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3D software for mechanical drawings.
- Thread starter tkianl
- Start date
Tkainl,
If you are doing mechanincal design/drawings and you want to get into 3D, parametric solid modeling is your best bet. As far as which one is best, every person on this site will have a different oppinion. You can start by asking yourself a few questions like, "how much am I willing to spend?". Also, depending on "what" you are designing will help deside which is a better fit.
Are there any more details that you could share with everyone?
Don
If you are doing mechanincal design/drawings and you want to get into 3D, parametric solid modeling is your best bet. As far as which one is best, every person on this site will have a different oppinion. You can start by asking yourself a few questions like, "how much am I willing to spend?". Also, depending on "what" you are designing will help deside which is a better fit.
Are there any more details that you could share with everyone?
Don
Tkainl,
I was a former ACAD user and have recently switched to Solidworks. Although the initial step was tough it wa well worth it. There is a book called Solidworks for AutoCAD users. I would recommend taking some basic course just to get your feet wet and then you'll be off to the races. PRO Engineer is also good, but I found it complicated and buggy, so for now I'll stick to Solidworks.
Good Luck
I was a former ACAD user and have recently switched to Solidworks. Although the initial step was tough it wa well worth it. There is a book called Solidworks for AutoCAD users. I would recommend taking some basic course just to get your feet wet and then you'll be off to the races. PRO Engineer is also good, but I found it complicated and buggy, so for now I'll stick to Solidworks.
Good Luck
I have used 2D AutoCAD back in 1987. Then MicroCADAM in 1991. I remmember back on those years I was just refering to a simple documentation to learn AutoCAD all by myself. And it take few days training for MicroCADAM.
Then come Pro/E ever since 1994 (Pro/E R14) where I struggle to learn 3D creation for 5 days. And continue struggling for years. And todays I must confess that Pro/E is the best 3D solution in term of rich of features/ functionality and stability. Back at the time of 1994 to around 1998, I would called Pro/E as the market leader with that kind of innovative 3D methodologies of modelling.
Intergraph with SolidEdge (and now UGS) was following Pro/E exactly for ages without much success until maybe recently. Solidwork is of no different except it is slightly easier to use with newer GUI. The same kind of marketing strategy with SE. But how true is this "easy to use" claim by the software vendors?
When I was evaluating softwares for my company in search for something to get my job done few months before, I came to know Inventor. I have handson with our company data for the three much "affordable" 3D solutions to see their ability to get my job done in the area of creating complex machinery.
Autodesk Inventor stand out to be the winner. There are many detail in the evaluation process but basically ease of use to get the job done is one of my criteria.
Inventor go into my nerve as an long timer in the industry for it innovative user interface. For one thing... Autodesk finally serious with 3D business and meet my 1st time good impression of my earlist experience with AutoCAD 2D back in 1987.
And since they own AutoCAD, it is natural that 100% compatibility to Inventor can be done by Autodesk. Inventor continue to inspire me with 3D modelling for its modern software design (I wouldn't said so for the next few years unless Autodesk continue with its innovation). I felt more
comfortable to invest with company that would be around the industry for ages instead of some that was bought over by others. Those 3D solutions that were bought over are not in full control of their software development. The owners of its higher end solution take control instead.
SO think about the above few facts before you invest.
Then come Pro/E ever since 1994 (Pro/E R14) where I struggle to learn 3D creation for 5 days. And continue struggling for years. And todays I must confess that Pro/E is the best 3D solution in term of rich of features/ functionality and stability. Back at the time of 1994 to around 1998, I would called Pro/E as the market leader with that kind of innovative 3D methodologies of modelling.
Intergraph with SolidEdge (and now UGS) was following Pro/E exactly for ages without much success until maybe recently. Solidwork is of no different except it is slightly easier to use with newer GUI. The same kind of marketing strategy with SE. But how true is this "easy to use" claim by the software vendors?
When I was evaluating softwares for my company in search for something to get my job done few months before, I came to know Inventor. I have handson with our company data for the three much "affordable" 3D solutions to see their ability to get my job done in the area of creating complex machinery.
Autodesk Inventor stand out to be the winner. There are many detail in the evaluation process but basically ease of use to get the job done is one of my criteria.
Inventor go into my nerve as an long timer in the industry for it innovative user interface. For one thing... Autodesk finally serious with 3D business and meet my 1st time good impression of my earlist experience with AutoCAD 2D back in 1987.
And since they own AutoCAD, it is natural that 100% compatibility to Inventor can be done by Autodesk. Inventor continue to inspire me with 3D modelling for its modern software design (I wouldn't said so for the next few years unless Autodesk continue with its innovation). I felt more
comfortable to invest with company that would be around the industry for ages instead of some that was bought over by others. Those 3D solutions that were bought over are not in full control of their software development. The owners of its higher end solution take control instead.
SO think about the above few facts before you invest.
I suggest you oder free sample CDs from leading mid-range
CAD vendors: Solid Edge or Inventor (no CD from SolidWorks available to my knowledge).
Linqur
CAD vendors: Solid Edge or Inventor (no CD from SolidWorks available to my knowledge).
Linqur
Hi Tkainl,
It all depends on what type of work you are handling right know. If you are in a Automotive/Aerospace industry and doing a detailing job for them on AutoCAD and you would like to move on to 3D CAD then for an industry which handles complex curves and surfaces I would suggest you go ahead and learn CATIA as it is the much preferred CAD software today.But if you handle most jobs which could be done using basic shapes like a prism/cuboid/sphere etc and there booleans then I would suggest you learn Solidworks.
I hope I could be of assistance to you.
Liyakhat Ali Khan
It all depends on what type of work you are handling right know. If you are in a Automotive/Aerospace industry and doing a detailing job for them on AutoCAD and you would like to move on to 3D CAD then for an industry which handles complex curves and surfaces I would suggest you go ahead and learn CATIA as it is the much preferred CAD software today.But if you handle most jobs which could be done using basic shapes like a prism/cuboid/sphere etc and there booleans then I would suggest you learn Solidworks.
I hope I could be of assistance to you.
Liyakhat Ali Khan
Dear tkianl (Mechanical),
There are too many 3-D CAD softwares in the market. Generally these are classified as High End, Mid Range and Low End software.
Pro/Engineer, CATIA, Unigraphics, I-Deas and AutoCAD Inventor are high end softwares.
People say (I too) Pro/E is most powerful for complex modelling and large assembly handling. CATIA is improving very fast and best for surface modelling. UG is also well reputed. I-Deas is very fast in modeling, assembly and drawing and cheaper too. You are a user of AutoCAD so you can easily migrate to AutoCAD Inventor.
Solidworks is neat, fast to work and fast growing software. Solid-Edge, IronCAD, CADKEY, AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop, ThinkDesign(It support voice interface), Rhinoceros, Pro/Desktop are other softwares. All have some plus point and some shortcomings.
There are some freewares also. Try links Tenlink.com or mcadcafe.com to get freewares and trialwares.
If any other doubt, write to npsingh@engineer.com N P Singh
There are too many 3-D CAD softwares in the market. Generally these are classified as High End, Mid Range and Low End software.
Pro/Engineer, CATIA, Unigraphics, I-Deas and AutoCAD Inventor are high end softwares.
People say (I too) Pro/E is most powerful for complex modelling and large assembly handling. CATIA is improving very fast and best for surface modelling. UG is also well reputed. I-Deas is very fast in modeling, assembly and drawing and cheaper too. You are a user of AutoCAD so you can easily migrate to AutoCAD Inventor.
Solidworks is neat, fast to work and fast growing software. Solid-Edge, IronCAD, CADKEY, AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop, ThinkDesign(It support voice interface), Rhinoceros, Pro/Desktop are other softwares. All have some plus point and some shortcomings.
There are some freewares also. Try links Tenlink.com or mcadcafe.com to get freewares and trialwares.
If any other doubt, write to npsingh@engineer.com N P Singh
Auto Cad has got some great features using which u can create powerful 3D drawings. I have personally created a 3D model of an ic engine(micro ic engine) and the exploded view of it, but it is little complicated, so if u go fo UG or Pro-E it has got lot of features and flexibility to do the same
Try IronCAD... very few people know about it but is by far the easiest 3D package to learn. You can pick it up in 2-3 Days doing the tutorials. It was recently given 4.5 Stars from Cadalysts mag. It uses both the ASICS and parasolid modeling kernels...
see...
see...
Also, I must say that anyone that is praising AutoCAD does not understand how far solid modeling has come in the past couple of years. AutoCad is a joke compared to the new software that is available... I have not tried Inventor but it seems similar... Pro/E is very expensive and hard to learn.. go with one of the newer packages...
Solid Edge and Solid Works are very good choices but not as easy to learn as IronCad...
Solid Edge and Solid Works are very good choices but not as easy to learn as IronCad...
SoledWorker
Mechanical
Our design group just completed an evaluation of SW (2001) and Inventor (r5), using weighted categories such as "Productivity", "Standard Features", "Ease of use/learning curve", "Step Compatibility", etc...
The hands down winner was Inventor, although many categories were "ties". Some of the strengths of Inventor were:
-More intuitive user interface, with fewer dialog boxes and fewer mouse clicks. Gesture based sketching, glass box, "expert" and "learning" modes, more consistent interface with (far) less clutter.
-Ability to handle large assemblies (SW requires that parts be marked as "lite" to just load the graphics, but you can't work on them in that mode, INV handles this in the background: all parts load graphically, but as the cursor goes over a part, it (transparently) begins to load the geometry of the part)
-Built in support for concurrent engineering (several users can work on a model at once), this is a shortcoming of SW.
-Better STEP file import: the colors and part names of the imported component were preserved, and the geometry was immediately useable. SW required the use of "FeatureWorks" to "repair" the same model.
-Adaptivity: the SW guys had a contrived example showing how they could do the same things that Inventor does: this is true only to a very limited extent, explore this carefully in your own eval...
Everyone should do their own evaluation, as each product has particular strengths. Don't let past experience with Mechanical Desktop cloud you judgement, Inventor is a completely different product, not a derivative.
The hands down winner was Inventor, although many categories were "ties". Some of the strengths of Inventor were:
-More intuitive user interface, with fewer dialog boxes and fewer mouse clicks. Gesture based sketching, glass box, "expert" and "learning" modes, more consistent interface with (far) less clutter.
-Ability to handle large assemblies (SW requires that parts be marked as "lite" to just load the graphics, but you can't work on them in that mode, INV handles this in the background: all parts load graphically, but as the cursor goes over a part, it (transparently) begins to load the geometry of the part)
-Built in support for concurrent engineering (several users can work on a model at once), this is a shortcoming of SW.
-Better STEP file import: the colors and part names of the imported component were preserved, and the geometry was immediately useable. SW required the use of "FeatureWorks" to "repair" the same model.
-Adaptivity: the SW guys had a contrived example showing how they could do the same things that Inventor does: this is true only to a very limited extent, explore this carefully in your own eval...
Everyone should do their own evaluation, as each product has particular strengths. Don't let past experience with Mechanical Desktop cloud you judgement, Inventor is a completely different product, not a derivative.
Guest
Hi,
i am a mechanical engineer by qualification. I done my degree in 1998 but switched to software profession.
But still mechenical stuffs attracts me a lot.
Can i start learning Some 3D mechanical drawing software now( i have now totally forgotton all mech stuffs)
I mean how difficult it will be...
Although it depends on person to person but still any suggestions...
thanks
i am a mechanical engineer by qualification. I done my degree in 1998 but switched to software profession.
But still mechenical stuffs attracts me a lot.
Can i start learning Some 3D mechanical drawing software now( i have now totally forgotton all mech stuffs)
I mean how difficult it will be...
Although it depends on person to person but still any suggestions...
thanks
Most mid-ranged 3D software is windows based... if you are comfortable in the windows environment, it shouldn't be too hard to pick up on.
As for specifics and standards, grab a Machinery's Handbook and a copy of ASME Y14.5M. "Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."
As for specifics and standards, grab a Machinery's Handbook and a copy of ASME Y14.5M. "Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."
We are in the process of changing from Autocad to Solid Edge, since January this year. I can tell you that 3D rules compared with 2D. We have a large number of Autocad drawings and translating them to 3D using Solid Edge is very simple with little hassle. Generating new designs is now FUN, it has made working a pleasure again.
The 3 main things to remember when changing over from one to the other is to allow yourself time to adjust. If you are under a great deal of pressure at work then things can very quickly get on top of at the start. Secondly, spend some money and time and complete the foundation training course, (4 days for Solid Edge), it is worth every penny in outlay and time spent. If you don’t then you will not get the best from the system. Finally you must have the best hardware that you can afford, especially if you are modelling large assemblies or components with large numbers of patterned holes ore cutouts.
The 3 main things to remember when changing over from one to the other is to allow yourself time to adjust. If you are under a great deal of pressure at work then things can very quickly get on top of at the start. Secondly, spend some money and time and complete the foundation training course, (4 days for Solid Edge), it is worth every penny in outlay and time spent. If you don’t then you will not get the best from the system. Finally you must have the best hardware that you can afford, especially if you are modelling large assemblies or components with large numbers of patterned holes ore cutouts.
Wow, I never knew ProE was had so much acclaim in the industry. I took the class last year and I have a pretty good handle on it now. I think it is way easier than CATIA. Then again I just took the CATIA class so it is still new. But ProE is definitely a powerful tool....go for it!
GregLocock
Automotive
A friend of mine is a hardcore autocad user, he says the solidworks package is a very natural progression into real solid modelling. Cheers
Greg Locock
Greg Locock
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