January Tech News:

This podcast covers the SolidWorks and CAD-related tech news that broke since mid-November covering the SolidWorks Blog, various tech alerts and other industry news. Topics covered:

SolidWorks Blog:

- Tool Highlights

- Bend it like a football star (Motion Simulation)

- Ultimate igloos & Cooling Engineering (Nonlinear Simulation)

- Let's Go Design Baby Buggy comes to a close (finally!)

- SWWC Partner Profiles

- RaipdForm (Reverse engineering scan -> parametric features)

- Barry-Wehmiller International Resources (PLM tools and services)

- SpaceControl (3D mice and controllers)

- Objet 3D Printers (multi-material in a single print)

- SWWC Contests

- Hobbyist Contest (Winner: Kevin Lin)

- Trivia Contest #2 (Winner: Bob Prochnow)

- SWWC Keynote Speaker: Tony Fadell "Father of the iPod"

Tech Alerts:

- SWWC Top 10 List open for voting

- SWWC Model Mania Archive launched

- SolidWorks 2012 SP2 Early Visibility available for download

SW Support Monthly FAQ:

- Various Toolbox solutions

- A ton of new Enterprise PDM KB articles

- Simulation mesh size and result effects

Technology Spotlight:

- Onlive Desktop hands-on

We are just weeks away from SWWC 2012 and much of the news is related to contests, attendees and partners that will be at the conference this year.  With one of the speakers announced (Tony Fadell), I am starting to get excited to go and see many friends that I only get to see at SWWC.

I am starting to compile my list of breakouts and partners I am going to visit.  Remember, if you are unable to attend this year's SolidWorks World Conference, visit the Live Coverage page to sign up for the live blogs.  Also submit your sessions that you would like coverage of by emailing me at lou 'at' solidworksheard.com or on any other networks you choose to get your votes in.  I will post notes are well on the page.

I hope to see many of you at SolidWorks World and look forward to bringing as much of the show to you that I can.  It is an exhausting and exciting week so I have a lot of planning to still do! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

CES 2012: CAD Tech:

This podcast covers a few tech pics after watching, listening and reading all that has come out of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show from the perspective of a CAD user. Topics covered:

- A few Windows8 tidbits

- The rise of the Ultrabook

- 3D Printing...WOW at CES?

- SSD drives and cloud storage

- CAD via Clound via Onlive?

CES is a vacuum of tech that happens in Las Vegas every year at this time with 2700 booths showing off all sorts of concepts, prototypes and vaporware that might be coming out in the coming year.  Most of which you need to take with a grain of salt since many of the big breakthroughs may never ship (OLED TVs and alike).

As engineers, we are drawing to finding devices that will run our hardware draining tools that will not weigh as much as a jack sitting in our garage floor.  The other thing we are after is speed!  Fast boot, fast load, fast save, just fast OK?  Since there are not enough hours in the world to read about it all I typically rely on listening to podcast that cover the aspects of the show I care about and do some reading over at ces.cnet.com.

Since CES always falls right before SolidWorks World, it reminds me back two years when Netbooks were the talk (saw a bunch at SWWC), then last year with the tablet (and iPads were wall to wall) and now Ultrabooks. It will be an interesting round up by one thing that definitely caught my eye was what Onlive is doing with they streaming video tech to other applications. ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

SolidWorks World Prep:

This podcast covers the steps to get prepared for the biggest CAD conference, mega training, and overall engineer geek fest there is!  Still trying to get there or not going at all? Not a problem. Topics covered:

- What SWW really is.

- How to get the most out of attending (plan, plan, plan)

- Resources and ideas to convince the powers that be to send you.

- What SolidWorks:HEARD! is broadcasting from SWW.

- Other resources to get SWW news and tips.

SolidWorks World is just 5 weeks away and the anticipation for those who have the "green light" on attending this years event it building.  In order to truly get the most out of this crammed-pack event with 185+ sessions and not even close to enough time to see them all is planning.  A lot of planning or else you will show up and be overwhelmed and wonder why you stood in the hall for 3 days with your jaw open!

For those who are still fighting the fight to get to this mega training extravaganza, SolidWorks has a great list of resources for you to help convince your management to send you.  Whether it is videos, podcasts or an old fashion letter, educating management that SWW is not a "trade show" but a "build-your-own" training boot camp by users for users.  Getting that "nugget" or awesome tip to help you out in your industry with your tool of choice can be the difference between joe-user and ROCK STAR!

Understanding not everyone can convince, trick, man handle, cagoule and maim their way to SWW12, I will be live blogging all the general session and posting live notes with Google Docs on sessions that I attend.  When I can, I will be streaming video from the floor and trying to interview some partners.  Go sign up for the live-blog and watch Twitter for hash tag #sww12.  I will also be posting notes to the SolidWorks:HEARD! Google+ page as well. ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

2011 Year in Review:

This podcast covers a summary of 2011 and the specific SolidWorks most memorable moments starting with Jeff Ray leaving to SolidWorks 2012 SP1 shipping and everything in between.  Topics covered:

SolidWorks 2011 Highlights:

- Jeff Ray out, Bertrand Sicot In

- Solidworks pre-announces 3 web products

- DraftSight for Linux 

- IE9 and Windows 7 SP1 

- 3DVIA Composer ships two major releases

- SolidWorks 2012 

- Jon Hirschtick leaves SolidWorks 

- Toolbox Woes

- Top 10 list goes live (just to name a few)

Technology Highlights:

- Google launches Google+

- Windows 8 in Developer Preview

- RIM is fading

- HP open sources WebOS

- iPad 2 ships

- Steve Jobs dies at 54

- Android is killing it

- Amazon launches an Android Market and the Kindle Fire

2011 was quite a year in the tech industry and there changes across SolidWorks in many areas.  SolidWorks was business as usual for the most part.  CEO change at the turn of the year, SolidWorks World announced new products, and a new version of SolidWorks shipped.  Despite early announcements of 3 cloud tools (n!Fuze, Post3D and Live Buildings), none of them really caught on due various reasons.  SolidWorks 2012 is a quality release with some solid additions but mainly seems to be embraced due to the little things.

The active SolidWorks blogging community somewhat slowed way down this year with many stopping blogging all together. Although blogs still bring the most helpful content, the social networks seem to be where the interaction is today across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+.  

2011 also brought a tremendous growth in mobile, especially in the ubiquity of smart phones.  Everyone has a computer in their pocket today and use it to be productive (and not) on the go.  Companies across the globe are producing apps and mobile sites to allow their users to do device-specific activities on the go. Personally I believe SolidWorks needs to get into the mobile game in 2012 in order to meet and exceed that of the competition, some of which (AutoDesk) have built a number of apps to view, markup, and collaborate across a number of their products.

I want to thank you all for listening/reading for another year and look forward to bringing more tech news and other tech tips to you in the coming year!  Happy New Year! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

Touch Maide Possible:

This podcast covers a new 3D control app for the iPad (and soon iPhone/iPod Touch) developed by a startup called Maide Inc in Toronto.  The app allows you to pan, zoom, and rotate your models with intuitive multi-touch gestures on your iPad. Topics covered:

- Product introduction

- Supported 3D CAD applicaitons

- Setup and Configuration

- Feature set of Maide Control for iPad

- Tips of use with iOS5 and the iPad (1st gen)

- Overall first impressions

3D mice and control devices have been gaining momentum over the past decade, bringing a level of 3D control that a mouse alone just cannot provide.  In my early CAD days after migrating away from a digitizing tablet, I was using Spaceball 4000 and really started to get hooked.  It was almost to the point where I found I could not even use CAD without it!  I have since moved away from it since I travel and am on the go (despite having a space traveler that collects dust in my bag!).

A few weeks ago I received an email from Maide's CEO & Founder Oleg Kostour asking if I was interested in taking a spin on their 3D control app for iPad since it had now entered a beta for SolidWorks.  After freeing up some time to really take a look, I installed the app and Maide Connect (desktop component) and dove in.  I tested on both Mac and Windows with Sketchup since support for SolidWorks is in beta but only for 2011 and I have since removed all but 2012 from my systems!

The app works as advertised and can be customized in most (not SolidWorks yet) for menu commands, similar to the way you have mouse gestures in SolidWorks in a ring.  I am excited to see their iPhone / iPod touch app that is coming out since it uses the gyros, allowing movement of the device in conjunction to touch to navigate the 3D space.  For more information about Maide Inc check out their blog!

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

December Tech News:

This podcast covers the SolidWorks and CAD-related tech news that broke since mid-November covering the SolidWorks Blog, various tech alerts and other industry news. Topics covered:

SolidWorks Blog:

- Need a gift? SolidWorks Holiday Gift Guide

- Team Dassault, 10 years of pedaling for cancer research

- SWWC Japan, Bertrand Sicot reporting

- Chin's iOS apps of choice and why

- Top 10 list for SWW12 is open for suggestions

- USS Midway sails into the annual CSWP event

- Let's Go Design team is ready to put this project to bed .... soon

- Intrigue bring a lucky SW user all the way to San Diego from Japan!

Tech Alerts:

- Benchmark your rig and share your score

- Download examples for the SW Part Reviewer (new in 2012)

- SolidWorks EPDM 2012 SP1 is available for download

- Top 10 list is open for business

- Updates to support, forums and resource center 

Well this is the last tech news cast for 2011 and it was a bit of a slow month for tech news but a few good nuggets. This is that time of year where everyone is ready for the year to end and the buzz of the new release has worn off and SolidWorks World is about 2 months out. Next month the news will be ramping up for the big show.

Currently the deal for SolidWorks is $100 off a single registration or the 3 for 2 deal till January 20, 2012.  If you have not yet started planning your attack to convince your boss to go, get on it! This is, hands down, the best way to energize your year and boost your knowledge.  This is not a trade show, it is a training session marathon with a ton of perks.  Visit the SolidWorks World site for help in this convincing process.

The SolidWorks Monthly FAQ for December has not yet been posted so I will cover that next week to relay any good tidbits.  I have a couple of roundtable shows in the works to finish out the year so stay tuned! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

New Release Checklist:

This podcast covers the some general steps to check before jumping into a brand new major release of SolidWorks and the various related products.  Topics covered:

- Upgrade or Uninstall/Reinstall?

- How to clean uninstall

- 3rd Party product checklist

- PDM checklist

- Homegrown tools/macros

- Other random checks

With the new release of SolidWorks 2012 now with a shiny new service pack 1 in queue, many companies take this milestone as a time to take the plunge.  Although some SolidWorks users are anxious to get the latest release on their systems to get some of the new features in hand, there are a few things to check before you jump in with two feet.

Personally as an early adopter, well....and the fact it is my job to dig into the latest software,  I do enjoy getting new software on my system and pushing it to the limit.  However, I also find that there are so many other products, tools and compatibility checks that should happen first to ensure a smooth transition.  Whether that is a 3rd party product you rely on or your favorite peripheral's drivers, all these things need to be weighed prior to launch.

I recently decided to clean out one of my testing systems after years of SolidWorks versions, beta builds, 3rd party products and trials.  I had 3 or 4 working version of SW, various toolbox builds and a number of tools that I had not touched in 4-5 years.  I really should nuke that system but decided to use it as a test for this show and a basis for those of you in the same situation. ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

CAD Backup:

This podcast covers strategies, methodologies, and options to ensure that your CAD data is being backed up by you or those parties within the company that should.  Topics covered:

- The definition of backup

- 3-2-1 Backup strategy

- IT or Me?

- Roll-your-own or off-the-shelf (what to avoid)

- Local copies vs Cloud (best mix?)

- Is PDM backup?

- Making a plan

Backup. It is not a flash topic or one that typically draws out excitement from those who wield a mad CAD system and create gigabytes of data a week.  Statistically we do not backup as a mass content creating culture and the most unfortunate part about it is the devices we store our data on WILL fail one day.  Even those of us who do backup or important files don't check our backups regularly or follow a plan to ensure we have more than just one other copy.

For those of us whose employers staff IT, there is a belief that they must be doing the backup for us somehow but when files go missing we come to find out that only the network or certain shared drives were in the backup loop.  Losing data or precious time in our projects is never fun but can be avoided with a few simple steps of automation!

So make sure you get your 3 copies on 2 media and 1 copy offsite.  If you are not sure if your company backs up, ASK!  I know we all have been bitten before so get this process automated and get piece of mind. Less stress makes us better engineers! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!

Utilizing LDR:

This podcast covers how to take advantage of the new assembly performance mode for reviewing large assembly data sets without loosing access to necessary tools in SolidWorks. Topics covered:

- Recap of LDR features

- LDR workflow

- How to use LDR for more than just review

- Limitations to features

- Other tips and tricks

Since Large Assembly Review was revealed on stage at last year's SolidWorks World, I wanted to really dig in and see not only how the performance of LDR was, but what limitations and other uses this lightweight power tool had in store.  Although there is a limited toolset, the tools that are available can help in understanding the "big picture" when it comes to the overall project.

Having talked to a few customers that have extremely large top-level assemblies that even their work-horse, 64 bit workstations could not open, were excited to the possibility of not only being able to open but be productive with these projects.  Although LDR has replaced QuickView, a previous method of selectively opening components, there are a number of other methods that can help in large assembly management, none of which have the performance benefits of LDR.

I want to make sure users know about this new mode that SolidWorks has and how to take advantage of the limited toolsets in it to get the most out of those performance-draining large data sets they have.  It would be ashame if this was a feature that fell outside of the user rut we all tend to get into! ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

November Tech News:

This podcast covers the SolidWorks and CAD-related tech news that broke since mid-October covering the SolidWorks Blog, various tech alerts and other industry news. Topics covered:

SolidWorks Blog:

- Clean Uninstall details in SolidWorks 2012 (remove reg, local files, libraries etc..)

- SW World Trivia Content winner announced - Corey Hinmen

- SW World Halloween Contest winner announced - Robert Shirley

- Let's Go Design HRBB Episode 6 out

- Trebuchets chuckin' pumpkins (very cool)

- Adding value through subtraction - Rick Chin

- Design review feedback (New product soon?, maybe debut at SWWC?)

- Human powered Helicopter (awesome!)

- SW World Internet Correspondent winner announced - Kevin Goosie

Tech Alerts:

- Toolbox issues plague SW 2012 SP0, hotfix in place, corrected in SP1

- 3DVIA Composer V6R2012 SP2 is available for download

- DS SolidWorks moves

- SolidWorks 2012 SP1 is available for download

- SolidWorks EPDM XML Import Tool Hands on

SolidWorks Monthly FAQ:

- Top Questions

- New Knowledge Base articles

With SolidWorks World just around the corner and heading into all the Holiday fun, the SolidWorks blog is riddled with topics related to SolidWorks World and the upcoming events.  There has also been a lot of activity around service pack releases for both SolidWorks 2012 and 2011 as well as some hotfixes related to the whole Toolbox issue that popped up in 2012 SP0.

This show is a bit truncated due to me being away from my recording rig and enjoying time with family for the Thanksgiving break. Will be back on track next week so till then have a Happy Thanksgiving for those in the States!

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!