ASSEMBLY, SUB-ASSEMBLY, DRAWING.

[gatnact]

I WAS WONDERING IF THERE WAS A WAY YOU CAN TAKE A LARGER ASSEMBLY, SELECT A FEW SUB-ASSEMBLIES THAT REFFERENCE ONE AND OTHERS DIMENTIONS AND INSERT THEM INTO A DRAWING? THE WAY I HAVE BEEN DOING IT IS TAKING THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY, INSERTING IT INTO A DRAWING AND HIDING WHAT I DONT NEED. BUT IT SEEMS THAT WHEN I DO THIS IT DRASTICLY SLOWS EVERYTHING DOWN.

 

[MadMango]

Instead of Hiding sub-assys or Parts, try using Configurations and Suppress the components. In your new drawing, use your new Configs.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[ctopher]

or ... create drawings for each part, then each subassy, then each final assy. You won't have a need to hide anything.

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 01-18-07)

 

[fcsuper]

And please don't yell. BTW, ditto to Chris' comment.

Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA

http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php

 

[gatnact]

I do make DWG.s for each. The thing I am running into is, say I have two ladders connected to one silo. Well, in order to place the two ladders and show where they are placed on the silo I need to have the Silo assembly in the DWG. When I do this it is taking for ever for every thing to load, rebuild, save, just about everything I do take a lot of time verses just having just the two ladders. My questions may seam a little easy for some but I just obtained my degree in drafting in December and have only been working in this industry for 5 months. So all the help I can get from anyone who replies is very much appreciated

 

[MadMango]

Since you don't need all the Feature info from your silos, you could save them as parasolids to reduce their system resources, and use these "dumb solids" in your top level assemblies.

Maybe you could post your computer specs, as that may be part of the problem.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Using Layout Sketches or Skeletons would be useful for you.

http://www.solidworks.com/swexpress/july/200107_techtip_03.html

http://www.solidworks.com/swexpress/sept02/200209_techtip_03.cfm

 

[ctopher]

Seems like you create the complete assembly, then start creating dwgs for each. It is why it takes up all your recourses. I don't do top down design for this reason. It works for some people, but for newbies to the CAD/design/drafting world I suggest bottom up ... first.

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 01-18-07)

 

[EEnd]

You may want to create a simplified configuration of the silo to use in the drawing for the ladder placement. In the simplified configuration you can suppress components which are complex and or not needed for your drawing. Depending on what you want to show and not show you may need to create simplified versions of subassemblies and use those in your simplified overall assembly.

Hidden components are still loaded and processed even though you do not see them. Suppressed components are not loaded or processed. Therefore you get more of a performance boost from suppressing a component than from simply hiding it.

The other advantage of making a configuration for the drawing is that what is present in a configuration is less likely to get changed than what is being hidden. Although display states can be used to make show / hide a bit more stable.

Eric