Advice on Solidworks training

Hi,
Was hoping to get some advice on what you folks feel is good Solidworks
training materials. I mean other than actual training class time. Things
like recommended books or other training materials.
Thanks for any and all opinions.

 

Hello Chris-
Go to www.schroff.com and check out the SolidWorks training books written by
David & Marie Planchard. They are excellent.
Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

 

You will be well served to get the SW training materials. They will be the
most current information source on SW and will fill in what is not in the
documentation or other sources. Unfortunately they are expensive, the
information appears piecemeal throughout (sometimes across several books,
and they go obsolete every year when a new release comes out. But they do
capture the way SW thinks you should be using the software.

 

I understand that people are always trying to save a buck. Still, most
people would benefit from taking the formal classes with a real instructor.

Instructors vary a lot. Being a good "instructor" and knowing how to use
SolidWorks and apply it to design and manufacturing processes are not at
all the same thing.

Some beginning SW users, let's say less than 5%, can learn SW more
efficiently on their own. These are people who have an instinct for
software workflow and using processes to define geometry. These folks will
need some sort of source of information, and a mentor. The source of
information could be the SW Reference Guide, and the mentor could be
someone from a local user group or even this newsgroup.

Probably the two leading published books are the Planchard and the David
Murray. The Planchard books are written I think as college texts, and get
a lot of support here in the newsgroup because Marie Planchard is active
here from time to time to collect real world examples and is a genuinely
nice person. The David Murray book gets a lot of recognition because it
has been around for a long time.

Anyway, trying to take the cheap route will probably cost you a lot of
time, unless you are part of that 5%.

Good luck,

matt

 

In all fairness, 4 years ago there wasn't any class material that covered
surfaces. Still, in order to make surfaces, you have to know what's in the
basic class. Why did you take a class that didn't cover what you really
needed? You can't always blame content problems on the instructor, it
sounds like you might have made some incorrect assumptions.

You might have been better served by hiring a specialist or a consultant.
It would have been more expensive than training, but also more to the
point.

Even now, the material on surfaces is pretty limited, and it's not part of
the basic class. It's in a class called "Advanced Part" which really
should be named "Intermediate Part" because there is nothing advanced about
it. It only has a superficial overview of a few of the complex shape
tools.

I developed my own 2 day class for complex shapes and surfacing, which I
see as two separate subjects. I don't teach it a lot, maybe 4-5 times a
year, but it definitely covers things that the regular material from SW
doesn't cover.

Anyway, it's not the instructor's fault that surfacing isn't in the basic
class.

matt

 

I'll second what Matt said. We took a surfaces class from our VAR about 7
months ago and found it very enlightening. Going to SW World and taking all
the surfaces sessions would probably be a good idea as well.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems
"take the garbage out, dear"

 

I am a newbie to Solidworks as well. I just purchased a book of 135 pages,
called Introducing Solidworks, Quick Start Training, with interactive CD
included, for $65.00,plus shipping, from a friend of mine in Akron Ohio. I
am finding it extremely helpful, as it is a text book from solidworks
training school. If you are unable to get anything similar,(because for some
reason there are very few books in print and the few that there are are very
expensive). contact me, at this address, and I will send you a digital pic
of what I have, and I will be able to get another set for you.
Good Luck,
Guido De Angelis

 

This, or virtually any, book is not a good substitute for an "Essentials"
Training Class from your SolidWorks Reseller. Unless of course you don't
have a reseller because you found the software, umm, lying on your doorstep
one day....

Books like this are good to have as a reference to re-familiarize youreslf
with some techniques, or to get you further than your training class did.
Well, books and alot of these smart folks on here.

Mr. Pickles