SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
(OP)
I recently designed & modelled a gearbox in AutoCad 2002. It was a horiffic experience - one that I will never attempt again. Granted, 2002 is not a 3D design program but I hear that Inventor has now been made virtually obselete by SW. Anyway, the one silver lining to come out from this is that I have now been given the budget to purchase either SW or SE. I've had the reps come out & show me how much better each of them is than Autocad (& I'm inclined to agree) but which of the two would anybody out there recommend. We generally design rotating machines (alternators, generators, welders etc), the majority of which is manufactured in house.






RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
Do you need CNC links?
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
Both are very competent and feature rich CAD packages. Based on their level of release, one will have more functionality in areas over another. Have you installed the trial versions and created your typical parts on it, from initial concept to release? Give yourself plenty of time to work through all your issues and make sure you have access to someone who can answer any of your questions.
Have you asked your rep about customer support?
My previous company used SW. I am now with a company that uses SE. I do manufacturing tooling at both companies, so my "products" are the same. Both work just fine for each. Personally, I prefer SE. The workflow fits better with the way I think and I feel I get better response from their customer support. SE newsgroups are also moderated; you get less trash talk, more helpful posts without having to waste time weeding through garbage, but they don't sensor, at least not in my experience and I've had some pretty choice words about SE. Of course, Eng-tips has forums for both.
I can't speak enough about gaging their customer support. Both products are still maturing. There are going to be defects, bugs, and inabilities. The trick is to develop suitable work-arounds. All CAD companies I know, when you call customer support about a bug, will say that it is fixed in the next service pack or release. That's great, but I need to release a design now! SE support sticks with you on the phone, over the net, or through email (your choice) until you are satisfied with the result. They will help you develop work-arounds in order to get the job out the door.
Good luck with your choice. It is not an easy one.
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
Don't be putoff by your Autocad experience, Inventor is a whole different puppy and works nothing like it. Even the mouse wheel zoom button works the opposite way to Acad.
And you then retain the option to get your old acad drawings into Inventor with minimal hassle.
Excessive accuaracy is a sign of poor breeding. -Socrates.
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
You've got a point, especially with regard to backwards compatability and I've got about 6000 Autocad drawings. My mindset came about after checking out the SW website - they have about 100 reasons why you should use their product instead of AI. The same came from the SE reps, although you'd expect that sort of thing.
In your experience, is AI in the same league? (I don't know if you've used SE or SW). Obviously I'd like to stick with Autodesk but I've also been told that in a few years Autodesk will be moving away from the mechanical scene altogether and concentrating on the architectural side. I definetly don't want to be stuck with another lemon.
Cheers
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
I haven't used Inventor, so my opinion is based solely on what I hear from others...
Inventor came on the scene a long time after SE and SW (in CAD years, that is). Autodesk has been able to bring Inventor up to the level of SE and SW in 5-6 releases compared to what SE and SW did in 12-14 releases. If they keep up that level of improvement, then they will continue to be a contendor. But features are nice, but they are worth dooty if the program is not stable, have an efficient UI, and excellent customer support for when those features are so stable.
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
Like I said Inventor was VERY easy to pick up, and it's quite forgiving. It will cope with things like disjoint bodies, which some modellers kick up about, and you don't need to know the difference between a surface and a solid to use it. Inventor flips between the two as you need it without your intervention.
Looking at the blurb that comes with the Solidworks promotional stuff, I'd say Inventor is probably not so flexible. You've no option for FEA of CFD for example, and although you can get very nice shaded views, there is no ray-tracing for those ultra photo-real images.
It's stable if you're careful in your choice of graphic card, (ATI is asking for crashes) and I'm very impressed with it, I would definintly take a look at it if I were you.
Excessive accuaracy is a sign of poor breeding. -Socrates.
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
Like I said Inventor was VERY easy to pick up, and it's quite forgiving. It will cope with things like disjoint bodies, which some modellers kick up about, and you don't need to know the difference between a surface and a solid to use it. Inventor flips between the two as you need it without your intervention.
Looking at the blurb that comes with the Solidworks promotional stuff, I'd say Inventor is probably not so flexible. You've no option for FEA of CFD for example, and although you can get very nice shaded views, there is no ray-tracing for those ultra photo-real images.
It's stable if you're careful in your choice of graphic card, (ATI is asking for crashes), the UI is simple (right clicking nearly always has what you want as you go along) and I'm very impressed with it, I would definintly take a look at it if I were you.
Excessive accuaracy is a sign of poor breeding. -Socrates.
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
Bradley
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
Inventor's a nice program and I don't see ADSK getting away from it. Perhaps the confusion is due to MDT which they are dumping.
The one issue to consider is whether you work with outside groups. If so, you should consider what they're using or choose SW which does seem to have the dominant position.
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
RE: SE vs SW - any informed opinions?
I think IDEAS is much more complex than most Engineering groups need. They try to support it but the complexity of their built-in PDM makes it a huge task.