modeling, PW, PV360
Utpal Kumar – Design Checker, Translation, FeatureWorks, Configurations
I look forward to seeing you there,
Devon T. Sowell
http//www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Here is a noble cause sponsored by my friend Alex Ruiz, The SW Geek. Please support this.
Cheers,
Devon
I'm finishing my 2009 SolidWorks World BreakOut Sessions and I decided to Search my Database for all SolidWorks Part files for use in the presentations: the result was 163,798! I've Saved every SolidWorks file I've touched in the past 10 years, interesting. I haven't lost a file yet!
I hope to see you at SolidWorks World 2009.
More information to come!
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
