Jon talks here about how 3DVIA (Composer, Mobile, and 3DVIA.com) are great tools for engineers, particularly for SolidWorks designers.

In case you are interested, here is a link to an article with pictures of Jon and the cast from the movie “21″, based on the stories of the MIT Blackjack team.

For more details on how 3DVIA benefits SolidWorks, CATIA, or any 3D design tool, there’s more info in this short video.

Using a SolidWorks design, I show here how easy it is to upload a design that all team members can access.

Here is the Power Painter 3D Model I Published from SolidWorks in the video.  I also need to give credit to the SolidWorks team for the design–nice work!

Mark Biasotti is quite well known within the SolidWorks community for his mastery of the complex surfaces often needed to design and manufacture many consumer items. As an Industrial Designer, he was always working to make the products fit our needs and our physical capabilities. When we pick up a product and it just feels right when we use it, we can thank folks like Mark. Now he works directly at SolidWorks to help make their products even better at helping designers help us.

Mark’s wide background and long experience add valuable perspective to his comments. We appreciate that he was able to make the time to share his images, videos and thoughts with us.

Q1: How did you first become interested in 3D modeling?

This is going to date me, but it was back in 1985 when I was an Industrial Designer for Hewlett Packard. I got involved with, HP’s product , ME30 and then later Solid Designer (code named Quintus) and today known as PTC’s One Space Designer. 

This is a mock movie poster for an incredible video that Mark created using SolidWorks and additional production tools. Go here to watch it – it is definitely worth it. Then go here to read a complete explanation from Mark about how it came to be.

Q2: What type of 3D models do you do?

All types, but the most enjoyable types of modeling for me are ones that are geometrically challenging – they involve an intense amount of problem solving and design.  Often times, they fall into the category of Consumer Product Design type shapes.

Blender model courtesy of Mike Garman – rendered by Mark Biasotti

Q3: What role do your models play in the work you do?

Currently I’m a Product Manager for the advanced concepts group at SolidWorks. I’m involved with direction and strategy for future SolidWorks products which involves a great deal of customer observation, storyboarding and working with the development team.

The next “production” that Mark did was for SolidWorks World 2007 in New Orleans called “Better Products for the Future”in which, again, he used the combination of SolidWorks, NewTek’s Lightwave3D and Adobe’s After Effects to create. You can download it here

Q4: How much time do you spend, on average, on one particular model?
Hum… that really depends on the complexity of course. I would say on an average two to five days from initial shape creation to parting it out and rendering.

Camera courtesy of WaterShot Inc. – rendered by Mark Biasotti

Q5: What additional software do you use to create your images?
If I’m creating still images from SolidWorks, I use PhotoWorks and PhotoView 360 and ALWAYS post-process it in Adobe Photoshop. If I’m creating animations, I love to use Lightwave3D and Adobe After Effects for the post-processing, additional effects and final composite.

Guitar model courtesy of Paul Reed Smith Guitars – rendered by Mark Biasotti

Q6: What is your work day like?
What I get involved with in a typical day and week varies greatly and that is, perhaps, what makes this job interesting. Stepping away from a formal Industrial Design role four years ago and into a product management role has not stopped me for being able to contribute creatively.  As you can imagine, The Product Management role does not afford me to be an isolationist (although there are days…) and I’m constantly in meetings and brainstorming sessions with developers and Product Marketing. One thing that is constant in my day is monitoring and contributing to the SolidWorks Forums and blogs. I  love to stay in touch with our customer. I also try to visit user groups around the country as well as many customer visits and customer observations.

racecar model courtesy of the University of British Columbia – rendered by Mark Biasotti

Q7: What are your tips for staying focused on a big project?
Start with the difficult tasks up-front instead of putting them off to the end. Don’t be afraid to solicit feedback early and be aware that human nature leans toward avoiding conflicts so be proactive.

Q8: Where do you go (web sites, museums, race tracks, anywhere) for help, tips and inspiration?
I’m a big fan of science museums – we have a particularly good one here in Boston, but I’m also a big fan of science fiction. I subscribe to some ID and 3D CGI magazines and hanging out at forums like Product Design Forums which are good for staying current and observing current trends.

Q9: Do you do 3D modeling at home on personal projects?
Yes, but for things that are not so challenging geometrically. Years ago, when I was in California and my children were young, I built a Hexagonal 2 story tree house for them – entirely built in SW and design so it could be disassembled.

Q10: Just for fun, what is your favorite game? movie? comic book?
I love team games like Scattergories and Balderdash. Favorite movie: Gladiator. I never really got into comics.

Q11: What is your favorite subject other than 3D modeling?
My faith in Jesus Christ and my pursuit of knowing Him better.

Thank you again, Mark, for adding your perspective about 3D modeling and for sharing your images, videos and comments.

3DVIA.com is a place where all of those creators and their 3D models can come together to show their results, explore other parts of the 3D model creation world and to learn from each other. Imagination and fun drive the users, which makes 3DVIA.com a place to enjoy yourself!

SolidWorks is an excellent tool for creating 3D models. Those models are used throughout the conceptualization, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of many of products that we use every day. It is also a creative tool that is used for lots of fun projects. Many SolidWorks models have been uploaded to 3DVIA.com already (you can find them all at one time using this link).

One thing you may notice about some of the uploaded SolidWorks models, is that the models aren’t oriented in a natural way. They’re often lying on their side or on their back. This post is meant to help you avoid that when you upload your SolidWorks models.

The first image shows a model (by “anonymous”) as oriented in SolidWorks after I downloaded it from 3D Content Central. After I created a 3DXML file in SolidWorks (by using the drop-down list in either SolidWorks 2007 or 2008 to “Save as type:” 3DXML), I uploaded it to my free 3DVIA.com account. The second and third images show the results when I displayed it in first the 3D XML Player and then the 3DVIA Player.

What happened? It all comes down to where your axes are in your SolidWorks model. SolidWorks uses the Reference Triad to indicate this. The following is from SolidWorks Help (with my highlight of the triad).

If you don’t see a triad at all in your models, use the simple 1-2 steps shown in the image above to turn the triad back on.

The image below shows the DEFAULT SolidWorks triad on the left, and the way we want it to be oriented on the right.

Depending on your default part and assembly template files, your triad may be in a totally different orientation. Whatever spatial orientation your files are in, you can download and use the appropriate SolidWorks assembly file template below to easily get good upload results without changing your own templates.

sw_2007_3dvia_upload.ASMDOT or  sw_2008_3dvia_upload.ASMDOT

Just be sure to put them where you can find them and use “Tools>Options>System Options>File Locations>Default Templates” to make their location easily accessible within SolidWorks.

Each template’s default opening screen has the triad placed correctly and a standard view added (just hit the space bar to see the list), so that you can easily go back to the “3DVIA Upload” view.

Whether you have a SolidWorks part or assembly, the fastest way to get it oriented correctly is to open a new assembly using the new downloaded template. If your model is already open and shows as a choice to insert into your new assembly, then select it and click the green check. This will put the model at the origin in your new assembly.

Or, you can split your viewing screen (”Window>Tile Horizontally”), so that you can see your model and the new assembly. Click on your model’s title in the Feature Manager Design Tree and drag and drop it onto the origin in the Feature Manager Design Tree of the new file. Don’t worry about orientation, just get it in there.

Save it with some appropriate name so that you won’t forget that it has been re-oriented.

Now, go into the Feature Manager Design Tree of the new file and right click on the name of the item that you brought in and then click on “Float” in the resulting list of choices.

All of the mates you carefully set up in the parent model will stay locked as you spin the model to the orientation that you want it to show up on 3DVIA.com using “Rotate Component” or “Move with triad”. You are only trying to get it in the ballpark, not exactly where you want it.

I use “Rotate Component” because I can whip it around in all three axes, rather than one at a time. While you do this, your reference triad should not move. Do not use “Rotate View” or you’ll have to go back to the pre-set view to correct your triad position.

Next, you’ll need to mate the planes to match your new view. This will ensure that your model sits on the floor, rather than being at an odd angle. Depending on your naming conventions, you may have “Front, Top, and Right”; “1,2, and 3″; or goodness only knows what else. Just match up the closest plane in the model to the closest plane in the assembly. Create coincident mates one by one until your model is locked in .

Now, after a ctrl Q and a save, you’ll be ready to save it as a 3DXML file. Please note that the shadows still won’t show correctly until the file is saved, closed, and reopened.

When your 3DXML file is uploaded to your model selection at 3DVIA.com, it will display correctly in the thumbnail and in both 3D players.

There are always many ways to do anything in SolidWorks, so feel free to follow your own path, based on your own experience. This is just one reliable way to get good results.

Please be aware that 3DVIA.com has an upload file size limit of 10MB, so be sure to check the size of your file before you try to upload it. The upload process will assume that the file is within the limit, so it chugs merrily along (while you wait and wait) and then, at the end, if it’s too big it gives you an error.

If your file is too big you can zip it and (as long as the resulting zip file is now less than 10MB) you should be OK to upload.

Now you can quickly modify and upload your SolidWorks models to 3DVIA.com and know that other folks will see them the way you intended. Have fun exploring all of the other models – there’s a lot to see.

P.S. Feel free to contact me directly if you have questions or suggestions.