CAD software distinctions

[johanna]

I am not familiar with the various types of CAD software on the market. Can anyone shed some light on the nature of these applications: Visio, Imagineer, AutoCAD, MicroStation, and Intellicad?

I need to know if they are cross-discipline products (e.g., an ME and an EE could utilize AutoCAD in the design of a product) or if each of these tools is primarily geared toward a single discipline.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

J

 

[Lewish]

Well, Visio is not a CAD package.
Imagineer I haven't looked at.
Autocad I use for mechanical and architectural drawings. Not very suitable for anything else.
MicroStation is or was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Intellicad I haven't looked at.

Here are my preferences:
Schematic/PCB design - PCAD about $10,000.00
Mechanical design - Solid Works about $ 4,500.00

Those do 90% of what I need at my company.

 

[johanna]

Thanks for your input. I guess what I'm trying to find out is how versatile these programs are. For example, if you were designing a PCB, would an ME and EE be able to collaborate on the design using one type of software or would each engineer require a different application that is specific to his discipline?
Thanks,
J

 

[dhwilliams]

Visio is pretty good for getting pictures done quickly but nobody seems to use it (here in England!)

If you want to use Autocad file format, which some PCB artwork companies can convert, try Autodesk's QuickCAD. It is a simple 2D drawing program which can read and write dxf files which are pretty much industry standard. QuickCAD costs about 80 Pounds in Britain. There is also a free viewer for AutoCad files - VoloView Express. This would be useful for the ME and EE to look at the files.

As for spending $10,000 on a PCB design package, if you only want to do a small number, and don't need the facilities these packages provide, see if your PCB maker can accept something like PaintShop Pro. I'm designing a board now (PIC Microcontroller, LMD18200 and 556 Timer on a double-sided board 5in x 3in)using this method and it costs me an extra 50 Pounds to convert it from PaintShop Pro - it's cheaper for me than buying a "proper" package. Yes, I know it's harder but I can save the files in lots of different formats so anybody can view them. I create my drawings at 1000 pixels per inch so it's easy to layout standard components and this resolution is ideal for conversion to PCB artwork. For single sided boards I've even produced my own on Laser Printer Overhead Projector Film.

 

[Lewish]

dhwilliams, your reply sounds like a hobbist answer. I assumed from the packages listed, that the poster was looking for products to use in a company environment.

I would really like to see you do the 6 layer board I just had fabricated using something like PaintShop Pro. Good Luck!

 

[dhwilliams]

Lewish, it's not a hobby, this is for a specialized piece of equipment to be sold to medical laboratories, the small company I work for is a Medical Diagnostics Materials & Equipment Supplier and the number of different boards required is very small, they are not very complex and the quantities required tend to be tens rather than thousands - this means that it is not economically viable to buy a $10,000 program. I guessed that johanna might be in the same low-quantity/low-complexity bracket and therefore may not have a big-company budget!

You're right about a 6-layer board, it would be a bit tricky, but to produce a 2-layer board I need 5 PaintShop Pro layers - I'd only need another 4!

PS: Don't knock hobbies, without them I would not have been able to make the mechanical part of the prototype, design the electronics, do the PCB artwork and program the PIC in assembler. There's always room for someone who can do the whole job!

 

[dpc]

AutoCAD is the market leader in CAD software and is widely used and supported. It is a full-featured 3D design product, but requires a long learning process. It is also fairly expensive. If you're doing 3D work, you need the full-blown AutoCAD, not AutoCAD Lite. This will cost in the range of US$5000. Additional add-on software targets specific design activities, such as product design.

Contrary to previous response, MicroStation is certainly NOT in Chapter 11. MicroStation is a product of Bentley Systems and is a strong competitor to AutoCAD and is a technically superior product in almost every way, IMO. There are add-on products that can be used with MicroStation specifically for product design. MicroStation file format is based on old IGDS format developed by Intergraph,which is in financial difficulties, but Bentley Systems is a privately-held company that is quite profitable. Cost for MicroStation is similar to AutoCAD.

 

[johanna]

Can any of these stated applications (or others on the market)-- as a standalone product-- perform both the Mechanical and Electrical design functions (so that MEs and EEs can collaborate simultaneously using a single tool)?

Sorry if any of your previous posts answered my question but I'm not an engineer and could use a "laypersons" explanation.

If it helps, I'm not looking to purchase any software,...I'm just trying to understand a patent written on the subject.

 

[Lewish]

To dpc, Solidworks is less money, has more capabilities and can directly import Pro-E files. Pro-Enigneer is now defunct, or so I have heard. Autocad's 3D capability is still a cluge at best. I have an ME friend who has used Microstation for many years and is changing to Solidworks. I was given to understand that the reason was because Bentley was in Chapter 11. I agress that Microstation is far superior to Autocad. He has been using it to design turbines.

To dh, if you can't afford a "real" Schematic/PCB CAD package, then I would suggest something that is at least partly a good one. Suggestions might be PADS, Protel, Orcad (although of late their prices are out of sight), Eagle or something similar. Maintainability I feel is the main object. If you can't maintain it and eaisly make needed changes that are well documented, you are doing everyone a dis-service. Including yourself. That is why I use PCAD. I can make a change to the schematic and force it into the PCB, or I can make a circuit change to the PCB and force it back into the schematic. I know that the two will always match 100%. No guessing as to whether or not the two are the same revision status.

To johanna, I don't believe you can ever find a mechanical design software package that will do an adequate job of electrical design. Or vice-a-versa. The needs are too different. That is why, the small company I own uses both types of software.

Just my $0.02 worth after 30 years of owning my own company.

 

[dpc]

Lewish,

I know very little about SolidWorks. My point about AutoCAD was that it is the overall market leader and a de facto standard, for better or worse. I never said it was a good product. I have no doubt that there are better products out there for most applications.

As for Bentley, if you have a source for saying they are in financial trouble, I'd be interested in looking at it.

Based on everything I've heard from people doing business with Bentley, they are doing very well indeed.

http://www.bentley.com/corporate/me...D41-79D0-4F83-88418EFA3D1B1E93&method=display

 

[peebee]

johanna -- what kind of design are you talking about, architectural designs or product designs?

If product designs, well, then ignore the rest of this post.

If architectural designs, then AutoCAD is by far the most widely used package, and it will take care of mechanical & electrical systems too.

Microstation & AutoCAD are becoming closer and closer in functionality with every new release. I agree that uStation is still slightly better than AutoCAD in many respects, but the difference is not nearly so wide as it was 10 years ago. The ACAD license is much cheaper, so that is why ACAD is used so much more often. There are several clients, particularly the larger & more sophisticated clients, that still demand uStation, however.

 

[xyzz]

All the CAD programs mentioned here support import/export in AutoCAD format.
Therefore, the AutoCAD being a market leader and de-facto standard is not a consideration in choosing CAD software.
Today the AutoCAD among CAD software is the same as Allen-Bradley among PLCs- de-facto standard, but lacking many capabilities of competitors, and far from being the best value choise.

 

[koolkid]

If price/performance is the foremost criterion, try Adlibre ($495) for mechanical 3D/2D design and Electronic Workbench (<$1K) for electrical (schematic/PCB/simulation)

AutoCAD to mechanical drafting is like CPM to Windows, even though I wish there is a good alternative to Win XP.

For serious consulting try

http://www.1stquadrant.com

 

[MustangDan]

johanna,

I, personally, am only familiar with AutoCAD. I use it to create electrical schematics and assembly drawings. My company has chosen to utilize Unigraphics as their mechanical CAD software. To answer your question, &quot;COULD a single CAD software package be used for both mechanical and electrical design, so that EE's and ME's can more easily work together?&quot; the answer is YES! Is this the most effective design method? Not necessarily. In the case of my company, we design machines that are more complex mechanically than electrically. The ME's design the machinery in 3D -- now, AutoCAD has 3D modelling capability -- but it just doesn't do it as effectively as Unigraphics. Could the ME's use AutoCAD for their designs? Yes, but more time would be spent in the protoyping phase -- finding &quot;mis-matches&quot; in the design, once it goes from paper to the real world.

Hope this helps!

 

[johanna]

thanks mustangdan,
that's exactly what i was looking for
johanna