Also FreeCAD is developing/improving quickly as the open source solution - although I do not think it is up to 'commercial' quality software yet. }, You can unsubscribe at anytime. While other vendors have expanded their toolsets through partnerships with third-party vendors, Siemens has the benefit of already owning those tools in-house. STL files are not designed to be modified as such and are difficult to manipulate, some CAD systems have functions to change the mesh to a surface model, which in turn allows a solid model to be created (CATIA has this function). Instead of using only textural, metadata-based strings or classifications to search for parts, you can use geometry to search for similarly shaped parts. Ive seen it time and time again when I talk about the work Ive been doing. We all spend way too much time reinventing the wheel. Can ANother drawings be opened in Solid-xxxx, if necessary converted to a standard format in their parent programme? This brings both fluid flow and thermal simulation to Solid Edge in an integrated manner for the first time. For subscription issues please see THIS LINK. That said, the Community Edition has no expiration date and comes with unlimited usage for all existing Launch Forth community members and upcoming members starting July 1, 2018. Regards,
The 'Community Edition' is essentially the same as the commercial SE version with two exceptions. Worth looking around the Scribd site for literature. In terms of how these modelling tools work with both ordered (history-based) and synchronous model-led parts, they follow a familiar pattern, with the sub-d form stored as a separate feature on the feature/history tree. The second is that Draft drawings have a SE-CE watermark on them. It may not be the most exciting of topics, but its crucial for many organisations. I have only recently viewed the videos and have not used it as I am a Solidworks user but it appears to be similar. I would therefore strongly recommend that users should download from this Siemens link. You must log in or register to reply here. 'Lost in translation' is a common problem. What They Didnt Teach me in School About 3D Print Supports, How to Improve Your Small Business SEO Strategy, Best Video Conferencing Software for Sales Teams. 2020 SolidSmack.com, Cool Tools of Doom: Sketching by Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur, Model of the Week: SpaceX Falcon Heavy [Go For Launch!]. I'm probably out of date too: in the last 20 years, software has become much more compatible. For most DEVELOP3D readers, Solid Edge requires little introduction. Membership at Launch Forth is also totally free, so there doesnt seem to be any reason innovators shouldnt take advantage of this. Community contributed samples of automating Solid Edge. Itll save you all of the effort of positioning those clips and other mounting components youd typically have to organise and give you solid, sufficiently accurate data on wire lengths, which subsequently get passed back to the BOM. Since these will be applicable to most users, irrespective of industry, lets walk through them. Lots of information and tutorials on Youtube. However, it is possible to use SE-CE in 2D mode by using SE Draft documents and this 2D capability might be a much easier way to get into SE than just jumping into full 3D design. That said, those with a need for complex forms will find it an awesome tool to have in their armoury. Does SW allow that direct choice or is it like Fusion and Alibre, forcing isometric "modelling" automatically? Had this happened before I retired I'd have had a works drawing-office full of SW users to pester for .. Hellllp! How is forex trading different from crypto trading? I ported the code to .NET and published it on GitHub (SolidEdgeContrib.Reader). I agree with 2D data that there are compatibility issues with fonts, drawing borders etc but the important bit which is the geometry does not normally have problems. For the 2021 release, the ability to automatically add weld gaps between frame members can be turned on something thats increasingly important if youre using laser or plasma cut tubing. It may have been changed since but at the time I tried it, probably 3 or 4 years ago now, it did discreetly offer a local-storage option. A Free & Open Forum For Electronics Enthusiasts & Professionals, Login with username, password and session length. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. What is Solid Edge Community Edition? A few times been discussed here and people asked for free CAD. The expansion of the reverse engineering toolset, along with a performance boost for polygon mesh data, means that this type of work can be conducted in your workhorse design system, rather than relying on third-party applications something thats always a benefit for efficiency, over and above the associated cost reductions. His material is also sensibly structured and builds gradually, introducing new concepts in a reasonably logical way. A simple but very effective aid. You then start snapping devices to that rail and positioning your components. Most of the content is archived but remains available in the hope that someone find it useful in the future. Other problems are seriously challenging. It did publish a schools version (I was told by a teacher) with the idea of turning out young engineers already introduced to SW and only SW, while pushing to be industry's leading CAD choice. Where can I get Solid Edge Community Edition
As you progress with Solid Edge, you will discover holes in your knowledge. 50 or so for a book looked a bargain compared to 1,000 or so to update VectorWorks for a later operating system. Thus far, I've found it easier to simply import the DXF and use the imported 'Sketch' to then extrude and build the 3D model but the 'Create' method is probably much quicker (once mastered). #signup input ~ label.wrap {
Some pretty up to date stuff needs to be read online but there is some older literature from several sources that can be downloaded and printed. The 2D 'sketching' tools are essentially the same as used in 3D, so only need be learned once. Carlos wrestles gators, and by gators, we mean words. You sign up for it, get a certain quantity of storage space, and youre able to upload your CAD geometry. Hoping to automatically convert from one format to another is fraught with compatibility issues, not least because vendors can and do change specifications. Theres the usual mix of viewing tools: simple view, rotate and zoom; assembly structure exploration; and part visibility, sectioning and measurement capabilities. YouTube is great for CAD tutorials, and there's various CAD forums where most questions have already been asked and asnwered. - 6 drawers. Solid Edge 2012 also walks the user through creating the relationships needed to position all the new parts. You are free to take what you need but remember, someone spent time figuring it out. The Solid Edge team is probably one of the last to make the move. Their website seems to go out of its way to avoid any actual details about the product. Further to what IanT says about reference materials I find that with anything complex its a great help to have at least two sources of instruction. The service is currently in beta testing you can sign up for it here. He authored and maintained several Solid Edge open source projects that year. Well just about everything else CAD as far as I can tell (although Im no expert). I knew that given time, I could draw reasonably complex objects in Solid Edge because I had just done so. C# One strength of buying TurboCAD as I did, was its accompanying CD training manual in pdf form. 5. At Solid Edge University 2014, Jason Newell announced that the decision was made to migrate away from codeplex.com to github.com. Its totally installed on my PC (locally) and I keep my work stored locally too, so there are no 'cloud' dependencies on future Corporate policy changes. Better, I think, to find a package that does what's needed for new work and stick with it. Whats interesting is that Solid Edge uses your schematic representation to help you in this process, so you lay it out more intelligently. PowerToys was a suite of applications and Windows shell extension written in C++. If you do a search, there's a few fundametals training pdf's available on the internet. Don't get hung-up on legacy - if an old drawing must be converted, accept it might have to be recreated from scratch. What to do next? You signed in with another tab or window. Every line of code is available on GitHub. Subdivision surface modelling is something that a lot of users are interested in. They can, but jumping between CAD packages is asking for trouble. This seems to have caused others some problems because there are various free, old and trial versions of Solid Edge still available on various Siemens pages/websites. These include the introduction of FloEFD for fluid flow and thermal simulation; better PCB import; and electrical design capabilities using technologies from Mentor. Open source encourages us to share our hard work with others and consume theirs when we need it. Not surprising when commercial vendors change the deal because they create software to make a profit, not to give Model Engineers a free ride. This new Shape Search Server add-on for Solid Edge Data Management allows you to use the sketch of a part in Solid Edge to search against all of the data within your file system that it has already indexed. I suspect he originally made his videos for his students and they are well and (for my needs) well paced. This means it has none of the history as to how it was created, as this is unique to the parent software. As an aside, I downloaded SE-CE version 2020 (which I am still using) last year but another ME Ive been in contact with recently used this link and says his version appears to be the 2021 Edition (with all the updates recently announced by Siemens for the commercial 2021 product). I have not worked systematically through them but have dipped into them as required. As you might also expect, the sub-d tools in Solid Edge feature the usual array of formpushing and pulling, symmetry control, bridging, blending controls and so on. What does work is moving between packages of a different type: workflows where the output is simpler than the input. These are tagged to your model and available to view by anyone else who has access to the project files. But for anyone undecided about what 2D/3D CAD to adopt - here is some basic info about Solid Edge (and my reasons for using it) that may be useful to you PS I have one SE file per 'Part' and then build 'Assemblies' from them - wouldn't want it otherwise What is Solid Edge? For example, using a fully parameterised 3D-CAD package to generate STL (geometric slices), which are converted by something else into less clever G-code, which is interpreted by the CNC machine into simple tool movements. They also include surface-fitting tools to build up analytical geometry from the basis of scanned data.
Haven't used them myself but it's worth a look for anyone new to CAD. The default setting for Solid edge is Synchronous (although you can set Ordered as your default if you wish). This tool analyses the commands you use most frequently and then automatically presents them to you in the first instance, in a ribbon bar found at the top of the modelling window. Jason saw great potential and opportunity in the open source arena for the Solid Edge Developer Community. This is the box on the bottom of the screen that has Find a Command in it! If youre not familiar with this technology, it provides a set of tools for defining complex organic shapes that previously would have required some pretty heavy solid and surface modelling to achieve. Its much better to be guided in your first few steps and Id suggest the following ones.. Open Solid Edge and click on the top menu option Learn this will take you to the Learn Solid Edge page, where you should select Recommended Learning Paths link. Siemens Documentation: Reverse Engineering Workflow, Likewise there are "Simulation" tools that allow FEA, Siemens Documentation: Analyze a Model - FEA Process. As ever, a good place to start is the user interface. OK, so you are new to 3D CAD and you have just downloaded, The first is with the Solid Edge user interface (UI) and is called the , Secondly, assuming that you can find the Command you need but do not know how to use it, hovering over its icon and hitting, Finally, Siemens has provided a set of very detailed. There has also been work done to improve the connection between thermal results from Flo-EFD and the structural simulation tools in Solid Edge. A free and open-source general-purpose parametric 3D computer-aided design modeler and a building information modeling software with finite element method support. This will then take you to an area of the Siemens Doc Centre and I would suggest you choose the New to CAD option (which I did even though I have some 2D CAD experience). Thanks, I may well need to do something like that one day but CAD-wise I'm currently still learning to walk (so to speak) - not quite ready for a marathon (or even a short sprint) yet. Select Click to Continue. While this isnt the fully fledged specialist application set needed by those deeply embedded in fabrication, it does provide a set of tools to carry out quick nesting operations, identify the optimum use of sheets and gain a better understanding of both material and cost whether thats for production or just estimation/quotation. It is Windows only and can be closely linked to external data via Microsoft technology (if you are clever enough). Another newer 3D CAD package is FreeCAD. There has been a long running stigma toward open source. Are these available directly. At first glance, this looks like a common feature in most 3D design systems these days, but whats really interesting here is that these flanges are intelligent. As youd expect, it runs the full gamut, from standard parts, assemblies and drawing creation to simulation, machining, rendering and data management. Especially as the Vectorworks Mechanical section development was abandoned years ago. Its now possible to export results and bring them into a structural study as a thermal load. I was quite surprised with what SolidEdge is capable of, it definitely exceeded my expectations. For the 2021 release, new performance enhancements make the system work more quickly up to 50 times quicker, according to Siemens executives. Community enhancements to the Solid Edge API. I use TurboCAD 18 Pro but almost entirely in its orthogonal mode, rarely trying the far harder isometric option. 19 Leyden Street. It runs on Microsoft Windows and provides solid modelling, assembly modelling and 2D orthographic view functionality for mechanical designers. Happy to answer questions if I can - please remember I'm still learning myself. A free and open-source general-purpose parametric 3D computer-aided design modeler and a building information modeling software with finite element method support. As my Solid Edge skills have improved, my use of TurboCAD 2D and SCAD has declined. After all, when youre looking at a system like Solid Edge, a mature toolset is an incredible benefit. It does not have a CAM component, so is not a one-shop stop for CNC. Ian, Thankyou for the introduction and instructions. (I have the tee-shirt on a full model of a 5" gauge loco). I've been using SE Community quite a lot over the past few months making files, for the mineral wagon I featured earlier. Siemens Digital Industries Software Online Store
So although parts in an assembly may lose their relative positions, it is an easy task to reposition them. As an Amazon Associate Solidsmack.com earns commission from qualifying purchases. (BTW there are many more Tutorials available should you need them). Lots of information and tutorials on Youtube. Also on the assembly front, its now possible to copy and paste multiple parts and sub-assemblies from one assembly to another. This is the purpose of the Teamcenter Concept Workspace, which allows you to take data from Teamcenter (for example, that which relates to a product youre looking to refresh) and place it in a sandbox. Usually with an unvoiced "D'oh.". I guess Fusion 360 was getting a lot of attention lately. After all, its a design tool targeted at the mainstream, developed by a giant in this market (Siemens Digital Industries Software), and has been on the market for the last two and a half decades. With 3D models on the 'good' CAD systems 3D model transfer is not a problem. I run it on a five year old i5 laptop under Win 10 Home and have had no performance issues thus far. However a dumb solid can be modified, have materials allocated etc you just cannot deconstruct it and it is still orrientated correctly relative to its origin axis. I don 't know if it was secretly also storing them on-line anyway! Hope this helps - sorry if it was a bit longwinded! Alongside these geometry-focused updates, Solid Edge 2021 has also benefited from an expansion in add-ons, based ontechnologies acquired by Siemens. My other ME/SE user correspondent was previously a professional Solid Works user and he is of the view that he can do everything with SE that he could do with SW. That sounds like its going to be more than sufficient for my needs. For this, you either use the browser or the new desktop synchronisation tool, which monitors a specified folder on your desktop for file types to send to the cloud. Over the course of the last quarter-century, Solid Edge has acquired some interesting technologies. You mentioned 3 intro videos provided once downloaded. For what it's worth I use QCAD for all 2D-drawings, FreeCAD for 3D single parts, and Fusion360 for assemblies. While the Solid Edge interface hasnt changed to any huge extent for the 2021 release, one new tool in particular will make using it a little more efficient namely, the adaptive Command Prediction tool. Whats interesting is that because this is browser-based, you can perform these tasks on pretty much any device that gives you access to the system whether thats a lower-end laptop, a smartphone or a tablet. Sign up to our newsletter and get a free digital issue. Nobody is making you. Sheet metal functions have been a strong selling point for Solid Edge for many years now. I don't have the need to move solid models between different CAD systems, as I've only previously used 2D CAD. The redline and mark-up capabilities allow you to mark up your model and add comments. Having trained and worked in both CATIA and SolidEdge and now a being a SolidWorks user, I can't really comment on any of the free CAD software but I imagine for what most people here require, the SolidEdge community edition will be more than enough. Solid Edge is a very well documented and supported CAD product. 40. The existing tools in Solid Edge are already mature, but that doesnt mean that theres no room for innovation or, indeed, catching up with what other vendors are doing. My progress wasnt quite so orderly but I am happy to say Im over the initial Thats too hard to Learn mentality. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. If this sounds familiar, thats because its the same technology that Siemens introduced to its NX system last year. Both Siemens and design collaboration platform Launch Forth know CAD creators cant live up to their full potential when their tools arent up to par, so they decided to provide an exclusive version of Siemens Solid Edge software to 185,000 Launch Forth members. As you run your cursor over the suggestions, it will animate the associated icon in the Command Line to show you where it is located. An excellent feature of these activities is that although the learning material is online you use the actual Solid Edge CAD package to work through them. Interchangeable Anvil Micrometer Set - Starrett No 224-M (50 mm-150 mm), American Pro Red Tool Box. I shall download and have a look! I was not advocating people use multiple packages, just answering a question if systems can talk to each other which they can. To round things out, lets look at data management. JavaScript is disabled. "I understand perfectly that once you've invested time and effort learning a particular CAD - it requires a very good reason to migrate elsewhere. There are also various companies that offer training. The first is with the Solid Edge user interface (UI) and is called the Command Finder. Solid Edge has had formal routing options for wiring for a while, but this new approach is a little less formal, allowing you to quickly route a cable or harness from your panels to components/subsystems and quickly pick points and geometric features/surfaces to snap them to along the way.