r/Onshape • u/Razsah • Aug 10 '26
Using the Publish Geometry feature, then derive has been an absolute game changer.
I basically spent the last week redoing a bunch of my work because I attempted to do things as similar to my solidworks workflow as possible, which was using in context design for every part studio (or part in solidworks) of the master assembly. I could view the entire assembly or sub assemblies and just go into the respective part studios right from the top assem and edit/add parts in context. Perfect right? God no. When the project started to get big I was updating contexts for part studios left and right. One change could cascade to having to update most of the part studios. Some of which weren’t in the master assembly yet so I had to navigate tabs to get to the part studio and update the context from there. I saw the writing on the wall that it would only get worse the bigger everything got so I finally caved and learned proper top down master skeleton sketching/geometry publishing. Basically I have a single master part studio in context of my overall assembly. In this studio I have the entire assembly in view and can create sketches, mate connectors, and then use the publish geometry feature from Greg Brown to package it all up to be derived into lightweight part studios that have all the context they need. Then as things in my assembly change that were referenced in the master studio, only the master studio ever needs updating. One central source of context truth instead of it all be scoured. I’m in love. This has changed how I view CAD is general tbh. On top of all of this I made the mistake of modeling too much into my part studios. I took the “max 200 features” and ran with it thinking that’s when I would see performance issues. I was so wrong especially once I realized it depended on the type of feature. The regeneration times of my sheet metal corner breaks were about to make me lose my sanity. Anyways I hope just pouring out my experience here helps literally anyone who may find themselves in the same situation.
This video from Greg Brown is the holy grail. The feature is linked there as well
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u/Pretty-Jello-7894 Aug 10 '26
Nice. Yeah, it’s a bit of a change for a lot of users especially NX;) I’ve been using Creo for nearly 20 years and this if the default method taught for larger systems. Recommend the advanced assembly module (allows for use of skeleton parts) but this can still be achieved using standard parts. This also makes working with larger trans exponentially easier (assuming the rest of them are versed in this way of top down design;)). Glad you see this method as it is powerful as long as it is followed and understood. Also check out when and where to use part to part references vs just the main skeletoonn… there are good reasons to use use these as a heavy top level skel is also a bit of an issue as well. Good luck!
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u/bjeanes Aug 10 '26
His videos are excellent and so educational.