This can quickly improve our top level performance. However, these create additional work when our assembly is solved. When translated to assemblies, we can use these patterns to define our component placement with pattern driven component patterns. Most of us find it boring to keep repeating the same mates between the same parts within large assemblies, so we make "Sub-assembly" files to work with. Open large drawings instantly with the new Detailing mode while still being able to add and edit drawing annotations. Performs the same process as the Lightweight mode option above, however,  it involves a few more options that can be altered as seen in Image 2. If you experience long open times, graphics lags or issues working with mates, it may be time to review your process. Try saying that five times fast. Fortunately, there are a number of techniques that you can employ in order to improve performance whilst maintaining functionality. But unfortunately, the default configuration for ALL sub-assemblies makes them "rigid"; as if they were a single part. There are 4 different ‘modes’ that an assembly can be opened in, as seen in the image below; Resolved, Lightweight, Large Assembly Mode and Large Design Review, each opening the file in a different state. However, some could miss out the functionality of restructuring assembly components in a BOM table without affecting the … This is OK as long as we periodically turn this setting back on and rebuild our model. We offer the skills and experience to help you develop new products using SOLIDWORKS - empowering smarter, faster and more cost effective design. If he's not there when you call, he's probably playing video games or testing his physical strength on an outdoor obstacle course. But, there are number of techniques that makes you improve the performance during the process of working on assemblies. For example, when opening an assembly, all of the associated parts feature history is loaded into me… Toby is a regular presenter at users groups, technical summits, and SOLIDWORKS world. Our pattern now drives out attachment instead of mates. Each option restricts particular processes and features to aid performance. SOLIDWORKS Large Assembly Problem. Similar to the performance options under Document Properties image quality can have a large effect on our models. 10 Best Practices for Large Assembly Design. Create a New Subassembly. In other words, if a mate holding the subassembly in place exists at the subassembly level, it will not be “overridden” in the context of a higher-level assembly within which it is defined. In the FeatureManager design tree, right-click a subassembly or Ctrl + select multiple assemblies and select Dissolve Subassembly. Higher quality images are going to take more time to process. Finally it's a good practice to defragment and clean up your computer on a regular basis. Now for the moment you have all been waiting for, the number one method for improving large assembly design.... 1) Use the Large Assembly and Lightweight Modes for Assemblies/Drawings. Lightweight components have improved opening, rebuild, and closing times. This then becomes a derived configuration which has to be activated at top level. While opening an assembly there are four different modes in which you can choose according to your requirement. ... RMB on the sub assembly and you are presented with two options as seen here: RMB on subassembly. Note: This effect can also be applied at part level which would have a positive knock on effect if also applied at assembly level. Certified SOLIDWORKS Experts will analyze your CAD models, review your system setup, and investigate how your team currently works with complex assemblies. The Silhouette Defeature option is a new enhancement that has been added in SOLIDWORKS 2019 to significantly speed up the process of simplifying assemblies. Large Design Review is a capability that has been available in SOLIDWORKS for many years and allows users to open very large assemblies fast, giving you the ability to … Once the subassembly is mated into position at the top level, RMB on the sub assembly and you are presented with two options as seen here: This option automatically keeps the faces that have been mated together. To get the option to open a drawing in Detailing Mode, the drawing must be saved in SOLIDWORKS 2020. 10) Hardware and SoftwareAlthough our system may meet SOLIDWORKS minimum requirements, we may be able to improve our performance by upgrading items such as RAM and our graphics card. Sometimes it may be necessary to build up your assembly using all of the relevant parts, this however can make it top heavy and result in poor performance. One of the biggest issues that SOLIDWORKS users face is wasted time when working with large assemblies and their related drawings. When inserting a subassembly, SOLIDWORKS uses the position that the subassembly was last saved in (or current position, if the subassembly is open). These faces are required for mate referencing only. Home › SOLIDWORKS Training › Introducing a new Workshop to solve your SOLIDWORKS Large Assembly and Drawing Issues Who we are and what we do We are Canadian experts in 3D and have enabled thousands of companies to aim high with solutions for 3D Design , Data Management & Workflow , Manufacturing & 3D Printing . Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We specialise in the supply, technical support and training of SOLIDWORKS software. Hello, today we will be covering some best practices when working with large assemblies. This video shows you how to enable sub-assembly mate flexibility in higher up assemblies. In the FeatureManager design tree, click the rigid subassembly, and click Make Subassembly Flexible. 7) Limit the use of Helical Sweeps and Threads. Primarily the graphical information and reference geometry are loaded into memory, but the features that define the part are not. This will also minimize top level mates and features which leads to faster solving. About the Author . Alternatively, users who want to share their large assemblies with non-SOLIDWORKS users can share eDrawings files that can be viewed within the eDrawings Viewer. ... SOLIDWORKS) 2021 SP01 To disable Web help from within SOLIDWORKS and use local help instead, click Help > Use SOLIDWORKS Web Help. It is not always possible to have the foresight in terms of how your assembly will finally be constructed. Long opening time; Long rebuild time; Frequent graphics refresh events of 10 seconds to more than 2 minutes You can also select the subassembly icon and click Edit > … Video Tutorials. These can not be edited or shown in the feature manager design tree. Splitting our top level assemblies into multiple sub-assemblies and encourages design teams to divide and conquer. It is always best to construct your assemblies with as many subassemblies as possible, which can either be done by inserting them individually (as normal), or at assembly level. SolidWorks 2009 has some huge improvements in the areas of large assemblies, but these tips will always come in useful when you need to shave a few extra minutes off that 10th coffee break. Only a combination of small fixes and best practices can lead to better performance. These can indicate that we are working with a large assembly and it may be time to review our process, which leads us to ten best practices for large assembly. Someone there must recognize the need, it would seem like a fairly effortless change to … In this example that is only three surfaces. Travis Quick Email: info@innova-systems.co.uk / Telephone: 01223 200690. This tool removes the selected faces, features, etc. Using subassemblies in main assemblies is another great way to reduce rebuild time. We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on twitter for daily bite size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks and videos. By using a subassembly SOLIDWORKS does not have to manually rebuild all of the relationships and mates at the top level allowing users to alter each individual subassembly at will. In this video blog, I'll cover ten assembly best practices to improve large assembly performance. Improve your design speed with the new Envelope Publisher by including components from a top-level assembly as envelopes in a subassembly. Please keep in mind these are recommendations and there is no easy fix when working with a complicated assembly. After you launch this tool, SOLIDWORKS will sort your assembly based on … The file can then be saved as a “Dumb Solid”, which is a file without any feature definition or history. Based in Cambridge we have a central location to service a UK wide customer base. This can be a very quick and easy process that SOLIDWORKS has given us. If the subassembly or multibody part contains more than one exploded view, you can select the exploded view to use. An image of a feather appears next to the associated file in the FeatureManager Design Tree. It can be achieved only with users having SOLIDWORKS 2020 or above. Toby Schnaars began using the SOLIDWORKS Software on the ’98 plus release, in October of 1998. 5) Create Simplified Configurations of Parts and Assemblies. Large Assemblies: Detecting Problems: Configurations: SOLIDWORKS Costing: ... You can open a subassembly in its own window from the FeatureManager design tree or from the graphics area. Another technique you can use to improve navigational performance is to create a configuration within the assembly, suppressing some unnecessary associated parts and subassemblies. These options can be accessed via: Tools > Options > Assemblies. Duplicating a SOLIDWORKS Assembly Project, How to Copy a Part in SOLIDWORKS Using Virtual Component, SOLIDWORKS Part Reviewer: Honeycomb Foil Ornament, Decorating for the Holidays the SOLIDWORKS Electrical Way, How to get FREE Access to SOLIDWORKS as a Student, Creating a Testing Vault for SOLIDWORKS PDM, How to create a wind turbine blade using Surface Lofts, Is This a Good FEA Mesh? Solidworks already has the sub-assembly filter in the exploded configuration dialog (select sub-assembly's parts) and it is a big help for the same reasons I mentioned. Wherever possible, minimize the use of flexible assemblies unless absolutely necessary. The Assembly Visualization tool on the Evaluate toolbar. Large assembly mode will automatically activate a set of performance enhancing options based on a user defined component threshold. Detailing mode helps us to make minor edits to drawings of large assemblies or drawings with many sheets, configurations in a limited period of time. Lightweight components have improved opening, rebuild, and closing times. Ever run into a subassembly that just won't move the way you want? ; To add an existing, saved component to the subassembly, right-click the subassembly icon in the FeatureManager design tree, and select Edit Subassembly. You may be asking yourself "how do I know if I have a large assembly?" Working with a large assembly in SOLIDWORKS can be a little challenging for slower computers. ... if you work in large context driven assemblies moving to SolidWorks 2008 can save you a lot of pain of dealing with contextual relations. In our simple bolt example, our threads consist of 87% of our rebuild time. To make a flexible subassembly rigid, click the subassembly and click Make Subassembly Rigid . Revolve threads are still around 75%. This is very different to the other three modes of opening an assembly. Most SOLIDWORKS users know how to create and customize their BOM. Sub-assemblies are smaller and less cumbersome to work with than the top level. We've been recognised by SOLIDWORKS Corporation for providing the highest rated customer support in Northern Europe in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Splitting our top level into multiple sub-assemblies encourages design teams to divide and conquer. Based on years of experience helping customers with large assembly issues we have found that system optimization and adopting the latest SOLIDWORKS design techniques and best practices will deliver dramatic speed improvements. Running additional programs in the background may use up resources that SOLIDWORKS could be taking advantage of. In the PropertyManager, under Reuse explode , click From Subassembly or From Part . Wherever possible, minimize the use of flexible assemblies unless absolutely necessary. You can also click Flexible or Rigid (Assembly toolbar). There are many steps one can take to improve SOLIDWORKS and its performance when working with large assemblies and drawings. Fortunately, there are a number of techniques that you can employ in order to improve performance whilst maintaining functionality. Do you have any of the following SOLIDWORKS Assembly issues? An assembly with many in context features is going to experience slower performance. When working in assemblies, the image quality can be set to a common resolution for each part by selecting "apply to all referenced  part documents.". This is also a great for protecting intellectual property whilst maintaining a good understanding of the geometry. I hope this information was helpful and can be put to good use on your next large assembly design. The aim is to remove all but the information required (faces, associated mates, etc) to maintain the references at the top level. When this is turned off, new and modified features will be checked against adjacent surfaces only. In an assembly, select a subassembly or multibody part that has an exploded view. It allows you to very quickly open your model for viewing purposes. Assembly files of a certain size can be set to open automatically as a particular mode defined by the user as seen in Images 3 and 4 below. Keep your software and system drivers up to date, not using the latest recommended drivers could be sabotaging your performance. Our Large Assembly Service is customized to solve your unique SOLIDWORKS large assembly issues. This is a purely graphical representation with no resolved geometry or mate references. Defeature can be found via: Tools > Defeature. Performance evaluation is a key tool to identify resource heavy features. A group of connected parts that attach to another group of connected parts is typically how we think of sub-assemblies. When I used to design automated machinery, I would use configurations to show my machine in various stages of the cycle. What is SOLIDWORKS Large Assembly Mode? Add components to the subassembly: To move a component that is already in the assembly into the subassembly, see Dragging Components in the FeatureManager Design Tree or Editing Assembly Structure. The default option when working within assemblies. In order to begin this process, you need to RMB on the relevant part you want to be included within the subassembly and select ‘Form New Subassembly’ as seen below. You can either create a SpeedPak at top level or within the subassembly, each providing you with different options as follows: The SpeedPak configuration at subassembly level can be created in the ConfigurationManager via the right mouse button (RMB) as seen in Image 6. This will also minimize top level mates and features which leads to faster solving. My SOLIDWORKS Large Assembly is Slow to Open . Typically large assembly issues are attributed to slow hardware, network configuration, or software problems. There is NO EASY BUTTON when it comes to working with complicated assemblies. 9) System Options and Document Properties, There are many performance improving settings in system options under drawings, performance, and assemblies. Symptoms to look out for include: 1) Do we experience long open, rebuild, save and close times?2) Do our graphics lag when rotating and viewing our models?3) Are there issues inserting components and working with mates? 1) Use the Large Assembly and Lightweight Modes for Assemblies/Drawings. A bill of materials (BOM) is a comprehensive list of parts, assemblies and sub-assemblies of the design. Opening and working with large assembly designs might be a challenging in SOLIDWORKS. Only a combination of smaller fixes and better practices will lead to a better performing assembly. Sub-assemblies are smaller and less compare to work with the top level assemblies. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(10734, 'f0434c15-0885-44f9-9f78-1cc0f29d1ebf', {}); Written by Travis QuickTravis Quick is an Application Engineer at Alignex, Inc. Travis spends his days teaching SOLIDWORKS courses and helping customers on the Alignex Help Desk. He has fielded over 10,000 tech support cases and been the head instructor for over 200 SOLIDWORKS training classes. The remaining features will only contain graphical information and is not selectable. A common way is hiding the unwanted rows in a BOM, but this can lead to a lot of manual work and a high risk of errors. A large assembly can be challenging for slower computers. Opens the assembly, but none of the associated file information apart from the primary planes and the origin. Rockin’. ... especially for large subassemblies with many moving components, and should be used with discretion. When only the appearance will be affected we can use display states instead of configurations. Help! 2 SOLIDWORKS Tips for Working with Large Assemblies . There are 4 different ‘modes’ that an assembly can be opened in, as seen in the image below; Resolved, Lightweight, Large Assembly Mode and Large Design Review, each opening the file in a different state.ResolvedThe default option when working within assemblies. We cover seven of them here. Restricts the files from being edited. Patterns at the part level save us time by reusing geometry that would otherwise have to be calculated. Large assembly mode will automatically activate a set of performance enhancing options based on a user defined component threshold. Let’s take a look…. The SOLIDWORKS Large Assembly and Drawing Workshop is designed for users who find their productivity is drastically affected when working with assemblies or drawings. Our first recommendation is to optimize your workstation. Opens the assembly and all of the associated file information. For example, when opening an assembly, all of the associated parts feature history is loaded into memory. One of the best tools available in SOLIDWORKS for troubleshooting a large assembly is the “Assembly Visualization” tool found on the “Evaluate” toolbar. Typically SOLIDWORKS large assembly issues are attributed to slow hardware, network configuration, or software problems. on February 11, 2019 at 11:30 AM, 3D CAD Why You Should use the Automatically Load Components Lightweight Option in SOLIDWORKS. You can navigate, take snapshots and take measurements. SOLIDWORKS; Simplify Large and Complex Assembly Models Faster; Simplify Large and Complex Assembly Models Faster. With this setting turned on, SOLIDWORKS checks every new or modified feature against all existing faces. These can then be loaded upon the file opening if chosen on the open dialog box as seen below. Improve your SOLIDWORKS large assembly performance with 30+ expert tips and tricks. For example, many configurations may be needed for a different combination of the components within the main assembly. One setting to mention is verification on rebuild. Another technique similar to creating a simplified configuration is the Defeature tool. Opens the assembly and all of the associated file information. Here’s How to Answer Yes, No, and All-You-Need-to-Know About Meshing Infographic. Figure 6. When working with files from an earlier version of SOLIDWORKS, they often take longer to open and rebuild. This can work great when we want to hide all of our hardware components. These are just a few ways that have helped me reduce load times and make it more fun to work on large assemblies in SolidWorks. Small details of parts such as fillets and chamfers should be suppressed for a simplified model. 5. Quite often I see SOLIDWORKS users struggle with the display of parts and subassemblies in a bill of materials (BOM). Here Note: All modes allow the file to be set to ‘Resolved’ at any point and the files to be loaded into memory as seen in Image 3. A SpeedPak configuration reduces the file size by limiting the file to specific faces or bodies. SOLIDWORKS tutorial: Large assembly tips. In 2003, in Orlando, FL, Toby won first place in SOLIDWORKS MODEL MANIA a modeling contest based on speed and accuracy. Only the mating faces or bodies that are required  are loaded into memory. Just be sure that we maintain our important features that are used for mating and boundary surfaces. 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