Solidedge 2d is now free

[J-C]

This is interesting......think Solidworks will counter? Not sure if there are any strings attached (watermarks, etc.)

http://www.solidedge.com/free2d

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP4.0 on WinXP SP2

 

[Heckler]

It is free......it's called DWGeditor

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.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

That's actually been available for some time now. I am assuming it is just the "sketcher" module in Solid Edge so I really don't see the point other than getting the name out there.

SW has already "countered" (sort of) with DWGeditor which, IMO, is far more useful.

​

Helpful SW websites faq559-520​

How to find answers ... faq559-1091​

 

[ctopher]

Interesting. Their way of switching users from ACAD.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[smcadman]

Yikes, a 239 Mb download file size! They already blocked many sites with SonicWALL over here, and IT would probably close down the internet for me if I wanted to give it a try.

I still prefer ACAD over the DWGEditor for cleaning up DXF's.

Flores
SW06 SP4.1

 

[Beggar]

Several years ago, SE was giving away copies of their part modeler and drawing package -- just no assembly nor sheet metal.

I probably still have the CD around somewhere.

I actually used it for some personal projects and just did the entire assembly as discrete bodies offset by .001 from all the others.



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[Diemaker1]

What I hope SW and SE can do by getting into the 2d market is… develop good 3d to 2d conversion. Right now converting SW drawing to dwg is less than stellar. Many circles turn to splines. Lots of line segments instead of continuous. LOTS of duplicate lines. Unpredictable text and dims positions and look. Hopefully control of the 2d would allow synchronization of environments to get a WYS(sw)IWYG(dwg).

Having run acad for 18 years, I’m sick of it. But it’s my industry std. I have it all programmed and can finish many jobs before I decide an “approach” to doing the same job in 3d. And I don’t have to convert for the customer. I’d love to see models detailed directly into a dwg format. If these 2d programs are a step to that end… terrific.

One thing that scares me with direct competitors like SW and SE commandeering the .dwg… is that acad will protect itself, make dwg completely incompatible, take an us or them stance. Then one day I reinstall acad 2006 and can’t get authorized.

 

[Beggar]

One thing that scares me with direct competitors like SW and SE commandeering the .dwg… is that acad will protect itself, make dwg completely incompatible, take an us or them stance.

Actually, I've somewhere come of the notion that that's exactly what they've done with 2007 which really sucks for those of us who still use ACAD but have jumped off the upgrade train (in my case, in 2002). So, in their understandable effort to protect the defacto standard that they developed, they're also dirting on their one-time customers.

Of course, that's no different than anybody else, including SWX and their ridiculous refusal to provide free service packs for their typically buggy baseline releases.

I just hope all the CAD companies can hang around and continue to fight it out because the competition can only benefit consumers.

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How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

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[Diemaker1]

Yeah, me too. Not sure where I read it, I remember something about adsk trying to trademark DWG also.

 

[Heckler]

I have it all programmed and can finish many jobs before I decide an “approach” to doing the same job in 3d.

But what can you do with the 2D drawing other than print it out?

3D opens up many more possibilities then 2D could ever imagine: FEA, Rapid Prototyping, photo rendering, mass properties analysis, and I'm sure their are more.

2D is a thing on the past.....why play pong when you can play Grand Theft Auto’s latest sequel: San Andreas

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.

 

[Diemaker1]

But I don’t do any of those things. I design steel tools that get cut with plasma, cnc jig mills, water jet, wire EDM and other machine tools that are programmed from 2d geometry.

I’m ready to switch, but just today, I swear, I sent an edrawing for review. And the customer specifically told me to deliver dwg files. As do all my customers. Whatcha gonna do?

 

[ctopher]

Send both. They eventually will like eDrawings.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[Beggar]

I disagree with Chris. If they're the customer, send them what they want. If you've got a personal relationship with somebody there, you might pursue it through unofficial channels.

What purpose is served by trying to make a point by sending them something that they don't want?

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How much do YOU owe?

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[ajack1]

Dieman I too share your “problem” I own a small design company and our core business is press tool design.

I totally agree with Beggar send your customers exactly what they want not what you want to give them if you wish to stay in business.

The “problem” with 2D drawings created from 3D models is they are to accurate, as a simple example take a piece of corrugated sheet in plan view with one slot pierced in it. How many lines/arcs etc is that if you draw in 2D now how many if created from 3D? The drawing becomes massively larger and less usable to the shop floor better drawn in 2D IMO.

However go the other way and take a complex shape, say a body panel that is formed and trimmed on mostly cast tooling and all of a sudden 3D becomes the only way, all the poly patterns are created with very little extra work and the machining surfaces are created (with a few run offs), basically you are giving the customer what they want and need and all the drawing are (if required) is a reference.

It is like turning up to take a bride to a wedding in a minibus or taking a bunch of backpackers on a trip in a white limo, you need different tools. Either find customers who want what you can offer or offer what your customers want.

 

[toffeet]

The majority of the parts that I design are sheet metal parts that are then cut by laser. Solid Edge has an option that convert b-splines to simple lines and arcs when creating dwg-files. That does seem to make the dwg-files more simple and reliable.

Solid Edge V18 SP6 on WinXP SP2

 

[Diemaker1]

I get scared that UG will get sold again. Talk about disruptive. Otherwise I like SE position. They own parasolid and d-cube. In essence, they have SW by the balls. They have adsk by one ball, but I’m sure adsk is working hard to change that. SE giving away their sketcher is a strange move indeed. What purpose does that serve? Show the world they can do dwg too? Get people hooked on sketch constraints? Maybe SE sketcher really is terrific and will sell SE? I wonder, since they own Dcubed, if they alone can offer a stand alone sketcher… without paying separate royalties. I’m rooting for SE… but I went with the flow.

Ajack, I agree with you 100%. Simple profile representations convey the intent much more efficiently than an exact picture. Right now, most tools, I design in acad and extrude in SW for checking. Of course surfacing work is done in SW for machine data, but I don’t put holes in because it’s too hard to keep the separate 2d and 3d synchronized. It’s horse crap, but if I did it all in SW I’d have to give the customer a 50 meg acad mess rather than a clean 4 meg file.

 

[J-C]

I think this is "their" answer to Inventor including Acad and Solidworks including DWGeditor. Instead of creating or licensing a Acad like program, they give away the Solidedge drafting module for free. Not sure how it compares to Solidworks but you could do soley 2d-only work in the drafting module. You just don't have every option Acad has but I've drawn schematic diagrams and block diagrams to complement our 3d views.

The only dowside I see to this is if you ahve to provide dwg files to someone. Then you have to translate and worry about losing data in the process. On the other hand, Acad ain't cheap and this is free and if you don't need to worry about dwg that much, then this is appealing. Bold move by UGS....I give them credit.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP4.0 on WinXP SP2

 

[ajack1]

Dieman I do share your frustration. The package we went for is very strongly biased towards tooling and includes machining recognition which is great but only if your customer runs the same system, it also includes (limited) blank development not just unfolding bends, one day our budget will stretch to Pamstamp.

We do supply customers who work solely in solids and have a very strict set of rules, for example all dowel holes are .005mm under size so if they find a 11.995 hole they know it is a 12.0 dowel, the same applies to tapped holes and a very strict set of rules apply to face colour which dictates machining. This does take some time to get set up but is well worth the effort for the work it brings in. They do everything to solids, tool buy offs, patterns, analysis, machining, it is a very forward way of thinking IMO.

As I see it the problem is many companies request/ need .dwg. Autodesk of course have no desire to change this and any one else needs it as an output option as it is a question most customers will ask, however dwg is a lousy way of outputting solid models. It is hard to see this catch 22 changing any time in the near future. Unfortunately edrawings or PDF are no better if they require usable data, rather than lines on a piece of paper and if that is all they require why solid model in the first place? Back to square one.

 

[Diemaker1]

Funny, dowel holes are the only holes I DO make on size. Drilled holes get changed. What if you have a precision die opening that happens to be 12mm? Do you model it 11.995 so they don’t accidentally drill it?

At one time I had 1500 tool designs on my server, most of them in production and we usually did a few revs every week. Even though they were all 2-8 meg dwg files, all the different design styles and layer schemes from different vendors made them a headache to work. Imagine if the designs were 200-1000 meg solid designs from 8 different Modeling programs. Makes my head hurt. I have no ideal how companies that do work in solids only manage… unless they only accept models from one brand with specific modeling procedures.

Actually… for us die designers anyway… once a tool gets approved, it can become a dumb solid. In fact, keeping the parametrics looks very dangerous. Say if you need to move a hole in the part… even if you could find the one dimension that controlled the hole location, and changing that updated the entire design… the old hole is still in the tool. The physical tool don’t update. Putting a new hole in the design would duplicate the real world better. And you can make changes to a dumb model without worry that other things will get wacked.

The big problem with a dumb model is… prints.

What we need… is a neutral drawing format. Or better yet… for all these companies to standardize the drawing environment so dumb solid translations can include prints. That’s why I like my ideal of drawing environments to be native .dwg

Fat chance. I think the corps that make products are the big target for cad makers. And they don’t have our problems, they don’t need to translate prints for customers. They all sent out PDF’s.

So, until our INDUSTRY standardizes on a single 3d modeler, like they did with .dwg … OR becomes paperless, which I think will not be practical… job shops like us are going to be screwed.

 

[ajack1]

This particular company does have a set of rules that cover all holes, so say for example you have a die plate with a 12mm screw clearance hole which we will say is 13mm and a 13mm die bush, the die bush would be modelled at 12.995 and the clearance hole at 13.005 and as I said they also use face colours to show machining type. These of course have to be set up to map between systems.

All of this is of course a work around and we all long for the day when systems are far more integrated, however I don’t see that happening any time soon.

My other big bug bear is translations, especially when it has gone through a few systems, trimming goes out the window “flat” surfaces are in fact .00001 out of flat and round holes become splines. Again good companies will spend time and effort to sort out import and export options, bad ones just give you a file to spend a day or two to fix.

I am sure I will be pushing up daises long before all this is fixed.