Javelin / TriMech Author
Chris Briand, CSWE
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Tree Display options reduce visual clutter in the FeatureManager
By Chris Briand, CSWE on November 4, 2016
With all of the information that the SOLIDWORKS feature manager design tree is able to relay to users, enhancements that reduce the visual clutter in the Feature manager are always a welcome addition. Having default configuration names displayed when there is one solitary configuration leads to…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Emphasized Outline Section View will help you read between the lines
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 29, 2016
For those of us that remember a time before SOLIDWORKS was a common tool in the shop, the ability to automatically create a section view from a 3D assembly is a marvelous thing! With that said, every so often we have a complex assembly where…
Driving vs Driven: Choose which mate dimension is in the driver’s seat with SOLIDWORKS 2017
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 26, 2016
A Friday Afternoon in Peril: It is the end of the day, a Friday no less – and you have already put in three hours or so on your concept assembly design. In bringing this concept together you have been tossing parts into the assembly file…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 is now more efficient at handling Externally Referenced files
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 25, 2016
If your typical workflow involves opening SOLIDWORKS files with any number of external references, you may have fallen victim to a common affliction — that all of the referenced files have opened in the background too! More than one instance of this happening with a…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 provides direct import of 3D Scanned Data
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 23, 2016
If you work with 3D scanned data on a regular basis, we are certain that the ability to directly import 3D mesh files into SOLIDWORKS 2017 will be among your favorite enhancements in this latest release. Several types of mesh files can now be directly…
SOLIDWORKS eDrawings 2017 “Fix it and Forget it” option for read-only files
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 22, 2016
Along with SOLIDWORKS 2017, the eDrawings viewer also has some new functionality that has been added in this release. eDrawings has had a “read-only” checkbox contained within the Open dialog box for some time now as shown in the figure below: The 2017 release of…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Sketch Segment tool now works with Splines!
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 19, 2016
The Sketch Segment tool has been a welcome addition to our sketching tool-set in recent releases. SOLIDWORKS 2017 has made a further enhancements to this tool as it now supports a parabola, ellipse, partial ellipse, conic, and now you can segment SOLIDWORKS spline! Both the SOLIDWORKS Spline…
If you have been working with SOLIDWORKS for a while, you have likely noticed the lack of attention that the Chamfer tool has received from year to year (it’s cousin the fillet, always seemed to get the good stuff). Before you make that call to…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Improved Sketching ensures no more “Dirty Drawings”
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 17, 2016
SOLIDWORKS 2017 improved sketching provides a new buffer zone within the environment to help keep micro-lines from being created while using the click—click sketch method. This automated functionality will reduce the number of accidental instances of micro length lines that prevent us from using the…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Import & Export Options are now in the best location possible!
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 16, 2016
One of my absolute favorite enhancements in this latest release of SOLIDWORKS is the migration of the SOLIDWORKS Import Export options from the obscurity of the “Save As” dialog over to the main SOLIDWORKS Options. In order to access the Import & Export options in SOLIDWORKS…
SOLIDWORKS Importing and Exporting 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF)
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 15, 2016
SOLIDWORKS 2017 now provides us with the ability to import and export 3MF files. 3MF is a new 3D printing format that will allow design applications to send full-fidelity 3D models to a mix of other systems (both hardware & software). The 3MF specification will allow…
Catch & Repair More Corrupt Files with SOLIDWORKS 2017
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 13, 2016
One of the most disappointing experiences a designer can face is to discover that a SOLIDWORKS file they have put valuable hours into has become corrupt. SOLIDWORKS 2017 is going to do it’s very best to help you recover some of those lost hours by…
eDrawings 2017 File Viewing now Supporting Inventor, IGES, and CATIA V5 files!
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 9, 2016
Are you hunting for a “do all jobs” CAD file viewing utility? The eDrawings 2017 file viewer is quickly becoming that tool as DS SOLIDWORKS has provided us with the ability to open some additional file types with the 2017 release. eDrawings 2017 file viewer functionality supports the…
Upon first review, the new SOLIDWORKS Shaded Sketch Contours tool seemed to be simply a visual aid that we have had for quite some time in SOLIDWORKS (if you guessed “Check Sketch for Feature” you’re correct!). After spending a few minutes with this tool enabled, it’s easy…
eDrawings 2017 Viewer can now password protect files
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 6, 2016
The ability to password protect eDrawings files has now been added to the free eDrawings Viewer! Previously eDrawings Professional was required to protect files in this manner. “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility”…with the enhanced ability of the eDrawings Viewer Password protection please keep in mind that the password…