Welcome to SOLIDWORKS 2018

October is so exciting! The SOLIDWORKS team has added the polishing touches to SOLIDWORKS 2018 and it’s ready for delivery into your hands. With hundreds of enhancements, it can take significant time to understand and incorporate all the changes in to your workflow, team, and organization. Some of you have already attended a “What’s New 2018” live or digital launch event and had a taste of SOLIDWORKS 2018 — this is the best place to start (check with your local Value Added Reseller on upcoming 2018 events). You can also learn about what’s new from a variety of sources. To start, I suggest reading the highlights from our launch event last month, then get a video-based comprehensive look at our official launch site. You can also locate a plethora of video content on platforms like YouTube, some of which I link to below. Bottom line: the latest enhancements are all about streamlining your design to manufacturing process and getting you as a user and a team more productive and automated.

SOLIDWORKS Online Product Trial: 2018 is Live

Now, if you’re like me, you can only consume a small bit of content about the new stuff before you just need to get hands-on to explore. I get excited and must try things for myself, with my files. With that in mind, the SOLIDWORKS team is excited to announce the Online Product Trial is now live with SOLIDWORKS 2018. This means you can try your own files in 2018 prior to upgrading your machine — and try out some of our biggest new capabilities found in the extended portfolio.

SOLIDWORKS Online Product Trial is web-based, streaming access to SOLIDWORKS so you can evaluate the latest functionality and products without downloading and installing on your local computer. Just head over to My.SolidWorks. You’ll need to log in with your SOLIDWORKS ID, which is free for anyone to create. You can use this tool to try SOLIDWORKS anywhere, anytime, on any device. In fact I was testing SOLIDWORKS 2018’s Topology Study last week on a flight home through in-flight WiFi and my tablet. (You’ll want better bandwidth than this for design work, but really awesome what you can do with today’s tech.)

Access More Products

In the 2018 Product Trial, you can not only access SOLIDWORKS Premium, you can also touch extended functionality such as: Model Based Definition (MBD), Visualize Professional, Simulation Professional, and CAM Professional.

So, what should you try out first? It’s hard to choose, but with a limited amount of time here is the self-guided tour I would suggest. (You’ll find example file sets inside the Online Product Trial, AND you can connect to a shared storage service (Dropbox, Box, Google Drive) to work on your own designs.)

1. Test some of the newest CAD features like Tab and Slot or 3D Interconnect. These features are intended to automate and accelerate your everyday CAD tasks and lead you to design work that is associative and manufacturing ready.
2. Check out the new Topology Study inside SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional. This is the next must-have design tool, and it’s not just for Simulation users! If you can define the loading situation, SOLIDWORKS will show you the best use of your design envelope!
3. Create a 3D PDF and a STEP242 to document of one of your components. Can your downstream manufacturing partners use this instead of 2D?
4. Explore the powerful new integration of SOLIDWORKS CAM Professional to create and simulate CNC toolpaths.
5. If you have never seen what your designs look like in Visualize, you gotta see the lifelike visual assets that await you. Check out this blog for some pro tips on getting a great rendering set up fast.

With all the ways you can learn about SOLIDWORKS 2018, I hope you find the Online Product Trial to be a valuable resource.

Click over to My.SolidWorks and log in or register for a free account today. Have fun and leave your comments below on your thoughts on SOLIDWORKS 2018. Do these enhancements help your designs get built? What’s your favorite?

Brian Zias

Senior Territory Technical Manager at Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKS

Brian is a 15-year, expert SOLIDWORKS CAD, FEA, and CFD user and community advocate. His interests include engineering, simulation, team leadership, and predictive analytics. Brian holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA in Data Science.