switching from pro-e to inventor

[proegod]

Hi,

The client I am working for is thinking of switching from Wildfire / Intralink 9.0 to AutoDesk inventor. Has anyone experienced this and what advantages or problems were found?

Five years ago I was working at a client that made the switch, and it was a fiasco. The last I heard, they were still running parallel seats of Pro/E 2001. Models did not convert over with parametrics (they were just "dumb solids"), so anything being modified had to be re-modeled. I ended up jumping ship to get on Wildfire. The next client switched to Catia, another fiasco, and switched back to Pro.

thanks.

 

[looslib]

Inventor has issues with very large assemblies.
WHY is the client thinking of switching?

Any solid model from one CAD system brought into another system will be a dumb solid. You will also have to recreate the drawings.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[proegod]

Hi Looslib,

Thanks for the reply. The cad adminstrator loves Pro/E, but is disgusted with PTC's arrogance and lack of support.

We do large family-tabled assemblies and complex surfacing.

thanks again.

 

[aafuni]

If you are working with large assemblies with family tables it will be a nightmare for you to switch. I would strongly recommend you do not make the switch.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The grass may look greener on the other side, but you still have to watch out for the dog crap.

Better the devil you know.

 

[TCARPENTER1]

Hi proegod,

I use both ProE and Inventor. I understand your CAD Manager's frustration, I can't tell you how many times I've heard that very same complaint, but just like looslib said, any translation is going to be dumb solid.

Both have their strong/weak points, but usually what has to happen is the design methodology has to change. What is great for ProE, sometimes insn't so great in another package. I also do SolidWorks, and you have those same challenges - one method in Inventor doesn't work as well in SolidWorks... That's the real trick in switching CAD software - sometimes you get lucky in the translation process - but not too often - you really have to be prepared to "re-draw" everything.

Good Luck!

 

[wmd2010]

I use Inventor and came here looking for info as I am thinking of switching to ProE.

If you need complex surfacing then forget Inventor. It only has basic surfacing, cant open all Rhino files yet, the Alias add on is an extra cost and only manipulates edges (not faces) and it's update imported geometry feature doesnt work properly. When working top down some of the cross part sketch features are not associative and require a part level work around. Constraint choice is a bit limited and if you mirror frames they are mirrored as solids, not frames so you lose the ability to apply end treatments.

Go to the autodesk forum and search for ProE to see what ex ProE users are saying about Inventor.

As for support it will depend on your reseller but in my experiece the support process is blame your hardware, blame your lack of training, finally acknowledge a 'limitation', offer a workaround and promise to fix it one day if you keep paying subscription. The best support comes from the users at the forum.

Be sure to do lots of testing.