There are no strings attached, you simply need to fill in your details and then download the software. What could be simpler than that?

One important point that I will draw your attention to is that you need to use a valid e-mail address since the license will be sent to you via this method.

There is no better time to find out how Solid Edge could help your company by adopting some of the most advanced 3D CAD tools which allow you to accelerate your design process and implement faster design changes than ever before by adopting Synchronous Technology.

The 45 day Solid Edge trial gives you access to the full Solid Edge Premium product. This means that it includes all the core Solid Edge modelling tools as well as the Solid Edge Simulation product and other various add-on modules such as the XpresRoute Tubing / Piping and Wire Harness design. The license file also contains the Mold Tooling application and Web Publisher so you can evaluate these elements too if necessary. The product is not limited in any way at all – apart from your 45 day time period.

How Can I Make The Most Of My Solid Edge Trial?

In conjunction with this new initiative from Siemens, the team over at Solid Mastermind are also offering a special Solid Edge trial and evaluation training package called Solid Mastermind for Solid Edge Evaluations. This gives you full access to all the Solid Edge on-line video tutorials and training courses for the full 45 day period.

This training material will give you the knowledge to make an informed decision about whether Solid Edge is right for your business. They are not just basic tutorials that you will find elsewhere on the web, they are full blown training courses that are the equivalent to what you would learn in a classroom environment – adapted for on-line video sessions so that you can learn at your own pace.

Of course you can also make good use of the other Solid Mastermind services such as best practice documentation, process maps, searchable knowledge base, ask the expert and various Solid Edge utilities.

To kickstart your trial process sign up for Solid Mastermind for Solid Edge Evaluations

In a bold move to support this, this week they announced that students can now get hold of Solid Edge ST4 absolutely free of charge just by visiting the Solid Edge Student Edition page.

All you need to do is to provide some details including your name, e-mail address and so on. It really is very simple.

Once this is done, you should receive an e-mail which will have your Solid Edge license file attached. It will also contain the link you need to use to download the software. In addition to this there are some instructions on how to join the dedicated student forum where you can share ideas and communicate with other like-minded students.

The download link is only valid for 24 hours so its best to act quickly and download the installation right away.

The only real restriction with the student version is that any model and drawing files that are created, cannot then be opened and manipulated within a commercial version of Solid Edge. Everything else is the same, this includes the import and export formats as well as modelling functionality.

So what are you waiting for? Give yourself a head start by using industry leading production CAD technology to prepare yourself for the job market.

Learning Solid Edge

Once you're up and running with Solid Edge and have perhaps run through the built in tutorials, you might find you're craving for more information or training material. Here are a few suggested sites to visit to get hold of some free video training resources.

• Solid Mastermind YouTube Channel
• Solid Mastermind Facebook Page
• Solid Mastermind Top Tips Videos

Top Edging
Jon Sutcliffe

Recently John Fox who is in charge of Velocity marketing at Siemens released a useful blog post with a top ten list illustrating how users could get the most out of the event. This included the following points:

• Technical Sessions
• Hands-on Training
• Roundtable discussions with development
• Product showcase
• Win an iPad
• Customer support kiosks
• Technology partner booths
• Expert user presentations
• Assess to the development team
• Network with other Edgers

Well, I've found another way you can benefit from being there:

One Months Free Access To Solid Mastermind

Yes that’s right the team at Solid Mastermind have been generous enough to offer one month’s free membership to their on-line Solid Edge resource to every attendee. This will include the following Solid Edge content:

• On-line Video Training Courses
• Process Maps
• Best Practices
• Ask The Expert
• Knowledge Base
• Solid Edge Top Tips
• Solid Edge Utilities

To sign up for this offer, just make sure you head over to Mark Burhop’s booth and he’ll direct you to the appropriate web form so that you can do it there and then. As you may know Mark is in charge of the Solid Edge Eco System which is something I know Solid Mastermind is very proud to be a part of.

To everyone who is going, I hope you have a great event.

Top Edging
Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals. Online Solid Edge Video training, utilities, process maps, best practices, knowledge base and much more.

World Class Drafting

We’ll start with the updates to the drafting environment. This will see a brand new faster way to add special symbols to items such as text boxes, Callouts, Feature Control Frames and more. In the past we would have needed to use the Windows Character Map to do this and sometimes finding the right symbol could prove tricky. Now however ST4 will see a new dialogue for these special symbols which has logical sections enabling them to be found and used much more quickly.

On the text side of things it will be possible to automatically fit text into small spaces. This includes the auto adjustment of the aspect ratio and wrapping of the text. This enhancement applies to Callouts, Parts List table cells and text boxes. It means that if for example we were using a callout to place property text into an area of the drawing border / title block, we could ensure that the text would always fit within a specified area.

Feature Control Frames will now support the new requirements of the Y14.5 GD&T standard. In addition to this they will have a new handle which can help when defining their position within the drawing. This will assist when resizing or manipulating the break line and moving the break line around the feature control frame border. Feature control frames can also now be moved much more freely anywhere. For instance they can also be aligned perpendicular or parallel to drawing geometry as well as be attached to multiple leader lines.

Drawing views will now have the option of being locked. This is an option which can be chosen from either the Command Ribbon or the drawing view properties dialogue. Locked views will remain fixed at their current location within the drawing meaning that they can’t be accidentally dragged around. If any locked views are selected, a small glyph will display in their corner to offer a visual cue on its locked status.

A new option for section views means that it is now possible to specify whether rib features in the model are sectioned or not. This will satisfy many drawing standards which state that ribs should not be sectioned. In the past we would have needed to remove the cross hatch detail manually. The rib section options can be controlled globally via the Solid Edge options or per view if necessary.

Whilst we’re talking about sections, it’s worth mentioning that there will be a new hatch pattern which simulates the growth rings within wood. It will be possible to have combinations of linear and radial patterns.

When it comes to broken views, the resulting view now has the trimmed edges of the geometry calculated and shown. This produces a far better result and means that the break lines do not appear to sit out in free space. There will be two short break line types, these will be linear and curved which will have controls for height and pitch.

Simulation

On the simulation side of things there has been some work done on the analysis of sheet metal or common thickness parts. Firstly it will be possible to manage the sheet metal gauge properties by using an Excel file. Each sheet in the Excel file can contain all of the information for a particular material type. Multiple gauges per material can be defined in order to capture the specific characteristics of the different thicknesses for each material. By using the File Locations options the Excel file can be managed centrally and shared amongst multiple users or left stand alone.

There are some new Edge and Face Glue options that will allow the simulation of more realistic scenarios with shell elements. It will handle the moment transfer between shell and solid elements and as such help where shell meshes need to be attached to other shell or indeed solid elements. This will allow the analysis of more complex situations where it is far better to use surface elements to represent a part in order to achieve better results and reduce the time it takes to mesh and calculate the results.

Finally there has been a fair amount of work done on the usability of the simulation environment. Edits within the Study Navigator can now be achieved with a simple double click. The formatting of the numerical colour bar has been improved. Single face to face connections will be quicker to define and various on screen glyphs for the contact source and target have been improved. The material table has also been overhauled and the material is linked to the sheet metal gauge.

Well that’s it for now until we can give you the full ST4 update details after the official announcement in June

Top Edging
Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

If you're anything like me you previously thought of Facebook as just some passing fad or gimmick.

... but Facebook now refers more traffic to websites than Google.

That's right. Many of us probably still use Google to find information on the internet. If we want to find something we type the search term in Google and then look at the results presented.

It's hard to imagine, because of our own level of dependency on Google, that there is another source referring more people to websites. However it is a fact that the communities on Facebook and Facebook pages send more people to websites than Google.

As a consequence Facebook is becoming more and more important for business use.

In fact 'Social Media' generally is becoming a key element for business communication and information.

With this in mind Solid Mastermind have launched a contest to help encourage the use of social media within the Solid Edge community whilst spreading the word about their expert on-line resource and community.

There is a prize pot worth over $2000 so to find out how to take part and the prizes on offer click the link below:

Solid Mastermind Spread The Word Contest

Most importantly make sure you are using social media in your business.

There are several options currently available:

Ask a friend or colleague

If you are like me this is probably the first option you use. The benefits of this are that you are asking someone you know on a face to face basis, it's easy to articulate your question, and hopefully you'll get an instant positive response. It's also likely that they can demonstrate their answer live in Solid Edge if appropriate.

Use the telephone support facility that is part of the Solid Edge maintenance contract

If you have an active Solid Edge maintenance contract depending on your geographical location you should be able to ask either Siemens PLM, the authors of Solid Edge, or your reseller directly. Obviously there is a limit to the complexity of question that can be asked or answered over the telephone.

Use 'Premium' services offered by many Solid Edge resellers

You may have subscribed to a 'premium' service with your Sold Edge reseller. This may include an additional level of software support allowing you to ask any question regarding Solid Edge. Answers may be delivered by telephone, encapsulated video, or using a screen or application share.

Reach out to the Solid Edge forums

There are a few forums for Solid Edge. These include the Siemens GTAC Support Forums accessible here with your WebKey and the Eng-Tips Solid Edge forum. You could post a question in either of these as a new topic. It's then a little bit of pot luck in when and whether your question is answered.

This list certainly isn't, nor meant to be, exhaustive. There are no doubt other options and here's a new one.

... now there is another way.

You can submit your question to Solid Mastermind.

If you submit a question you will receive a free monthly multimedia 'Ask The Expert' newsletter featuring selected questions and answers, maybe yours included.

The guys at Solid Mastermind have been supporting Solid Edge since it's release in 1996. So why not use their expert knowledge and ask that question. It could be answered in their 'Ask The Expert' newsletter.

... and if you become a member of Solid Mastermind not only can you ask and get answers to all your Solid Edge questions you will have access to a comprehensive Q&A Vault 24/7/365.

Find out full details and ask your question by clicking Ask Your Solid Edge Question Here.

P.S. If you want to share your top ways of getting answers to your Solid Edge questions please enter a comment below.

Solid Mastermind the expert on-line resource and community for Solid Edge professionals have recently released some brand new Solid Edge tutorials. These latest videos are called Solid Edge Top Tips. Tips and tricks for Solid Edge are probably the most requested resources from Solid Edge users.

There are currently over 50 Solid Edge Top Tips available covering all Solid Edge environments such as draft, part, sheet metal, assembly – both ordered and synchronous. The tips are designed to be easy to consume (typically being no more than 3 minutes long) and get straight to the point as each one focuses on one specific area of Solid Edge functionality. They are also shot in HD so can be viewed in full screen with no loss of quality.

All these Top Tips videos are available to members of Solid Mastermind. As a member you also have access to other on-line training videos and tutorials, best practice documents, process maps, Solid Edge utilities, Ask The Expert and much more. The Top Tips videos themselves are arranged into a logical index making it very easy to find the material you need.

If you want access to all the Top Tips you'll have to join Solid Mastermind.

...but here's the good news

A subset of the Top Tips videos are available for free. All you need to do is register at the Solid Mastermind Top Tips website by providing your name and email as shown below:

You'll then be sent your own personal secure login to the site. I don't know how long these are going to be available so I suggest you register now.

Top Edging

Jon Sutcliffe

These videos can once again be found on the Solid Mastermind YouTube channel but the links below will take you direct to each one

Don’t forget to watch them in full screen mode to take advantage of the HD quality.

• Line and Arc drawing shortcuts
• Creating a Slot
• Copy & Paste Traditional part
• Feature Library Traditional part
• Copy & Paste Synchronous part
• Feature Library Synchronous part
• 2Dto3D Traditional part
• 2Dto3D Synchronous part

Top Edging


Jon Sutcliffe

Each highly focused video training session concentrates on a specific area of functionality within Solid Edge. They are all designed to be around 2 minutes or less in duration in order to make them quick to consume and easy to watch.

The Top Tips videos available cover all aspects of Solid Edge including part modelling, sheet metal, assembly, drafting and more.

The links below will take you directly to sample videos that focus on the Assembly environment in Solid Edge..... Enjoy.

• Part orientation in EdgeBar
• Part manipulation during the assembly process
• Using Display Configurations
• Working with Model Views
• Working with Zones

Top Edging
Jon Sutcliffe

We are going to see that ST3 has some fantastic new ways of working that completely remove the barriers for users looking to adopt synchronous modelling techniques. Before we get into the main ST3 content it is worth having a quick recap on the use of synchronous prior to ST3.

When Synchronous Technology was first launched, users had a choice as to whether they started out a design using the traditional history based techniques they were used to, or the new synchronous workflow. This was based on what type of template was selected for either parts, assemblies and later, in ST2 sheet metal. Of course you could mix and match traditional and synchronous files within a complete design, and there were conversion tools to take traditional designs through to synchronous. The fact you had to make the choice to go traditional or synchronous up front also meant that you had to analyse the design up front too. This was in order to establish whether synchronous was appropriate or not. Designs that required the use of complex forms or surfaces, interpart links, family of parts, process steps, etc. were all probably best done in traditional. This in some instances created barriers for users to adopt Synchronous Technology.

Solid Edge ST3 now fulfils the vision of synchronous technology and completely removes these barriers by providing a fully integrated design environment to expand the synchronous capabilities.

Mixing Synchronous and Ordered Workflows

You no longer have to choose which modelling workflow to use up front, instead it is a simple case of switching between ordered (traditional) and synchronous whenever required. This allows synchronous to be used to very quickly start a design. Ordered features can be added later if required for more complex or process type steps. For instance ordered features can be used to add complex surfaces or blends to the existing synchronous geometry. They could also be used to document such things as the machining steps applied to a synchronous casting.

Take a look at the image above, notice that the Pathfinder is split to show both ordered and synchronous features on the same model. The really clever bit here is when it comes to making changes.

You have the same synchronous edit capabilities to adjust the part with either the steering wheel or 3D dimensions, any ordered features on the design simply recalculate and update accordingly during the edit. Believe me when I say this is a very big deal and helps to eliminate any design pre planning and allows un-planned changes to be made much more easily.

In addition to being able to switch between ordered and synchronous modelling modes, any existing models with ordered features can utilize synchronous methods when adding new geometry. Ordered features can also be selectively moved to synchronous with a simple right click. This alone will speed the adoption of synchronous and have minimal impact on any existing workflows.

On the assembly design side, it is now possible to unleash the power of synchronous with all assembly applications including wire harness design, tubing, piping, weldments, assembly features and more.

Interpart Associativity within a Synchronous Assembly

Solid Edge ST3 can establish part to part associativity within a synchronous assembly. The fundamental aspect about this is that the relationships can be created at any time in the design process, they do not need to be created up front like they would in a traditional CAD product. Interpart links can be created as we start designing, any time during the design process or even afterwards if necessary. It does not matter where the data has come from either since these relationships can be applied to imported models as easily as they can native Solid Edge models. Imagine importing a component from a supplier that uses SolidWorks or Inventor and then using it to drive your own design.

Another key point is that unlike traditional history based design where you have parent and child relationships in that one part is driving and the other part driven, in ST3, parts can be both driving and driven at the same time. Again this will allow for faster un-planned changes and make it much easier to establish how a design is linked together if you are trying to modify an assembly which was created by another user.

Solid Edge ST3 should be available to all users to download later today. Stay tuned for a look at some other new functionality as well as a more in depth look at what we have covered in this post.

Top Edging

Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals. Online Solid Edge Video training, utilities, process maps, best practices, knowledge base and much more.