What is the future direction CATIA/UG/IDEAS

[Tetragrammaton]

Sorry this is a bit long winded but I am sure it covers alot of what others are probably wondering about UG & CATIA also.

I have only used CATIA V4R2 for a very short time (2 months) but have found I can create/modify sketches & solids, but surfacing in V4 is a whole other ball game. I am sure the thought might be CATIA V4 is old to look at but quite a long standing performer otherwise it would not have survived so long.

I must say I am very much interested in also hearing from anyone about the differences between UG & CATIA. I have been using UG since V9 & also been using IDEAS since V8. Now thing is IDEAS & UG are being merged into UG MS V21 in about 2004 from what I know. So there will not be as much use for IDEAS and eventually its lifespan will finish, I know it could be years or even a decade but it fate is sealed nevertheless. So I think getting skills on another system such as CATIA V5 would be a good choice but would like to hear others thoughts on this.

I am not totally decided on CATIA V4 as it is a little antiquated although still quite widely used. I am thinking it will eventually be overtaken by V5 when it is more accepted. I hear various comments to the effect that it is not 'Product Ready' thus users are unwilling to take the plunge and go with a possibly unreliable/unproven in terms of log standing performance, like UG for example.

From many forums and discussions I have noted that Ford or at least their BIW Div. (I think) will be going to CATIA V5 as there 'apparently' been alot development work between them and IBM over the last year, amongst many other sources all seeming to indicate a similar trend.

I for one am looking forward in terms of continued skills development an think CATIA V5 would be a good choice. I know that Pro/E would probably be a good choice also but I think I see the is alot of potential in CATIA V5.

So lets hear some thoughts/comments/...critisisms perhaps. I would welcome brief or detailed answers as your time permits, thank you for your participation.


Best Regards

Dave

 

[spmani]

Hi Dave,
I have put in a bit of time in CATIA V4 and I-Deas MS6 before I moved to my present company. It is here that i was trained in UG. Unlike you I have been using UG from V16 upwards.

Yes even I have heard about the probable combining of UG and I-Deas as far as the software goes. This should bring in PDM (or as presently known as PLM) capabilities of I-Deas into UG.

There is a good potential for CATIA. Especially in the Automotive and Aerospace Industry.Also other industries where creating Surfaces is essential.Read some article that Boeing used it extensively for their 777 aircraft.Hmm. I have heard of CATIA V4 still holding court. I still haven't figured why.

CATIA has an intresting sketcher which allows you to sketch easily with no constraining. UG and I-Deas I noticed would tell you how many constrains still required !! And Pro-Engg being the most rigid. Couple of lovely feature in CATIA i did like. Also the re-ordering of the History to make the tree less vertical. The Warm Start technique is another lovely feature of CATIA.I am sure they have all these and more in V5. Also V5 onwards CATIA can be loaded onto a Intel Based machine.That should bring down the set-up cost's. as compared to V4 which needed a UNIX workstation.

Purchasing cost wise : CATIA is i feel the costliest. Then comes in UG followed by I-Deas and finally Pro-E.

Yes it would a good idea to know other CAD Softwares. Like there is an old saying. A person is equal to the number of languages he knows. Similarly in the workplace!!

I feel CATIA's place in the CAD world is not yet remotely threatened, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to train oneself in it. The Auto and Aero guyz still swear by it.

Regards

Praveen

 

[Berserk]

I heard (rumor?) that the reason most companies that are using catia v4 hasn't upgraded yet to v5 is because of file incompatibility. Opening v4 files in v5 have problems.

I agree that pro/e is the most rigid. But it is cheaper and a lot of medium size companies use it.

I stated using UGv16 (now NX) after using AutoCad & Mechanical Desktop. I found the transition quite easy.

I tried Ideas 9m2, but it has a weird history tree and no layering, just bins. But Ideas will be merge with UG. There will be Ideas v10 then UG NX2 then the merge UG NX Master Series. I believe Ideas is very good in FEA for this is where it leans to heavily. It also has an intuitive sketching which is incorporated in UG NX.

As for UG surfacing, unless you buy the UG/Studio its hard to create quintic surfaces. Its very easy in Catia, thats why most Body in white use catia for styling.