Just started playing with SolidWorks but it looks like I need a book of some kind.

Any Solidworks gurus on here and what books do you recommend ?

Ta Muchly

There are tutorials on solidworks which are very helpful.

Iain

Yep. Online tutorials are the way to go. Do you have something you want to model? Just sitting in front of a blank screen and trying stuff is a bit dull, if you have a goal it’s better. If you are anywhere near Bristol I’d be happy to show you a few basics to get you going.

Google matt Lombard he does a good one it’s called the solid works bible or something

I can tell you nick jb is right on the money find something you want to model not just an arbitrary object and learn to use the icons what each does and where it’s located ,when I came back from the USA I had learned pro e at GT and solid works at mountain cycle this landed me a pretty good but brief job with a solid works reseller ,the problem was that training a bunch of guys who made castings all day to model a radiator pipe using lofts and swept bends was both a waste of their money and time,if you were speaking their language it was easier they understood turning a solid into a drafted solid and Fatima were splits etc.

If you think about it from a manufacturing perspective that also helps for exaple you start with a block and remove bits as a machine would turned parts start with a bar and you remove material as you would on a lathe

For assemblies it’s just the same as you would build a bike for example you bolt a to b these are just called mates in cad speak

Surfaces are not complicated but can be I try to explain this as cardboard sections with flexible fabric over them works the same if you using pro e UG Catia for composites we use Catia heavily it’s just the daddy version of solid works in simple terms

It’s easy to pick up once you have the basics down

Have you used a 3D CAD software before? TBH once you can think in 3D it is easy to learn any of them. As mentioned the official and free if you have a license online tutorials are actually pretty good

Thanks chaps.

I only want to do a floor plan to start with of a property I’m planning to rent out.

PS Anyone looking for a 3 bed bungalow in the Bristol area (800pcm) massive garden.

@nickjb

Cool offer. Where are u based ?

Also, is 2012 massively different form 2011 ?

I only want to do a floor plan to start with of a property I’m planning to rent out.

Photoshop or even Word is better for this, or if you want it to scale, AutoCAD,

3d progs are for 3d modelling, you can generate 2d drawings from them easily, but using them to just create a 2d drawing is a pain imo,

try modelling a modern hydroformed frame, using the manufacturers frame geometry, now there’s a challenge,

@amt27

So.

I want to do a 3d model of the propperty.

and I’ve got access to solidworks 🙂 and it looks cool.

2012 SW is not much different to 2011 (nor to older versions as far as the basics go). Doing a house in SW is pretty easy, once you’ve done skethces of the floorplans you just extrude them to make them 3D. Bung in a roof and windows and you’re done, did mine in less than an hour (although I already knew SW).

Any excuse to put this up:
my brother did this

and then we (well, him mainly) made this

and then he won the 2010 supermono championship on it!

get stuck into the tutorials is his advice.

If you’re modelling building, look at doing a fly thro animation, may help rent it.
+1 for Matt Lombard, I’ve got his ‘Solidworks 2009 Bible’, and I’ve learnt stuff, even though I’ve been using Solidworks for about 8 years.