Field Precision software tips » learning software

Example library improvements

shumphries — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:10:27 +0000

Learning technical programs can be difficult. There are many details to enter correctly and many potential pitfalls. My belief is that working examples are best way to help new users get a quick start. Over the years, the growth of our example libraries has been a bit haphazard. New examples reflecting current consulting projects could overlap existing ones. With too many choices, it would be difficult for a user to identify relevant examples.

This week we started a complete overhaul of the example libraries. We are making the following improvements:

Elimination of redundant or non-essential entries.
Complete retesting with the latest program versions and conversion to a consistent format.
Creation of an example index for each program with short descriptions of the techniques employed.
Production of a PNG illustration for each example. Using an image viewer, a user can quickly get a sense of the nature of the calculation.

With regard to last item, I highly recommend installing the FastStone Image Viewer, available at

http://www.faststone.org/index.htm

Finally, we appreciate any application examples you would like to contribute, and we welcome suggestions for useful examples.

Software training videos

shumphries — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:10:08 +0000

The end of September marked a turning point at Field Precision. Since 1989 we have been steadily adding to our catalog of 2D/3D technical programs. With the release of Aether, our catalog is complete. Our programs now cover the full spectrum of electromagnetic field applications. Future work will concentrate on 1) adding new program features, 2) fine-tuning the programs and making them easier to use and 3) generating educational materials.

One outcome of the third task is the blog that you are now reading. This week, I initiated a series of training videos. These short, informal videos introduce the concepts of finite-element analysis and walk you through many techniques for using our programs. The videos are available at:

http://www.fieldp.com/videos.html

My goal was a video display of the screen operations combined with an audio track. I made an extensive Internet search and located several unsuitable products (high cost and/or poor technical performance). I was pleased to find CamStudio. The program performed well, was easy to learn and had good documentation. Most surprising, it was free! Highly recommended if you need to prepare software demos. Here is a link to the home page:

http://camstudio.org/