A little love for an old friend!

For years now SolidWorks releases the new versions with over 200 great enhancements.  Some enhancements are major and can have a big impact on how we work in SolidWorks day-to-day.  Others enhancements may seem small and almost un-noticed, and they seem to touch a wide range of functions.  With the release of SolidWorks 2013, there have again been some great enhancements that I know we will adopt into our normal design activities.  But there is a function I have been using since ’97 that has just gotten a face lift and some added functionality.  It may be a function you use every day, or maybe every single file you work with.  It is the Orientation dialog.

 For years this function has allowed us to change to the standard views (Front, Top, Right, etc.), as well as add named views to be created.  Any orientation can be saved as a named view and available for working in the model, or for a view on the drawings.  The Orientation dialog has always been there with a tap of the Space bar, and has been like a trusted friend over the years.

And now, in SolidWorks 2013, it has finally gotten some attention.  The have redesigned it to an icon interface, with previews no less.  If you hover over the from view icon, you will see a preview of the front view.  Also included are the selections to split the design window into multiple panes.  But some of the more dramatic changes include the ability to not only create saved/named views, but to allow them to be persistent to other files.  Yes, you can save a named view, and with a click of a check box, allow it to be available in other models as well.

 

Another big change is the introduction of the View Cube.  This “widget” will allow you to pick a quadrant for viewing.  It is available on the Orientation dialog in the top right corner.

If it is enabled, pushed in, it will be presented each time you open the Orientation dialog.  Or, if you would just like to work with the View Cube alone, you can press Ctrl-Space Bar to have it presented.

So while there are always some AWESOME new enhancements and functions added with each release of SolidWorks.  I was inspired when I saw an old friend get a bit of a makeover.

 

Author: Top Dog of the Progression AE Team, Jeremy Colvin