DISQUS

Nice list. I had a lot of these options done already, great minds think alike? One exception is (#1) thumbnail graphics in windows explorer. It's a handy dandy preview if you're viewing files as thumbnails in windows explorer, especially if you use part #'s that mean nothing. But the graphic can take a long time to refresh if it's over a network. So I balance the pros/cons....

.... or Definitely Divine Design. aha! (gotta admit i'm on a roll, eh? ; )

3D is... Doodling Done Deliciously.... mmmhmmm

yes, yes, yes... wow, this thing is wizzy. Just got the Explorer and my boss even loves it. Hows that for product endorsement. I'm just having a slight problem with the 'S button' macro. Can't seem to record that or something.... sorry, I've never used 'em. Do you just hit record macro and hit the S on the keyboard, save, etc?... it doesn't work when I go to run it then. =(

coooooolness... so, my dad has a woodworking shop and I have Solidworks.... hmmmm

Hey Mings... props on the portfolio article in the latest develop3d magazine. I'm brainstorming a lot of ideas for my own... just have to take the time to do it =)

hmmm... you could do something mechanical with assembly motion, moving parts... engine, scissor lift, adjustable conveyors

Nice review Josh... so, how much better is the Explorer than the Navigator in your opinion? I like the small size of the Navigator. It says on their website that it has 2 programable buttons vs. the Explorer's 15. I love my keyboard shorts like you and wonder if I should just get the Navigator for pan/zoom/rotate or if it's worth it to go for 13 more buttons... does the Navigator really have 2 programable buttons? Should I just slap myself and get the explorer since company is paying for it :)

Yes, I too have seen parts drawn in thin air, not locked down to anything.... why oh why... I can't stand blue (undefined) sketches. My tip for drawings is to put yourself in the clients shoes, or manufacturer, etc... and see what info they will need. I know that sounds obvious but I've seen many 'newer' users leave important stuff out and put in useless info (re: your tip, keep it simple). I make it a habit to look back at the big picture and pretend I've never seen this project before, and does everything make sense, is it all clear. I see many things easily cause I've been working with the 3D model all day, not so for the shop guys.

Peaceful stuff Josh... I would use video to show walk-throughs and fly-bys of art and architectural projects, as well as simulations, explodes, etc. This gives clients the clear understanding of processes, work flows, you name it. Huge tool!!!

It's a Radeon X1600 on my MBP... I'm not to familiar with ATI, usually work with nVidia. (thinking)... sit on computer soft-modding vs. good game of tennis in awesome summer weather vs. going out on a date with my wife.... where are the long winter hours when you need them

Has anyone soft-moded an ATI card? I haven't researched it yet... just curious if someone has...

I've always hated the ribbon bar... even in MS Office. Love using the shortcut bar and many keyboard shortcuts for SW.

*sigh* sorry, issues here. these comments won't show anything in a 'sharp parenthesis' i guess. it's the ones above the comma and period. then you type MOD-DEG... MOD-DIAM... MOD-BOX... etc

uh oh... somethin didn't work.





let's see if that posts correctly... no spaces of course

@Josh, tom, I find it much easier to remember this for degree symbol , and diameter , and square ... the list goes on.

Nice Josh, I think I'll start trying the 2008 layout sketch more. I'm with the rest of you... we find ways to make regular sketches do the job for us. But still with pros/cons as mentioned. Ditto with Matt on the importance of using sketch pictures!

Loeb, so... you're pulling in copies of your parts and mating them all in place so you can get desired motion? Seems to me like unnecessary redundant work... BOMS will have wrong qtys unless you change component properties for all multiple parts to 'Exclude from bill of materials'... you're loading twice the parts you really need...

Revolutionary! I totally agree with you on time wasted...

I could make a slight argument and that is where I send a dwg file to vendors to get a quote and they email me back same day (if I'm lucky!) and I can confirm an order 1 day sooner which is huge if we're on a tight timeline... and maybe it needs to be shipped on certain days... sigh... but really, why should it be that tight in the first place. SEE: PRODUCT MANAGEMENT!

my noodle has officially been rocked

James, I have no glitches running SolidWorks with bootcamp... running XP, never used vista... updated drivers... updated bootcamp

I love doing the double-click in the background. What more, if you pick a plane or face and you hit a feature command, it puts you into sketch mode. When you're finished sketching, double-click in an open area and it puts you to the 'feature mode'. Hit enter to accept.

Not to shabby, I must say I learned a few myself, even after years of SW experience... thanks! Ditto with Bruce, but I use 'Q' even more for Trimetric view, 'D' for Dimension, 'B' Break View, Shift+'B' Balloons, 'T' Trim... I love the keyboard but covet the SpaceExplorer.

aaahhh... Many different arguments for/against Mac, what fun! It's good that we still have the choice to buy the system we want. But when making comparisons it's tough to say this is how it is, without going into real specifics about hardware and application, or how your testing the software. I've lived on Windows long and know it good but using my MacBook Pro at home is a dream. Mac software to me just rocks, but that's beside the point. I've had nothing but good results using SW2007 with Bootcamp. And using it well, not just modeling toothpicks and candles. Great topic Josh, thanks for the tips!

Congrats... keep up the good work

Hey, I found an old post that caught my eye... so, just so I understand this SyncBack correctly. Basically it will download your entire project to local hard drive and sync back any files that have changed to the network, so that the network always contains the most recent up-to-date files. I know PDMWorks does a lot more, but could you say SyncBack is between the level of manually backing up files to using PDMWorks? The reason I say is that right now it's almost simpler for us to do the windows explorer thing for file management than implement PDMW. But I'm always looking for the next better thing.

Thanks for now...