Our new Best Practices for Design Speed & Flexibility course is now available, based on a live SOLIDWORKS user group presentation focused on building CAD models quickly without sacrificing accuracy or future adaptability. Inspired by the annual Model Mania competition and closely aligned with SOLIDWORKS certification exam, this course demonstrates how to balance speed, precision, and intelligent design intent, all of which are critical for new and veteran designers alike.
Overview of general strategy and balancing speed, accuracy and flexibility for everyday CAD modeling
This course features several unique elements:
- Live walkthrough of initial design phase
- Design review phase and explanation of revisions
- Discussion and evaluation of design decisions
- Practical pro-tips for improving speed and model intelligence
- Common traps to watch out for
- “Agnostic” design strategies that are useful for almost all CAD platforms
Although this course was developed in SOLIDWORKS, the principles and techniques presented are applicable to nearly any parametric feature-based CAD platform where design speed, accuracy, and flexibility are important.
Course Highlights
This course focuses on a fundamental challenge of CAD modeling (regardless of platform) which involves working quickly while maintaining enough flexibility to handle revisions. The presentation introduces the Model Mania rules as a baseline and explains how the two-phase format mirrors the structure of SOLIDWORKS certification exams and in many cases, real-world design scenarios.
Phase 1 walkthrough demonstrating contour selection, symmetry, and mid-plane strategies
Key topics covered during the initial design phase include:
- Planning modeling strategy
- Choosing the “best” feature to model from drawing views
- Balancing accuracy, speed, and flexibility
- Using symmetry, mirror, and patterns effectively
- Tools for improving design speed such as keyboard shortcuts and contour selection
An additional design review exercise shifts the focus to revision strategy. Without a grace period, users must quickly identify revisions, determine which features to edit versus create, and use the rollback bar effectively. The review highlights how the modeling decisions made early in the design process can dramatically reduce (or increase) revision time.
Phase 2 design review illustrating revision strategy and circular pattern use
Topics discussed during the design revision phase include:
- Rollback bar usage in revision workflows
- Editing existing features
- Resolving (and avoiding) errors
- Fillet strategy and feature order considerations
- Discussion and evaluation of original design strategy
Who is this course for?
- Intermediate/advanced designers who want to improve modeling speed
- Those who want to better understand the impact of early-stage design intent decisions
- SOLIDWORKS users preparing for certification exams
- Anyone interested in participating in the Model Mania Design Competition
This course is not intended as beginner-level training. Users should already be comfortable creating sketches, features, and basic part models in SOLIDWORKS or their respective CAD software to obtain full value from the course.
Pro Tips and time saving strategies for modeling quickly and consistently
Most veteran CAD users will agree that being a successful designer is all about balancing design speed, accuracy, and flexibility to account for inevitable future design changes – and this remains true regardless of your preferred CAD platform. SolidProfessor’s latest course on Best Practices for Design Speed & Flexibility provides several practical strategies for doing all three, offering live demonstrations with a real SOLIDWORKS model. Whether you’re preparing for Model Mania, pursuing your next certification, or refining your day-to-day workflow, this course offers proven techniques that can directly improve your next design project.
