AutoCAD 3D (non-Inventor) parts & assemblies into SolidWorks 1

[smith4464]

rollspswx astutely suggested that I start a new thread for this so here it is -

AutoCAD 3D (non-Inventor) parts and assemblies to SolidWorks - is there a good/better/best format for doing this, i.e. sat, iges, etc?

I'm currently importing the files/models/assemblies for FEA with CosmosWorks ( i'm using 2008 version if that makes a difference ).

Thanks.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

If AutoCAD 3D can export parasolid, that would be the best.
If not, then STP, IGES and SAT would be my order of preference.

 

[loki3000]

is it difficult to model in 3d in acad? which version of it do you have?

 

[DerrickH]

At my last job that's all we had was acad for 3D I started on 2004, then we got an upgrade to 2006 or 07. There were a lot more 3D friendly tools in when we upgraded (I wanna say it was '07). I didn't mind it, and I still use '04 on my home computer for drawing houses in 3D. It has it's advantages and disadvantages.

SolidWorks is a million times better though when it comes to having to update/make changes. In acad you have to update every instance it occurs individually. That takes a lot of time if your part is located in multiple subassemblies, and if you've already created solprof images for each drawing it could be associated with. It was very time consuming to say the least! It wasn't uncommon to find an assembly where a part didn't get updated... sometimes you just didn't remember to get them all.

Derrick Hochgesang
Specials Project Engineer