New SolidWorks 2.5 Plug In

[quigley]

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for the new SolidWorks 2.5 Plug In! It seems to have solved the crashing assembly problem - all my assemblies that crashed before now go into Keyshot perfectly.

[thomasteger]

Excellent - thanks for the feedback. Please let us know if there is anything else that needs to be fixed.

[Speedster]

Just tested SolidWorks 2.5 on a semi-nasty assembly.  Works like a champ.  Very slow to open a new render and refresh a geometry update, but that's OK.  The Update function is the most critical to me and seems fine.  I always use DnD import anyway.  SW plugin about 20 minutes, DnD about 15 seconds on 32 cores.
Bill G

[quigley]

Yes I'd say the speed of loading is a lot slower than it used to be (by which I mean hitting Render in SolidWorks, then time to start up Keyshot and load the assembly) - not too bad on smaller assemblies but on larger ones you tend to think the app has hung as there is no feedback, but it does always get there.

[thomasteger]

We will look into this. This may have to do with some changes we made when working with lightweight parts. But it shouldn't take that long.

[Speedster]

I doubt that many of us work with lightweight parts or assemblies, unless they are really huge.  Generally, I've found it best to do the final save prior to a KS import with all fully loaded and resolved, and with all material mapping done at the part level- that is, all colors removed at the assembly level.  The more stable and robust the SW model is the better.
Bill G

[cadjockey]

I don't deliberately work in lightweight mode but it is often switched on automatically due to the size. It causes me no end of issues and try to avoid it where possible

Rich

[thomasteger]

We actually heard about this from a customer. The new plugin - 2.6 - now gives a warning if it detects the lightweight parts. Seems to work quite well. Give it a try.

[Speedster]

The best thing is to go to Tools > System Options > Performance, and uncheck "Automatically Load Components Lightweight".  Lightweight is good on assemblies with over 1000 parts or so, but is seldom needed.  You can always choose to load lightweight if needed.
Bill G

[cadjockey]

Yes good advice.

Rich