Tony Gray guides Inspire users with some best practices for setting up their models. If you’re not sure why loads in Inspire should generally be applied to non-design regions then you’ll definitely want to watch this.
Modeling TipsCategory Archives
Evolve Tips & Tricks: Animation Basics
This month, Darren Chilton will guide Evolve users through some animation basics. Animation in Evolve is based on a simple but powerful technique called Key Framing. Darren explains the attributes that you can animate for an object (translation, rotation and scale) and for the camera (position and target) with an easy to follow example.
Click on the video below to see these tips & tricks in action.
Inspire Tips & Tricks: Sketch Tools and Boolean Operations
This month, solidThinking Inspire users will get an in-depth look at how to best benefit from the software’s sketch tools and Boolean operations. The team’s Nandeesh Madapadi provides insight on how to split a single part into design and non-design regions for concept design generation.
Click on the video below to see this tricks in action.
Tips & Tricks: Pixel Mapping
This month’s Tips & Tricks video provides insight into the pixel mapping process, including:
- Techniques for using 2D images to create 3D geometry
- Methods to create embossed logos and textures on a model for rapid prototypes
Click on the video below to see these tips in action.
Tips & Tricks: Model Symmetry
In this month’s Tips & Tricks, Darren Chilton provides techniques for creating models that have symmetrical elements including:
- Using the Mirror tool
- Using Snaps and Grid as alignment aids
- Options for creating simplified models and construction history
Click on the video below to see these tips & tricks in action.
Tips & Tricks: Importing Reference Images
In this month’s edition of the solidThinking Tips & Tricks series, Darren Chilton highlights using 2D images as references to create 3D models. Please click on the video below to see the following tips in action:
- Editing images to simplify the setup in EVOLVE
- Import and setup of reference images
How to Model Video: Modeling a Razor
A new demo showing how to model an electric razor has been added to solidThinking’s YouTube Channel.
See how you can quickly model the razor, change details and perfect its design in complete freedom thanks to solidThinking’s unique ConstructionTree technology.
Tip: Using Sew Tolerance to perform Round
In some cases, the Round modeling tool does not highlight some of the edges that you would like to round. This can happen because there are gaps. As a consequence, you cannot apply radii to these edges.
To verify the presence of gaps, click the ESC key to close the Round tool and use the Tolerance Check tool (see image below).
In order to solve the problem, the best way is to first verify the geometry and then close the gaps by taking advantage of the ConstructionTree™ structure that will allow you to apply changes to the model and update the geometry.
In some cases, you may also prefer to perform the operation without fixing the geometry.
To do this, choose the Round tool, then select the object. Now, use the CTRL+ENTER shortcut to close the tool without adding radii (They will be added later). Increase the Sew Tolerance as displayed in the image below.
You should increase the Sew Tolerance by small increments until you get the following panel (see image below). This panel informs you that the number of edges has changed. Just click OK.
Now, by using a bigger value for Sew Tolerance (see image below), all the edges are highlighted.
At this point, you can click the Insert Radius checkbox to add the radius you need.
Remember that in order to perform the operation, you will need to apply radii to ALL the edges that had gaps (they were displayed in yellow when you used the Tolerance Check). Of course, you can also add any other radius that you need.
Video – How to model a Spray Bottle
A new demo showing how to model a spray bottle is available. See how solidThinking lets you explore any possible design alternative in real time.
You can find the real time version of the demo, useful for learning, at the Demos page of the solidThinking Web site.
An accelerated version of the demo is avaialble at www.youtube.com/solidthinking.
Tip: Previewing Transformations
The Translate, Rotate, and Scale tools have no Console prompts or ‘creation phase’ so the Tool panel is immediately active. Like all basic transform tools, we can either enter exact values in the Tool Panel or simply click-and-drag in the workspace to interactively perform the action.
The input boxes for the Translate, Rotate, and Scale tools will accept numeric input at any time until the action is closed.
This means that you can ‘preview’ the effects of the value you entered and still enter another value to replace the previous one. These values are not cumulative, so entering a value of -3 and then a value of -1 will not equal -4.
