From the desk of CAD Manager Gordon:

Help us Cadman and Rib-in! The evil Marker is terrorizing CAD City! Only the power of SolidWorks 2015 can stop him!

You’ll have to perfect your equipment…

…Find his lair…

…Defeat his henchmen…

…And unmask the villain himself!

:Cue Twirly Batmusic:

 

Feature Set 1 – Feature Enhancements

Split Surfaces

The Split command now supports surfaces, so you can create two or more surfaces from one using a cutting tool.

Convert Feature to Body Pattern

When editing an existing feature pattern, you can now quickly change the selection type to a body pattern, without deleting and recreating the pattern command. This is one of several enhancements in SolidWorks 2015 which make it easier for you to change your design strategy without recreating features from scratch. The convert to Style Spline, segment lines, even angle dimension manipulator have this in mind.

Asymmetric Fillets

In 2015, you’ll be able to customize the distance your fillet extends in each direction. Previously, this could only be done with a complex face fillet using hold lines.

Render Region

Now you can define a region of the graphics area to render using the integrated preview window. This is most useful for checking problem areas of a render, without wasting time waiting for the entire model to be traced.

Feature Set 2 – Sketch Enhancements

Convert to Style Spline

In SolidWorks 2015, you can convert between a standard spline and the new-in-2014 Style Spline with one click!

Segment Lines Equally

A great way to keep sketch entities equally spaced is to create a series of equal, collinear construction lines, but this takes several steps to achieve. In SolidWorks 2015, you can quickly convert a single construction line to any number of equal, collinear segments.

Midpoint Line

This request has been on the Top Ten list for years, and this year it made another appearance at #3. The only difference is, this year, SolidWorks delivered. In 2015, you’ll be able to start a line or centerline from the midpoint, and it will keep its symmetric relations when edited.

Vertex Adjacent Constraints

This one has been on my personal wish list for a while. Instead of ctrl+selecting two sketch entities to make them tangent, collinear, etc. you’ll soon be able to simply select the vertex where they meet, and quickly apply standard relations.

Rectangle Creation Options

We saw a few enhancements for sketched rectangles this year. First, every type of rectangle – not just centerpoint – can be created with construction lines running through the center. Second, this construction lines can be diagonal – like they are today – or orthogonal.

Feature Set 3 – Specialized Tools

Weldment Costing

The costing tool has been expanded to include weldments.

Live Simulation Results

You can watch each time step of your simulation being solved in real time, so you’ll be able to tell as soon as possible whether you’ve set up the study incorrectly.

Cutlist Folder Description

In SolidWorks 2015, cutlist folders can be named according to the type of weldments contained within them. Previously, the folders were simply numbered unintuitively, but now you’ll be able to instantly determine what each folder contains.

Square Duct Routing

The routing tool now supports square ducting, like you’d use in an HVAC system.

Feature Set 4 – Assembly & Mate Enhancements

Chain Pattern

This powerful new type of pattern allows users to create instances of a component along any sketch path. But the kicker is, the patterned instances always mate to each other at points you define, even if the shape of the component changes. Then, all the parts can move together along the sketch path. This Delighter got a big reaction out of the crowd.

Profile Center Mate

Mate the center of one face to the center of another, leaving only one rotational degree of freedom, which can be left free, or controlled from within the Mate.

Width Mate Geometry Limits

The width mate has always kept one part centered within another, but in 2015, you can choose to allow that “Width” part to move freely between the “Tab” selections of the other part.

Feature Set 5 – Drawing Enhancements

Drawing Sheet Zones

You can now display a layer of grid lines that define the zones of your drawing sheet. Additionally, you can add a Zone column to your Revision Tables which tracks and displays the position of revision symbols.

Open Model in Drawing View Position

If you have a complex or symmetric model, where it can be confusing to find the feature you need to edit, you can open the model directly from a drawing view, in the orientation shown in the view.

Layer Print Control

You can disable the ability to print certain layers, so proprietary information placed on those layers can’t be exported from SolidWorks. You wouldn’t want The Marker to find the secret Cadcave would you?

Model Break/Pipe Break Views

You can now foreshorten long parts with Break Views in 2D and 3D, and there are new break styles, including zig-zag, double zig-zag, and pipe break. Additionally, you can view breaks in Isometric views (and presumably any other orientation).

Angle Dimension Manipulator

It’s now easier than ever to create angle dimensions in drawings without first adding construction geometry. You can also change the position of the angle dimension, and have the value update accordingly.

Feature Set 6 – New Products

SolidWorks Inspection

 

SolidWorks Inspection is a whole new product/add-in that automatically creates inspection reports from your drawings. Every note and dimension is given a reference number and listed on an FAI template. Tolerances are pulled directly from dimensions and GTOLs, and probably a global tolerance variable. Then, when the actual measurements are entered into the FAI, the values highlight in red or green, to show whether they fall within your tolerance range.

Enterprise PDM Mobile Web Client

The newly redesigned EPDM web client runs on any browser, and is optimized for use on a tablet or smartphone, so approvers won’t bottleneck your workflow while they’re away from the office.

 

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But who is this dastardly villain? What’s this? It’s… Ken Clayton!?

Is this the last we’ll see of The Marker? What other enhancements await the dynamic duo in SolidWorks 2015? How did Rib-in change his display state?