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      <title>Rendering</title>
      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/disciplines/rendering/feed.xml</link>
      <description>Rendering</description>
      <lastBuildDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 12:00:22 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <item>
      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Spline on Surface to Create Earth : SOLIDWORKS Tutorial ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/spline-on-surface-to-create-earth-solidworks-tutorial/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/70961</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 11:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ This SOLIDWORKS tutorial demonstrated the use of the spline on surface and split line features through the creation of an Earth-inspired model. 
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      </description>
      <content:encoded>
      <![CDATA[ 
This SOLIDWORKS tutorial demonstrated the use of the spline on surface and split line features through the creation of an Earth inspired model. The design process began with the intention of representing the Earth in a more meaningful way. Initially, a decal was considered for the landmasses, but the concept evolved into a glass globe to emphasize the planet’s fragility. This shift led to exploring the spline on surface tool for the first time, revealing just how powerful and flexible it could be.







The process started with a plant pot model that had been previously created in the 3DEXPERIENCE app xShape. With this part open, a sketch was created on the front plane. Using the line tool, a line was drawn from the centre of the globes prongs, to the opposite side, followed by the use of a line arc to form a semi-circle. This profile was then revolved to create a spherical body, making sure the result remained unmerged.







To integrate the plant pot into the globe design, the move/copy bodies feature was used to create a duplicate of the plant pot. The combine feature was then applied, setting the operation type to subtract. The globe was selected as the main body, and the copied plant pot body was chosen from the solid bodies list. Once applied, this created indents in the globe, allowing it to sit and rotate on its axis.







To preserve the original plant pot file, the part was saved as a new file named Earth Globe. From there, the globe’s surface was selected and the edit decal tool was used to import a world map PNG file. Within the mask image settings, the mask type was changed to selective colour mask, and the eyedropper tool was used to remove the pale blue background from the image. While not essential, this step simplified the mapping process by eliminating the image edges and allowing me to overlap the image without covering the map.







In the mapping settings, the software automatically applied spherical mapping. The decal placement was adjusted using the latitude and longitude controls, and the fixed aspect ratio option was unchecked to allow the image to be scaled appropriately across the globe. Further adjustments were made using the axis direction controls until the map aligned correctly. After confirming the positioning around the entire globe, the decal was applied.







With the decal in place, the spline on surface tool was accessed from the sketch tab. This tool was used to trace the landmasses directly onto the globe’s surface. Although the initial decal lacked high detail, it provided a guide for demonstration purposes of this tutorial. More detailed references were used later, for the final design.







With the spline, I traced more slowly around complex edges, occasionally using escape on my keyboard, and restarting the spline tool to create sharper transitions. To keep the model more simple and stop the software slowing due to the complex sketches, the sketching was divided into three separate split sketches rather than attempting the entire globe in one go.







All sketches were completed before moving on to the split line feature, as applying it after one spline sketch would cause the decal to disappear. Using the split line tool with the split type set to Intersection, each sketch was selected along with the globe face. The surface split option was left as natural, and once applied, the globe’s surface became divided along the traced sketch.







For the final appearance, a green glass material was&nbsp;applied to the split land areas, while a blue glass appearance was used for the oceans, reinforcing the fragile, transparent aesthetic. The completed part file included all three sketches, forming a fully detailed globe. Once in Visualize, I added a frosted texture to the glass appearances, this stops the globe being too transparent and makes the map more clear.&nbsp;







The save bodies feature was then used to export both the globe and the plant pot into an assembly. Within the assembly, the globe was mated in a way that allowed it to rotate freely on its axis. A small plant label was also included to complete the design labelled &#8216;Earth&#8217;. The final assembly was used to produce an animation, which was rendered using SOLIDWORKS Visualize, bringing the concept to life.







This project showcased not only the technical capabilities of tools like spline on surface and split line, but also how thoughtful design choices and material application could elevate a simple model into something more expressive and meaningful.






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<item>
      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Ice Cream Cone: SOLIDWORKS Tutorial ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/ice-cream-cone-solidworks-tutorial/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/70944</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:13:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ In this tutorial, I’ll show you how I created a realistic wafer cone using features including Helix and Spiral, Sweep, Circular Pattern, Wrap and Surface Modelling.
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      </description>
      <content:encoded>
      <![CDATA[ 
This tutorial shows how to model a realistic wafer ice cream cone in SOLIDWORKS using a range of features including Helix and Spiral, Sweep, Circular Pattern, Wrap and Surface Modelling. Although the finished model looks quite detailed, it&#8217;s built using a series of straightforward features that come together to create the finished waffle cone.







The model starts with a simple revolved cone, which is then shelled to create the wafer thickness. A reference plane is added from the top edge so the cone can be split into separate bodies, making it easier to create the waffle pattern before everything is combined again.



The waffle texture is created using two tapered helices running in opposite directions. Each helix is used as the path for a sweep, with a loft joining the two ends together before a fillet softens the transition. Once one section is complete, it&#8217;s patterned around the cone using Circular Pattern before all of the bodies are combined into a single solid. A few revolved details and small fillets finish off the outside of the cone.



Next, the internal support structure is added. This is created using a simple extrude, which is patterned around the center of the cone, followed by a thin feature to create the reinforcing ring. A revolved cut is then used to remove the unwanted material, completing the inside of the cone.



To add some branding, I embossed the text &#8220;SOLIDSCOOPS&#8221; around the top of the cone. Wrapping directly onto the tapered face proved difficult, so instead I created a temporary cylinder around the cone and used the Wrap feature on that instead. The text was then converted into surfaces, thickened back towards the cone and trimmed before being combined with the main body. A few finishing fillets help blend everything together.



The ice cream itself is created from a scalloped revolved profile, which is copied, scaled and rotated to build up the soft serve shape. The tip is modeled separately using a revolved profile before using Flex to bend it into the familiar peak, with fillets helping to blend all of the sections together.



Finally, no British 99 would be complete without a flake. This is modeled from a spline using Extruded Thin, before Offset Surface and Thicken are used to create the finished geometry. Several copies are then rotated together to create the rippled chocolate effect before adding a simple solid core.



The completed model is finished with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry appearances before being rendered in SOLIDWORKS Visualize. This project is a great way to practise working with multi-body parts, sweeps, patterns, surfacing and embossed text, while creating a fun model that&#8217;s a little different from a typical mechanical part.










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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Create an Experience with SOLIDWORKS Design 2026 Visualization and Rendering Enhancements ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/create-an-experience-with-solidworks-design-2026-visualization-and-rendering-enhancements/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/70183</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ The latest visualization and rendering enhancements help you create virtual twins of your materials with DSPBR appearances, and experience more realistic versions of your SOLIDWORKS Design model with the Flatten Floor and Image-Based Lighting enhancements. 
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      </description>
      <content:encoded>
      <![CDATA[ 
At Dassault Systèmes, we believe that design goes beyond simply creating a product; it’s about creating an experience. SOLIDWORKS visualization and rendering capabilities build on this concept to give you more control over your designs. This allows you to quickly explore intricate details, spatial arrangements, and aesthetic choices before production to convey design intent and collaborate with all stakeholders.



The latest visualization and rendering enhancements help you create virtual twins of your materials with DSPBR appearances, and experience more realistic versions of your SOLIDWORKS Design model with the Flatten Floor and Image-Based Lighting enhancements.



Did I mention you can do this right in your SOLIDWORKS Design environment? Let’s break down what’s new in SOLIDWORKS Design 2026 for visualization and rendering.



In SOLIDWORKS Design R2026x general availability (GA), we added support for Dassault Systèmes Physically-Based Rendering (DSPBR) appearances. DSPBR is a highly realistic, standardized material system developed by Dassault Systèmes and is now also available in SOLIDWORKS Design. It is designed to accurately simulate how light interacts with real-world surfaces, creating photorealistic textures for 3D design and engineering workflows. DSPBR Shading allows you to create realistic models with greater control over appearance parameters, using the new DSPBR appearances directly from SOLIDWORKS Design.







Additionally, SOLIDWORKS Scenes now features Image-Based Lighting (IBL) to increase realism and provide real-world lighting, along with background and reflections, based on the scene.



In addition, in FD01, we’ve given you more control over appearances by adding textures to Metallic, Transparency, and Normal parameters, and enabling Bump Maps for DSPBR appearances, giving you even more realistic outcomes directly within SOLIDWORKS.



We also made Flatten Floor improvements within the Edit Scene functionality. It helps your models look more natural within the Scenes and feel more grounded when moving.







Also, did you know that if you have SOLIDWORKS Visualize, you can leverage its power from within SOLIDWORKS Design to quickly generate amazing renderings? Yes, in R2026x GA, we added that capability so you can create more accurate, photo-realistic models, communicate more thoroughly to stakeholders, create marketing materials and much more without having to leave Visualize!







To see these features in action and learn about other enhancements, see the GA Wiki page here and the FD01 page here.



Visualization and rendering do far more than just create nice pictures. They accelerate your time-to-market by allowing you to test different design variations and appearances, and to conduct entire marketing virtual photo shoots long before a physical product even exists. These high-fidelity renderings supercharge your marketing campaigns and secure early buy-in when it matters most.



Plus, multidisciplinary engineering teams thrive on effective communication. By producing vivid 3D renders, you create a shared visual language that bridges the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders, driving better collaboration.



With this technology, mechanical engineers can streamline their workflows, improve collaboration, and efficiently deliver high-quality products faster, and better yet, deliver an experience. The best part is you now have more of these tools at your fingertips in SOLIDWORKS Design. For those who want even more rendering capabilities, check out the SOLIDWORKS Visualize website here.
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ What’s New in SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2026 ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/whats-new-in-solidworks-visualize-2026/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/67183</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 13:00:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ For starters, you can leverage SOLIDWORKS Visualize rendering software directly from SOLIDWORKS…
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      <![CDATA[ SOLIDWORKS 2026 is here, and I’m excited to tell you what’s new in SOLIDWORKS Visualize rendering software. For starters, you can leverage Visualize directly from SOLIDWORKS. Learn more about the latest enhancements below!Render with Visualize from SOLIDWORKS Design – quickly produce photorealistic renderings from within SOLIDWORKS Design.As I mentioned, you can access the power of Visualize directly within SOLIDWORKS Design to quickly produce photorealistic renderings, enhancing design presentation and decision-making with high-quality visuals.To render with SOLIDWORKS Visualize, first, you will need SOLIDWORKS Visualize installed on your machine. Once installed, you need to enable the Visualize Add-in in SOLIDWORKS Design by clicking Tools > Add-ins > and checking the Box to activate the add-in. Once you have the add-in enabled in SOLIDWORKS Design, simply go to the CommandManager and click Render in the Render Tools tab. You can specify options for the output image settings, such as size and quality, in the PropertyManager. Once you click OK, your rendering creation will begin.This is a great enhancement, as you can produce photorealistic renderings without stepping outside of SOLIDWORKS Design.Support for DSPBR Appearances – gain more control over appearances.Create more realistic models in SOLIDWORKS Design with greater control over appearance parameters using the new Dassault Systèmes Physically Based Rendering (DSPBR) appearances. This creates a seamless transition from design to rendering by ensuring visual consistency.In addition, SOLIDWORKS Scenes now feature Image-Based Lighting (IBL) to increase realism and provide real-world lighting, along with background and reflections, based on the scene.All parameters from SOLIDWORKS Design map directly to Visualize. To use the tab, select under Appearance Visual Style in Tools > Options > System Options > Display.Support Stellar Fast Render Mode on AMD GPUs – experience real-time interactive rendering performance with support for AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.SOLIDWORKS Visualize now supports native GPU acceleration on AMD hardware using the 3DS Stellar Fast rendering mode, providing real-time, interactive rendering performance for both the Visualize viewport and offline renders with AMD GPUs, as well as NVIDIA GPUs.AMD GPU support for Stellar Fast Render Mode provides you with more options for hardware while still benefiting from real-time rendering within SOLIDWORKS Visualize.To see these enhancements in action and see what else is new in SOLIDWORKS R2026x GA, check out the What’s New Wiki page here.That’s just a glimpse of the latest enhancements available now. See my last two blogs on what else has been added this year:What’s New in SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2025x FD01What’s New in SOLIDWORKS Visualize R2025x FD02To learn more about what’s new in SOLIDWORKS 2026 solutions, visit https://www.solidworks.com/product/whats-new.That’s a wrap. Happy holidays, everyone! I hope to see you at 3DEXPERIENCE World in Houston, Texas, from February 1-4, 2026. Catch me in the following presentations:
Turn Your CAD Models into Interactive Product Web Experiences
Efficient Design with xDesign: Mastering Contextual Tools and Shortcuts
Extended Reality Meet-Up
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ SOLIDWORKS Motion Analysis Use Cases ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/solidworks-motion-analysis-use-cases/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/60918</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:00:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ Motion Analysis in SOLIDWORKS is a powerful tool that is often underutilized.…
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      </description>
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      <![CDATA[ Motion Analysis in SOLIDWORKS is a powerful tool that is often underutilized. It expands on SOLIDWORKS’ built-in assembly motion capabilities (such as real-time collision detection) to provide a full-fledged multibody dynamics simulation that can be used for a wide variety of engineering applications.Figure 1. Example mechanisms analyzed with SOLIDWORKS Motion.More precisely, Motion Analysis provides “rigid body dynamics” or “rigid body kinematics.” This defines one of the key aspects of SOLIDWORKS Motion: that all bodies involved in the simulation are treated as non-deformable.This rigid body assumption tends to be appropriate for a wide breadth of physics and engineering problems. Common applications may range from prediction of forces and range of motion for mechanisms and linkages, to sizing motors, springs and dampers for dynamic systems, or predicting physics that require complex 3D contact interactions such as objects moving through hoppers or along conveyors.We’ll cover many such cases in this article, with a focus on when the tool can and should be used and details on key setup considerations for different classes of problem.Types of Motion Studies and LicensingIf you’ve ever created a “motion study” in SOLIDWORKS, you’ve probably seen that there are several tiers of functionality available.
Animation: Keyframe-based animation, strictly for visuals that don’t involve complex physics.
Basic Motion: Video game-style physics (powered by Nvidia PhysX) that can believably simulate complex 3D physics, but cannot be used for engineering data or decisions.
Motion Analysis: Robust engineering-grade solver (powered by ADAMS) for dynamics and kinematics including prediction of forces
Figure 2. Choosing study type.Of these options, Animation and Basic Motion are included in all versions of SOLIDWORKS. Motion Analysis, however, is only included in SOLIDWORKS Premium (and equivalent 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Premium), or SOLIDWORKS Simulation packages.It’s also worth pointing out that it’s an add-in that must be enabled in SOLIDWORKS, so if you believe you should have access to it but don’t see it in your options, check to make sure the add-in is loaded.Figure 3. Ensure the Motion add-in is loaded.Note that there is an additional caveat regarding a subset of Motion functionality called “event-based” motion that we’ll discuss later in the article.Analyzing MechanismsPerhaps the most obvious applications for Motion Analysis are the design and analysis of mechanisms, such as the automotive suspension and the landing gear pictured at the beginning of the article.We’ll start our journey by analyzing a very simple case – the equivalent of “Hello World” for any dynamics analysis, the four-bar linkage.Figure 4. A simple four-bar linkage setup.In this case, a virtual motor is defined to induce the rotation. An arbitrary force was applied to generate some resistance, and a virtual spring was defined between some points to make things more interesting.You may also spy a “trace path” that has been placed on the point of force application. These paths can be converted into SOLIDWORKS sketches, which can be useful for defining keep-out zones or performing mechanism synthesis.Sizing Motors &#038; ActuatorsFigure 5. Motor definition and power consumption plot.There are many options for defining motors and linear actuators. This example uses a simple constant speed motor, but they may be defined with complex behaviors including imported data or user expressions. Resulting forces, torque and power can be extracted to size motors or as a metric for further optimization.Preparing Assemblies for Motion AnalysisLet’s discuss the best and worst thing about using SOLIDWORKS Motion for your assembly analysis: it uses your existing assembly mates.On the surface, this seems great! However, in practice, it means some users run into difficulties trying to take their complex assemblies and toss them into Motion Analysis.There are two main challenges here that need to be addressed:
Components must be mated in a physically correct way.
Redundancies must be addressed.
Firstly, for Motion Analysis there are entire mating techniques that I would generally consider to be a best practice — such as mating between reference points, coordinate systems, or other abstract reference geometry — that are usually unacceptable for accurate force extraction in motion studies.The most tried and true way I’ve found to mate an assembly for Motion is to suppress any pins, axles or fasteners and simply follow the load path, and mate each component’s faces together where the associated fastener or connector would go. This may mean creating new configurations of your assembly, or in some cases building a second assembly from the ground up with a Motion analysis mating scheme in mind.In the example of the simple four-bar linkage, the fasteners are omitted and the individual links are mated concentrically based on their holes. The bottom link is fixed and the remaining links have the necessary degrees of freedom in the assembly to allow the appropriate movement.Figure 6. Bushing definitions.Once the Motion Analysis is active, you’ll find additional settings under an “Analysis” tab for any of the mates. This allows defining more physically-based information like friction and stiffness to the mates. I recommend taking advantage of the “bushing” functionality to assign some defined stiffness to these virtual connections, which will help avoid any issues with redundancies when it comes time to extract forces.Battling RedundanciesIf you’re familiar with linear statics problems, you may remember the case of a “statically indeterminate” problem. Imagine a door hanging from two hinges and subject to nothing but its own weight from gravity. We know intuitively that each hinge should carry about half the weight, but this type of determination relies on elastic deformation somewhere in the system.In a perfectly rigid assumption (like the default behavior in SOLIDWORKS Motion) it is indeterminate, and you may find all the weight carried by the top hinge or the bottom with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Applying bushings with stiffness, even a very high stiffness, will allow some deformation to occur, which should be enough for the system to self-equilibrate.OptimizationOnce an initial study is set up, it’s easy to perform further iteration or optimization by taking advantage of SOLIDWORKS Design Study capabilities, which work nicely with SOLIDWORKS Motion. Here I’m automatically varying the dimensions of a couple links in a table-based approach, and I can access the motion results for any individual scenario by simply selecting it, if I’d like to dive further into the results for that iteration.Figure 7. Design Study for mechanism optimization.Determining Range of Motion &#038; Trace PathsThe “trace path” functionality in SOLIDWORKS Motion allows tracking the movement of any point in the model over the course of the study, which can be very useful for establishing range of motion. In this example of a 6-DOF robotic arm, the motion was prescribed using the “Mate Controller” functionality in SOLIDWORKS, which is a convenient way to control individual axes similar to how you might use jog handles on a robot’s pendant control.Figure 8. Robotics range of motion using the Mate Controller and Trace Path.Once you’re happy with the behavior of the Mate Controller, you can create a motion study and use the wizard to import the path. This allows extraction of forces within the motion study, as well as generating trace paths.Photo Rendering &#038; Product VisualizationMotion Analysis is great for getting engineering data, but there’s some fun to be had too. Motion studies can be rendered in tools like SOLIDWORKS Visualize, something I did years ago for the example below. The camera movement was keyframed manually, but the physics of the dice are purely from SOLIDWORKS Motion, with solid contact and initial velocity defined to represent the dice roll.Figure 9. Motion study rendered in SOLIDWORKS Visualize.There are serious applications here for product visualization, particularly if there are any contact interactions involved.The latest versions of SOLIDWORKS also support exporting 3D models (with Motion studies) to .GLTF or .GLB format which is a VR/AR/web-friendly model standard. You can read more about this in the SOLIDWORKS Help Files.Predicting Complex ContactFor behaviors that aren’t captured by mates, SOLIDWORKS Motion supports contact interaction including fairly robust 3D contact interactions. Second to mates/redundancies, contact issues seem to be the most common place users run into trouble with SOLIDWORKS Motion.Figure 10. Solid Contact interactions.The example above was run with the default contact accuracy settings, which bias toward solution speed over accuracy.As a result, you can see some penetration between the blocks and the floor, excess jitter and overall, a solution that may be more unstable than reality. In most cases, this is a very solvable problem.Figure 11. Contact Settings and Study Properties.When using contact interactions, I recommend making a few key changes to the Motion Study Properties:
Drastically increase the “Frames per second” depending on the relative speed of the contacting objects,
And either increase the 3D Contact Resolution slider or enable Precise Contact.
These two changes can solve the majority of contact issues, but if you need to go deeper there are advanced solver options and alternate solvers that can be specified.  If you’re planning on tackling complex contact problems in Motion Analysis, I’d highly recommend playing around with a jumble of blocks or spheres and doing your own experimentation with the accuracy sliders and solver settings to familiarize yourself and find a compromise between solve time and accuracy.Depending on the type of contact, you can also save a substantial amount of solve time by defining “contact groups” instead of selecting everything globally.Event-based Motion for Predicting Cycle TimeNone of the examples so far have featured any sensor logic or sequential steps — something that’s very common in machine design and manufacturing.You can certainly sequence various events (such as motors or actuators turning on or off) using only the Motion Analysis techniques we’ve discussed so far. But there’s also a much better method called “Event-Based Motion” which allows the definition of virtual proximity sensors, as seen below.Figure 12. Proximity sensor definition for event-based motion.Event-based motion unlocks an alternate display of the Motion Study where you can swap to a task view, which allows sequencing events, or task actions based on a task trigger such as triggering a proximity sensor or the completion of another event.In this tutorial example, the second robot is sequenced such that it will perform its welding actions only once the stock material has moved into position and triggered the proximity sensor.As the chain of events stacks up, this can save a lot of time (and sanity) compared to the guess-and-check method that would be necessary to try to sequence events in a purely time-based environment.Figure 13. Event-based motion in action.As an additional output from event-based motion you can see exactly what time each task was triggered and completed and achieve estimates of overall cycle time.Licensing for Event-based MotionUnlike time-based Motion Analysis (which is available in SOLIDWORKS Premium and all versions of SOLIDWORKS Simulation) event-based motion analysis requires SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional and above software licenses.Summary &#038; ConclusionWith millions of SOLIDWORKS users around the world, I’d hope we would hear about Motion studies much more often. Many people have access to this tool, and either may not know they do, or may not be aware of its capabilities.There may be some minor friction to adoption; for example, with standard mechanisms driven by assembly mates, users have to contend with appropriate mating schemes that may sometimes mean modifying or re-creating an assembly. For problems involving complex contact, users may have to explore and adjust the default accuracy and solver options.In my opinion, these are small hurdles to overcome for the capabilities of the dynamics studies that SOLIDWORKS Motion Analysis provides. SOLIDWORKS provides built-in tutorials, so if you have access to the software, I encourage you to give it a spin and think about how and when you may use it to improve your next designs! ]]>
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      <![CDATA[ Caterpillar Abacus featuring Patterns: SOLIDWORKS Tutorial ]]>
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      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/caterpillar-abacus-featuring-patterns-solidworks-tutorial/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/61008</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Jul 2025 15:00:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ For this tutorial I thought I’d show you how I designed and…
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      <![CDATA[ This is a fairly simple SOLIDWORKS tutorial, which encompasses several different features to create the Caterpillar shaped abacus. I enjoy creating tutorials like this, as beginners can follow along and see how a handful of features are used to design and model something entirely within SOLIDWORKS. Th decals that bring my design to life are available to download here.The main components of the caterpillar are simple sketches that are extruded. Sketching the caterpillar’s body, I  simplified the design by only sketching a section of the caterpillar body first. The sketch was then fully defined. Using the Linear pattern feature, I chose the pattern direction, and selected the ‘Bodies’ box, to pattern the caterpillar body. I input 4 instances spaced apart by 58mm.To create the wire tracks for the beads, I added a new plane midpoint to the caterpillar body segment. Sketching onto the new plane, I sketched an arch and fully defined the sketch. I then used the swept boss feature with a circular profile at 2.5mm, ensuring merge result is unchecked. I used the linear feature again to pattern the sweep bodies, I patterned the body by 4 instances by 58mm, and applied it.For the caterpillar antenna’s, I started a sketch on the caterpillar face. Using the extrude feature, I used the ‘from’ feature and changed the drop down to offset. Here I can offset the extrusion by 4.5mm midplane with a 2mm thickness, this extrudes the sketch in the middle of the caterpillar’s face extrusion.The antenna would be manufactured with felt fabric, keeping the body separate meant that I could flex the antenna body. Using the flex feature, I rotated the trim planes around  to bend the antenna vertically by 22 degrees. Then repeated the feature again, only this time, I moved the bend axis line towards the bottom of the antenna, so I could bend the part by 14 degrees to look like the below image. I then mirrored over the antenna, selecting the front plane for my mirror plane.Moving onto the abacus beads, I sketched the beads top profile, extruded it by 6.5mm, offset from the base extrusions face. I then used the chamfer feature, and I chamfered the top and bottom outer edges of the bead. The edges were then softened using a fillet by 2mm. Patterning the bead, I used the linear pattern feature, changed the spacing to 6.5mm and the instances to 10. Instead of patterning the 10 beads along for the other 3 bead tracks, I used move/copy bodies, this choice is entirely for the ease of applying appearances later on. When I use linear pattern the bead solid bodies don’t group in order, whereas when I use move/copy bodies they stay grouped, making selections much easier.Using the move/copy bodies feature again, I created a copy of the antennas, but keeping them in the same position I used the combine feature. Changing the operation type to subtract, I selected the caterpillar face body for the main body, and a set of antennas for the bodies to subtract. This leaves a slot within the caterpillar head for the antennas to sit into.Selecting the combine feature again, I changed the operation type back to add, and selecting all the caterpillar segments I combined the bodies into one. Finally, I needed to model rubber stoppers for the bead tracks, these soften the drop of the wooden beads. Sketching, extruding and adding a chamfer to the rubber stoppers, I used the liner pattern the body. The distance between instances is 58mm, with 4 instances. Once applied, I used the mirror feature to mirror over the 4 rubber stopper bodies.With the model is complete, I applied all of my appearances, and my custom decals to the model. My decals are PNG image files, so the background colour can be removed and reveal the appearance applied underneath. With the caterpillar abacus complete and saved. I created a motion study and animated the abacus, which was rendered in SOLIDWORKS Visualize, you can view this at the end of the tutorial. ]]>
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Physics Simulator SOLIDWORKS Visualize Pro Tutorial: Mother’s Day Theme ]]>
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      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/physics-simulator-solidworks-visualize-pro-tutorial-mothers-day-theme/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/61228</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 02 May 2025 15:00:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ Starting from the beginning of my tutorial, I like to begin by ensuring…
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      <![CDATA[ Starting from the beginning of my tutorial, I like to begin by ensuring my cameras aspect ratio is the size I want, 16 by 9 is the generic screen size, so I usually choose this. For Instagram I tend to choose the 1 by 1 ratio. Then selecting the models tab, I used the plus icon to insert a new model and selected the plane. I used this as a floor part, which acted as the barrier for the falling hearts. You can run a motion study fall without this, but I link to use a plane to apply an appearance to. Selecting snap to floor, I can drag the position of the plane up along the y-axis to bring it above the floor a little otherwise it disappears under the scenes floor. I applied a rough, matte, peachy pink, basic appearance to the floor without reflections.To begin with I had the renderer selection on preview, but to see the appearance in a real view you need to change the view to accurate. This can slow down the software a little when you have a lot going on, so I tend to only use this to get a preview of my appearances or render windows before the final renderings are done. The green selection is preview mode, while orange is accurate.Using the model plus icon again, I used import model to bring in 13 sweet hearts with a different note on each representing Mother’s Day, such as LOVE MOM, MOM HUGS, SUPER MOM etcWhen all the hearts open, they came into place all stacked within the same place, to move them I used the object manipulation tool to bring up the transform robot, it makes it really easy to move parts quickly. With them all selected, I dragged them up above the floor plane to a height high enough for a nice fall distance. The higher I go the further the hearts may scatter as they may bounce higher, but this can also be dependent on the gravity settings applied later on. There is an option in Visualize to create random patterns with parts, you are able to create a natural variation to an array of model parts. I demonstrate this feature towards the end of the tutorial.Next I began to randomly place and duplicate the hearts, nothing was precise in its location; it was all by eye and again intentionally random in its placement. Duplicating groups of hearts, I moved and rotated them creating even more variations in the orientation of the hearts. I wanted them to fall in all different ways, with many being able to fall on top of each other, and with some face down.Once I was happy with the placement of my parts, I needed to apply the physics settings to all of the parts. Selecting all of the heart parts only and not the plane, I used the physics tab. Under physics, I’m able to choose a simulation type, this is what I will be applying to the selected parts. There are four options to choose from, for the hearts to fall, I needed to apply Dynamic, that means that they will react to gravity and each other.I then needed to select the collider geometry, this is all about contact accuracy. You can either use boundary box or mesh, for this I chose the mesh option, even though it can slow down my simulation results, I wanted it to be precise in how the hearts interact to each other. For the Plane part, I needed to apply physics too, I used the Static option so that it remains fixed in place, but the heart parts in the simulation can collide with it. For the collider geometry, I could keep this on bounding box as it is a flat, basic shape, so this will keep the simulation simpler.For this simulation, I didn’t change any of the Physical properties of the simulation to keep the tutorial simple, but you are able to play around with the friction, elasticity and mass.The next step to look at is the gravity settings for the simulation. The earths gravity is 9.807 meters per second squared (m/s2), but I use a much lower level of gravity, to slow down the fall speed and allow myself the ability to create more render frames from the animation. I could then record the simulation, once all of the hearts drop and stop moving, I can stop the recording and the animation keyframes will be created. I’m then able to select play and watch the animation play out. At this point I could see a nice random scatter of parts, but I also ensured that I could see all the different mother’s day themed quotes. I also like to double check the finished animation from different views to ensure I’m happy with the finished physical fall, to ensure I have a choice of views for my camera animations but also so that I can check for any issues in the simulation. You can get over-stacked parts, duplicates or parts that have fallen into the floor, its not really an issue for me when I have so many parts as I can just delete any issue parts that are visible to me. When creating projects like this, I usually run several motion studies with different physicals settings before I am happy with the final result.Moving onto the camera tab, I duplicate my current camera and create a keyframe on one using the K key on my keyboard. The keyframes will form part of the animation and allow me to create a camera animation as the hearts are falling. Once my camera animation keys are in place, I can render the animation, I prefer to render with high quality settings and turn off the denoiser to keep my renderings more detailed and have more frames for editing. You can see the final result in the tutorial.Starting another Visualize project, I demonstrated the pattern feature. Bringing in the 13 hearts again, I duplicated them 7 times to have over 100 hearts. Then applied physics to the parts again using dynamic for the simulation type and mesh for the collider geometry.  Selecting all of the heart parts, I used the model plus icon and selected New Pattern.Under the Formation section of the General tab you will find the pattern controls. Here I could choose between various pattern types, for this project I chose Scatter to create a random pattern. The position and rotation ranges are used to tell Visualize which dimensions I want the model to be randomized within. You are also able to select the random button to switch between different formations.From here I could double checking the gravity settings and select record. This created an equally random fall in a much quicker way, as I had less of a set up to do, no manual placements. However, it is something I had to play around with until I was happy with the final animation.
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      <![CDATA[ SOLIDWORKS® Support Monthly News – February 2025 ]]>
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      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/solidworks-support-monthly-news-february-2025/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/61292</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 25 Feb 2025 12:27:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ Hello to all, Welcome to the new edition of the SOLIDWORKS® Support…
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      <![CDATA[ Hello to all,Welcome to the new edition of the SOLIDWORKS® Support Monthly News! This monthly news blog is co-authored by members of the SOLIDWORKS® Technical Support teams worldwide. Here is the list of topics covered in this month’s Blog:

SOLIDWORKS® Visualize Boost 2025 – Redefined


How import of Motion Studies works in Visualize Connected?

1. SOLIDWORKS® Visualize Boost 2025 – Redefined–  Richie MORESOLIDWORKS Visualize Boost allows users to utilize a system resource in a network to render Visualize Projects. This add-in increases render speeds and productivity by allowing it to send jobs to other machine(s), freeing up your computing resources for Visualize, CAD, or other demanding applications.SOLIDWORKS Visualize Boost 2024 had a lengthy and complex process of connecting a coordinator Render machine (server) to a non-coordinator machine (client). Visualize Boost 2024 would support NVIDIA IRay Render Engine.The Status and Setup Page would look like the attached images.SOLIDWORKS Visualize Boost 2025 is redesigned to simply the setup process and configure the coordinator non-coordinator across a network. Visualize Boost 2025 supports DS Stellar Render Engine since NVIDIA Render Engine is no longer available.Setup – 
On Coordinator machine (Render server)

Enable ‘Coordinator ‘
Note down the ‘IP Address ‘and ‘Boost Port’







 On Non-Coordinator machine (Client)

Enter the Coordinator ‘IP Address’ and ‘Boost Port’
Boost Status needs to be in ‘Connected’ state.







To Render Visualize Project with Boost Configuration,


Select the ‘Boost’ Renderer Selection.
Make sure the Boost Status is ‘ Connected’
2. How import of Motion Studies works in Visualize Connected?– Vinod KALESOLIDWORKS® Visualize add-in options (Export Advanced and Save Advanced) that are available in the Desktop version of SOLIDWORKS®, are not available in SOLIDWORKS Connected. Then how import of Motion Studies works in Visualize Connected?Refer the below steps that demonstrate the behavior:
To import motion studies into Visualize Connected, first you embed the motion study data in the SOLIDWORKS Connected part or assembly as shown in below image.





Enable the option Access Motion Study in MotionManager toolbar.





Save the model to 3DEXPERIENCE platform with option Save with marked Motion studies





Import the model with marked motion studies from platform, into Visualize Connected

When importing model, select Animations in Import Settings dialog box
Under Cameras tab, select ‘Animated Viewport’
Go to View menu and select Show Timeline to display the animation timeline








Note: To import existing models with Motion Studies (that are saved with desktop version of SOLIDWORKS®) into Visualize Connected, make sure the models are saved with Save Advanced option. ]]>
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Toy Birthday Cake: SOLIDWORKS Tutorial ]]>
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      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/toy-birthday-cake-solidworks-tutorial/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/21063</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 01 Dec 2024 16:00:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ The circular pattern is used to create the icing blobs from a extruded DXF sketch which has been extruded and domed on each side, once the body is patterned by 3 instances, it could be combined into one body. The candle part was created through a simple flower shaped extruded sketch, the extrusion was then flexed by twisting it by the top and bottom faces of the extrusion.
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      <![CDATA[ 


This tutorial involves creating five individual parts to be used to create a final assembly. The parts include a cake slice, candle, icing blob, balloon sign and a cake stand. The tutorial takes you through the process of importing a DXF to use as a sketch for revolving or extruding. All the DXF files used in the tutorial are available to download here 







The circular pattern is used to create the icing blobs from a extruded DXF sketch which has been extruded and domed on each side, once the body is patterned by 3 instances, it could be combined into one body. The candle part was created through a simple flower shaped extruded sketch, the extrusion was then flexed by twisting it by the top and bottom faces of the extrusion.







The balloon and cake stand are created by importing DXF files and using 3D features to bring them to life. You can create your own DXF files in vector programs to be used with SOLIDWORKS, or you can export DXF files from SOLIDWORKS models, this can be useful for creating accurate decal artwork for complex shapes and you want to ensure it fits. All the decals used in the tutorial are also available to download from here Decals were applied to most parts using projection mapping, which is a very flexible way of applying decals to parts. Other parts had simple plastic appearances added to them, specific colors were applied using their RGB values which you can add within the appearance.







All the finished parts were brought into an assembly and mated into place using coincident and concentric mates. With the final assembly an exploded view was created and exported to SOLIDWORKS Visualize&nbsp;to create a rendered animation which can be seen within the tutorial.







&nbsp;
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Christmas Tree Bell Run: SOLIDWORKS Tutorial ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blogs.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/christmas-tree-bell-run-solidworks-tutorial/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/21084</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 Nov 2024 10:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ This tutorial was inspired by a recent 3DExperience Challenge. The challenge was…
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      <![CDATA[ 
This tutorial was inspired by a recent 3DExperience Challenge. The challenge was to create a&nbsp;model inspired by the&nbsp;Fibonacci sequence&nbsp;in SOLIDWORKS and then render a high-quality 2D image with the help of&nbsp;3DEXCITE’s xStudio rendering&nbsp;software. You can see my entry rendering below. The submission was our own interpretation of Fibonacci’s influence through either&nbsp;form, function, pattern, or proportions. So, I decided to show you how I modeled this and also how I animated the toy too.&nbsp;The little bell part is available to download&nbsp;here&nbsp;











Skipping to the leaf sketch, I have my base part modeled in a SOLIDWOKRS Part file,&nbsp;selecting the top face of the tree post extrusion, I added a new plane 50mm below the face, flipping the offset. The shape of the leaf&nbsp; is very important and must be sketched correctly otherwise, when I start patterning the leaves they will overlap each other. The leaf sketch also needed to overlap the center post as the leaves will slot into the post. Ensure you fully define your sketch and add all of the tangent relations between the two arcs and the spline. The leaf was then extruded by 2mm, unmerged, keeping the bodies separate.







Using move/copy bodies, selecting the leaf body, I ensured that the copy box is unchecked as I only want to move the existing body. Then I rotated the body along the Z-axis by 18 degrees. Then again using move/copy bodies, I rotated the leaf, this time using the straight edge, inputting 35 degrees. It’s actually quite important to rotate the leaf in that order too, otherwise it will be in the wrong position. I softened the leaf appearance with a fillet on each of the sharp corners, I always add my fillets outside of the sketch as they are easier to edit.







Using the linear pattern feature, I used the tree’s center post for the pattern direction,&nbsp;and used bodies, to select the leaf body to pattern. I applied 6 instances, spaced apart by 62mm.







I attempted to use a variable pattern to enlarge the leaves as they go down, but it wouldn’t rotate the leaf, so I decided to try it a different way. So before I scaled up each leaf, I&nbsp;needed to add a coordinate system to each leaf. This will allow me to scale the leaf by a specific point of the leaf. Under reference geometry, I selected coordinate system, and starting with the 2nd leaf down as the first leaf will remain the same size. I could select the corner&nbsp;point of the leaf, and then select edges for the X and Y axis to attach to.&nbsp;Once applied you should see the visible coordinate system. If you can’t see it, you may need to toggle the view on under the view options. I repeated this process for each leaf.







Then using the scale feature, I’m selecting the second leaf down for the scale body, then under scale about I’m changing this drop down to coordinate system. For this, I can select the bodies coordinate system here. However, I’m not using uniform scaling as I want the thickness of the leaf to remain the same throughout. Unchecking uniform scaling, I can input the scale options across each axis. Ignoring the Y axis (thick would thicken the leaf) I input 1.1 in the X axis and Z axis and applied it. This scales the leaf up which is more visible from the top view. I then repeated this feature for each leaf, scaling the leaves up by increments of point 1. Ending the last leaf by 1.5.







Next, I used the circular pattern to pattern the 6 leaf bodies with&nbsp;4 instances, with equal spacing at 360 degrees. For the tree run to work, I needed to stagger the leaf heights to allow the bell to roll down the leaves, almost like a spiral staircase. Using move/copy bodies and selecting a column of leaves, ensuring copy is unchecked I moved the column down by 15.5mm. Moving around to the next column of leaves, I’m using move again and selecting the next 6 leaves, I’m moved them down by 31mm, this is the lowest level for the leaves. Then for the last column, I moved the last column of leaves up by 15.5mm.







Moving onto the star, sketching onto the right plane, I used the polygon and changed the parameters to 5. I used the pentagon for construction, ensuring I’m center to the post. Then sketching a point on top of the shape, I made the two lines equal to each other and dimensioned the points&nbsp;height to 26mm. I then used circular sketch pattern to pattern the lines from the pentagons center point by 5 instances. This creates a star. I then extruded the star midplane, unmerging the result. I also&nbsp;softened the edges of the star by 5mm, the fillet selection toolbar is useful for making multiple edge selections at once.







When applied, I needed to add features to make the part look how it should&nbsp;if it was made out of wood. To do this, I used the move/copy body feature to make 1 copy, this time of the post and all of the leaves. Using the combine feature, with operation type on subtract, I selected the star part as the main body, and the post as the body to subtract. This cuts away the post’s body copy away from the star. Then for the second combine feature, I used subtract again, selecting the post part as the main body, and then one of each leaf copy for the bodies to subtract, and applied it. You’ll then be able to see the slots cut into the post like below.







With my model complete,&nbsp;I applied some appearances to make my tree more festive, and brought the tree into an assembly. Dropping in the bell part at the top leaf of the tree, I could create a motion study. In my motion study tab, I had motion analysis selected, and for my study I applied gravity to my study along the Y axis, and applied contacts across both the tree and the bell parts. Under the motion study properties options, I ensured to turn on use precise contacts before I ran the study.







You will see at the result of my motion study at end of the tutorial, it was exported and rendered into SOLIDWORKS Visualize. I did add some extra models including some festive baubles, and added the depth of field to get the focused camera shot of the tree.








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