Improvements to Onshape - May 14, 2015

lougallo

Update day is here and today we are launching our first loft tool to support of some advanced shapes for mechanical design.  Also making the cut was ellipse, some improvements to the import/export/translation workflows and some additional zooming tools.  We are also opening up the approvals so new users are now able to get into beta without any waiting!

Highlights include:

1. NEW Loft - our first iteration of blending multiple profiles to one another with support for guide curves and vertex matching.
   
   
   
   
2. NEW Ellipse -A new sketch tool located under the circle dropdown.
   
   
   
   
3. Normal to (n) now maintains zoom level and a new "Zoom to selection" shows in the context menu when items are selected.
   
   
   
   
4. Commenting now has email notification with the option to opt-out
   
   
   
   
5. Import/Download/Export/Translate workflows have been improved (more refinements coming....)
   
          
   
   * Import now auto translates from within a document (for translatable file types)
   * Part Studios and Assemblies -> Export (will translate and download in one step)
   * Imported CAD data tabs -> Download/Export (select format -> auto downloaded) or Import (will translate to Onshape)
   
   
6. Public document sharing modifications (to avoid accidental public sharing) - shows badge in the document header
   
   
   

Honorable mentions:

• Share with Onshape support button
  
  
  

As many of you have noticed, we try to ship new features when they are stable and ready for feedback.  Remember, we like to ship new tools frequently and iterate on them based on your input so give these tools a try and let us know what you think!  A big THANK YOU goes out to those who have submitted tickets and feedback in the forums.   We are working on more exciting new features to come.. stay tuned!  ~Lou

sergio_p_

Nice new tools, the loft feature is very important. But now that you have added elipses (by the way... who mechanical designer use it? I didn't remember using any elipse in 15 years of cad related work..), why not add poligons (the hexas, pentas, n sides) and maybe a slot (a rectangle with rounded corners) feature? Slots are very common, more than elipses, and maybe would be a killer feature (yes, my cad system can make slots in one click, and yours?)

Regards, and thanks for the update!

jakeramsley

Hi sergio_p,

We have inscribed and circumscribed polygons in sketch.
https://cad.onshape.com/help/#sketch-tools-inscribed_polygon.htm
https://cad.onshape.com/help/#sketch-tools-circumscribed_polygon.htm

Is there some other type of polygon that you need?

sergio_p_

Thanks Jake, I didn't noticed about the polygons :-)

By the way, the slot shape is very common, would be very nice to have a specific tool to draw it (and leaving it constrained).

Regards.

brucebartlett

I just dropped in an .iges and it auto translated. Is this a new feature too?

traveler_hauptman

I'd much rather have sketch blocks (or whatever onshape will call them) than any specific compound feature like slots. (or regular polygons, which are already there by the way).

With sketch blocks one can preconstrain whatever is needed, slots, dogbones, oring grooves, etc.

Add in configurations to the blocks and extend them to library features and we don't need onshape to worry about slots or hole wizards.

jakeramsley

brucebartlett said:

I just dropped in an .iges and it auto translated. Is this a new feature too?

This is part of:
5. Import/Download/Export/Translate workflows have been improved (more refinements coming....)

* Import now auto translates from within a document (for translatable file types)
* Part Studios and Assemblies -> Export (will translate and download in one step)
* Imported CAD data tabs -> Download/Export (select format -> auto downloaded) or Import (will translate to Onshape)

cody_armstrong

brucebartlett said:

I just dropped in an .iges and it auto translated. Is this a new feature too?

Yes, it now automatically translates when importing.

burkea

Aw shucks honorable mention

pete_yodis

Traveler_Hauptman said:

I'd much rather have sketch blocks (or whatever onshape will call them) than any specific compound feature like slots. (or regular polygons, which are already there by the way).

With sketch blocks one can preconstrain whatever is needed, slots, dogbones, oring grooves, etc.

Add in configurations to the blocks and extend them to library features and we don't need onshape to worry about slots or hole wizards.

@Traveler Hauptman

And 3D sketch blocks would be dreamy for mechanism layout....

andrew_troup

How about dropping the clunky "blocks" terminology, perhaps in favour of "groups"?

And more to the point: a big raising of the glass to the boys and girls at OnS (ya dun good!) for another important step towards a fully functioning package.  

I reckon this one deserves the breakout something towards the champagne end of the spectrum in recognition of awesome.

I look forward to setting up some gnarly guide curves, in order to see how well they are respected when the envelope is duly pushed. It was a distinct weakness in the early days of loft on other packages ... I'm sure those lessons will have been comprehensively learned, standing on the shoulders of giants and all that (I'm guessing it's much more a function of the kernel?)

3dexter

Thanks to Onshape team by new tools!

The Loft feature will be very useful !!!

david_sohlstrom

The next update will be around June 4 2015 and if we are lucky the first item on the update list will be DRAWINGS. We can only hope.

Yesterdays updates are great. I'll be using loft a lot.

Dave

michael3424

Traveler_Hauptman said:

Add in configurations to the blocks and extend them to library features and we don't need onshape to worry about slots or hole wizards.

How would configurations in blocks (or groups) with extensions to library features work, at least in a general way?  I am getting to the point where some sort of hole wizard is really needed that can accommodate straight, counterbored, countersunk, and threaded holes that will provide callouts in 2D drawings when those arrive.  Will your suggestion provide a good solution for that issue?

My sole CAD experience is with Alibre/GeoMagic Design in case that context helps.

Mike

brucebartlett

Thanks Onshape for the updates. Some great new features. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next release now. 

@jakeramsley I should have read more closely before posting about the import. Got a bit excited as my workflow for importing had just dramatically decreased in click's.

kevin_quigley

Loft. At last! 

But can we get it with tangency influence from the profiles please? This is actually more useful for freeform design than guide curves.

lougallo

@Kevin Quigley Yep.  Lots to iterate on but more to come!

traveler_hauptman

@Michael3424 I suspect it will be a while. I think that when we see features added to Onshape around inter-document references and configuration management then library features or hole wizards will be available shortly after.

michael3424

Well, I hope that day comes sooner rather than later.  I really like what Onshape is doing but hole features/callouts and at least basic 2D drawings are necessary before I can commit more completely.  It's going to be an interesting ride.

jakeramsley

brucebartlett said:

Thanks Onshape for the updates. Some great new features. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next release now. 

@jakeramsley I should have read more closely before posting about the import. Got a bit excited as my workflow for importing had just dramatically decreased in click's.

No problem, being excited is good.  We are still working on improving the import/export workflows and this is just the start.  Hopefully we have more excitable tweaks in the coming months.

fastwayjim

Good Stuff!

steve_maietta

Nice work guys!!  Some good things in there, I like the added Zoom options for sure.  And of course great to see our old friend, Loft..
~Steve

sergio_p_

We need to meet again our missed brother Drawing, and maybe get some info of the distant cousin FEA also  

3dcad

I'm sure they all come home for christmas  

andrew_troup

I like the zoom ratio being maintained when "View Normal" is invoked. I really miss "Zoom to Area" though - I wonder if the valuable new "Zoom to selection" command could be further enhanced, such that, if there were no preselection, the same command would zoom to a rectangular box drawn *after* clicking the command ?

onshaper

Hooray LOFT!

Now we just need hole features.

3dcad

onshaper said:

Hooray LOFT!

Now we just need hole features.

and cross-document tabs (standard parts) and configurations and drawings and more time to play with Onshape