One of the great new enhancements that we have seen with the release of SolidWorks 2013 is the ability to utilize Luxology custom appearances for rendering within PhotoView 360.  SolidWorks recently has updated the customer portal with the links you will need in order to access the Luxology appearance assets to start downloading and using these fantastic appearances for you SolidWorks renders.

The Luxology appearance assets are located on the Luxology website (Luxology is the partnering company that has created the software for the PhotoView 360 add-in), but don’t be fooled and try to create an account with Luxology, you will not be able to download any of the assets from their site if you do so (unless you have a license of Modo).  Further more if you have already created an account for the Luxology website, make sure you are logged out before accessing it through the SolidWorks customer portal.

Login into the customer portal through www.solidworks.com, you will see a login link on the upper right hand side.  Once you have logged in, click the customer portal link to access the main page of the customer portal, here you will see a new link that is added for PhotoView 360 appearances.

This link will bring you to another page with another link to get you to the SolidWorks Asset Sharing:

This will bring you to another page with one more link:

Finally you are on the Luxology assets page; from here you can look through their library and download appearances  for all of your rendering needs!  Keep in mind that some of these appearances will actually render off of the surface of your model, giving a much more realistic final render than what we saw with previous appearances in Photoview 360.  There is an example at the end of this blog that has ‘Chipped Paint’ as an appearance which gives an extra 3D feel.

So now that you are logged into the assets site for Luxology, how do you start downloading and using these appearances for your rendering?  One method is to download and unzip directly to the default location for SolidWorks <Installation Drive>/Program Files/SolidWorks Corp (2013)/SolidWorks/data/graphics/Materials.

Or create a specific location for your Luxology appearances to separate these appearances from the standard appearances that came from the installation.   I created a Luxology folder in my working drive, with sub folders similar to the default folders in SolidWorks.  Either way works just fine!

Be sure to add the folder location to the SolidWorks system options if you do it the second way.  Tools>Options>Folder Locations>Custom – Appearances

Now you are set to start applying these appearances to your part/assembly for rendering.  If you start applying appearances and it doesn’t look anything like what you thought, don’t worry!  The Luxology assets for PhotoView 360 are generally only visible in the preview and final render windows.  When I went to create a Christmas Snow Globe the view from the SolidWorks window is far from what PhotoView 360 will see:

But when you create the final render, you get amazing appearances!

From time to time things need to change that is also true for the support team here at Symmetry. Yes we have had some changes in staff but we also are now using a new software to help manage the support cases as well. As some of you may have noticed we have begun to use it and is from our friends at NetSuite.

When you email into support@symsolutions.com it now automatically opens a new case and sends an email back to you letting you know someone will contact you shortly. In the past we had managed this manually which did work but did not notify you that we received the message. The messages sent to you also include a link so you can view progress to the case on-line.

For the most part nothing has changed for you in submitting or updating cases. You can respond to the emails or call in with updates as you did before. The one thing different is you will not be emailing the support person directly. With the new process emailing them directly will slow things down as the content will either have to be resubmitted or copied into the case. Also once the case has been resolved you will receive an email with the resolution in it. If that is satisfactory you need to do nothing. If for some reason it is not resolved you can respond to this and it will reopen the case.

When you need to submit new issues please send a new message to support@symsolutions.com to open a new case. The previous messages are directly tied to that case and will try to reopen it. If you have any questions, comments or concerns on the new processes please contact us so we can address it.

I have always found that the routing tools to be an interesting part of SolidWorks but was never able to really learn all the ins and outs of it. So a while back I started looking a little closer at it. I am right now working from the Piping & Tubing portion of the training manuals.

I always thought the rules for creating the routes were very consistent and that you needed to have connector points (CPoints) and route points (RPoints) to be able create any route. Well I found a tool to be able to start a route without a connector.

This is very helpful if the component you are using is an imported model from a vendor and they supply the connector but you are not sure what it will be. They did let you know the size of pipe/tube/wire and a location for where it will be on the component. So know if it is not all ready on the model you will need to create a cylindrical cut to represent the start point.

The tool to use in this instance is Start at Point and is available on the all three routing tool bars Electrical, Piping, and Tubing. Once you select the appropriate tool you then select the cylindrical face from the hole for the starting point and it gives you a nub start so you can then continue the route in whatever manner you need to complete this.

So as I continue to dive into the routing tools I will add any interesting features that may be hidden or not really well known.

We are giving away iPad2′s with seats of SolidWorks Premium! Undoubtedly, this is the best thing you’ve heard all week. I mean, think about it. You can get a Christmas present for your wife AND you can keep the iPad2!

Before I go on, let me field some questions.

Q. Does SolidWorks run on an iPad2?
A. No.

Q. Does Simulation run on an iPad2?
A. No.

Q. Okay, so, can these products interact at all?
A. Yes they can! Personally, I’m aware of three apps you might find interesting.

1. 3DVIA mobile app
This app is designed to take 3d models and superimpose them onto pictures taken with your device. (I wish I had this app when I was moving furniture for my grandma.)

2. CADFaster
This app allows SolidWorks users, as well as non CAD users, to view files that are placed on a cloud based system. I can see this app being very useful for a traveling manager who needs to make approvals.

3. SolidWorks World
Maps, calendars, classes – OH MY! Yes, you will look pretty cool at SolidWorks World with your iPad2.

Get yours before the offer expires on November 30th!

YES!

I don’t care if you just bought the software or if you have been using SolidWorks for five years or even longer. If you have never had any type of formal training, you should, and here’s why…

I was one of those people who never had training. The company I worked for when I started using SolidWorks decided that we were smart enough to learn the software without spending any money on training. And they were right – partly. Between the five of us using the software we were able to figure out a way to do almost every task that we needed to complete the job.

Check out our SolidWorks Courses and Schedule

After about three years of working with SolidWorks I considered myself a fairly accomplished user and decided to venture out and find a new job where I would again be using SolidWorks. That led me to Symmetry Solutions. Which confirmed how good I had become using this tool right? After all, I was hired to provide technical support for our customers.

Now feeling even more confident in my abilities, I was slightly offended when the on-boarding process at Symmetry Solutions required I attend the introductory training class, SolidWorks Essentials. During the first day I picked up a few shortcuts that I had not seen before. Well, I thought, at least it wasn’t a complete waste of my time. By the end of the class I realized how little I truly knew about this tool I had been using for years. The amount of time I had wasted over the past three years doing things the wrong way was mind boggling. In retrospect the amount of money my previous employer had paid me to do things the wrong way, the long way, was almost obscene.

Since then I have become one of the SolidWorks certified instructors here at Symmetry. Over and over again, I hear from my students that have been using the software for years that the knowledge they gain through the SolidWorks training courses is invaluable. Until you take a course you don’t realize how much you don’t know.

What do you use SolidWorks for?

• Sheet metal? We have a class for that.
• Assembly modeling? Yes, we have a class for that.
• Mold design? We have a class for that too along with many other general and specialized curriculum.

Sure, training revenue is part of what pays our bills. But I can honestly say that the investment you or your employer makes in training will more than pay for itself in a very short time. It is well worth the investment.