What's New in 2008 Technical Tip: Setting a default RealView Appearance for all parts/assys

Several people have asked me if/how you can set a DEFAULT RealView Appearance for any part that you open. There are really TWO ways to do this. The RealView Appearance gets SAVED WITH THE PART/ASSY FILE. So, for any NEW parts that you are going to create in SolidWorks2008, if you set a RealView Appearance in your part or assembly TEMPLATE and save the template, it will use that appearance. But the real reason people are asking about this is for when they open up an “old” file, which the template option described above will not help…

SO the ultimate way to set a DEFAULT RealView Appearance is to click on the RealView tab (over on the TaskPane) and expand the SCENES node… Inside the 3 sub-folders are all of the RealView Appearances to choose from (Basic Scenes have lights, Studio Scenes add a floor, and Presentation Scenes have a 3D cubic environment). When you find which Appearance you want just RIGHT CLICK on it and choose “SET AS DEFAULT APPEARANCE”! Now every “old” part that you open from previous versions of SOLIDWORKS will use that DEFAULT Appearance!