Enhancement Overview

Applicable to all SOLIDWORKS Browser Based Roles: 3D Creator, 3D Sculptor, Manufacturing Definition Creator, 3D SheetMetal Creator, 3D Structure Creator, 3D Mold Creator

Our Favorites:

• DFM Helper ⭐
• Error and Warning Manager ⭐
• Close Corner Feature⭐ 
• Min/Max/Center Dimension Control for Arcs  ⭐ 
• Mesh Inspection Analysis in Mesh Edit Mode  ⭐

Part and Assembly Design 

[New] DFM Helper  ⭐ 

Description: Define checks for certain parameters such as maximum part size, minimum wall thickness, and hole specifications to ensure that designs are manufacturable.

Benefit: Improve manufacturability by proactively identifying design flaws with customizable geometry checks, streamlining production workflows.

[New] Error and Warning Manager  ⭐ 

Description: View and filter errors and warnings in the opened model with a new dialog. Access detailed menus for each listed feature and troubleshoot efficiently to resolve issues quickly.

Benefit: Identify and resolve model errors quickly with an interactive dialog, ensuring efficient troubleshooting and seamless design workflows.

[Enhanced] Edit Sketch Plane

Description: Modify the sketch plane orientation on the fly when creating sketches based on a face or plane. Launch the Edit Sketch Plane command from the sketch toolbar to manually define the origin and perpendicular reference, aligning sketches with your specific design intentions.

Benefit: Gain precision and control by customizing the sketch plane orientation to perfectly match your design needs.

[New] Access Learning Content for Accademia

Applicable only to: SOLIDWORKS Cloud apps for students, 3D Designer for Education

Description: Accademia users can access a library of learning content from a new button on the xDesign landing page. 

Benefit: Accelerate skill development and CAD proficiency by accessing an easily discoverable, rich library of training content.

[Enhanced] Contour Selection

Description: Selection priority is determined based on the active selection field, which makes it easier to select the desired contour, object, or sketch. The cursor icon indicates which type of selection priority is active.

Benefit: Streamline your workflow with enhanced contour selection, ensuring quicker and more accurate selection of desired elements.

[Enhanced] Save as DXF

Description: Improve your DXF export workflow with new selection capabilities. Use box select to choose faces or select entire sketches from the design manager or breadcrumbs.

Benefit: Streamline your DXF export process with advanced selection options, ensuring efficient and precise face and sketch exports.

[Enhanced] Split Face and Split Body

Description: Now, you can select entire sketches as inputs for the Split tool. Additionally, the tool automatically sets the split direction as normal to the sketch plane, simplifying splitting operations. 

Benefit: Streamline your workflow with the ability to select entire sketches as inputs for the Split tool and automatic direction setting.

[Enhanced] Material Application Performance

Description: Enhance your workflow with improved performance for material application. Material application is now faster. Material file sizes have been reduced, resulting in faster saving, importing, and exporting of physical products containing materials.

Benefit: Boost your design efficiency with quick material application and file management, ensuring a smooth and more responsive design experience.

[Enhanced] Seamless Transition Between xDesign and SOLIDWORKS

Description: xDesign parts can be modified in SOLIDWORKS by converting them to derived parts. However, converted derived parts cannot be modified in xDesign. Now, when opening a derived part in xDesign, users can select an option in the context menu to open the base part which can be modified in xDesign.

Benefit: Enhance your workflow efficiency by seamlessly transitioning between xDesign and SOLIDWORKS

[Enhanced] Modify Environment

Description: Temporarily hide components while modifying a design environment to facilitate easier selection of obscured objects in the graphics area. The hidden state is not persistent and objects will be restored to their prior visibility upon exiting the Modify Environment command.

Benefit: Improve your design workflow with the ability to temporarily hide components while modifying a design environment, allowing you to see and modify obscured components in the environment.

Freeform Modeling 

[NEW] Mesh Inspection Analysis in Mesh Edit Mode  ⭐ 

Description: While editing the mesh, enable the Mesh Inspection tool to analyze subdivision mesh quality. 

Benefit: When working with subdivision modeling, you can ensure the geometry is not self-intersecting with the Mesh Inspection tool. Save time when creating a subdivision model with the ability to edit the subdivision mesh with Mesh Inspection tool enabled. 

Drawings and Model Based Definition 

[NEW] Min/Max/Center Dimension Control for Arcs  ⭐   

Description: Improve dimension precision with added support and control for dimensioning of arcs. When editing a dimension, you now have additional on-screen manipulators to control the dimension placement based on the maximum, minimum, and center distances between arcs and cylinders.

Benefit: Create precise drawings with improved flexibility with the new min/max/center control.

Sheet Metal Design 

[NEW] Closed Corner ⭐   

Description: To ensure a watertight seal and optimize the structural integrity of sheet metal design, any gaps between overlapping flanges must be closed off. Eliminate the manual process of extending the flanges to close the gaps with the Close Corner feature.

Benefit: Speed up the design process to close off gaps between sheet metal flanges for a clean and professional finish.

[NEW] Bend Order 

Description: The new Bend Order feature enables you to view both the folded and flat states of a sheet metal part, along with key information such as bend order, direction, angle, radius, K-factor, and more, in a tabular format. Additionally, the Bend Order table allows you to modify the bend order and rename bends as needed.

Benefit: Thoroughly review all the key bend information of the sheet metal part in a single glance, presented in a tabular format. The cross-highlighting of the bends from the table enables easy identification on both the folded and flattened states of the sheet metal part from the graphics area, making it easy to understand the manufacturing intent. Additionally, the ability to reorder the bends in the table and rename them on the fly ensures that the correct manufacturing intent is conveyed from the design side.

Additional Patch Notes:

• Improved system reliability with infrastructural enhancements to reduce data loss and handle crashes more effectively
• Added the ability to use selective save when mates have been added, when components are removed from the product structure, and when there is no 3DShape
• Added the ability to Hide/Show a 3DShape
• Colors applied to parts in xDesign will now be preserved when the part is opened in SOLIDWORKS
• Fixed some scenarios where enclosed volumes created by the trim feature could not be automatically knit and filled to create a solid
• Fixed a scenario in which users would experience a “transition failed” error when accessing browser-based solutions due to full local browser storage

Tags:

UserExperience Part Design Assembly Design Drawings Freeform Modeling SheetMetal Design Rendering