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SolidWorks 2012 supports some nice GPU accelerated rendering features, but what features you’ll see vary a little bit depending on what hardware you have and what you’re doing.  Over at FireUser they take a quick look at a recent presentation showing what you can get from AMD and NVidia cards.

SolidWorks 2012 uses GPU hardware acceleration of OpenGL for Ambient Occlusion in RealView (Ambient occlusion is a global lighting method that adds realism to models by controlling the attenuation of ambient light due to occluded areas.)

SolidWorks 2012 can now support dual display systems on Nvidia cards, but also use 3 or more displays using Eyefinity on FirePro cards.

via Clarification on SolidWorks 2012 and GPU hardware acceleration | FireUser Blog.

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The new SolidWorks2012 offers some limited GPU features focused around making the visuals pop a little more than classic CAD packages.  Over at SolidSmack they take it for a test-drive with one of the lower-end professional cards, the Quadro 2000, and find it works surprisingly well.

The image below is a screenshot of a data set from NVIDIA shown in SolidWorks with RealView graphics on. RealView graphics utilize the GPU to render the semi-realistic graphics on the SolidWorks screen. The other window is the PhotoView 360 Preview window. PhotoView 360 is 100% CPU-based rendering and doesn’t task the GPU, so for PV360 rendering your benefits come along with more multi-threaded CPU cores. The SolidWorks models are all CPU as well. The GPU does little for processing the model, so more GPU’s won’t gain you any added performance.

Of course, it sounds like SolidWorks isn’t really pushing the GPU that hard, focusing only on some nice rendering features in the realtime viewport.  High-end renderings are still classic CPU raytracing, and none of the software seems to use any GPGPU features, so the lower-end cards make for a nice inexpensive way to add some more “oomph” to your workstation.

Of course, NVidia is quick to point out the growing trend of designers using post-rendering tools like KeyShot and BunkSpeed to do their high-end renderings, which will definitely take advantage of higher-end Quadros.

via Can SolidWorks 2012 Spit the NVIDIA Quadro 2000 GPU Juice? – SolidSmack.com.

Graphics, Hardware gpu, nvidia, quadro, solidworks

SolidSmack gives us the heads-up that SolidWorks has published all of the presentations and video on their website, available for watching and downloading at your leisure.

Maybe you didn’t make it to SolidWorks World 2011. Maybe you’re still wandering the streets of San Antonio after days of drinking Riverwalk water and salsa picante. No worries for you. If you missed a few sessions due to work or inebriation a busy schedule, you have the option of catching up.

via Download All the SolidWorks World 2011 Sessions You Can Handle – SolidSmack.com.

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At Solidworks World this week, a company presented a new CAD viewing and collaboration tool called ‘CADFaster’.  Not too impressive sounding, I know, until you realize it works on the iPad.

CadFaster|Collaborate was specifically developed to dramatically increase collaboration, productivity and effectiveness for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), mechanical and plant design firms seeking the fast reading and smooth handling of complex and large CAD data files. The tool is distinguished by its ability to allow distribution, annotation, and real-time co-viewing of diverse 3D designs using portable executable files that include CadFaster’s popular and reliable 3D engine, the fastest and most efficient 3D viewer on the market.

CADFaster 3D CAD Collaboration via iPhone and iPad from Solidsmack on Vimeo.

via CADFaster. First 3D CAD Collaboration Via iPhone and iPad – SolidSmack.com.

Graphics ipad, software, solidworks

Times are a changing at Dassault systems as they appoint Bertrand Sicot the new CEO of SolidWorks.  Taking effect January 1st, SolidSmack has an interview with Jeff Ray on the change, including this little paragraph:

He wants to makes sure that all barriers to growth are removed and that the company is positioned to continue to grow. He’s not interested in being the CEO of a 2 billion dollar software company. He wants to be a CEO of a 4, and then 8 and beyond company. He’s one of those rare people who is very, very comfortable not only reassessing things, but also talking about what the future can be and look like. It’s just a natural part of that.

But then Bertrand chimed in later with this:

With the demonstration at SolidWorks World last year, you know what we’ve been working on, so there is nothing new per se, but those initiative are still alive and more than ever these new technologies are really promising. So, as far as going in a different direction from where Jeff has taken the company, it’s going to be a evolution, not a revolution.

Here’s hoping SolidWorks remains the great product it is without being crushed under the mad dash to become a “8 billion dollar software company”.

via Jeff Ray Promoted… Bertrand Sicot Takes Over as SolidWorks CEO. [Interview] – SolidSmack.com.

Graphics dassault, interview, solidworks

Matthew Perez has created a massive 115 page tutorial on surface modeling in SolidWorks over at the SolidSmack blog.

Matthew’s tutorial is for a JBL Duet Multimedia PC Speaker. He shows, top to bottom, the process of laying out planes, lofting surfaces as well as how to work with splines and boundary surfaces to create your very own skull pounding speaker model.

via Turn it Up. Free SolidWorks Complex Surfacing Speaker Tutorial – SolidSmack.com.

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Today marks the 15th anniversary of the first sale of SolidWorks, and SolidSmack celebrates with a short interview with CEO of Barret Technology Bill Townsend.

Today, September 6th, 2011 marks the 15th anniversary of SolidWorks selling the very first seat of their 3D product development software. Over 1 millllliooooon seats have found their way into the talented, and not so talented, hands of people around the world since. It just so happens we found the guy who laid his hands upon that first seat and asked him a couple questions.

via First seat of SolidWorks, SOLD! …15 years ago, today. >> SolidSmack.com.

Graphics solidworks

Those of you working in Mechanical Engineering Design might want to pay close attention to this new press release from Luxology that includes quotes from Stuart Brown and Paul McCrorey, two mechanical designers who use Luxology’s Modo401 and SolidWorks PhotoView360 to render their models with startling detail.

Recently, a client who wanted a custom car asked Stuart to create a virtual wooden render of a buck, which is a wooden rig used to help make automobile bodies. After using Solidworks 2010 and PhotoView 360 to realize the buck and then modo 401 for final visualization, Stuart says, “The results showed an incredible visual performance increase, to the extent that I am often asked whether the picture I am showing a client is real or computer-generated.’

In addition to simple rendering, they also extoll the virtues of the mapping and animation tools.

Later importing his model into modo 401 for finishing, Paul says modo’s range of control was much greater than he expected: “For texturing, I used UV mapping to establish the fabric pattern on the back seat of the wheelchair. Displacement mapping was used to generate the treads on the tire. With the rich visualization and animation toolset provided in modo, the possibilities are truly endless. Features like morph maps and vertex weight maps were new to me but proved critical for realistic cloth movement. I used the constraint tools to precisely define the wheelchair’s folding action. Finally, the gradient editor provided extreme flexibility in timing of the animation.”

See some more examples of their fantastic work.

via Luxology Press Release: SolidWorks PhotoView 360 and Luxology’s modo 401 Open New Doors for Mechanical Engineering Designers.

Graphics design, luxology, modo, modo401, solidworks

SolidWorks World, the annual gathering of CAD modelers using the popular SolidWorks software, is coming up soon in Anaheim, CA and they’ve announced the Keynote Speakers.  Keynote speakers include James McLurkin, Roboticist and Inventor,  Jeff Ray, CEO of Dassault Systemes SolidWork Corporation, and James Cameron. Why a film writer you ask?

Cameron is also an entrepreneur in stereoscopic video.  He is co-inventor of a portfolio of patented technology for 3D video capture which will revolutionize media.  These include fiber-spooling mini-ROVs; FUSION Camera System, the world’s leading stereoscopic camera system; and the first 3D motion-imaging camera to operate on another planet.  Cameron’s films have also blazed new trails in visual effects and set numerous performance records both domestically and abroad. His latest movie Avatar required over two years of development of new production technology, including image-based facial performance capture, a real-time virtual camera for CG production, and the SIMULCAM system, in order to enable real-time tracking and compositing of CG characters into live-action scenes.

So head on over and get your tickets now!  Hotel Reservations cutoff January 7th (Thursday), and Early Registration ends January 8th (Friday)!  And be sure to hit up their sample Justification Letters to see if you can convince your boss to pay for it!

SolidWorks World :: SolidWorks World.

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Users of the popular SolidWorks CAD Suite can now look forward to official support and service of their issues when using the 3DBOXX 4850 workstation.

“A large segment of BOXX customers have been reliably running SolidWorks for years, so certification and partner status are a perfect fit,” said Shoaib Mohammad, Director of Marketing and Business Development at BOXX. “As SolidWorks users ourselves, we understand the value of this product and the workstation configurations needed to ensure maximum productivity for designers and engineers.”

via BOXX Partners With SolidWorks to Offer Certified 3D CAD Solutions.

Graphics, Hardware boxx, solidworks