Multiple Part Studios or Multiple Parts Per Studio?

nathan_bowers432

I'm trying to understand best-practices, is it "better" to have multiple parts studios for each part or to have a single parts studio with many parts? Or is it just a matter of preference?

If the latter, it looks like folders are useful to separate features for each part into their own location (so all of the features aren't lumped together).

Is there any way to work from a folder rather than having to make a feature and then move it into the folder?

Thanks!

alnis

It depends on what you are designing. If the parts are related (dimensions depend on each other, shapes depend on each other, tightly integrated, etc.), it's best to put them in one part studio so that they can be modified together and you can visualize how they will fit together (e.g. parts of a casing with snap hooks holding them together, a mechanical linkage with custom parts, frame made of beams, laser cut panels, etc.).

However, if the parts are not related or are defined by outside specifications rather than the specific model/project you are working on (such as standard parts across projects, COTS parts, custom fasteners or other reusable parts, etc.), it's best to put them into individual part studios. This will make them easier to work with and will improve regeneration times since a modification to a part will only require the regeneration of that single part, avoiding regenerating a bunch of other parts.

I find that I often model tons of parts at a time in one part studio during the roughing out stage and make more reusable, "atomic" part studios with low part counts (or just single parts) to make components of the design more reusable later on. The short summary is:
- If the parts are interrelated and are unique to the project, a single part studio is most appropriate
- If the parts are interrelated but will be reused for other projects (e.g. standard-sized gusset plates to hold beams together), it may be better to separate them into different part studios for increased performance and ease of reuse, but it depends on the case
- If the parts are not interrelated, separate part studios should be used

Hope this helps! I can make some quick example models if you'd like 

alnis

It depends on what you are designing. If the parts are related (dimensions depend on each other, shapes depend on each other, tightly integrated, etc.), it's best to put them in one part studio so that they can be modified together and you can visualize how they will fit together (e.g. parts of a casing with snap hooks holding them together, a mechanical linkage with custom parts, frame made of beams, laser cut panels, etc.).

However, if the parts are not related or are defined by outside specifications rather than the specific model/project you are working on (such as standard parts across projects, COTS parts, custom fasteners or other reusable parts, etc.), it's best to put them into individual part studios. This will make them easier to work with and will improve regeneration times since a modification to a part will only require the regeneration of that single part, avoiding regenerating a bunch of other parts.

I find that I often model tons of parts at a time in one part studio during the roughing out stage and make more reusable, "atomic" part studios with low part counts (or just single parts) to make components of the design more reusable later on. The short summary is:
- If the parts are interrelated and are unique to the project, a single part studio is most appropriate
- If the parts are interrelated but will be reused for other projects (e.g. standard-sized gusset plates to hold beams together), it may be better to separate them into different part studios for increased performance and ease of reuse, but it depends on the case
- If the parts are not interrelated, separate part studios should be used

Hope this helps! I can make some quick example models if you'd like 

nathan_bowers432

Thank you @alnis_smidchens, that perfectly answered my question. Coming from a SolidWorks background the ability to put more than one part in a file (document) was new to me, so I was worried I was abusing something. Keeping related parts together makes perfect sense. 

There is still an outstanding question about the folders/features. Can you work from within a particular feature folder, or do you always have to define some features and then move them into a folder to keep things nicely organized?

alnis

Whoops, forgot to answer that! You can move the rollback bar into a folder to add features there. Here is a quick screencast demoing some of the behaviors of working with folders:
https://youtu.be/3cpcQianjJI

Link to document:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/a4cd4f5f6d84ebf22c21d3eb/w/43f4206f884211a1dbd2c016/e/a1f45a1b73d6a72c56a351f4

This use case definitely isn't abusing Part Studios, it's what they are designed to do

nathan_bowers432

Thanks again @alnis_smidchens, this software just continues to amaze me!

Thanks for the quick responses, very much appreciated.

alnis

No problem @nathan_bowers432, happy to help any time!

AnotherOnshapeUser

WARNING! too many features in a Part Studio cause it to overload and corrupt. This depends on how complex the features are, but I have lost 2 Part Studios with hundreds of hours of work in them with 500 to 1000 features. Even if you like having all your parts together you can't have over 500 features, or less if they are complex.

alnis

@AnotherOnshapeUser you should never be losing work in Onshape. Please open a support ticket by using "contact support" in the product and let's get this resolved.