Inventor vs SolidWorks 2

[bckemp]

Just witnessed a demo of Inventor 7 and was suitably impressed. I have 6+ years of legacy Autocad and MDT data and it was imported without incident.

Is it a stable program?
Is it really as easy to learn as it appears?
What am I missing?

 

[bckemp]

I would also like information on a viewer that rivals eDrawings from SolidWorks.

 

[MechEng13]

bckemp,

After 4 years using Solidworks, due to the economy I had to make a job switch. The company I work for now uses Inventor...I have been on it for 6 weeks and can honeslty say I am nowhere near as comfortable on it as I was on Solidworks after a week.

It does seem to be a stable program...at least as stable as any of the other mid range packages out there.

If you understand the concepts of Solid modeling it's no more difficult to learn than Solidworks...however I don't feel it's near as intuitive as some seem to think.

I have not seen a viewer available that rivals eDrawings...if that was the only determining factor I would go with Solidworks.

As for legacy data...there is alot of talk on the Inventor Forum, moderated by Autodesk about problem with importing from MDT or ACad...and exporting .dwg to ACAD....from my experience with Swks there were far fewer problems with exporting to .dwg....don't know about the import...but I never seemed to have any problems importing.

Don't know if that's much help but it's my $.10 (inflation)



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[DesignerMike]

My experience so far is that R8 more stable than R7. I rarely crash, but do almost nothing with surfaces, and only simple sheetmetal. I have also seen a major improvement in .dwg output from R8 and compatibility. R8 also will keep the link between autocad drawing and Inventor part, so if you change the model, the autocad drawing will update.

I test drove SWX for about 6 weeks and went back to inventor. I found ease of learning just the opposite as Alan (it really depends on what you learned first, and how you work). I found SWX having major problems with solving constraint (mate) issues, and I found it to be more difficult to mate things together. (just my experience)

As far as stability, spend a little time on the solidworks section of this forum and look at the issues that they are having with 2004 (I think they are on SP3 since september)

This issue has been (and will be) debated at great length, and my take is:
SWX is better with sheetmetal, and surfaces, and drawings are somewhat better, has e-drawings (which have their own limitations), photo-rendering, and a very simple FEA program built in.

Inventor is easier to use and learn, performs better with many large assemblies (not all types), dwg output and import is improving, drawing performance is much better with R8, I found much more standard content (parts) for download, more free add-ons, the Adesk newsgroup will get you technical help very fast (from other users), you get the most recent autocad and MDT versions with Inventor, if you have MDT--Inventor is very inexpensive.

Both companies seem pretty sleazy, but SWX seems worse IMO. Subscription costs are similar. You see rumors about Desault/catia/SWX but that is just speculation. Get eval's of both, and test them, and keep talking to other users. Not an easy decision.

Some good Inventor sites:

http://www.sdotson.com

(with lots of good links to Kent Keller's site and others)also has some great FREE tutorials

http://www.cbliss.com

(for major parts content)

 

[Panzer1970]

I used both and if were up to me I chose Solidworks, plan and simple.

 

[Panzer1970]

I used both and if were up to me I chose Solidworks, plain and simple.

 

[SoledWorker]

I used both and would choose Inventor. Modeling is similar, but you'll see fewer glitches in assembling things with Inventor, and when there is a problem you at least get a meaningful error message, with SWX you get something along these lines: "Something is wrong, if you'd like to see this message again, right click and select "what's wrong"".

Detailing in Inventor is much better as well.

 

[SeanDotson]

You really need to demo them both (trial versions, not watching a demo jock run them). My preference is Inventor but I am sure to test drive Solidworks when a new version comes out.

Sean Dotson, PE
Inventor Tutorials & More

http://www.sdotson.com

 

[Madmexx]

"Inventor 7
Is it a stable program?
Is it really as easy to learn as it appears?
What am I missing?"

If u can i advise u to take IV8 : in that version they say to have improved the speed in drawings. I work with IV6 in a construction environment and it gives me satisfaction. But making a drawing who has a lot of complex features in it then it is somewhat slow (but mostly still acceptable).

"Is it stable?" I crash once a month. And maybe that is because i use beta drivers for my graphics card. But also that has been improved since my start with inventor.

"Is it really as easy to learn as it appears?" :
Yes it is. One thing though : the most difficult thing about 3D software is getting used to a new way of thinking. I learned it all in three weeks (and then i mean all features of inventor). Now (nine months later) I work fluently with the basics, rather good with sheetmetal but I still have to explore the iparts stuff ) Making a drawing is a piece of cake; but sometimes u have to improvise (eg parts list) but untill now i havent had a problem i couldnt solve.

Next move to learn inventor better is using the iparts and visual basic stuff in order to write macros.

"What am I missing?"
What do u mean?

Concerning the eternal discussion of what the best 3D program is : its hard to find an objective opinion. Inventor is rather new and had its kidsdeceases but its a good program and i find it fun too design with.Dont forget that i have to work with it 8 hours a day, 7 days a week etc etc. I hope they keep on improving it.
I learned pro-e and i really hated the way they force u to make features. I didnt see pro-e do things that inventor cant do and mostly i needed more mouseclicks for making a feature then inventor. I also found it horrible the way they shield their knowledge so when u want to learn something or u need an upgrade u have to pay for it. They better should learn a lesson from autodesk : a good (available and not expensive) learning book makes a whole difference. As for Solid works : i dont have any experience with it so i cant judge it.

 

[BBJT]

Like Sean says, Get a demo of both. Also make sure they tailor them demo to your parts and process. I have used SolidWorks for 6 years after getting off the sinking Mechanical Deskstop ship. I know support the engineers for our company. The way I see it is all the mid-range packages do just about the same thing with the same amount of bugs. Each package shines in its own areas and it is up to you to determine which areas will benifit your company the most.

Bottom line, make the demo jock use your parts and process. Then choose and don't look back.

BBJT CSWP

 

[MechEng13]

BBJT,

You get a star for that one...couldn't have said it better myself.



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[SeanDotson]

Oh sure, he get's the star...

Sean Dotson, PE
Inventor Tutorials & More

http://www.sdotson.com

 

[MechEng13]

Sorry Sean....I thought I did give you one earlier...let me rectify that now.



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[SeanDotson]

I'm just kidding with you.

Sean Dotson, PE
Inventor Tutorials & More

http://www.sdotson.com

 

[MechEng13]

Sean,

I figured you were kidding, however, since the economy forced me to move from SWks to Inventor you have helped me a great deal.

so still I say you get a star.



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[SeanDotson]

I think you'll find, for all of the differences of opinion and bashing back and forth the 2 products are more alike than anyone wants to admit.

Each has their pluses and minuses.

BTW, I assume you've visited my site. I have a bunch of tutorials on Inventor. If you have questions, please feel free to ask.

Sean Dotson, PE
Inventor Tutorials & More

http://www.sdotson.com

 

[MechEng13]

Yes i have your site bookmarked....unfortunately I am working now for a job shop and going through tutorials is rather difficult.


Does IV have a home usage option....similar to SWks...if you use it 80% of the time for work you can have a copy loaded on home PC....if they do then I would have more of a chance to go through some more tutorials.



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[SeanDotson]

Yes. It's call the simultaneous use policy.

As long as the home and work machines are not being used at the same time (by one or more people) you can load the copy at both locations.

Sean Dotson, PE
Inventor Tutorials & More

http://www.sdotson.com

 

[MechEng13]

Thanks Sean,

That will help



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[workman33]

I currently have both Inventor release 9 and Solidworks 2005 loaded on my work PC. What I have found is they both have their faults to a degree, but when creating complex models, such as consumer product design, Solidworks is a must over Inventor. (Pro-E is also superior to Inventor in this field, but thats another thread) If you model molded or cast parts (with draft and all fillets) in Inventor, you will experience significantly higher re-build times. We have had Inventor for a while and recently completed benchmark testing between the two packages. In many cases, solidworks rebuilt the model 15-20 times faster than Inventor. On average, Solidworks rebuild times were approx. 5x faster than inventor. My advice when considering Inventor is thoroughly evaluate Solidworks and Pro-E. We are currently phasing out of Inventor.