If you’re a PhotoView 360 user you may have noticed an increase in a flow of PhotoView 360 information from SolidWorks. This is very welcome in my mind and I have to believe other PhotoView 360 users like this new information exchange as well. This flow of information can be found at the SolidWorks forums and it’s coming in a couple of flavors.
The first flavor is training orientated. Ron Bates, Manager of Graphical Applications at SolidWorks has been running a monthly PhotoView 360 training series titled PhotoView Friday. In the Series Ron covers a specific PhotoView 360 topic and dedicates about 30 minutes of video time covering the information. Topics range in subject matter and he likes to take requests so feel free to let him know what you’d like to learn more about. Ron has just posted PhotoView Friday Episode 3where he covers matched environments and background images as well as some depth of field information. If you missed the previous PhotoView Friday episodes don’t worry, they are all posted in the PhotoView 360 area of the SolidWorks forum. He’s leaning towards rendered animations in Episode 4 which is one I will surely want to see.
The seconds flavor is geared towards a sharing of technical information. Again, Ron has been spilling the beans on what PhotoView 360 users can find in the upcoming service packs. He created a video for SP3 which showed the preview window speed increase and for the upcoming SP 4 Ron has also given us a look at what to expect.
Marlon Banta, Senior Product Definition Specialist at SolidWorks has also posted a very in depth look at Factors that affect PhotoView 360 render performance.This certainly has to be one of the longest posts I’ve seen in the forums and Marlon leaves no stone unturned. Nice job Marlon.
A big thanks to both of these gentlemen for keeping PhotoView 360 users better informed.
Photorealistic Rendering Using SolidWorks and PhotoView 360 is a new step By step guide from DS SolidWorks. This guide replaces the PhotoWorks guide and is specifically written for PhotoView 360 2011. At 562 pages it covers all aspects of PhotoView 360 as well as RealView and OpenGL graphics modes in SolidWorks.
Just to clarify and in the interest of full disclosure. This guide was not written or published by me. I was contracted by DS SolidWorks as a technical consultant for the guide. I also receive a portion of the sale from each guide purchased from this website. Now that we have out of the way let’s see what’s inside.
Photorealistic Rendering Using SolidWorks and PhotoView 360 is a self study guide. It’s meant to teach rendering techniques, theories and tools at a pace you choose. Each chapter builds on the previous one introducing new tools and concepts through case study examples that guide the reader along with step by step instruction. Example exercises can also be found at the end of each chapter giving the reader a recap of the chapter and allowing them more samples for practice. The included DVD gives the reader all the model files necessary to follow along with each chapter in both completed and uncompleted states.
Chapters 1-3 give you an overall view of the different types of rendering available in SolidWorks. You look at the history of SolidWorks visualization tools and the differences between Open GL, RealView and PhotoView 360. You’ll also be exposed to the PhotoView 360 user interface found in SolidWorks 2011.
In Chapter 4 you’ll create your first rendering of a 3D Connexion Space Navigator. You’ll explore the basics of rendering creation covering appearances, scenes and lighting set up.
Chapters 5 and 6 very thoroughly cover the different types of appearances. You’ll learn how to create, adjust, save and map appearances. You’ll also learn about the appearance hierarchy.
In Chapter 7 decals are covered. Not only will you learn how to create, map and save decals but, you’ll also be exposed to non traditional uses of decals.
Chapter 8 is all about cameras. Cameras can be used in both SolidWorks and PhotoView 360 and have benefits not only for rendering but model visualization as well.
Chapter 9 talks about the different methods to output your rendered image. You’ll also explore ways to make the render preview faster, some of the output options, how to schedule renders and how to utilize your saved images in other applications.
Chapter 10 digs deeper into scenes and lighting. You’ll look at both direct and indirect lighting, shadow control, direct lighting effects and using background images.
In Chapter 11 the power of Display States and Configurations are shown. Both are excellent ways to easily explore different rendering options such as lighting and appearances.
Chapter 12 covers the advanced lighting options and effects available in PhotoView 360. You’ll also set up a reusable basic rendering studio.
Chapter 13 gives a better understanding of reflective and transparent appearances and some of the techniques used to make working with them easier.
Chapter 14 is a gallery of images all created with PhotoView 360 and is meant to give the reader a good understanding of what’s possible using the software.
There are also three appendix’s that cover in great detail appearance settings and recommended hardware.
The modo for SolidWorks Kit has been announced at the Luxology website. The modo for SolidWorks Kit has been over a year in the making and is born from a collaboration between Luxology, modo and SolidWorks users. If you’re a SolidWorks/PhotoView 360 user who wants/needs to enhance your visualization capabilities for both rendering and animation modo is a great choice and the modo for SolidWorks Kit is a must have tool.
Who’s the modo for SolidWorks Kit for?
The SolidWorks/PhotoView 360 user who needs enhanced visualization capabilities.
The modo user who works with SolidWorks data
What’s included with the modo for SolidWorks Kit?
modo for SolidWorks Kit specific tools for import, user interface and CAD tools.
10 training videos explaining how the modo for Solidworks Kit functions, created by Paul McCrorey and Rob Rodriguez.
A closer look at some of the specific modo for SolidWorks Kit specific tools.
One of the things I really pushed for in the modo for SolidWorks Kit was a friendlier more comfortable user interface for the SolidWorks/PhotoView 360 user. As a SolidWorks user I know I was completely overwhelmed with my initial usage of modo. So many tool bars. Such foreign terminology. Where do I begin? These were all thoughts that ran through my mind and that was before I tried to import a SolidWorks File. I really feel one of the greatest benefits of the kit for the SolidWorks/PhotoView 360 user is the user experience. The interface is a combination of SolidWorks and PhotoView 360 and should be very familiar to those users. The typical SolidWorks user is going to be working in SolidWorks for modeling and only switching to modo for rendering and/or animation work. They will switch between both softwares multiple times a day and don’t have time to learn a new interface, they want to be able to open and go. The modo for SolidWorks kit allows them to do this. In terms of rendering, your SolidWorks files import in a state ready to render. Your SolidWorks appearances and decals import seamlessly and changing them in the kit UI is an easy drag and drop operation. The entire experience is very much like PhotoView 360 2010 standalone with the exception of more control. Depending on the level of control your comfortable with, you can choose to browse through and adjust the almost unlimited settings available in modo or use the render, material and environment presets to “auto pilot” you through the process.
The modo for SolidWorks Kit also includes SolidWorks like navigation tools. Navigating your models in modo can be a challenge for the SolidWorks user since it’s based on simultaneous keyboard shortcuts, mouse button control and movements. The modo for SolidWorks Kits adds the same navigation controls found in PhotoView 360 2010 standalone and they allow the user to navigate their model in modo the same way you would in SolidWorks.
modo for SolidWorks Kit render specifc user interface
The import options are also key. modo 501 will import a SolidWorks file without the modo for SolidWorks Kit. When this happens you’ll notice all geometry is imported as a static mesh and instanced (similar to a pattern in SolidWorks) geometry is not orientated correctly. You also notice the item list and shader tree are not well organized and finding the things you need can be time consuming. The modo for SolidWorks Kit gives you greater flexibility for importing your SolidWorks geometry and cleans up both the shader tree and item lists making their management much easier, saving the user time.
modo for SolidWorks Kit import options
A closer look at the other kits included with the modo for SolidWorks Kit.
Over the past couple of years Luxology has expanded or automated modo capabilities through the use of kits. Kits are inexpensive tools the modo user can leverage to speed up their process, very similar to a SolidWorks plug-in. The modo for SolidWorks Kit is bundled with two other Luxology kits, Product and Automotive Design (PAD) and Studio and Environment Set 1 (SES1). Both of these kits were developed by 9b Studios and are a great compliment to the modo for SolidWorks Kit. It’s important to note the modo for SolidWorks Kit is compatible with all the currently available modo kits. You are not limited to the PAD and SES1 kits. As an example, the image below was created using the modo for Solidworks Kit and the Splash Kit.
modo for SolidWorks Kit and Splash Kit
The Product and Automotive Design (PAD) Kit is a preset material system that gives the user up to 350 possible combinations of materials. The PAD kit expands on the preset materials available in modo and makes creating high quality materials like grills, knurled metal, leather grain and wood, just to name a few much easier.
Click for more information about the PAD Kit
The Studio and Environment Set 1 (SES1) Kit is 51 environment presets with a twist. Not only are there 51 different HDR images for a variety of lighting but there are also controls included to easily add a shadow floor, adjust the light intensity of the HDR image, change the background color and rotate and re orientate the environment. As an added bonus the SES1 kit is compatible with PhotoView 360 2010 and 2011 making it a very versatile kit for the SolidWorks/PhotoView 360 user as well as modo user. The helicopter images at the top of this post were created using the modo for SolidWorks Kit and the SES Kit.
Click for more information about the SES1 Kit
A closer look at the training videos included with the modo for SolidWorks Kit.
There are ten training videos included with the modo for SolidWorks Kit and they contain over 2 1/2 hours of information. The training videos cover everything you’ll need to know to get up and running with the modo for SolidWorks Kit. Each bundled kit also includes it’s own training videos to fully explain their usage as well. The ten video training titles are:
If you’re a SolidWorks/PhotoView 360 user who creates renderings and animations using the SolidWorks provided visualization tools and would like to make a jump to the next level of product visualization modo and the modo for SolidWorks Kit are great choices. The two combined give you the look and feel of the popular PhotoView 360 2010 standalone user interface with the added power and control of modo. If you think the modo for SolidWorks Kit will fit into your workflow and you would like to purchase a copy I can offer you a discount code shown on the graphic below.
Full Disclosure: I was contracted by Luxology to help develop the modo for SolidWorks Kit and create some of the video training material. For a limited time I will receive a portion of each modo for SolidWorks Kit sale.
Service Pack 3.0 for SolidWorks 2011 has been released and there are some great enhancements included for PhotoView 360.
First up we see some great speed enhancements in the render preview. Lot’s of users noted the integration of PhotoView 360 into SolidWorks 2011 slowed the render preview performance. There was a couple of tricks to speed up the render preview. You could keep the render preview smaller in size or if you preferred using the integrated preview you could use split viewports. These tricks helped with speed but render preview was still slower than the standalone version of PhotoView 360. SP3 has introduced some new code which has greatly increased the render preview speed. You can see a head to head comparison in this video created by Ron Bates and posted at the SolidWorks forums.
Second, the PhotoView 360 appearance surface finish controls have seen some added capability. In 2011 displacement was added to surface finish in PhotoView 360 which gave it more capability than PhotoWorks. In Service pack 3.0 stencil has also been added. What is stencil? It allows you to use some predefined and create your cutting tool to add perforations. PhotoView 360 did have some perforation appearances in the rubber and plastic folder but the user was limited as to what they could control. In SP 3 PhotoView 360 adds diamond and circular perforations (hole mesh) and the user has control over the hole size. Even better the user can create any custom cutting tool using a Black and white image to create their own perforation appearance. Shapes like hexagons, ovals, slots will work and so will things like text, logos…any black and white image you can create can be used as a stencil (hole mesh). Recently I did some guest blogging over at the Javelin technologies blog and I created a 22 minute video discussing surface finish controls and the new enhancements found in SP3.
Overall SP3 shapes up to be a good one for PhotoView 360 users. Makes me wonder what we’ll see in the next release.
2011 Photorealistic Rendering using SolidWorks and PhotoView 360 Step By Step Guide
Photorealistic Rendering Using SolidWorks and PhotoView 360 is a new step By step guide from DS SolidWorks. This guide replaces the PhotoWorks guide and is specifically written for PhotoView 360 2011. At 562 pages it covers all aspects of PhotoView 360 as well as RealView and OpenGL graphics modes in SolidWorks.
The book isn’t available for shipping quite yet but I’m offering a pre buy sale for those of you who’d like to pick up a copy at a discount. I’m also extending the sale to cover the Creating Animations with SolidWorks Step by Step Guide which has been available for about a year. Each book will be be discounted $10 from the non sale price and those of you in the United States will also receive free shipping. This is a limited time offer. Once the PhotoView 360 book becomes available for shipping prices will return to their normal rate.
I’ll have a more in-depth review of the guide soon but until then you can find more information on both guides by visiting this page and choosing the appropriate book to view the details.
Ron Bates from DS SolidWorks has started a new video series at the SolidWorks forum titled “PhotoView Friday”. According to his post he’ll be posting a new video every month and his goal is “to simply be another resource for our community, to help everyone learn more about rendering, and hopefully be more productive. Teach, inspire, share, whatever…”. Sounds great!
His first video, Episode #1 covers different lighting methods in PhotoView 360. Check it out, offer some feedback and make some topic suggestions for Episode #2.
“PhotoView 360: Instant Images” is a 60 minute hands on session from SolidWorks World 2011. During a hands on session approximately 30 people follow along with the instructor (me) and/or the provided handout. This session had so many pre-conference sign ups it was run twice and both sessions were full. The presentation covers the basics of PhotoView 360 2011 rendering and includes the handout in PDF format and the model files so you can follow the steps. If you’ve never used PhotoView 360, this presentation will get you started.
I’d also like to note I’ve posted rendering and animation presentations given at SolidWorks World 2011 from Jim Boland and Ron Bates in the presentation download area.
PhotoView 360: This Changes Everything is the first of my SolidWorks World 2011 sessions to be made available for download. I have a couple more to follow in the next few days. This was a 90 minute session giving an overview of PhotoView 360 2011 and how it compares to PhotoWorks and PhotoView 360 2010. This presentation also includes links to a series of videos so you have the options to follow the PowerPoint, view the videos or both. If you’re new to PhotoView 360 2011 you should find it helpful.
SolidWorks has released a new Step By Step Guide, “Creating Animations with SolidWorks“. This guide is the replacement for the Motion Manager Step By Step Guide and has seen a lot of enhancements. At 18 chapters and 516 pages it’s almost double the size of the old guide. before we talk about the new guide let’s take a moment to discuss the included DVD. The DVD housed in the back cover contains all the files needed to follow along with the guide examples. The files are in both a finished and unfinished state which means double the required information is burned onto the DVD. Becasue of this the DVD executable file needs to run in two stages requiring a fair amount of time to install all the data. DO NOT REMOVE THE DVD until the entire installation process has completed. Total install time on my M-6300 took about 60 minutes.
Chapter 1: As you would expect chapter 1 is an introduction to the motion manager UI. It also talks about the different kinds of motion studies, types of motion available in the software, motion drivers and gives a general overview on the process of building an animation.
Chapter 2 & 3: In chapter 2 the guide covers using the animation wizard to build rotation, explode and collapse motion and it also covers the different interpolation modes available in the software. You’ll save your first avi file in chapter 2 and you’ll also learn some good information about video file types, codecs and the different save options available. Chapter 3 shows the finer points of editing the various time line elements to better control the output. You also learn what the various color codes are for the keys and timeline as well as how to group edit and scale the entire animation.
Chapter 4:This is where you are exposed to view orientation for the first time. You won’t cover camera views here (that has its own chapter) but you will cover the other SolidWorks viewing controls as well as the perspective setting which can be very important depending on the type of animation you’re creating.
Chapter 5: Chapters 1-4 show you the basics of creating simple animations. For some users this will be the extent of their animation needs and many could stop here with the information they have picked up. Chapter 5 is where the real fun begins however and it’s the start of creating more intermediate level animations for users that need that capability. In chapter 5 you’ll learn all about animating appearances, lights and creating photo realistic output. If basic animations are good then animations that look pretty are better and chapter 5 helps you look pretty.
Chapter 6 & 7: These chapters continue on the intermediate level path and cover the various ways to drive motion in your animation. Free movement (with the triad and without), motors (all the various types) and mates. I’m covering it quickly here but these chapters go into a great amount of depth and do a great job of covering a lot of information.
Chapter 8:This chapter is entirely new information and could previously only be found by searching the web or SolidWorks forums. Chapter 8 covers how to animate parts changing size and shape including how to animate a spring compressing and extending. It also shows the use of equations in animations and has a great example of a wheel and suspension components.
Chapter 9: In chapter 9 you’ll use physical simulation techniques to help drive and control motion in your animation. If you’d like to show your motion being governed by contact forces, motors, gravity, springs etc. you’ll want to have a look at chapter 9.
Chapter 10: I really like this chapter because it covers a difficult to answer commonly asked question, “What is the correct way to create this type of animation”? This question is difficult to answer because just like in SolidWorks there are many ways to achieve the same end result in your animation. There really is no “right” or “wrong” method but different methods offer different pros and cons and chapter 10 illustrates this.
Chapters 11 & 12: This is where the guide covers using cameras in animations and boy does it ever cover the topic. There is so much information in these two chapter and some of it is borrowed from the PhotoWorks Step By Step Guide. Creating cameras, setting the properties, depth of field, saving cameras, animating them, animating multiple cameras, using camera sleds. Everything you wanted to know about SolidWorks cameras is in this chapter.
Chapter 13: You’ll expand on your camera knowledge in chapter 13. Here you’ll cover walk-through and walk-around animations. Fixing a camera target point, following a path, making edits, everything you need to know about moving around or through your geometry.
Chapter 14: until this point the guide has covered creating animations using core SolidWorks functionality. Chapter 14 covers ways to use your motion analysis study from SolidWorks Motion to create an animation. It also discusses when and when not to use a motion study for creating an animation.
Chapter 15: What I think might be the best chapter in the guide. Chapter 15 covers post processing which is a very important part of creating your final animation even though it happens outside of SolidWorks. Often the video or image output from SolidWorks is just a small part of the final animation you’ll create. These elements will be compiled with many others in video editing or compiling software to create the final product. This again is information that in the past would have been difficult to find but is now included in the guide.
Chapter 16: Titled, “Advanced Topics” chapter 16 also covers information a user would have had to search out on their own in the past. Animating configuration changes is in there as is one of my favorites, animating dynamic section cuts. This happens to be a very powerful technique for creating many different effects such as pouring liquid. Chapter 16 also covers some of the common troubleshooting topics users have.
Chapter 17: This chapter covers the animation of large assemblies. The example used is the miter saw which you might remember from the PhotoWorks Step by Step Guide. You’ll learn the techniques and settings available to make animating large assemblies more manageable.
Chapter 18: The final chapter in the guide gives some general tips and tricks for creating better animations.
The animations playing in this post are from the DVD found in the back cover of the guide.
This newest Step By Step Guide covering animation from SolidWorks is a huge leap over the earlier editions. Each chapter includes example files and case studies that allow you to follow along and create all the steps shown in the guide. The guide is in full color and most pages have at least one screen shot making it easy to follow along with the software. Most of the examples use interesting models and some “real life” animation situations. A lot of new information has been added to cover topics that users would need to search out on their own in the past making this guide a true one stop learning place. SolidWorks is capable of creating some really nice animations if you understand how to use the tools provided. This guide makes understanding those tools easier. If you’d like to learn more about creating animation in SolidWorks I highly recommend this guide.
My hat is off to the people at SolidWorks responsible for the production of this guide. The information, example files and final videos represent a huge amount of work and hours to create, edit and fine tune into a final product. They’ve done a great job with this guide!
If you’d like to explore the guide more or purchase a copy you can do so by contacting your VAR or clicking here.
As a full disclosure statement, I do sell this guide as well as the PhotoWorks Step By Step Guide on this blog. I do receive a small profit from each guide sold on my site.
If you’re a PhotoView 360 user you may have noticed an increase in a flow of PhotoView 360 information from SolidWorks. This is very welcome in my mind and I have to believe other PhotoView 360 users like this new information exchange as well. This flow of information can be found at the SolidWorks forums and it’s coming in a couple of flavors.
want to see.
Marlon Banta, Senior Product Definition Specialist at SolidWorks has also posted a very in depth look at Factors that affect PhotoView 360 render performance. This certainly has to be one of the longest posts I’ve seen in the forums and Marlon leaves no stone unturned. Nice job Marlon.
