3d software possibilities 4

[rtoorn]

My company has asked me te review the opinions about 3 3d software packages. Which are inventor, Solid Works and Solid edge.


My company concentrates on concentrates on body building on trucks. Not very complex drawings thus.

Now we also need to know what the different possebilities are of the packeges. I hope someone has the knowledge and the wil to share this with me.

(ps. as you have noticed my english isn't from a high level)

 

[mirekp]

Here are some +/- remarks.

SolidEdge: - More complicated for learning; - not large user base; - least third party applications
SolidWorks: + Easy for learning; + large user base
Autodesk Inventor: + Easy for learning, best UI; + big database of standard parts; + large user base; + most third party applications

In addition I would like to recommend also evaluate some points which are related to the selection of CAD system. In your case it can be:
- Existing relations with business partners. Which software they have, software and data compatibility, possibilities of conversion.
- Existing software equipment. Start from scratch, extension of existing solution, relationship to existing software
- How fast you are planning to start using the CAD system

Mirekp

http://www.mitcalc.com

Mechanical calculations

 

[EnglishMuffin]

I would question the claim that Inventor has most third party applications. I also believe it to be less stable than Solidworks, and that it is somewhat behind Solidworks in many features, but this is based on hearsay and I could be wrong.

 

[Drej]

I've used both Solid Edge (SE) and Inventor, and without question SE is:

+ by far the more intuitive to use.
+ more established in 3D than inventor.
+ probably less buggy that Inventor.
- relatively expensive (but you get what you pay for these days)


Inventor works on very similar principles to SE, and is something immediately apparant in the GUI and navigating around. Hence, to say SE is difficult to use is not totally fair in my opinion.

It is relatively awkward to learn SE, but no more so than Inventor. As I mentioned above, both work on very similar principles (although I found Inventor to be fairly cumbersome). If you're coming from a 2D background, some of the functionality may be slightly alien to you, but this applies to any 3D software. If you know how to use one, you can pick up the other relatively quickly.

I would also question the statement made earlier that it has a small user base as well. This is simply not true, as it is established software (up to v14 last time I heard).

All in my humble opinion, of course.

-- drej --

 

[mirekp]

To EnglishMuffin: You are right. The number of third party apps for SW is approximately the same as for Inventor. About the stability: I worked with all three systems for long time and every system has stability problems. But I think that the technical point (or only the technical features comparison) isn’t the key for the good choice. I think, that is necessary to evaluate many other important criteria.

To Drej: About the UI and it usage. It was my experience, that I needed more time to learn SE than Inventor or SW. About the user base: mid 2003 SE – 150k seats (include edu); SW 250k commercial (numbers are from web)

Mirekp

http://www.mitcalc.com

Mechanical calculations

 

[EnglishMuffin]

mirekp:
".... I worked with all three systems"
".... necessary to evaluate many other important criteria". So don't keep us in suspense - which criteria did you have in mind, and which system do you personally like the best? I'm curious, from the perspective of doing contract work for people, which system is most popular in various industries. Also, it might be my imagination, but from studying job advertisements there seem to be regional biases (in the US) for the various systems. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[mirekp]

EnglishMuffin

Selection of the right CAD system is a complicated process. Not only because CAD is expensive, but first of all that is a choice for many years for the future with connections to business partners, character of manufacturing, existing software or existing company information and control system.
That is why don’t exist explicit criteria how to select the right CAD, but exist some important criteria, which is good to follow and evaluate.
- Character of usage. Serial/ small-lot/single part production, Design of final products, design of components for partners
- Existing relations with business partners. Which software they have, software and data compatibility, possibilities of conversion.
- Existing software equipment. Start from scratch, extension of existing solution, relationship to existing software
- Range of planed projects. Number of parts in one assembly, complexity of parts, type of parts (complicated surfaces, complicated geometry)
- Characteristic of planed system – Time necessary for user training, applicability for planed projects, hardware requirements, price politic, historical information about system, how is the system open for custom changes, number of users, quality and number third party applications.
It is clear, that this selection can’t be complete and rather outline the range of information, which is good to evaluate. I think that only the comparison of technical properties isn’t enough for good quality decision. Personally I prefer Inventor and SolidWorks before SolidEdge.

Mirekp

http://www.mitcalc.com

Mechanical calculations

 

[HDS]

http://www.vaneckgroup.nl/index.html

This is the correct link.

One more thing you will need to look at is the company’s commitment to your country and langue. Is the software available in your langue? Is the manual in your langue? I have seen error messages in the English version of Catia that were in French.

If you need training is it available locally?

How many users are there in your industry in your country? You need a good pool of people to hire from.

Is there a user group in your country?

You are right that your parts are easy enough that any software package can model them. Your main concerns will be in the ease of use and document control aspects. Also you want something that is very good at assembly modeling and “Family tables” (different versions of the same basic part).

 

[ewh]

Another thing to consider regarding what software your business partners use is that Solid Edge is directly compatible with Unigraphics NX. There aren't any lost features or data when working between the two systems. This can be a significant benefit of Solid Edge.

 

[dgallup]

I would also look at the companies track record in supporting products and platforms. I would never again buy any Autodesk product because they have twice dropped support for platforms (Apollo & HU-UX) that we were using at the time. Also, Inventor is about the forth Autodesk attempt at breaking into the solid modeling field. Ask any user of the previous products (AutoSOLID was one) about the upgrade path and data reuability in the replacement software. There was NONE. Any user of their previous products was left out in the cold. Never buy Autodesk products.

 

[MechEng13]

I'm ready to add my $.10...(inflation)

I am now going on my 3 week using Inventor after spending the last 3 1/2 years on Solidworks...

As for the learning curve they are both about the same...as long as you understand the concepts of solid modeling and aren't trying to learn that as well.

As for the intuitiveness of the 2, Solidworks is by far more intuitive to use, also has more custimization capabilities, I detest the lack of ability for setting up Hotkeys in Inventor as I prefer to keep one hand on the keyboard and one on the mouse while I design, as it is in Inventor I have to keep running the mouse half way across the screen to zoom.

Inventor seems to be less stable than S/Works...I have had to reboot approx 30 times this week after crashes and to free up memory.

Featurewise they are basically the same, except for weldments, S/Works 2004 is well ahead of Inventor, there may be more differences I just haven't delved deeply enough into Inventor yet.



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[sethgus]

I was using SolidWorks for about 1 year after learning it in about 2 weeks. I've had some time with Inventor, SolidWorks is much easier to learn and use. As well as is a much more Windows based program, which why maybe its more intuitive. I've started to use Pro-E on very simple part lately, and get very very frustrated with the whole system. At least your company is smart about simple parts = simple program. My vote is for SolidWorks.

 

[ko99]

rtoorn,

I went through a similar decision very recently.

There are other threads in this forum that I found helpful. Check out thread404-3090 "Which 3-D Cad Software is Best?" (sorry, I'm not sure how to create the link...).
In general, I agree with those who say there is no single "best" software. You need to find one that best matches your needs.

I have experience with Unigraphics, Pro-E, Cadkey, and AutoCad. I finally chose Solidworks. My reasons:
+ intuitive UI (very important since I'm not a heavy/daily user)
+ popular with my customers and suppliers
+ large installed base and, more importantly, growing fast
+ eDrawing feature very useful for the kind of work I do
+ competitively priced, self-contained (doesn't require expensive 'modules' or other options)
+ local 3rd party reseller seemed like good people to work with, and they promised generous support and training

ko

 

[CADpro]

I am still young to the CAD world but I might have a "fresh" perspective. I've only done 6 wks of "pencil drawings" in my life. I know nothing but CAD and push to Excel at it. I start on AutoCAD r.13-14, then use Anvil 5000. After those 2 yrs. of 2d work I used SolidWorks for the first time. Since then I have used CADkey, Virtual Drafter, Unigraphics, and about 6 other POS systems not worth mentioning. I've been to shows and learned how to use Inventor and SolidEge. Both these systems are based off of SolidWorks and Inventor is pretty much a copy of it (without getting to close in detail to avoid lawsuits.) I've done a wide variety of work from injection molded parts, to surigical instruments, to toilet design, to sheet metal parts. FOR ME... SolidWorks is by far the best software I have ever touched. I went to the Advanced Training after one week of self training on SolidWorks and after this 3 day class I was able to do anything necessary. Now I wasn't great at it, but after less than two weeks almost anything is possible. I also had an AWESOME support staff at our VAR. In less than a month my tech. support and I were meeting for lunch on a weekly basis to discuss tips/tricks. It's that easy to learn! I agree that SolidEdge and especially Inventor aren't much harder to learn, but for the the price and user friendliness... I don't think you'll find a more powerful system. Is it right for you... I don't know that. But even if money wasn't an option I would choose SolidWorks over any system I have seen, and believe I can do anything in SolidWorks that can be accomplished w/ any other package.
Sorry if I sounded like I was "tooting my own horn" but my point is that it's the software and not the user in this case.

Just my $1.50 (I liked the inflation idea)

 

[devanand]

hi,

as for me is concern going for solid edge may be useful. cause using single skectch in multiple level is more possible than solid works. regarding inventor, if u want to have adaptive technology, u can go for it.

 

[HomeMadeSin]

I can't help but jump in on this one. I've been agonizing on the "right 3D MCAD software for 3years now.

However, to get back to your original post, you will have to explain what "body building on trucks" is in order to answer your question. If it requires heavy surfacing, you may well need to re-evaluate the list of software you're looking at. Most of the automotive design (read body panels and such) are using the high end programs like Unigraphics and CATIA.

Sufacing in IV (worst), SW (mediocre) and SE (best of the mid range) is limited in terms of accurate control. Yes, you make neat shapes, but can you do it accurately - not really.

To respond to a couple of posts above:

(1) Don't go by installed seats. Autodesk pulled a neat trick and bundled AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop and Inventor together so it looks like a huge population. However, I guarantee that if you looked at the "true intended purchases" SolidWorks smokes them all (in quantity). Do believe me? Just check out the frequency of posts in the respective software forums on this site.
(2) Inventor is based on the ACIS kernel, unlike SolidWorks and SolidEdge, which are based on the Parasolid kernel. This means that if you have customers that use other systems on Parasolid (Unigraphics, Pro/E to an extent, or even SW and SE), then you definately want to take a closer look at them (SE and SW).
(3) Do NOT assume that Inventor handles 2D autocad drawings better than the others simply because of the same name. In fact, I found that SE and SW handled file transfers between MDT and AutoCAD better than IV!!!
(4) SolidWorks and SolidEdge is further developed than Inventor. I've had Inventor for 3 years and while I like the UI, it lacks in power and is definately buggy.
(5) SolidWorks seems to be the most agresssive company and I believe the main reason (in addition to Inventor's bundling practice) Pro/E numbers are dropping. SoldiEdge has a little more power and surfacing capabilities than SolidWorks, but lacks the eye candy add-ons like simple FEA, Photo rendering, etc (in the SW Office package).
(6) I don't think that SE has any advantage over SW in transferring files to UX. All 3 use the parasolid kernel and therefore work very well with imports.

Having said the above, I reviewed Pro/E, Inventor and SolidEdge back in 2000 and chose Inventor. At the time, I was new to 3D and used only simple tests (extrusions, revolutions, etc) for our simpler parts. I also thought that Inventor would work with 2D drawings better. I also evaluated all at the same time (try learning 3 programs simultaneously while also doing your job).

This year, I found that IV can't do what we need (design pumps). Our needs have changed to reflect more advanced (modeling wise) designs that require decent lofting and surfacing capabilities. So, I looked at Alibre, Cobalt, Pro/E Wildfire, SolidWorks, and SolidEdge. I just chose SolidWorks because of the considerations above and they have the most impressive array of 3-rd party add-ons if you need more power. Also, this is what they do! It seems that EDS is selling or spinning-off the PLM division (which includes SolidEdge and Uniggraphics), so who knows that will do. Autodesk has a few years to catch up, but if you can wait that long it is a worthy consideration (again, depending on your needs). I liked SolidEdge the best, but couldn't give up the FEA-lite, photo rendering and possibility for extensions in SolidWorks.

 

[ecrmorri]

I started using Solid edge in University. Found it to be brilliant for what i was doing (designing a gear box). Found it really easy to use and I know that that is one of the reasons my university decided to use the package. No problems with it at all. However I do not have alot to compare it too, I have never used solidworks or inventor however the company I work for now design forklift trucks and they use proEngineer which I haven't used all that much yet but to me it seems like solid edge on steroids. Maybe you should consider proEngineer as an option.

Hopefully this is of some help.