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Non-commercial learning edition of NX?
4

Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
Hi all,

I'm really interested in learning NX for personal use. In the company where I work, SolidWorks is the primary CAD tool. I want to try something different on my own... Question of personal fulfillment...
Is there a way to obtain a non-commercial license of NX, geared towards learning its design tools?
I've seen there's a 'NX 8.5 Learning Edition', but it's strictly available to students and academic personnel.

Regards,
Dries

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

We do NOT offer any sort of 'non-commerical' version of NX except to educational institutions or as so-called 'student' versions available ONLY to legitimate students and/or educators. Sorry...

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
Ah, that's too bad.
So I guess, unless I work at a company that has an NX seat or unless I own a commercial license myself, I cannot learn NX in my free time?

Dries

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

There are many schools, including community colleges, which teach classes using NX. Perhaps you need to check around and see what might be available in your area. Of course, it might not be totally free, but it could well be very reasonable. And besides, once you're a legitimate 'student' you could then purchase a student version of NX which IS offered at a very reasonable price.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Do you have any children that are in school? Buy the student edition in their name.

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

Ben Loosli

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
Well, the amount of personal training opportunities for NX (not organised/paid for by employer) in Belgium is quite disappointing. As in: as good as none.
I do have a few relatives that have just started attending college. I might check with them.

Dries

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

OFF TOPIC: Where in Belgium are you located? My grandparents (on my mother's side) were Flemish and I've still got some long lost cousins near Brugge.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
I'm from Antwerp. Not so very far from Brugge (like all places in Belgium smile)!

Dries

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
slightly OFF TOPIC:
I hope someone can provide an insightful answer on this... Why is it that NX (or any high-end CAD/CAM package for that matter) is not made accessible for non-commercial use? It boggles my mind, really...
I would think that the more people can use the software on their own (with the right training material!), the better the user base is going to be and the better the purchase decision for CAD is going to be, right? NX Learning Edition seems to cater that exact need, but unfortunately only for academic.

Like in our office, we use SolidWorks. I've looked at what SolidEdge can do and honestly I think it would suit the type of work we do (lots of 3D quick designs, sheetmetal...) a lot better. But how am I supposed to convince management when all I can do is request a 45-day trial that I have to squeeze in my evening schedules?

Dries

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Exactly what sort of tasks would you expect to use a so-called 'non-commercial' verison of NX, or for that matter, any high-end CAD system, for?

For vendors of professional engineering tools such as CAD/CAE/CAM/PDM systems, there are really only TWO legitimate categories of usage, Commercial and Educational. If you work for a company that is conducting a serious evaluation of CAD systems you should have no problems whatsoever getting a temporary evaluation copy for use by personal AT that company. But if you're just trying to get access to a copy of the software so that you can learn how to use it for your own personal development, and if your company if not willing to underwrite that effort either by BUYING a copy of the software or paying the cost to take a class, then your only option is to find an educational organization offering classes and pay for them yourself, and once enrolled you could purchase an educational version of the software for you own personal usage. But be warned, the educational versions of software is often (I know that NX is and I assume it's the same for SE) designed so that any files created using the software cannot be plotted nor can the files be opened and used in a commercial version of that same software.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Also, the education versions do not come with any technical support nor are they upgradeable. If you buy NX8 today and decide you really need to learn NX9, you have to buy the newer version at the same full cost.

Like John said, if you want a company evaluation copy, you can ask your local sales office to loan you a copy for 60-90 days to allow you time to learn and do an evaluation. I have used this method in the past with both Unigraphics and Pro/Engineer.

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

Ben Loosli

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
I would use it for hobby projects. I actually own multiple 'learning edition' licenses of software packages that offer much of the functionality of their full versions, but with some key features (that ARE important for commercial work, like: importing/exporting, no watermark on output etc.) disabled.
Some of these 'learning edition' (or personal use) licenses I own: Maxwell Render Learning Edition, RealFlow Learning Edition, Unity.

Some companies like 3D Systems (Cubify) understand there is a real need for affordable personal design software.

Dries

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

I think you will find that the high-end products, such as NX, Catia and Pro-E/Creo, or even the mid-range product like Solid Edge and SolidWorks, are NOT marketed as "affordable personal design software". If that's what you're looking for, perhaps something like 'SketchUp' might be a better fit.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

One reason to get a non-commercial version of a high end CAD system could be just to learn it in order to have more opportunities to find a good job.
Of course one person with a non-commercial version of that software is not going to design and build a ship, plane or even a car, so it wouldn't be a lost client.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Perhaps GM or Ford should allow people to just come in and 'borrow' cars off the lot so that they can learn to be taxi drivers or chauffeurs. Or maybe Nikon should give anyone wanting to learn photography full-frame DSLR's for $50 each.

BTW, does your company let people have access to whatever it is that you manufacture so that they can learn how to use it so that they could later get a job where something like it was being utilized? I suspect not...

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
@skanskan:
My thoughts exactly.

I feel that the entertainment software industry somehow is more on top of this trend. Maybe because artists do more personal work in their free time?
I'll show a few examples:
NUKE Personal Learning Edition = free vs. NUKE = $4155
Houdini Apprentice HD = $99/yr vs. Houdini FX = $4495 ($2495/yr maintenance after 1st yr)
Of course there are restrictions (watermarks, special file formats...), but nothing that gets in the way of a solid learning experience and portfolio building.

These two packages are considered high-end in their fields. Yet, they are very affordable/accessible for the purpose of learning.

I think it is at least an interesting observation that some companies are very willing to expose their software to anyone, while others won't (as easily).

Dries

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Hi,

I want to share my opi ion and to not violate terms. please do not interpret this in the wrong way. all thing need a perspective and this is mine.

While it is great to debate what real value there is for letting students and hobbyist use nx, the real question to siemes is that how many votes and future buyers you want to lose during student time towards other cad software like Autodesk etc. who have free downloads to all software and student programs available against a valid student email address.

These companies realize the value of adopting thing that are available instead of hoping to get revenue from big companies who recruit people to NX jobs with other cad software background. get them young line MC D with burgers and free stuff and birthdays and parties...

I work for a global company and face this challenge. students have access to solidworks and all autodesk software but not siemens tc nor Nx for free. I cannot understand this no matter how much I try.

Hard to promote software and to always have to train people on all continents while lesser plm companies software has many people that can use it already from school. Kind of adds cost if you think of hiring lots of different resources and having to train all of them of mostly none.

I truly am with you who take the trouble to ask correct ways to find sudent versions while there are no practical way to do so.

Globally responsible of TC and NX

NH

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

There are thousands of seats of NX in educational institutions all over the world. For more information about the various educational programs that Siemens PLM Software supports, please go to:

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/academ...

And as an example of just one of these programs which ueses NX to prepare students around the globe for when they move out to the real world, a program which I'm personally involved with, and that would be P.A.C.E.:

http://pacepartners.org/index.php

And for a list of the educational institutes which are part of P.A.C.E., go to:

http://pacepartners.org/institutions.php

And this is just one program of many.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

(OP)
John, thanks for that info! I'm digging into it...
Actually there is a university college near Brugge (Kortrijk) where Siemens NX is taught to industrial design students. (They used to teach Pro/E...)
I'm poking around to find out if I can attend (some of) those classes. These classes are part of a full diploma program, so I'm not sure what is possible.

Sadly, in Belgium there are no such things as community colleges that offer focussed CAD training...At least not that I know of.

Thanks for the help! ;)

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Not too far from me is a Vocational high school that has NX, Vericut and other software as part of their curriculum. These High School students are in huge demand in this area and can start at most companies earning a very competitive wage. Siemens has provided the software and students have, what I think is most important, PROPER TRAINING. By teaming up with numerous schools Siemens has taken the correct approach. I have had several supposed "power" users apply for positions that have not had any training. Yes they can create a model but none of them understand the importance of making their models easy to modify in the future. I have yet to find someone that does NC programming using NX that has not has dome type of training. I like John’s analogy of the car dealership. Frankly you get what you pay for.

John Joyce
N.C. Programming Supervisor
Barnes Aerospace, Windsor CT
NX6, NX7.5 & NX8.5
Vericut7.2.3

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

I am not sure what you in your company, but personally Solidworks is a more capable system as far as creating manufacturing sequence drawings or designing parts. I have really missed it over the years.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

One point to mention is that you are comparing programs that retail for less than 5K to one that costs 5X that or more!
With that ratio, your 99 for the one program, becomes a cost of 495 for a more expensive program.

I just looked at www.journeyed.com for NX 8.5. They claim it has a retail value of 85K and they have the student edition on sale for 99. For reference, Creo2 student is 198, SolidWorks is 140 and SolidEdge is 150.

Like I said before, there are multiple ways to be classified as a student to get the software.

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

Ben Loosli

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

To Dries,

I have taken contact with the sales representative of a re-seller of Siemens NX, and he will have look onto your request.
There might be a possibilty of an in time limited license, but offcourse I cannot guarantee this...
I have forward your mail adress to him, so please keep me informed on the outcome.

Kind regards,
Pascal

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

"Siemens has provided the software and students have, what I think is most important, PROPER TRAINING. By teaming up with numerous schools Siemens has taken the correct approach. I have had several supposed "power" users apply for positions that have not had any training."

I second this about proper training. Time and time again I run into people that learned NX quick and dirty and then try and make decisions on how to cut parts based on very little training knowledge. Here in Los Angeles lack of training is a real problem in the airframe business. Lots of v5 classes - few NX classes. Most employers will only hire programmers with skills obtained on someone else dime. Very little in-house anymore.

Example:
I introduced NX (UG back then) to my employer 14 years ago. I left after just one year (don't ask). I come back here 3 years ago and find they decided Sequential Mill was the only button to hit! They only gave a couple users training (and they did not retain well). So, being ex-NCL and v4 users they resorted to the drive-part-check approach of programming FOR EVERYTHING. Imagine 200-300 SeqMill ops for a part! Some of them have 100+ steps for each operation. So now they are moving to only v5 since those users got proper training from other employers.

Not to derail this thread but I think it's a training issue... NX cam for commercial airframe work here in LA is almost completely gone. Most local colleges are only offering Catia v5. Now, the space and jet engine companies are NX but they are few here except SpaceX and Aerojet Rocketdyne.

Bill

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Note that we have a fully staffed training operation here at our Southern California development, support and sales office in Cypress, only a short drive from Los Angeles over the Orange County line.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

Why is it then that NX cannot offer a home license to use where Solidworks & Solidedge allow you to have a home use license. The only difference between the Solidedge home license is the watermark that gets put on the drawings that it is a home license. Also not every company can afford the time away from an office for a week of training. I took the basic class at the local technical school here & it was basically the instructor reading the lesson out of the book.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

If your company is willing to allow you to take a copy of NX home with you, that can be done by simply asking that NX be installed with the 'licence-borrowing' option enabled. Now this would be a full-fledged, albeit strictly temporary, version of the software, but it would not be disabled or limited in anyway, except in the sense that it would still be the sole property of the organization that licensed it and they would still be responsible for its use under the terms of the software licensing agreement that they signed with Siemens PLM Software. Also, while this software was 'on-loan', that incremental license would NOT be available to other users who were getting their licenses from the server that this license was borrowed from.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

License borrowing requires that the borrowing computer be connected to the company network to get the license. That can be done through a VPN. If you have a VPN into your company, you can just use a license while at home off the corporate server without borrowing. I did this for many years at a prior company. Just install NX locally and pouint to the corporate license server while connected with VPN.

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

Ben Loosli

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

The 'borrowing' computer only has to be connected during the licence borrowing procedure. Once a license has been 'borrowed', it can be disconnected and used until the 'borrowing' period expires.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

If the borrowing computer is someone's home computer, they aren't likely to take it to work (in my case can NOT take it) just to set up the connection to borrow a license.

Using VPN ALLOWS YOU TO WORK FROM HOME WHEN YOU WANT AND STILL HAVE ALL YOUR LICENSES IN THE WORK POOL.

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

Ben Loosli

RE: Non-commercial learning edition of NX?

What difference does it make, if the user has access to the license server via VPN, then there's technically nothing stopping him from running NX at home as long as he can legally install the software (there may still be export restrictions if the user's 'home' is not located in the same country as where the NX software was licensed to be used)?

But this may soon change as there are new technologies which are allowing us to offer alternatives to the above scenario, as outlined in this recent press release:

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/about_...

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

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