Tips & Tricks

1. Tips & Tricks Elton Smith Territory Technical Manager DS SolidWorks

3. Tips & Tricks 1 Survey Results 2 Computer Hardware 3 Large Assembly Performance

4. Survey Results 38 Replies 45%

5. Survey Results • 38 Replies 34% 32%

6. Survey Results 38 Replies 2 answers: “I do a lot of ‘top-down’ design so I mainly edit parts in assemblies” “part, assemblies, optical simulation” 87%

7. Survey Results 38 Replies Fireman: always putting out a fire Magician: somehow magically meet the deadlines Wizard: master of most functions in SolidWorks, rarely ever challenged Ninja: often complete tasks more quickly than mortal eyes and brains can process Godmode: people often wonder if you communicate telepathically with your computer 6 replies

8. Survey Results • 38 Replies, 67 answers • Prototype • Management • Optical Design Engineer • Industrial Design Consultant • Instructor • I manage others • engineer 7replies

9. Survey Results Thank You! • Fresh topics • Meaningful to everyone • New survey out soon

10. Tips & Tricks 1 Survey Results 2 Computer Hardware 3 Large Assembly Performance

11. Mark Johnson: SR. Technical Support Engineer Mike Cripps: Graphical Applications & Hardware Certification

12. Computer Hardware Graphics Card Hard Drive RAM Processer

13. Graphics Card

14. Graphics Card Open GL is a must • NO: SLI, CUDA, Tesla, etc… More onboard RAM, is it worth the extra cost? Multi display capabilities? Do a little homework, ask around http://www.spec.org/ http://www.tomshardware.com/

15. Hard Drive Solid State (SSD)? RAID Configuration (0 for speed) ? SATA II vs. III RAID 0 (block-level striping without parity or mirroring) has no (or zero) redundancy. It provides improved performance and additional storage but no fault tolerance. Hence simple stripe sets are normally referred to as RAID 0. Any drive failure destroys the array, and the likelihood of failure increases with more drives in the array (at a minimum, catastrophic data loss is almost twice as likely compared to single drives without RAID

16. RAM Dual, Triple or Quad channel? Match architecture of processor Do not mix match (ex: one 3GB & one 2GB) Fill all open DINs? Match accordingly • If dual then 2,4,6, etc… in pairs • If triple then 3,6,9, etc… in trips Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory?

17. Processor i7 vs. Xeon Sandy Bridge vs. Ivy Bridge Multi Core vs. Multi Processor Hyper-threading?

18. Graphics Card Mike Cripps Solid State Hard Drive Processor RAM Mark Johnson • Multiple processors and more cores isn’t really going to help you unless you: • Run lots of FEA studies • Create lots of photo renderings • Spend the $$ on: • Better single processor • More RAM • Better graphics card Extreme high end card is probably not necessary and in a lot of cases a waste of money • Get as much of the fastest you can afford • Motherboard and processor support must be considered • Good for mobility • Too expensive • Unstable • Dual Channel • ECC a must • Xeon all the way • Triple Channel • ECC a waste of $$ • A must have • Cheap • Fast • i7 or Xeon, doesn’t matter

19. http://mysolidbox.com/solidworks/

20. Tips & Tricks 1 Survey Results 2 Computer Hardware 3 Large Assembly Performance

21. Large Assembly Performance What is a “large” assembly? SolidWorks Settings Modeling Practices User Tools & Features

22. What is a “large” assembly? Any assembly that is complex enough to: • Max out your system resources • Hinder your productivity

23. What is a “large” assembly? Symptoms? Slow performance: • Open & save • Rebuild • Drawing creation • Rotation and viewing • Mating

24. Performance Contributions SolidWorks control: ~30% User control: ~70% Combined effort: • Proper Technology • Correct Implementation

25. Large Assembly Performance What is a “large” assembly? SolidWorks Settings Modeling Practices User Tools & Features

26. SolidWorks System Options

27. SolidWorks System Options

28. SolidWorks System Options

29. SolidWorks System Options

30. SolidWorks Document Properties

31. Large Assembly Performance What is a “large” assembly? SolidWorks Settings Modeling Practices User Tools & Features

32. Modeling Practices Assemblies solve serially in this order

33. Modeling Practices External References Great for modeling Impact on rebuild times Consider ‘locking’ or ‘breaking’ the references Use a macro to save you time Parents are unaware of child references

34. External References How do I know? In context: -> Out of context: -> ? Locked: -> * Broken: -> x

35. Modeling Practices Assembly Mate Performance Solve order, fastest to slowest: • Fixed • Relation Mates: (coincident, parallel, etc.) • Logical Mates (width, Cam, Gear) • Distance Mates • Limit Mates Avoid / Reduce • Total number of top level mates • Flexible subassemblies • Over-constrained geometry

36. Modeling Practices Avoid circular references Common during in-context design Some common symptoms • more than 1 rebuild • Rebuild symbol will not go away • Mating to components in a pattern

37. Modeling Practices Consider assembly skeletons Layout Sketches Reference Planes Defined work zones for individual users Makes top level assembly modeling less cumbersome Reduces top level mating

38. Modeling Practices Work locally Opening from a network is: • Much slower than locally • Extremely risky • Poor practice / bad habit Consider a workflow that allows you to copy locally • Pack & Go? Better yet, consider using a data management software • Local copies are automatic • Revisions are automatic • Permissions are automatic

39. Large Assembly Performance What is a “large” assembly? SolidWorks Settings Modeling Practices User Tools & Features

40. User Tools & Features AssemblyXpert Analyzes assembly performance • Number of referenced documents • Top level mates • Depth of assembly Ensure all files are converted to Latest version of SolidWorks

41. User Tools & Features Feature Freeze Reduce or eliminate rebuild times Still allows geometry updates Can be turned on or off at will Tools, options, System Options, General

42. User Tools & Features Defeature Remove unnecessary detail Reduce file size & number of referenced documents Can be set to utilize assembly mates Remove sensitive intellectual property Tools, Defeature (in assembly)

43. User Tools & Features Isolate Quick hide of everything except item(s) of your selection RMB (on a component), Isolate Ctrl + select multiple components

44. User Tools & Features Assembly Visualization Display by criteria • Any custom property • Material • Weight • Rebuild time

45. User Tools & Features Display States Alternative to Configurations(?) Controls • Component visibility • Display mode • Texture • Transparency Located under the configuration manager tab

46. User Tools & Features Other performance gaining utilities Large Assembly Mode Lightweight Large Design Review SpeedPak

47. Further Education http://store.solidworks.com/cgi-bin/SolidWorks/PMT1253-ENG.html

48. To Do List Try suggested settings Utilize suggested tools Document • What works • What doesn't • WHY? Build best practices document • Share it with your co-workers

50. Don’t forget Incorporate pest practices Document issues Get your VAR support team to assist