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Old 09-27-2010, 07:55 AM
tbombardo tbombardo is offline
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A little confused...

Hey there,
I am trying out the personal edition of cocreate today (first time iIve ever used cocreate) and I'm a bit confused...

I have experience with solidworks, so most of the software's features make sense or seem self explanitory, but is there anything similar to a "smart dimension" tool? for example, i'm just trying to draw up some simple rectangular parts to create drawings from, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to set the dimensions of lines in the rectangle, maybe I'm missing something obvious here...

thanks in advance!

Edit- After searching around a bit, i figured out how to at least dimension a rectangle as i'm creating it by pressing Tab, but i'm still sort of confused about how to go back and change a dimension of an already-created line. Also, I can't seem to figure out how to dimension something like a single line (or a polygon i'm trying to create) so that I can set all interior angles to 90 degrees, and each side to be the same length (say 2mm) but this shape is at a 45 degree angle to a rectangle i've already drawn . (basically i'm trying to create a diamond pattern that covers a rectangle so that a screen can be extruded from it)

Last edited by tbombardo; 09-27-2010 at 09:40 AM.
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  #2  
Old 09-27-2010, 04:41 PM
YmT YmT is offline
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Re: A little confused...

have you checked out the following webcast (a total of three parts) ? not sure if all the answers to your questions can be found there, but they do contain some info you might find useful.

here is the link
http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/replay/index.jsp?im_dbkey=87226&icg_dbkey=362

hope that helps a little.

YmT
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  #3  
Old 09-28-2010, 04:50 AM
Mike Swartz's Avatar
Mike Swartz Mike Swartz is offline
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Location: Fort Collins
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Re: A little confused...

You're thinking like a SW user. (Or ProE, or Catia, or any of the Parametric driven modelers) You create a shape, then dimension it, then edit the dimensions.

With explicit modeling, you build your profile to the exact size you want it to be. This can be done on the fly while you are creating your profile. Exact dimensions can be entered in real time.

If you still need to make modifications, it is easier to change the 3D model, than the 2D profile.

Here is a link to a couple of webinars that will help you get the most out of the user interface.
http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/standards/textoimgothumb.jsp?&im_dbkey=115967&icg_dbkey=841

Select the Watch now link for User Interface & Profile Creation.
Also Select the Watch Now link for CoCreate 17.0 3D Modifications.

You will need to register in order to view these webinars.

Last edited by Mike Swartz; 09-28-2010 at 04:58 AM.
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  #4  
Old 09-29-2010, 01:15 AM
Marten Marten is offline
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Location: Tilburg, The Netherlands
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Re: A little confused...

Like Mike says, you are trying to work with modeling like you are used to with a history based modeler. But CoCreate Modeling works fundamentally different, so you need to try and work the CoCreate way i.e. the explicit way.

With SolidWorks you need to completely constrain your design, otherwise it doesn't know how to modify the model when you change a dimension. The sketches with the dimensions you create are stored (as your complete history of modeling steps are stored). When you want to modify the model you go back in your modeling steps, change the dimension and solidworks will reapply all subsequent modeling steps.
CoCreate modeling doesn't store the steps you use to create the model. It just stores the result. If you want to modify the model, you just modify the model (and add or remove material. It's just like claying, while with solidworks it's more like programming).

Just drawing a rectangle, adding dimensions and then changing those dimensions seem super functional at first, but when using explicit modeling it just means you need to perform more actions: draw rectangle, add dimension, add another dimension, change the first dimension, change the second dimension. Even more: you need to specify the base point, otherwise the rectangle can stretch in the wrong direction. With CoCreate modeling you don't require the dimensions, because you don't need to constrain the model. Only the result counts, so: specify the rectangle startpoint, type the two dimensions and you are finished. As you don't need the dimensions afterward it would just be extra work which doesn't add extra value.

There is also another user trying to work with CoCreate the history based way:
http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/showthread.php?p=23792&posted=1#post23792

The only advise I can give you: forget how you design in SolidWorks. Try to understand how CoCreate works and use it that way. If you try to use CoCreate as if it was SolidWorks you will get disappointed, because it isn't designed like SolidWorks. You will just constantly be thinking: why can't I do it this way...

Good to see more users try CoCreate modeling!

Regards,

Marten
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  #5  
Old 09-29-2010, 09:41 AM
tbombardo tbombardo is offline
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Posts: 71
Re: A little confused...

Thanks for the help guys! I actually just graduated (well, almost a year ago now) and the only cad modeling experience I had was solidworks, and the company i'm interning at now is considering purchasing a license for cocreate so I've been trying to self-teach myself becuase, by knowing ANYTHING about it, that makes me the resident expert on the software...

I'm definately running into some of the "why can't I do it this way?" issues, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'll definitely check out those links though.

Thanks again!
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