O.T. CAD (drafting) Autocad Inventor or SolidWorks?

We currently use SW07 and were looking to update some time this year. We were told that Dassault are trying to sell SW so they can invest more into Catia or something like that. We have just bought Inventor 11 because we contract some design out and they use it and we are sick of getting dumb solids to work with. I have trialled it a bit but I prefer SW. As someone mentioned earlier, it seems more fluid. But then again, been using it for 10 years so I might be a bit biased. You do get AutoCAD with Inventor though and it's good for producing a quick 2D sketch.

Your choice - depends on what you do. I believe you can generate cutterpaths off SW as well now.

 

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"Fluid" works better for me as I don't need "Kinks" when I'm trying to accomplish something on the fly.




And -on the fly- or 'speed of use' is generally of the essence........



(appreciate your comments, and thanks for the heads up regarding ease of use and/or learning curve)








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moe












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The problem I see is that too many people generalize and assume that AutoCAD is only 2D prolific.

Which right off the bat is wrong.

You can build in 3D with any AutoCAD product.

The problem is that Autodesk offers a bizzilion different flavors of AutoCAD.

Mechanical is parametric. Inventor is parametric blah blah blah.....
Go to the Autodesk website to see how many different versions of AutoCAD there are. Basically they offer an answer to every other platform that there is. they have the answer to a Solidworks, they have an answer to Pro-E, they have an answer to ESRI (that doesn't hold a candle BTW).

Solidworks is (from what I have taken from it) a pared down/simplified 3D program. They have made it VERY user friendly - but kinda "dumned-down" (no-offense meant). Pro-E on the other hand is a little more complex. Inventor is....I dunno...maybe a little more complex even yet(?). With that complexity comes a little distaste for a new user - but it means that possiblities are endless to a power user.....


I can see Solidworks is a great choice - especially if you don't plan on going to school and getting any kind of degree or certification in this area. It has the almost fun to use factor and it's as simple as pushing a button and seeing what the tools do...

I wouldn't dare try that mindset with any of the other programs, you'll end up withall kinds of headaches.

 

If your use of this software is strictly as a drafting tool, then Solidworks is real good,as is Inventor! In manufacturing, I use a CAM package that practically eliminates the need for any other software. You can do 3D modeling, create a drawing just as in CAD or Inventor,and generate a G-code all in one, then make the part! More expensive, but opens many more possibilities for you....