Improvements to Onshape - December 10th, 2020

bsquared

The logo is awful. It looks very out of place. I get there is a shape on a shape (onshape), but really there was no need for a glyph. The old one was very fitting. 

But anyway, the improvements are great! Thank you!

jeffrey_blum

Definitely preferred the old logo but I get it. PTC wants uniformity in the logos of its software portfolio, so everything has to be a hexagon/isometric cube in two specific colors...it would probably help if the color scheme of the whole site and UI changed to match, but maybe that's too jarring all at once?

spiritrider

Love the proactive updates of OnShape! That said, as far as the LOGO...well...It seems like the new dog in the neighborhood, has to mark it's territory...thus a new logo. Not Loving it. Need to slap the dog... (this will likely send me to internet hell...)

Zane_Maccagnano

I do not like the logo...this is PTC pushing their way into and messing with something that works.  I think they need to stand down. 

PTC did similar things to Mathcad when they bought that software many years ago...but the changes to Mathcad weren't just superficial like logo changes.  They massively increased the price, the support/help team became competent and more difficult to access, licenses and software administration became orders of magnitude more difficult.  In addition, they completely rebuilt the math engine from the ground up which reduced the features for many years.

I was concerned when I learned that PTC had bought Onshape and I received many assurances that PTC was not going to interfere with Onshape.  I based my recommendation that our company go with this Onshape on this information....I hope I was not misled.

derek_herbert

The new logo is AWESOME! I actually thought the old one was boring, just blue text. This new logo is really cool! I had to look up PTC and I can see how some elements were borrowed from the parent company logo. Anyway, it looks good! 

matthew_vilim

ryan_mcgoldrick said:

PLEASE get rid of the blue and green colour scheme. I really can't believe that is a thing.

commit one way or the other.

No! We just need a little red mixed in too, and it will be perfect!

Ryan_McClelland

wayne_sauder said:

The new logo is ok, not a huge fan of it though.

PTC stodginess creeping in.

MichaelPascoe

derek_herbert said:

The new logo is AWESOME! I actually thought the old one was boring, just blue text. This new logo is really cool! I had to look up PTC and I can see how some elements were borrowed from the parent company logo. Anyway, it looks good! 

Derek, Where do you live, exactly?

kidding! 

john_mcclary

I understand wanting branding. I'm over it.

But beyond that, I hope PTC becomes more of a silent owner...
Onshape is where it is today because the staff is amazing and the community cares about the product to give helpful feedback. We give the feedback because Onshape listens and answers every message. I feel if PTC takes over, everything will fall on deaf ears.

PTC should let Onshape continue to be awesome by doing what they do best. Listen and deliver. PTC can just sit back and collect the paycheck.

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jacques_spillmann

Very disappointed with the new logo, feels like a 10 year leap but in the past... the blue logo was so cool, why change it?
You guys should have done a survey online, it would have been a clear choice

MichaelPascoe

@john_mcclary
You are right. The Onshape team is amazing and they deliver a great product. Very grateful to have them around.

john_mcclary said:

I understand wanting branding. I'm over it.

But beyond that, I hope PTC becomes more of a silent owner...
Onshape is where it is today because the staff is amazing and the community cares about the product to give helpful feedback. We give the feedback because Onshape listens and answers every message. I feel if PTC takes over, everything will fall on deaf ears.

PTC should let Onshape continue to be awesome by doing what they do best. Listen and deliver. PTC can just sit back and collect the paycheck.

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brucebartlett

Always good to get some improvements.  Pdf's transparency is a good one, also variables on the fly will help.  Thankyou Onshape Team for all the hard work and improvements made this year.  Next year I'd love to see some major improvements to release and product data management workflows this could deliver huge time saving to my business.

On the icon, it's growing on me but honestly doesn't really impact me in any way. However, I'd like to see a variation to the forum and web favicon from the application tab. 

I

romeograham

Variables is great - particularly that you can create Feature OR Configuration variables on the fly! This is very close (and probably better) than the IR to be able to "link" dimensions. This effectively allows dimension linking that ALSO gives you full-featured variables on the fly.

Logo - whatever...I agree that contrast / readability is an issue (Blue is better than this green), but as others have said - the team at Onshape is great, regardless of the logo they labor under. Large scale corporate amalgamations are tough enough, let alone product integration. Let's hope this signals some merging of the great stuff from Onshape with some of the capability of Creo.

@brucebartlett Oh my goodness, you hit it on the head again with Release Management. Today: I have to make some minor updates to 4 parts. They are 3 levels down (Assy > SubAssy>3 different SubAssy) and there are 4 part drawings and 5 Assembly drawings that are affected. 
I have been working this for hours! (doesn't help that I made 1 or two mistakes and released a couple parts too early). Now I'm working through a minimum of 3 separate releases (Release parts into released assemblies into top level released Assembly), and now updating the 9 drawings is taking forever.
This type of workflow is just bonkers. Every single other day I LOVE Release Management - it makes keeping track of a few parts at a time very easy. 

Keep up the great work Onshape team, and we'll see you next year with some great updates!

bruce_montgomery551

I love the on-the-fly variables. It would be even better if it worked immediately when making a line, circle, etc. in a sketch. After drawing a line, for example, you can put the dimension in immediately, but cannot use the # character to create a variable. Instead you have to escape out of it and use the dimension tool to specify the line - in that case, it allows you to use the # character to create the variable. Still good but not perfect yet.

romeograham

@bruce_montgomery551 You can type a number in that dialog (because that's what it wants you to do), then immediately hit the backspace to remove the number...and now that dialog is ready to receive your # for a variable (or to make a new one).
This tip comes from the capable and gracious @Evan_Reese !

EvanReese

romeograham said:

@bruce_montgomery551 You can type a number in that dialog (because that's what it wants you to do), then immediately hit the backspace to remove the number...and now that dialog is ready to receive your # for a variable (or to make a new one).
This tip comes from the capable and gracious @Evan_Reese !

I actually got this tip from @marcus_bernstein at an Onshape user group! 

Nickolas_Lockard

Variables on the fly---it's so fly.
Sketches snap to dimensions--it's making my reverse engineering take 1/15 the time. I love whoever did that.
New logo....no, me like the old one!

Here's my screen shot: now the OS logo is totally washed out, since so many companies want a green logo. Green is overdone, in my opinion! Now just TRY to find the OS logo:

John_McCormick

I didn't even notice the logo until I read the update.  My subconscious must not be working - or maybe distracted by something else.  I have been a PTC customer for longer than I care to admit.  When PTC came out with their new logo a few years ago, all I could see was the "S" in the middle and didn't care for it at first.  I don't even pay attention to it anymore.  Welcome to the PTC family, Onshape.  I am sure that both packages will benefit from the venture.
  

brucebartlett

@romeograham yes release management works great for single-level but when it comes to multi-level becomes very frustrating to the point it is unviable to use due to huge time demands to make changes. For example, locking up the appearance in the release is a huge frustration to me, for example, I have a project that was fully released to about 5 levels and now has the wrong appearances on about 100 parts, I'd really like the colours to match the finished product so the CAD TLA looks close to the real product but can not justify the effort to re-release and ups the rev's which flow through to the manufacturing drawing which are not affected by appearance. Just simple task which should only take a few hours at the most will take me a week with release as it is at the moment. Hopefully next year these release management issues will get some attention to make it usable. 

romeograham

@Evan_Reese and you passed it on....Thanks! (The other one I find myself using from your sketching tips video is the midpoint constraint with 3 points...it's a subtle / powerful workflow).

EvanReese

romeograham said:

@Evan_Reese and you passed it on....Thanks! (The other one I find myself using from your sketching tips video is the midpoint constraint with 3 points...it's a subtle / powerful workflow).

Now that one I can say I found out myself by dissecting the center point rectangle. I use it more often than I thought I might.

brucebartlett

Evan_Reese said:

romeograham said:

@Evan_Reese and you passed it on....Thanks! (The other one I find myself using from your sketching tips video is the midpoint constraint with 3 points...it's a subtle / powerful workflow).

Now that one I can say I found out myself by dissecting the center point rectangle. I use it more often than I thought I might.

Where do I find the video?

tony_459

Oh wow, variables on the fly! This will change the way I specify dimensions. I don't think I have an excuse to avoid variables anymore. Very, very cool.

tony_459

MichaelPascoe said:

New logo, not good. The old color and logo were clean, bold, and inviting. Subconsciously, this will affect everyone's first impression of Onshape.

Ha ha. Yep. GIF says it all.

Hoping the new style trickle doesn't trickle down to the UI and to the forums. Anyone know what was wrong with the Onshape branding, other than it not being PTC's branding?

Honda owns the Acura brand, Toyota owns the Lexus brand, Nissan owns the Infinity brand, and yet the parent companies seem just fine with their premium brands having their own distinct identities?

I say PTC borrow a page from them and treat Onshape as its premium CAD line---complete with its own distinct identity, which, ta da, already exists, and it is just fine.

tony_459

jeffrey_blum said:

Definitely preferred the old logo but I get it. PTC wants uniformity in the logos of its software portfolio, so everything has to be a hexagon/isometric cube in two specific colors...it would probably help if the color scheme of the whole site and UI changed to match, but maybe that's too jarring all at once?

Shh... Let's not encourage them... Soon everything will be hexagonal cubes and white and green and that just cannot cannot be better...

emagdalenaC2i

Ok, let's go green

I just updated our website to match the new color.

AuroraRon

Poor decision on the logo. Green is often associated with health and growth. Blue is often associated with Trust, Dependable and Strenth. It is color psychology. https://www.oberlo.ca/blog/color-psychology-color-meanings

EvanReese

brucebartlett said:

Evan_Reese said:

romeograham said:

@Evan_Reese and you passed it on....Thanks! (The other one I find myself using from your sketching tips video is the midpoint constraint with 3 points...it's a subtle / powerful workflow).

Now that one I can say I found out myself by dissecting the center point rectangle. I use it more often than I thought I might.

Where do I find the video?

👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw1nR_8PIFI&t=1s

guy_rogel

Nice Work. but  I think I am going to be the party pooper here
Lately with all the new improvements (Which are great) , I see less and less correlation to the most requested enhancement request.
What about external thread ? why does my drawing still looks like this ? 155 users are asking for that. 


what about Parent child which is so important.
What about Batch export - I am wasting so many hours just to export PDF'S and PARASOLID. 
I love Onshape you are doing great.
Just try to listen more to the users.

AuroraRon

Agreed,  getting stuff out of Onshape has always been an issue.  Too much time spent trying to export and share.