Picture this – SOLIDWORKS Visualize

Picture this – SOLIDWORKS Visualize

Jul 19, 2021 | SolidWorks

A picture is worth a thousand words, but how many clicks does it take to get there?

Without being too specific about exactly how many clicks are required to get to your final result using SOLIDWORKS Visualize, I would like to suggest that there is one click which you should definitely know about and be using if you're making frequent design changes to your SOLIDWORKS model while producing photorealistic images in parallel.

This powerful productivity enhancement tool is available to SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD users who have SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2017 or later installed.

First thing you’ll need to do is turn on the SOLIDWORKS Visualize add-in through the add-ins menu in SOLIDWORKS.

You will then have access to the SOLIDWORKS Visualize tab on the SOLIDWORKS command manager.

Export advanced is the option we will explore in this blog.

SOLIDWORKS Visualize Tab > Export Advanced.

Visualize does not need to be open for this to work, it will launch automatically when you click Export Advanced.

One click initiates seamless integration between the SOLIDWORKS and Visualize programs.

Let’s make a change to the Kitchen Assembly in SOLIDWORKS. Zooming into the Coffee Mug tower I will select and delete it from the Feature Tree.

Secondly, let's pull out one of the kitchen drawers.

Thirdly, I will open the TV screen in position and make a change to its colour, add a decal of the SOLIDWORKS logo and add some speakers to each side.

Returning back to the kitchen assembly you can see the changes to the part have come through and all three design changes to the assembly are complete, the coffee mug tree is gone, the drawer pulled out and the TV screen design revised.

It is at this point that we return to the command manager and select the update option next to the export advanced option.

SOLIDWORKS Visualize Tab > Update.

Before the changes are updated fully, you need to switch into Visualize and accept them.

When you go back over to Visualize you will see that the changes made and updated from SOLIDWORKS can be accepted or rejected. Select the yes option to accept the changes and you will see the model update live.

Up to this point, we have made changes in SOLIDWORKS and these have been pushed into Visualize.

What happens if you work in Visualize, adding an appearance to some components for example, will this work be lost when updating again?

No is the answer to that question. Changes made to the model geometry in SOLIDWORKS will be updated without interrupting the modifications made to the model in Visualize. To illustrate this, I have added a blue plastic appearance to several components in Visualize.

With these appearances added in Visualize, I will return to SOLIDWORKS, swap the configuration of one of the kitchen décor end panels, close the drawer and click update.

The changes have been accepted in Visualize and as you can see, none of the work done in Visualize has been interrupted, no reapplication of the appearances is required.

This is all thanks to the power of the Export advanced function which we made use of right at the start.

So, a picture is worth a thousand words, but how many clicks does it take to get there?

Depending on the complexity of your project it may take a few clicks to get the results you are looking for, but with the export advanced option, it will take far less than you think!

Confidently bounce between SOLIDWORKS and Visualize making design changes without fear of disrupting any work done in either program.

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