Accessing the new parametric solids in Bricscad Platinum V11 (Updated)

Bricsys this week release a new upper version of Bricscad, called Platinum. This means the company now offers three editions of its DWG-based CAD software:

• Classic is US$395 
• Pro is US$505 (adds ACIS modeling, VBA, and a few more APIs)
• Platinum is US675 (adds history-based solids)

Here is what Platinum adds, as copy'n pasted from the Bricscad Web site:

• X-solids captures the history of solids as they are created, allowing parametric editing of these solids at any time. Any primitive parameter can be easily changed.
• X-Tools and QuickDraw allows to form complex composite solid shapes and automatically creates and aligns 2D geometry for up to 10 views at once for easily created detail drawings.
• X-Hardware Extended 3D library with parametric objects of all kinds – nuts, bolts, screws, pins, and more – are instantly created or resized at the touch of a button.

Sounds good. I downloaded the new release to take a look at how they implemented it. (See Update, below.) But then I got puzzled... where are the commands for the new features?

• Menus -- nothing.
• Toolbars -- nothing.
• Search help -- nothing
• Check the help index -- nothing.
• Tried typing in "box" in case they aliased the old command name to the new feature -- nope.
• Online forum at bricsys.com -- nothing, just other puzzled customers.
• Google search -- nothing, except for some press releases.

 I returned to the help file to search manually, and then spotted these entries under User Guide: X-Solids and X-Hardware. (The new command names are not listed under Command Reference.) The User Guide lists the commands, of which there are dozens and dozens and dozens.

The only commands you need to know are:

XcSolids opens a dialog box that accesses all other X-Solids commands. (The related editing command is XSolidEdit.)

XHardware prompts you to insert parts, like beams, bolts, and bearings; press enter to access the Options dialog box.  

That still left QuickDraw and X-Tools. I found a link to QuickDraw in the description of X-Solids. But I never found X-Tools.

So one more master command revealed:

XQuickDraw requires you to select a 3D solid, and then displays the following dialog box for generating 2D and isometric views:

It appears that for an extra $170 you get a fair amount of extra utility for 3D modeling. Customers just need a way to access it easily!

Update

It turned out to be my fault, because I misunderstood a dialog box during installation.  I thought it was asking me if I wanted the install routine to copy settings from the older Bricscad installation to the newer one. In fact, however, it was asking the opposite question: did I want to overwrite the old customization files with the new, default ones.

I answered, "No," which is why the new menus and toolbars for X-Solids did not appear when I started Bricscad Platinum.

If you make the same mistake as me, here is the quick fix:

1. In Bricscad Platinum, enter the Customize command.

2. When the Customize dialog box appears, click the  Revert to Defaults button.

3. Click OK to exit the dialog box; notice the new X-Solids item on the menu bar. In addition, you can open the X-Solids toolbar by right-clicking any toolbar, and then choosing the item from the right-click menu.

 

[Disclosure: I write ebooks about Bricscad.]

 

 

 

Comments

[wally, STATE OF MINNESOTA, St Paul, MN]

Brics has been releasing stuff before it is ready. Their long-awaited, and still incomplete, Linux version is a good example.