Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
(OP)
I am looking into buying a seat of SW for my home office to teach myself how to use it. Can any of you experts tell me how easy of a transition it will be as I have been using Mechanical Desktop for the last 5 years? And also would anybody recommend getting the student version with COSMOS for starters?
Rick
Rick






RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
You'll have to set aside your notions of how things are done in MDT but you'll be happy to do so once you see how easy it is with SWX.
You're going to be amazed at how much quicker you are.
Remember, there's a reason why Autodesk retired MDT and rolled out Inventor.
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How much do YOU owe?
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
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RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Would you recommend learning on the student version or should I get a full version of SW 2007?
rick
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Everybody will tell you that SolidWorks Explorer or PDMWorks is the best (only?) way to manage file references, but I taught my users to manage with SolidWorks and Windows Explorer. I'm not recommending that you do that, but by making them do it the hard way, I was sure that they understood how it worked. Only then did I show them the easy (right?) way via SolidWorks Explorer.
So--make it a point to understand how references work. There are several ways to see these references in SolidWorks or SW Explorer; the help also does a good job of describing it.
Another adjustment that just came to mind--use symmetry and the three basic work planes to build your models, and they'll behave more predictably. By default, MDT didn't use those planes, although there was an option to create a part with them.
Good luck,
Brian
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
SolidWorks is about as easy as it gets for teaching oneself 3D CAD.
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Rick
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Best Regards,
Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)
Never argue with an idiot. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience every time.
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
A strike you have against you is you have used MDT, so you will get frustrated with SW because it doesn't work the same (which is a good thing). Parameters/global variables are very week in SW compared to MDT. You start using too many and the system starts slowing down. But you can use skeleton sketches in assemblies so you may not need variables as much.
File management is something to implement if you haven't already. Creating a naming convention is something else to consider because you will find yourself re-using parts and assemblies in SW.
Also, In MDT I worked top-down in assemblies, but in SW bottom-up.
If you have used MDT with AutoPOL, you will find that SW sheet metal isn't as strong, but considering sheet metal is included in SW, it isn't bad. SW cannot create sheet metal transitions, square-to-rounds, helix's (for spiral stairs) or other complex flat patterns.
Depending on the type of work you do and the complexity of it, you may find yourself running smoothly in about a month or so if you follow the tutorials in SW and leave MDT behind. After using SW for awhile, you will find MDT very "clunky" for lack of a better word.
SW06 SP5.0
Flores
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
A few years ago I was working in a large aerospace corporation doing composite structure design. We were using SDRC MS 4.0 as our MCAD package exporting composite designs to this proprietary software package that created flat patterns based on our ply layup. This was cutting edge technology for composite manufacturing.
CBL - Lucky for me my office has coded doors.
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Rick
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
http:/
Jason
UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP5.0 on WinXP SP2
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
The student version can't be used for commercial purposes and (I believe) cannot import/export. I think the drawings are all watermarked, too.
If you're just trying to improve your skills, the student version is the right one.
The full version of SolidWorks will set you back somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-5,000 dollars while the student version can be had for a few hundred. Oh yeah, it times out, too (2 years, I think, but I'm not sure).
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How much do YOU owe?
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
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RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Never made a complete sphere, but see my post on the link:
h
SW06 SP5.0
Flores
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Rob Rodriguez CSWP
President: Northern
Vermont SolidWorks User Group
www.robrodriguez.com (updated 8/12/06)
SW 2006 SP 4.0 / SW 2007 SP 0.0
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
rick
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
Good luck!
Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
rick
RE: Mechanical Desktop to Solidworks Transition
I was in the same boat about 5 years ago, no job nothing but AutoCad experience. A friend was helping me learn MDT.
I became aware of a program SolidWorks had at the time, engineer, unemployed, want to learn SolidWorks? Provided me with 6 month license of SW2001+ granted it was much like the student version but it got me a job. It was my VAR that actually got me the lead, and I attended every seminar and selling session they had to network. Sending resumes was the least productive part of my job search. Have fun... and don't forget to come back here for those things that might not sink in right away, this place is a must read every morning.
Dennis
SolidWorks 2007 SP0.0
Windows XP Pro, Pentium4 3.00GHz
1.5 GB RAM, Matrox P650
Logitech Marble Mouse, CadMan