Solid Edge University might be all about the 100+ classes available this week, but for us media the highlight is the new release of Solid Edge. The kind of odd name is ST6, which means it is the sixth release with synchronous technology, that tech that lets direct and history modeling to coexist.
There are 1300 improvements, apparently, and I have't seen the full list, so let's look at a few of them.
Solid Edge SP
What used to be known as Solid Edge Insight XT is renamed "Solid Edge SP," were SP is short for SharePoint, as in Microsoft SharePoint.
The Relation Browser now previews all documents, revisions, and data related to a part. As I said, just a few highlights of new functions.
Data Migration
Prevously, Solid Edge had bulk import for files from Inventor, Pro/E, and its old I-Deas. ST6 adds bulk import of SolidWorks assemblies, parts, and drawings -- and also imports intelligenence.
Related to this, Command Finder handles commands names from the latest release of competitor MCAD packages.
YouTube
YouTube now runs in a dockable pane, for viewing *ahem* instructional videos. But ST6 now also has the ability to record a design session, and then upload it to YouTube.
Design Validation
Goal seeking is now available for 3D. Physical properties in a table are used for iterative solving. Works is synchronous and ordered (aka history) modes.
Remesh lets us mesh just individual parts, instead of the entire assembly.
[Production note: I'm reporting this using TypePad on an Android notebook. Irritant: TypePad works poorly in Firefox, Android Browser, and Opera Mini. Finally got TypePad working on Chrome. Even so, I cannot apply formatting to text, like bold or italics, except by going into HTML mode.]
Large Assemblies
Simplify Assembly Environment now allows the use of all ordered (history) part modeling commands. The new Enclose Components command replaces selected components with simplified shapes
Duplicate Body copies and patterns (arrays) solid bodies, single or multiple.
Sheet Metal
ST6 deforms sheet metal through dimples, louvers, drawn cutouts, and beads. Controur flanges can be defined on the edges of existing ones.
Sheet metal features can be placed on ordered parts, without needing to turn the parts into sheet metal. A body can now stamp a target body. Flatten operations now preserve chamfers, bends, and holes across bends.
Surface Modeling
Big one is surfacing, because it now handles G2 curves. Also: in-place curvature edits, bound surfaces, 3D control handles, ruled surfaces, user-defined UV curve density, curvature combs, symmetrical reflection, trim and extend multiple faces at once, define replacement faces, and more.
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