- [Instructor] In this video we're going to cover
the Smart Dimension tool inside of SolidWorks.
Now smart dimensioning as it sounds,
is a tool that automatically figures things out for you,
it's smart.
But we also have below that smart dimension tool
we have other dimensions
just like a horizontal dimension, or a vertical baseline,
a chain dimension, order dimension.
We have all these different types of dimensions.
And what the smart dimension tool does
is it kind of figures out depending on what I'm doing,
which one of these dimensions to use.
So let me show you the basics
for just creating a very simple dimension.
I'm just going to come down here and grab this line here
click on that and just drag out a dimension.
So wherever you click is going to place that dimension
and then I can type in a value here.
So I can type in like 3.0
and notice the part will automatically adjust to that size
and now we've defined a dimension.
So it's defined on that line itself.
Now that's a two-click dimension
so once we clicked on the line and two
we placed the dimension where we want it.
The other option is a three-click dimension.
So I'm going to click once on the first line
and notice the dimension pops up
but then I'm going to click on a second line
and now what it's dimensioning is from one line
to the other line.
And then my third click is going to be
where I want to place the dimension.
Again I'm going to type in 2.0 and there it is.
So I've defined that two different ways.
Now I'd always recommend using that three-click dimension
and let me show you why.
So if I go back over here
and let's go ahead and delete these dimensions
so I'm just hitting Delete on my keyboard.
And for instance if I had a fill it,
so if I had to fill it right over here,
let's go ahead and fill it that
and make it a little bit bigger.
So if I were to click and try to dimension from,
you know this side here,
I would only have this dimension here
which is not what I really want. Right?
And if I already had that dimension,
like over here if I just dimension it and say it's 2.0,
click okay
and then I came back and I added that fill it.
Here's the fill it again
on the side, click okay.
Now it is smart enough to think,
okay well you added the dimension before
you added the fill it
so I'm going to create what's called a virtual sharp
and it's going to say, hey if you didn't add that fill it
that dimension would be the same
but it's generally a good idea
to use that three-click dimension.
So I'm going to click once from where I'd like to start from
which is going to be over here click
then click again
and then place the dimension.
Now notice I've placed that same dimension twice
and if you get this pop-up dialogue box that says,
hey, by the way you've got two dimensions
for the same exact value.
So what do you want to do?
Do you want to make this a driven dimension
or do you want to leave it as driving?
So if you get this dialogue box
you can choose to make it driven and it'll turn light gray.
So notice this one's gray, that one's black.
So this is the driving dimension.
So if I change it to 3.0,
notice this one is just a representation of how long it is
but you can click on this
and you can actually go over here to other
and instead of driven, turn that off and click, okay.
Now you have two dimensions defining the size
and obviously they're conflicting, right?
There's items that are unsolvable
and we have to delete one of these.
So if I delete either one of 'em,
then everything's fine, right?
It goes back to being an undefined sketch it's blue
and you've got one dimension.
Now if you want to fully define the sketch,
we would need to tie it into
our friend over here the origin, right?
So if I add a dimension here
from the origin click on this line here,
make a dimension let's say 2.5
and maybe one more dimension here
and notice as I'm adding these dimensions in
those lines are turning black.
Notice this line here is black,
that one there is black,
this is black down here, now this one's not
and the reason it's not
is because it's still has a degree of freedom.
I can stretch this thing out here if I wanted to
and it's going to update the model.
So if you generally don't know what's going on
or why it's not fully defined
just grab it and try to move it around on your screen,
you can say, oh, okay, that makes sense.
Then come back, grab another smart dimension
so I'm using a three-click dimension here
and I type in 3.5.
Now it's fully defined and there it is.
All right, moving on.
If we want to add another smart dimension
this time I'm going to make an angle.
So I'm going to choose this line to that line
and then I can define the angle.
Now this is context sensitive
so if I place the dimension directly here
between the two lines, it gives me this dimension.
But if I move it down here, it says,
well you are going to type or define that dimension
from a different position
so it starts using it from down here.
As I rotate around notice that keeps changing
so it's all the same dimension
but it's just defining on which segment of the circle
you're defining it, right?
So if you're in here, over here
and then once you've placed it wherever you want it
I can type it in 140, it's fine
or I can place it again, right.
And go over here and say,
hey, that's actually 40
but now you're going to have two conflicting dimensions.
So you could say I'd like to make this one driven,
for instance.
So couple different options
of how you might want to use that Smart Dimension tool.
Same thing with a circle, just click on the circle
and drag out a diameter, right?
Type 2.0 and there's your dimension
or if you want dimension from the center point
click here over here to maybe the origin.
You can define how far that is.
Now notice over here,
it's making a line or dimension from the point
in a straight line.
But if you move it out here
it's a kind of only a vertical dimension
and if you move it down here
it's only a right to left or an X dimension.
So a couple different ways
in how you will place those dimensions
based upon where you're placing it.
So click over here, place it there
and then same thing over here. I can click again here
and then fully define that two inches right there. Okay.
So that's how you basically use these Smart Dimension tool.
It's pretty smart.
There's a lot going on there
and you have a lot of ways you can use use it
and generally it does modify itself
based upon where you are placing those dimensions,
based upon how far they are
from another sketch entity for instance
or on this case over here, where you are around that circle.
But anyways,
those are the main points for using the Smart Dimension tool
inside of SolidWorks.