being both a user of SolidWorks and Autocad, I would like to find a way to establish layout plans more easily.
To do this, I would like to be able to combine the advantages of SolidWorks (3D view, rendering, bills of materials...) and those of autocad (speed of drawing, easy resize of elements).
Would there be a way on SolidWorks to make quick implementations by importing configurable and resizeable library elements that would come if possible to be positioned automatically or easily to each other (place an element automatically on the floor or against a wall for example)?
The representations I want to have will only be fairly simple visuals in order to have notions of clutter as well as a commercial visual.
I thank you in advance for any help or example you could give me.
Making a library in solidworks is possible. In addition, it already offers a lot of configurable parts in its libraries.
The same goes for easy positioning of elements during assembly. However, there is work to be done upstream. To do this, you need to open each of your rooms and click on:
Then you choose the surfaces and constraints you want. That way, when you import these parts into your assembly, solidworks will try to place them for you. This makes positioning much faster (especially for screws...)
as Matthieu says, with SW, it is easy to make a dedicated library and especially if the parts often come back with a different geometry: the families of parts are ideal for this
for the commercial visual, with Photowiew, you can make layouts as for a photo catalog
My concerns are less about the graphic quality of my layout than about the simplicity of making it quickly from standard elements (why not configurations or families of parts).
Indeed, there are tools like Photoview or SolidWorks composer that seem to me to be particularly suitable for illustration from SolidWorks models.
As for the creation of the implementation itself, the methodology I have in mind would be as follows:
-Creation of the environment from an AutoCAD plan, extrusion of the walls and creation of the floor, windows etc
- Import of standard and fixed elements (whose dimensions do not change, simple library element)
- import and adaptation "on the fly" of standard elements but whose dimensions may vary.
In some cases, the dimensions can indeed constitute a family of parts for well-defined dimensions. On the other hand, in some cases, I will have to adapt dimensions according to the environment (make customization). So I would have to be able to modify my family of parts very simply to touch up the dimension in question. On this last point, I have not yet found a solution simple enough for my taste. I tried by equation parameters but it changes all occurrences of the same library parts.
As for constraint references, I'll try. I didn't know this function. I had rather looked for smart components but it is not suitable for my case.
If the adapted components may not be parts but functions (a set of functions) we can possibly consider using library functions, this is feasible for example for the installation of windows with their frame in a wall.
If you're on recent SolidWorks, you can use the "Configuration publisher" feature!
It is available by right-clicking on the configurations since SW 2011!
The principle is to define varibles that will fill a family of rooms on the fly!
For example, you create a door with two variables H and L that point to the height and width dimension!
In the publisher configuration you declare H and L.
This will create a family of empty rooms for you.
Then when you use your door in an assembly, SW will ask you to fill in H and L, and create a line in the part family corresponding to the new dimension!
I was able to try your suggestions and it turns out that the combo "Constraint reference" + "Configuration publisher" gives me a result very close to what I was hoping for.
This gives me something very efficient that places my pieces in space quite quickly and allows me to easily switch between my created standards in configurations.
@Coyote: Do you know of a way to be able to change on the fly in an assembly one of the dimensions driven by the configuration publisher by writing a value not yet created in the configuration table? That is to say, create a kind of "non-standard" without having to manually edit the table in the room.
If you have an answer to this, I would then have all the elements to compose my library for my implantations.
The publisher configuration allows this if you create it without a room family at the beginning.
You create a part, you create a publisher configuration using the dimensions you want to control and then you enter a mode I create part family lines on the fly!
Personally I only use it in this mode, never in the mode I manage existing dep iece families.
In the help you can really find both modes but if you still have doubts I can pass you a file!
It works perfectly now the Configuration Publisher. Thank you so much, it's really great!
It takes a few seconds to generate the model but it's well worth the trade-off of the freedom of real-time configuration.
I was able to mix the drop-down lists and free fields in intervals for more precision in my model.
@Matthieu: I noticed that constraint references didn't work between two entities in the same room. Is this normal?
The references are perfect when I want to arrange a piece of furniture in a room, for example. It is magnetized directly to the floor or against a wall.
On the other hand, I can't make it possible to glue for example two shelves from the same room (but in different configuration) against each other.
This only creates a contact constraint but if it is possible it would be ideal.
Finally, if I want to take the vice to the end, would it be possible to make it so that when you snap one piece to another, the new one takes the same parameter values as the first one by default (e.g. depth and height)? In my case, this could avoid some tie errors.
Excuse me for the late reply, I hadn't seen your last message.
I noticed that to constrain the same part with different configurations, it depends on which configurations you insert the component into.
For example, we have room1 with config1 and config2.
In the assembly, if there is already part1 with config1, it is imperative that when inserting the other config2, the component is in config2 from the start.
Unfortunately, I don't know of a quick and easy way to be able to choose the config before inserting it. For my part, I only know that the piece appears in the same configuration as when it was recorded.
So if the part is saved in config1, you must, after placing it in the assembly, modify it to put it in config2. This way, when you re-insert the part (still in config1), there will be no more ambiguity for SolidWorks.
For the parameters that can be modified according to the constraints, I don't know at all! Sorry.