SolidWorks 2010- P20 ppsx

Saving Changes to the revision Table Template Just like with drawing templates, you can make modifications to any of the revi-sion table templates to meet your needs and save the templat

L e a r n T i m e s a v i n g F e a t u r e s f o r t h e D r a w i n g Te m p l a t e 5 3 9

7 Lastly, make sure the Use Document Settings option is enabled in the

Border section This will make it easier to adjust the appearance of the table in the Document Properties if the need arises

8 With all the appropriate options enabled, click the green check mark

and the revision table will be inserted in the drawing template

Saving Changes to the revision Table Template

Just like with drawing templates, you can make modifications to any of the

revi-sion table templates to meet your needs and save the template for future uses For

the drawings in this book we need to make a minor change to the revision table

that we will be using Rather than just have the change reflected in the drawing

template, we will also save the change to the revision table template

The default template that we used does not have a table header designating it

as Revision History We will add this header to the table and save it in the

draw-ing template and update the revision table template as well

1 Select the top row of the revision table to edit the cell.

2 With Caps Lock on, type REVISION HISTORY into the cell.

3 Select the text you just typed, and deselect the Use Document Font

but-ton on the Formatting toolbar We always prefer to have text items in drawings use the document font because when you make a change in the document properties, all the text items will update as well But for this case, you do not necessarily need to have the table header update

4 After deselecting Use Document Font, an additional row will be added to

the Formatting toolbar, allowing you to adjust the font for the selected text Change the text height of the Revision Table header to 14, and click anywhere outside the table to accept the change

The change you just made to the table will be reflected only in the drawing template and is not automatically made to the actual Revision Table template

To update the Revision Table template, you need to overwrite the existing table temple or create a new one Here’s how:

1 Right-click anywhere inside the revision table, and select Save As

from the menu

2 Browse to the folder where your revision templates are stored.

3 Select the file named No Zone Column.sldrevtbt, and click Save

4 When prompted to replace the existing template, click Yes The

tem-plate has now been updated for future use

Save and Share the Sheet Format and Template

Once you have made all the required modifications to the drawing template and sheet format, it is time to save the changes and make them available for use

You will need to save the drawing template and sheet format separately since they both have their own set of tasks The sheet format can be saved and used in existing drawings to change sheet size or format The drawing template will be used to create new drawings

Save the Sheet Format

Saving the sheet format will allow you to be able to use it in existing drawings

This is helpful if you have a drawing that was created with a different template and

S a v e a n d S h a r e t h e S h e e t F o r m a t a n d Te m p l a t e 5 4 1

You can also use saved sheet formats to change the size of a drawing sheet For

example, if you have a drawing that was originally created as a size A sheet and

you decide that the sheet is too small, you can replace the sheet format with a

larger size sheet without losing any other information you have already added to

the drawing

1 Once you complete all the modifications to the sheet format, hover

over or click the SolidWorks logo on the menu bar

2 Select Save Sheet Format from the File menu.

3 The Save Sheet Format window should already display the current

sheet formats If that is not the case, browse to the folder that tains the other sheet formats available for your system

con-4 Instead of overwriting an existing sheet format, renaming the file will

allow you to maintain different sheet formats for differing tasks For

in Figure 16.29

F I g u r e 1 6 2 9 Renaming a sheet to incorporate another sheet format

5 Click Save.

The newly created sheet format is now available for use in existing drawings

Figure 16.30 shows the sheet format available in the Sheet Properties window

By right-clicking in an existing drawing and selecting Properties from the

menu, you can change the sheet format to the one you just created

O

You can refer to the Sheet Format Folder Location setting in the System Options window to deter- mine which folder SolidWorks is using

F I g u r e 1 6 3 0 Selecting the sheet format in the Sheet Properties window

Save the Draw Template

It is now time to save the drawing template for later use After the template is saved,

it will be available for selection when creating a new drawing All the changes made

to the template including the options, custom properties, title block, revision table, and predefined views will be included when creating a new drawing

1 Hover over or click the SolidWorks logo in the menu bar Select Save

As from the File menu

2 In the Save As Type field of the Save As window, select Drawing

Templates (*.drwdot) The folder location will automatically change based on the location for templates defined in the System Options window

3 In the File Name field, enter the name for the template as FDC Size B.

4 Click Save

5 With all the changes saved, you can now close the drawing Click the

X in the top-right corner of the graphics area

S a v e a n d S h a r e t h e S h e e t F o r m a t a n d Te m p l a t e 5 4 3

Once the template is saved, it will become available for use and will be

dis-played in the Advanced view of the New SolidWorks Document window, as

shown in Figure 16.31

F I g u r e 1 6 3 1 New template available in New SolidWorks Document window

Share Templates and Sheet Formats

over a Network

Some organizations prefer to have their templates and sheet formats stored on a

network drive for all the users in the organization to share This approach saves

the CAD manager time by allowing him or her to update only one template with

no need to distribute it companywide The only difference in procedure described

earlier is to add the network location to the File Locations section of the System

Options window

t I p Of course, practice makes perfect, especially when making plates, since they can be a huge time-saver if set up correctly Instead of re-creating the same template from scratch, it is a good idea to build up your library of drawing templates and sheet formats for the other sizes of draw-ing sheets Using the same steps described in this chapter, create drawing templates and sheet formats for the size A, C, D, and E drawing sheets

tem-are You experienced?

Now You Can…

Create a drawing templateE

EUse the Title Block ManagerE

ETell the difference between First Angle and Third Angle projectionsE

EAdd a revision tableE

EAdd predefined viewsE

ESave templates and sheet formatsE

E

Chapter 17

Creating Simple, Stunning

Throughout the preceding chapters, you have learned many new skills in

SolidWorks that will ensure your success in future designs If you were to stop reading here, you would be able to create new designs, share them with other users, and even see your designs manufactured But, you would

be missing out one other skill that was previously considered too difficult and time-consuming to be a realistic option

Prior to SolidWorks 2008, photorealistic renderings needed to be created with software packages such as PhotoWorks, Maya, and others PhotoWorks is a pow-erful rendering program that is fully integrated within the SolidWorks environ-ment Although very powerful, many users have found the program too complex

to be usable for even the simplest of renderings

Luckily, PhotoView 360 was introduced by SolidWorks to take the task of ating photorealistic renderings from the hands of the elite and introduce it to

cre-the rest of cre-the SolidWorks community PhotoView 360 is a slicker, easier-to-use

stand-alone application that is included with the SolidWorks Professional and SolidWorks Premium packages

Even though PhotoView 360 sports a simple, easy-to-use interface, it does not skimp on the quality of images that can be created By the end of this chapter, you will have the skills needed to create some images that can rival those cre-ated with other, more complex rendering software packages

N O t e The 2011 release of PhotoView 360 will include even more tools that were previously available only in PhotoWorks Subsequently, PhotoWorks will be discontinued after 2011

Use the PhotoView 360 User Interface

The advantage of PhotoView 360 over PhotoWorks is its simplicity Take one look

at the user interface, as shown in Figure 17.1, and you will fall in love with its ease of use Everything that you need in order to create stunning renderings is available in the drop-down menus at the top of the window and three separate toolbars Without going into too much detail, we will cover what the menu and toolbars contain

F I g U R e 1 7 1 PhotoView 360 user interface

Menus

Just like with almost all Windows-based programs, the drop-down menus at the

top of the window provide you with some basic commands, but the majority of

operations you will be performing will be through the toolbars The menu bar is

broken down into the following five items:

File The File menu contains the commands necessary for opening and closing

scenes, as well as loading background images and environments

edit The Edit menu contains the commands to undo the last function and

redo the last undo

View The View menu contains the commands to stop or rest the preview in

the preview image All elements that were hidden previously in the preview

image can be shown with the Unhide All command

Render The Settings and Render windows can be called from the Render menu

You can also recall the last rendered image and save the current preview image

Help In addition to the providing access to the help file and release notes, you

can also view online video tutorials that will walk you through various ing tasks in detail

render-t I p If a keyboard shortcut is available for any of the menu items, it will be displayed to the far right of the menu next to the corresponding command

Tasks Toolbar

The Tasks toolbar contains all that is needed to create a rendering Even if you have never used PhotoView 360 before, you will be able to quickly determine the steps that you need to follow to create a rendering since the buttons in the Tasks toolbar are shown in order that you will use in most cases We will be covering each one of the following buttons in the process of creating the various render-ings in this chapter:

Open File The very first thing that you need to do to create a rendering is open

a SolidWorks part or assembly model The Open File button will display a dard Windows file dialog box

stan-Appearances Clicking the stan-Appearances button will open a new window that

contains the entire materials database for PhotoView 360 The Appearances dow is then broken down into logical sections based on the material type

win-U s e t h e P h o t o V i e w 3 6 0 win-U s e r I n t e r f a c e 5 4 9

environments Clicking the Environments button will open a new window that

contains 28 preset rendering environments that include background images,

colors, flooring, and lighting

Settings This opens a new window that gives you access to environment,

out-put, and camera settings

Final Render This begins the final rendering in a separate window based on

the previously selected settings

gallery This opens the default web browser and takes you to the SolidWorks

website where users have previously uploaded images created in PhotoView 360

Help This opens the help file.

Selection Toolbar

The Selection toolbar allows you to specify how an appearance is applied to the active model in the preview image Prior to adding an appearance, select how the appearance will be applied, using the following options:

Face Selecting Face in the selection toolbar will only apply an appearance to

the face directly under the mouse pointer once you release the left mouse button

Body Selecting Body in the Selection toolbar will apply an appearance to the

entire solid body

Part Selecting Part in the Selection toolbar will apply an appearance to only

one part at a time

Assembly Selecting Assembly in the Selection toolbar will apply one

appear-ance to the entire assembly, overwriting any previously applied appearappear-ances at the part level

Appearances Selecting Appearances applies a new appearance to all items

that share the same appearance If an appearance was previously applied in SolidWorks, only the items that had their appearances applied in one operation will be selected

View Toolbar

The View toolbar provides you with the tools necessary to manipulate the view

of the model in the preview image Even though you may ultimately be relying

on your mouse for changing the view, it is sometimes helpful to be able to select the exact view tool you need

Select The Select tool in the View toolbar returns the selection mode After

clicking, the mouse pointer will return to the standard selection arrow

C r e a t e Yo u r F i r s t R e n d e r i n g 5 5 1

Pan This changes the mouse pointer to a group of four arrows pointing in the

up, down, left, and right directions To pan, click and hold the left mouse

but-ton and drag the mouse pointer The model in the preview image will move on a

plane parallel to the viewing plane

t I p To pan without selecting the Pan tool in the View toolbar, press and hold the Ctrl button on your keyboard, and then press and hold the mouse wheel button while moving the mouse

Rotate This changes the mouse pointer to a circular arrow and rotates the model

in the preview image around the center point of the entire model To rotate, click

and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse in any direction

Zoom This changes the mouse pointer to a magnifying glass and is used to

zoom in and out The mouse pointer location in the preview image does not

affect the zoom

t I p There are a two different ways to zoom in and out without using the Zoom tool in the View toolbar First, spinning the mouse wheel up and down will zoom in and out Second, holding the Shift key on the keyboard while pressing and holding the mouse wheel will zoom in and out when you move the mouse up and down

Zoom Window This changes the mouse pointer to a magnifying glass Click

once in the preview image to specify the center point of the zoom window, and

when you move the mouse pointer out from the center, a yellow box will be

dis-played When the window is the size that you desire, click and release the left

mouse button once again to zoom in on the box drawn

Fit To View Selecting this fits the entire model into the preview image.

Create Your First Rendering

Now that you have a feel for the layout of PhotoView 360, you can dive right into

the first rendering The first image you will be creating in this section is of the

top-level assembly of the desk lamp This section will show the minimum

num-ber of steps that are required to create an amazing image

As we mentioned earlier, the buttons in the Task toolbar are ordered in such a

way to mimic the order of operation when creating a rendering Even the most

O

To rotate without selecting the Rotate tool, press and hold the mouse wheel button while moving the mouse.

O

Pressing F on the keyboard will also cause the model to fit entirely within the preview image.

novice of users will have no problem creating stunning images As you continue

in the chapter, you will then explore more advanced techniques to make your renderings even more stunning

ren-1 You can open PhotoView 360 in a couple ways First, you can locate and

double-click the PhotoView desktop icon, or you can open the program through the Start menu To open the program through the Start menu, click Start ➢ All Programs ➢ SolidWorks 2010 ➢ PhotoView 360, as shown in Figure 17.2

F I g U R e 1 7 2 Application icon in Start menu

2 Click the Open File button in the Task toolbar, as shown in Figure 17.3,

and browse to the location where the assembly of the desk lamp is saved

Select the desk lamp assembly, and click Open

F I g U R e 1 7 3 Open File button on the Task toolbar

t I p You can also open models in PhotoView 360 by dragging and

drop-C r e a t e Yo u r F i r s t R e n d e r i n g 5 5 3

Add Appearances to a Model

The term appearances in PhotoView 360 refers to the application of a material look

to a face, solid body, part, or assembly Just like how appearances are shown in

RealView in SolidWorks, the appearances do not affect the model in any way other

than how it is represented on the screen PhotoView 360 comes with a fairly large

database of material appearances, most of which can also be found in SolidWorks

In fact, an appearance added to a component in SolidWorks will carry over into

PhotoView 360, which can be a huge time-saver

Since you already applied some material appearances to the assembly in

SolidWorks, you will not need to do it all over again at this point However, in

order to illustrate the process for applying appearances, you will change how the

brass components in the assembly will appear The following steps describe the

process for applying appearances:

1 Click the Appearances button in the Task toolbar to view the complete

list of appearances available

2 In the left pane of the Appearances window, click the arrows next to

the material directory names to view additional directories in order

to further define the material that will be used for the appearance

Click the arrow next to the Metal directory to expand the list, as shown in Figure 17.4

F I g U R e 1 7 4 Metal directory in Appearances window

3 Below the parent directory for Metal, select the Brass directory In

the right pane, a variety of brass material buttons will be shown To change the size of the icons to better fit the available space, move the slider above the material list to the right to make the buttons bigger and to the left to make them smaller, as shown in Figure 17.5