SOLIDWORKS Cloud Design Tools on 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS Platform

Recently you may have been hearing more about 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS for SOLIDWORKS users and discovering that there are new SOLIDWORKS design tools available on the cloud. With COVID-19 forcing us to work from home this is probably a good time to start researching and testing the new cloud apps that have come onto the market from DS SolidWorks. Before I discuss these new apps I’ll give you an outline of what 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS actually is…

What is 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS?

3DEXPERIENCE WORKS is a family of solutions connected to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform that work together to help you innovate and accelerate every aspect of your product development process. It encompasses the SOLIDWORKS portfolio of design solutions, SIMULIAworks portfolio of simulation solutions, DELMIAworks manufacturing solution, and ENOVIAworks portfolio of product data and lifecycle management solutions. 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS essentially extends SOLIDWORKS to the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform allowing you to solve your product design problems faster.

The main reason for adopting 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS is to unite your entire organization from design and manufacturing to service and marketing under one collaborative, interactive environment in the cloud. Where you can leverage everyone’s data, knowledge and know how on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and collaborate with teams and solutions.

3DEXPERIENCE Design Roles from SOLIDWORKS

Within 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS are different roles which you obtain with a subscription fee. A role can be purchased as a Quarterly Service Contract (QSC) or as a Yearly Service Contract (YSC). Within a role are various apps for getting your job done, such as the SOLIDWORKS xDesign Modeler. Roles are separated into four general categorizes for SOLIDWORKS users who want to Design, Simulate, Manage or Manufacture.  The Design roles that are currently available are:

• 3D Creator Role, which provides access to a parametric modeling app known as SOLIDWORKS xDesign.
• 3D Sculptor Role, which provides access to a surfacing app known as SOLIDWORKS xShape.
• Drafter Role, enables you to quickly create and detail 2D drawings, and communicate how your design must be manufactured.
• Collaborative Business Innovator and Collaborative Industry Innovator roles provide access to social collaboration tools and storage of your design data.

You can learn more about the roles and apps in the following on-demand webinar, and there is more information further down in this post:

3D Creator (SOLIDWORKS xDesign App)

The 3D Creator role is ideal for the early stages of the design process, and situations where you do not need the breadth and depth of SOLIDWORKS desktop software. Because it’s on the cloud you will find it useful for situations where a CAD workstation may not be available. 3D Creator is a parametric modeler where you create parts and assemblies in a very similar way to using SOLIDWORKS.

3D Creator is designed for companies that:

• Have field engineers with lightweight computing devices
• Perform design work across multiple sites
• Do a lot of concept / prototype design
• Have design needs on the shop floor
• Need to collaborate with multiple stakeholders

SOLIDWORKS Cloud 3D Creator

3D Sculptor (SOLIDWORKS xShape App)

3D Sculptor is the perfect role for creating complex surfaces and organic looking shapes. 3D Sculptor is specifically for Designers and Engineers, who are constrained by parametric surface modeling, or rely on disconnected specialist modeling tools.

3D Sculptor is ideal for companies that:

• Create shapes and surfaces for industrial design
• Use point solutions for industrial design
• Transfer file across industrial and mechanical design domains
• Perform design works across multiple sites
• Do a lot of concept / prototype design
• Need to collaborate with multiple stakeholders

3DEXPERIENCE 3D Sculptor Role

Collaborative Business Innovator and Collaborative Industry Innovator

Collaborative Industry and Business Innovator provides apps and services that connect all users in the industry value chain together – to organize, manage and collaborate on content in real-time and in a secured manner. The role includes a single repository to store, share and manage content, search and find relevant data and information, navigate through a product data set, easily view and compare 3D content.

The Collaborative Industry Innovator role is based upon a common data model for design / engineering, manufacturing / production and simulation processes. Its online environment helps medium to large companies bring more innovative products to market faster.

Collaborative Industry Innovation Role

Connect to SOLIDWORKS Desktop

The great thing about the 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS cloud apps is you can connect them to your existing SOLIDWORKS desktop experience. Integrate directly in SOLIDWORKS with the 3DEXPERIENCE Desktop Add-in allows you to access all of your information from the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform right from within SOLIDWORKS. This workflow allows you to combine the power of SOLIDWORKS to quickly create and edit your engineering designs, with the collaborative features of the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform.

3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Add-in

Learning how to use the new Design Roles and Apps

A quick and easy way to learn how to use these new Design Roles and Apps is through MySolidWorks. There are a number of new 3DEXPERIENCE learning paths available which group together tutorial videos to help you get started quickly.

3D Sculptor Training