ok as an experiment then what I will do is post a mock Solidworks advert here in the news to see how acceptable that is. Having had this Indigo advert accepted I dont see why there need be any complaint about this one because knowing about SW surely extends the community’s knowledge. Now bear in mind this if for SW2012 but some people wont be aware of its existence yet and its a wonderful 3d product so I expect people here to congratulate Dassault on its release even belatedly and be eager to hear about SW2013. Pricing does vary with geographic location but as we know this is just a mock ad to confirm advertising in the forum is acceptible.
I am not going to mention Blender in the ad at all because as we have seen thats not important but as I did say here in a previous post there is now a free macro to export .obj out of SW and that will automatically load that into Blender for rendering or whatever and this is the usefulness people should focus on before they complain.
Kind of pointless to announce an experiment like that ahead of time. Furthermore, what exactly would you be trying to prove? If it’s valid information about 3D software that can be used alongside Blender (or inspire features to be developed in Blender), there’s no reason not to share it.
Let’s keep this thread on-topic, yes? Otherwise, our only recourse is a lock.
SolidWorks 2012 Delivers Design Solutions to Drive Business
20th Release of Leading CAD Software Provides More than 200 New Functions to Community
CONCORD, Mass., USA, Sept. 7, 2011 – Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. (DS SolidWorks) today unveiled SolidWorks® 2012, a comprehensive 3D design solution that enables users to work more efficiently and have the data they need to make better design decisions throughout the product development process. Benefits take shape throughout SolidWorks 2012 with a variety of improvements in areas such as assembly and drawing capabilities, built-in simulation, design costing, routing, image and animation creation and product data management that will positively impact design teams each and every day.
Empowering innovation and design team productivity are at the center of over 200 enhancements in SolidWorks 2012, most of which will help designers:
Automate the design functions they use most often;
Improve performance and quality for a more streamlined workflow;
Fundamentally change product development processes for faster designs;
Extend support for collaboration and team connectivity for creativity and efficiency.
“SolidWorks 2012 focuses on the areas that will help our customers drive their businesses to higher productivity and profitability,” said Austin O’Malley, executive vice president, R&D, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. “It also marks the 20th release of our CAD software, remaining true to the mission of helping users transform innovation into business success. We are excited to see the passion and enthusiasm from our customers, and rewarded when that passion is channeled into great designs.”
“SolidWorks continues to listen to the people within its user community,” said Scott Maro, CEO, Maro & Associates. “What I appreciate about this is that the executives and product development teams are more in touch with what is happening in the community than I see with any other organization. Research and Development teams are always listening, asking us great questions and providing alpha testing not only internally but also at the user conference, which is a fantastic forum. The result is more than 90 percent of the features were prioritized by users as ‘SolidWorks continues to listen.’”
Automated Design Functions for Productivity
SolidWorks software helps engineering and design teams streamline their design processes simply by removing one or two steps, profoundly impacting usability and productivity. SolidWorks 2012 offers improvements in the areas of:
Drawings – New tools help create better-looking and more-accurate drawings in order to cut down on the revision process and help users detail designs faster. For example, changed dimensions are automatically highlighted and show previous values to help with revisions. Sequential balloon ordering and magnetic lines automatically help order and position balloons, allowing users to spend less time detailing and aligning drawings.
Sustainability – SolidWorks Sustainability’s new, advanced user interface means users can more accurately model products with “what if” scenarios and better support unique and custom materials. Users can also closely model processes with parameters such as recycled content and duration of use. Also, access to the latest SolidWorks Sustainability supplemental materials will be instant and continuous as they become available.
Continuous Workflow Through Improved Performance and Quality
SolidWorks 2012 makes the design experience flow more naturally, and without disruptions — meaning faster designs with fewer errors based on features such as:
Large design review – Allows instant opening and review of massive assemblies or any individual component with walkthroughs, sectioning and measuring without the need for a high-powered computer or any special file preparation.
Feature freeze – Eliminates unwanted feature rebuilds by locking all features above the “freeze” bar, speeding up the design of complex models where rebuilding of specific features isn’t needed. Features can also be unfrozen at any point.
Equation editor – New equation capabilities allow users to create equations faster and understand order more easily, providing new levels of flexibility and productivity.
Significant Improvements to Overall Product Development Processes
SolidWorks 2012 increases productivity and streamlines the overall customer product development processes with:
Design costing – A flexible tool that automates manufacturing cost calculations for sheet metal and machined parts. Designers can make more informed decisions based on cost throughout the design process and continually model new scenarios for instant up-to-the-minute manufacturing estimates.
Sheet metal – Design from scratch or convert customer 3D parts to sheet metal with new tools that provide control over the unique challenges of working with sheet metal — such as precise control of edge flanges, including up-to-vertex end conditions. Designs can be automatically flattened and documented for manufacturing, with export to CNC and manufacturing equipment.
Simulation – SolidWorks Simulation includes enhanced motion optimization that automatically uses motion study results to create sensors and refine complex and time-intensive machine aspects such as motor size, bearing loads and range of travel. Users can optimize designs in a fraction of the time as they refine inputs and immediately see changes to restraints or goals.
Extends Support for Collaboration and Team Connectivity
As manufacturing becomes more global, design collaboration between disparate teams is now more important than ever. SolidWorks 2012 brings teams of all sizes together through:
Integrated search, customization, and wider support with SolidWorks Enterprise PDM – Now integrated into the Windows® Explorer, designers have easy access to favorite searches and a full search tool. Users can also customize the Windows Explorer UI to get faster access to the information they need. In addition, SolidWorks Enterprise PDM has new support for Office 2010 and an x64 web client.
Lifelike experience with 3DVIA ComposerTM – Designers can take more control over their renderings for a more realistic appearance. Enhancements include the easy addition of part-to-part shadows, ambient occlusion and shadows to 2D panels with precise control. A glow effect can also be added to highlight specific areas of interest.
For more information about SolidWorks 2012, including video demonstrations, visit: http://www.solidworks.com/Launch2012_PR
Availability and Pricing
SolidWorks 2012 is available worldwide through SolidWorks authorized resellers. Contact a SolidWorks authorized reseller for pricing. To locate one in your region, visit: http://www.solidworks.com/locateVAR/
Share with a Friend
Do you have colleagues that would benefit from SolidWorks 2012? Encourage them to attend one of our live seminars: http://www.solidworks.com/launch/find-a-seminar.htm
Or feel free to share via twitter with these suggested Tweets:
@Solidworks 2012 is now available! Check out a local reseller event to learn more: www.solidworkslaunch.com
Interested in moving to 3D CAD? Check out @SolidWorks 2012! www.solidworkslaunch.com
Want to see your ideas go quickly from design to development? Check out @SolidWorks 2012! www.solidworkslaunch.com
About 3DS SolidWorks
3DS SolidWorks, a Dassault Systèmes brand, is a world leader in 3D solutions that help millions of engineers and designers succeed through innovation. Our products deliver an intuitive experience in product design, simulation, publishing, data management, and environmental impact assessment. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit our Web site (www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-781-810-5011).
About Dassault Systèmes
Dassault Systèmes, the 3D Experience Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systèmes’ collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 150,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 80 countries. For more information, visit
CATIA, SolidWorks, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, DELMIA, 3D VIA, 3DSwYm, EXALEAD, and Netvibes are registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries.
SolidWorks is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation in the US and other countries. 3DVIA is a registered trademark and 3DVIA Composer is a trademark of Dassault Systèmes in the US and other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. © 2010 Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
Moved this to Blender Artists Website Support because it seems to me that you’re pressing at something else here. If you have an issue with the site, this is the proper forum in which to air those grievances.
For the record, if your post were not a blatant “experiment”, it might actually have stayed up without issue.
Ok so you were very fast to move the other thread so why not this one?
Moderators need to be consistent. If a Solidworks ad isnt acceptable then neither is an Indigo one.
Feel free to lock this thread.
I’ve also gone ahead and merged your most recent posts from the Indigo thread into this one so we can continue discussion here.
Moderators are absolutely being consistent here. Your post wasn’t an ad. It was an “experiment” trying to prove some sort of point rather than directly addressing the moderation team here. Furthermore, your post only got moved quickly because I happened to be reading the forum right when you posted it. We’re not always here all the time.
If you have an issue with a post, you’re welcome to use the Report Post feature. So far, not a single person has reported the Indigo Render thread as being unacceptable. Not even you.
If I remember right, rendering software such as Indigo can have a much higher level of interoperability with Blender than standalone 3D modeling software such as Solidworks. If they do develop their Blender plugin to take advantage of the same additions to the render API that helped with the Cycles integration (thus getting a realtime rendering display in the viewport), then they would have the first plugin that actually does that and could be seen as an example of how deeply you can integrate an external engine into Blender (especially since other plugins like Luxblend25 have yet to take full advantage of it).
Now if this thread was advertising deals to get Blender users to move entirely to Autodesk software, then there might be an issue, but render engine developers in general can now create a comprehensive addon that allows full access to nearly everything the engine might have and thus it might be useful for those needing a mature engine with features that can’t be found in BI or not yet implemented in Cycles (due to the fact that they may have been in development for perhaps several or more years before Cycles was even announced)
I was kind enough to label it as an experiment so as not to mislead readers who havent been following the previous exchange but yes I was making a point.
I wasnt actually addressing moderators but the community in general to see if advertising is indeed generally acceptable to them.
Moderators seem to have already decided it is or one has. I was endeavoring to discover if moderators are out of step with the community. Somehow I doubt a report is going to produce any result other than to confirm anything goes these days and thats pretty sad
In which case, you should probably ask directly… and in the proper forum.
In general, blatant unrelated advertising is something we frown upon. For people who want to announce products/websites on BA that are actually relevant to members of the community, some leniency is allotted… particularly if the people making the posts are willing to stick around and actually interact with our users and provide real feedback (not just blanket-post the site and never come back). Even more leniency is provided when a BA regular who isn’t directly affiliated with a company shares an announcement. This is why I say that if you’re post weren’t a blatant experiment, chances are strong that it’d be allowed without issue.
I was actually concerned about the Indigo Render post… however, the original poster has since made a number of replies in direct response to questions people made and has apparently chosen to interact with our community. That should be commended, no?
Yeah well they earn some Brownie points after the fact for that however they shouldnt place something so blatantly like a press release in the forum IMO. They have done this on a few occasions before and I believe they mentioned 3d max rather than C4D those times.
Despite the conflict I seem to have stirred up by objecting to the overt nature of the post I dont mind genuine cg news being posted provided its seemly and preferably by a fellow Blenderhead.
It could have been someone saying ‘hey I noticed Indigo have a new version out and its on sale’, one or two lines that would have informed people and started a community discussion. 
I believe we’ve landed upon an agreement 
more or less… $5 says we have this same accidental advert happen again though…:eyebrowlift:
ok as an experiment then what I will do is post a mock Solidworks advert here in the news to see how acceptable that is.