It’s Monday morning. My week starts with a daily and weekly plan. Most pressing are the many articles that are now overdue. The daily plan blows up the moment I read an invitation to watch Too Tall Toby’s Model Monday.
I can’t resist. I’ve been a fan of CAD modeling channels for 30 years, from my days at CADENCE magazine when we held the first-ever Top Gun contest at Autodesk University. That was meant to promote AutoCAD use. When I was with IMSI, we entered a modeling contest. That was meant to determine the best solid modeler. We didn’t win. Modeling Mania, for SolidWorks users, is held every year at 3DEXPERIENCE World.
Toby knows all about Modeling Mania. He is effectively taking it online. And opening it up to users of any MCAD program.
Holding a modeling challenge online has its challenges. There’s no way to keep an eye on the contestants. It risks what Too Tall Toby calls a “Ivan Exploit” where one can come up with an answer (mass of the part) by placing geometry (like fillets) where it is easier to do so, rather than where they should be
Nevertheless, fun to watch. I can’t look away. I see 85 others are watching, too.
That seems like a lot at first, then not enough. Aren’t there millions of SolidWorks users, and all of them online?
As a former CAD instructor, modeling judge and contestant, I am certainly a fan of modeling contests. But I have to wonder, how important is speed and knowing every possible way to execute a command or use shortcuts? Most CAD users know enough to get by and get the job done. There may be 13 ways of making a circle but who besides a CAD instructor would know or use them all?
Who Is Too Tall Toby?
His real name is Toby Schnaars. He has been a 3D CAD enthusiast since 1996, beginning his journey with CADKEY 7. He switched to SolidWorks and mastered it well enough to earn a job with SolidWorks reseller, Prism Engineering. There, he supported users by the thousands and held classes by the hundreds. In 2018, he joined the mother ship, Dassault Systèmes (owner of SolidWorks), where he led global training initiatives and helped launch the 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS Partners Webinar Series and SOLIDWORKS Live Design.
Toby is certified at the highest level with both a CSWE and Elite AE. In 2022, he founded TooTallToby.com. He appears to be having more fun than ever.
What’s the Best CAD System?
Schnaars hears this quite often: “Which CAD system is the best?”
According to Toby, it’s not about which, it’s about who.
“The program is much less important than the person using it,” Schnaars says to engineering.com’s Michael Alba in a 2025 article. “Being a master modeler is about honing the fundamentals, such as building a robust feature tree and effectively navigating a user interface.”
Still, we’d be most surprised if some CAD vendors don’t take advantage of their users winning a Too Tall Toby contest. In today’s contest, the winner used Onshape. The Onshape team is all about comparing their program to market-leading SolidWorks.
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Which brings us to having fun.
In 2022, Schnaars, along with his wife and colleague Guy Rotheram, launched TooTallToby.com. The site unites CAD modelers from around the world who use dozens of different CAD systems around an intriguing premise: the gamification of 3D CAD. There are challenges, livestreams and competitions. There are points, leaderboards and prizes.
Modeling Monday is every Monday at 1:00 PM Eastern and lasts about an hour. And there is Toby himself, calling the action live like a sports announcer. Toby may himself know how to best model the part, himself perhaps capable of the best time, but he is too gracious, too modest, and draws no attention to himself, reveling in the talents of his contestants.
The Super Bowl of Model Monday is the World Championship of 3D CAD Speed Modeling, which Toby organizes and hosts. The tournament has pitted users of SolidWorks, Onshape, Fusion 360, Inventor, CATIA, and more against each other. The winner walks away with high-end hardware and, more importantly, a community reputation that no LinkedIn certification can replicate. Though Toby will insist that it’s about the user, not the software, you are free to draw your own conclusions.
Does Speed Really Matter, Though?
Schnaars believes that modeling speed, regardless of the software used, is achieved through deliberate practice. Athletes don’t get faster by doing their sport slowly. Pianists don’t get better by playing only the songs they already know. And CAD users don’t get sharper by clicking through the same ten features in the same order for twenty years.
Speed is the game. Getting better is the point.
Toby’s YouTube channel is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blRDCNmd54I. Sign up for a Model Monday and have fun, even if you dare not compete. Don’t worry about blowing up your Monday schedule. You’ll easily get that hour back with what you learn.