CAD Forum

We finally got around to testing the automatic export of our 3D models and everything worked fine until we used our large assemblies.

We were able to export everything to PDF easily for the drawings. (Yay!)
When we export to the drawing viewer file format (.easm / .eprt) we can open everything very easily with the drawing viewer too.

Our end-goal always was though, to export into a format that can be opened without the help of the drawing viewer! We exported most of our assemblies to .html and that also worked out pretty well until we tried the large assembly:
Opening it in .html takes 30 minutes. It is super unstable too and regularly does not show all the graphics. The file size also tripled from ~32MB to ~95MB.
This is fairly annoying, because we would prefer to have the whole assembly also available in the browser.

How do you guys handle this? Do you use a special program? Any ideas on how to make independent file formats "faster"?

I use a 3d PDF for large assemblies.

SPerman wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 12:44 pm I use a 3d PDF for large assemblies.

What viewer do you use?

It has to be opened in adobe.

SPerman wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 12:58 pm It has to be opened in adobe.

Tried it, it's super slow too. Any other ideas?
@jcapriotti, @AlexLachance, @Glenn Schroeder , @matt , @mattpeneguy , @Frederick_Law, @bnemec maybe?

We have one SolidWorks licence for production per shop and eDrawings installed on every station that doesn't have access to it.

Never really found anything that was "What I was looking for" which is why we have a SolidWorks licence for production purposes.


To clarify what I was looking for:
-Quick to access
-Up to date
-Easy to manœuvre
-Able to take dimensions
-Ability to do sections or hide specific components.


What are you trying to achieve..? Why do you need to export it to a different file format then the drawing viewer file format..?

Edit: We use PDF to view drawings and eDrawings to view models(assemblies/parts) on the shop floor for the most part. The SolidWorks licences are reserved for the foremen for specific needs (Generally trouble shooting)

berg_lauritz wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 9:59 am Tried it, it's super slow too. Any other ideas?
@jcapriotti, @AlexLachance, @Glenn Schroeder , @matt , @mattpeneguy , @Frederick_Law, @bnemec maybe?

I can only speak to my experience, which isn't a whole lot.

3d PDFs work well in demos, outside of that: nope.
3d html have yet to find a browser that can display it at a speed that makes it usable.
As bad as eDrawings is at showing SW drawings it actually does quite well with models IMO.

For part files, the pdf and html options were ok, but most assemblies are so slow in those two formats that people on the floor will just find another way or do without.

I'm on the path of exporting the edrawings format of our models by adding it to the pdf/dxf task add-in, then it will run when file is released. Of course they are saved on network share as winterms/citrix (popular on the floor) and PDM do not mix well, but they can run eModels ok.

I'll try to explain:

1. using edrawings means that any SolidWorks update is tethered to edrawings too (booooooo!)
2. for simple drawings edrawings is fairly slow & cumbersome
3. we would love to use everything in a browser: most things already run within a browser for us already - if we could link the drawings/models to it, it would make our lives a whole lot easier and more convenient
4. we currently use a UI on top of edrawings to make access to drawings easier & to use some touchscreens across the plant - the API documentation to edrawings is basically non-existent & this makes using it on touchscreens with a different UI almost impossible
5. Yes, we want to get rid of touchscreens

• + exporting to a different format would solve issue #1, #2, #3, #4 and make #5 obsolete
• - exporting it to html means slowness for large assemblies and it is lacking the ability to measure in the browser
• - display states are not accessible in other formats than .easm/.eprt
• + pdfs are easily modified i.e. in a browser with markup & they can be shared easily
• - I am still searching for anything that can open one of our large assemblies in a timely manner - edrawings was BY FAR (minutes) the fastest to open those

If .html would have the ability to measure & if large assemblies were usable it would solve all our problems. I just wanted to check if anybody else has similar problems & what you are doing in larger companies.

We do not use eDrawings to view .slddrw files. It's slow, the rev table grid lines are a mess most of the time and there were enough errors with it that nobody trusts it now. Nobody at our company uses eDrawings for drawings, only models. Consumers use the pdfs on the network shares and linked to from the ERP system. Editors (Engineering) use Solidworks, which sucks if we just want to view the .slddrw file as it takes forever for it to cache all the ref files, then try to build, then all the dialogs then....

Oh, eDrawings is a fine viewer for dwg and dxf files as well.

berg_lauritz wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 9:59 am Tried it, it's super slow too. Any other ideas?
@jcapriotti, @AlexLachance, @Glenn Schroeder , @matt , @mattpeneguy , @Frederick_Law, @bnemec maybe?

Sorry @berg_lauritz, I have very limited experience with 3D PDFs. But, you can try the Bluebeam Revu in viewer mode for free and see if you get better results than with Acrobat. Revu bills itself as made by engineers and architects for engineers and architects. But, I'm not sure how much time they've devoted to 3D pdfs. I'd report some results with it but I'm stuck on the 2017 version because we're using Windows 7.

The problem sounds like the level of detail. Viewing a super large assembly with a level of detail down to the smallest component will be slow in just about any viewer. Seems like I've seen some online viewers that attempt to control the level of detail on the fly. They are all cloud services though so if they go under.....well.

You could create speedpak configurations and only show what is needed. Then when you save that to html its lighter.

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 2:33 pm The problem sounds like the level of detail. Viewing a super large assembly with a level of detail down to the smallest component will be slow in just about any viewer. Seems like I've seen some online viewers that attempt to control the level of detail on the fly. They are all cloud services though so if they go under.....well.

You could create speedpak configurations and only show what is needed. Then when you save that to html its lighter.

I was thinking about that, too. I have never really used speedpaks though. Can I create a speedpak that hides the fasteners? What are some best practices regarding this? How can I quickly select i.e. only the things I want (make selection sets?)?
What do you do with i.e. purchased parts regarding speekpaks?
Is it worth it to create i.e. a speedpak for fasteners that will only let you select the geometry you want so that you i.e. cannot simply select everything from them?
How does it work with interference detection?

berg_lauritz wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 5:15 pm I was thinking about that, too. I have never really used speedpaks though. Can I create a speedpak that hides the fasteners?

A speedpak configuration essentially "extracts" bodies and faces that you choose. So the assembly loads quicker.

berg_lauritz wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 5:15 pm What are some best practices regarding this? How can I quickly select i.e. only the things I want (make selection sets?)?

Selection is limited to faces, bodies, reference geometry, sketches, and curves. You must pick the ones you want one at a time. Generally you want outside faces/bodies and any mounting areas needed for mates.

berg_lauritz wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 5:15 pm What do you do with i.e. purchased parts regarding speekpaks?

Not sure what you mean. Speedpaks are an assembly function. If it's an imported vendor assembly, you could use it.

berg_lauritz wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 5:15 pm Is it worth it to create i.e. a speedpak for fasteners that will only let you select the geometry you want so that you i.e. cannot simply select everything from them?

You can select faces of a fastener instead of the entire body. Sometimes I include screw head faces. Keep in mind this is done at the assembly level only. Although you can create speedpaks at sub-assembly levels and automatically toggle them all on/off.

Interference detection unfortunately doesn't work with them.