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Is Proe "old-timer"?

mcgowanp said:
Jacek, I gonna go out on a limb here and say that you have never

actually done any surfacing for a commercial product??

You hit the point. I haven`t. With that said I am curious twice as usual, to catch the differance. If I can`t proof it myself, I count on this forum to deliver me an answer.

From the point I am standing and the path I passed(my models introduce that best), I can say I made more failures choices of tools to use, missing the target because of lack of skills.

Well, that true - for this very moment, i claim I miss skills(the way of use the tools) rather than the knowledge of tools itself. With that in mind I suppose Pro/e propable superiority converts into better level of skill of users. I do think it is so, because Pro/E lacks some pretty nice macros like "fill" tool, pushing users to use VSS instead. But in the end having much more explicit surface.
 
I was using Solid Edge for my last work term, and I could figure out all the basic functionality with the help menu. I wasn't doing anything crazy, but sketching, assembling, families of parts, that sort of stuff. With ProE, I have to search mcadcentral for almost every new function I want to learn. I have called ProE to ask them how a customer is supposed to learn the software, like is there a user manual? Tutorials? Anything? They redirected me on the phone until it eventually came to a person who just never returned my calls.

But, the company I work for uses Pro E, so I must learn it. Unfortunately, there are no mechanical engineers here, and I am still a mechanical student with hardly any CAD experience, so I learn everything the hard way.

My main gripe is when something in my assemblies "blows up" as a result of my beginner mistakes (changing a part file name improperly, for instance), and then I am presented with some crazy menu and I can't even figure out what the problem is - let alone how to fix it. I've got it figured out a little better now, but like I said, I find everything must be learned the hard way with ProE.

So from my position as a CAD beginner with limited experience, I find Solid Edge easier to learn than ProE, and much more forgiving.
 
I agree with Pro/E's crazy menus, those things scare the living daylights out of me. You can't deny its power I guess, because they give lots of options, but it's just like a wall text.
 
Loftarasa said:
like is there a user manual? Tutorials? Anything?


In pro/E, under "help - help center" you can find tutorials, and the manual. (if you got an account at ptc you can also get acces to the "ptc knowledge base" )


//Tobias
 
This is obivously a RANT and should be filed as such.


I am lucky enough to work for a company that utilizes the program our client perfers and we have just about all of them. All I can say is, Dogs that are use to doing only one trick and get the treat, only ever know that one trick. And then the treats run out.
 
I have trained 6 or 8 new users at the company I work for over the last year or two. I have had all of them modeling within a week and detailing to our standards within an additional week.


I guess the quality of training you receive is based on the quality of the trainer.
smiley2.gif
 
I have trained X hundreds new users over the years, and my experience is the same as Herbs ,1-1,5 week, thenthey usuallyknow how to do pretty much of the basicmodelling and detailing.


//Tobias
Edited by: tobbo
 
I am looking forward WF 5.0. PTC has a great opportunity to supprise us(users) all(and others) within plenty of intresting new features.

Maybe there is a chance for great "plastic surgery" or something even better , considering the appeal and funcionality of Pro/E we all know.

Stick my thumbs...
 
herb said:
I have trained 6 or 8 new users at the company I work for over the last year or two. I have had all of them modeling within a week and detailing to our standards within an additional week.


I guess the quality of training you receive is based on the quality of the trainer.
smiley2.gif

Yeah having some training would be nice, haha. I did find those tutorials in the help menu when I first started, but they are quite scarce compared to how many tools the software includes. I learned that stuff in about a week, but I still feel like there is much more to learn and I can't really find any resources to learn it.
 
Loftarasa said:
Yeah having some training would be nice, haha. I did find those tutorials in the help menu when I first started, but they are quite scarce compared to how many tools the software includes. I learned that stuff in about a week, but I still feel like there is much more to learn and I can't really find any resources to learn it.





50% of what I have learned about Pro/E I learned the old fashioned way.


What does this button do? Push it and find out. What's the worse that can happen?


People tend to learn better when they figure it out for themselves.


I have learned much from forums like this, the PTC help line (well, maybe not so much), and other users.
 
You'll never stop learning with these CAD programs and Herb is right, push a botton and see what it does. Pick an interestingthing sitting on your deskand model it trying out different tools. Best way to learn is experiment.
 
That is good advice which I haven't really had any time for yet since I've been so busy modeling all the mechanical components we need. Most of these components are straight forward and I can model and draft them very quickly, but I would like to take things to the next level with some simulations and finite element, so I will have to make some time to learn it the old fashioned way.
 
Michael is right, model something on your desk, and try to push all the buttons and see what they do!! Then you cancan always search Youtube for videos of pro/E , and look at leo greenes page, (some cool videos there) And offcorurse... "google"


http://www.profilesmagazine.com/


http://www.mcaduser.com/default.htm


[url]http://www.caddigest.com/subjects/pro_engineer/tutorials_pro e.htm[/url]


http://www.synthx.com/tom/sy_tips.htm


http://www.3dlogix.com/


http://www.proengineertips.com/part-design/index.php


http://www.me.uvic.ca/~mech410/


http://www.3dcadtutorials.com/index.php?category=769


http://www.me.uvic.ca/~mech410/proe_tutorials.html


Or just take a class ( i would suggest design-engine , unless you want to see europe
smiley2.gif
)


//Tobias
 
I have read about 5 pages of this forum and can see that certain feathers are being ruffled... (Didn't go any further, it was getting repetitive)


I use PROE (been about 4 years now) enjoy the challenge...
SW (been on and off for about 6mnths to a year) I like the look so far...


My focus stays with PROE for many reasons, but mostly because of configuration.
I have a whole host of mapkeys, udf's, family tables and library parts.
We (meaning the firm,i work for and myself)have customised my PROE so that it is SUPER SLICK for our needs... And as a Tool-Design company this DID take some time, but was worth it in the end.


On the other hand I use SW very often for really only one thing...
Import Other Cad Data, eg: Iges, parasolid, etc.
SW seems to really interpret exported data rather well.
So I open the File, save the SW Part then Re-Export as a Step.
Open It in PROE and there are generally very few errors to fix.
Saves me hours in Import Data Doctor.


Another which I only have experience in PROE is, Changing something 2 years down the line, If Modeled, Split,etc, Correctly you can recover, would be interested to know how easy in SW.
Also get IGES, Repair Data, Split Mould, Design Mould, Submit to Tool-maker...
1 week later get new IGES, Re-repair, Redefine Split, Regenerate, Fix few problems, Re-Submit to Tool-Maker, NO PROBLEM.


I read earlier on, that someone stated you may be struggling because you are learning 2 packages. I agree. I also started getting into SW but realised Iwould rather focus on delving deeper into PROE, which, so far i am sure i have only scratched the surface of.
Look don't get me wrong, change is as good as a holiday, but don't create extra work for yourself and hold yourself back by trying to master everything...
That said I will still Download and try try other Trial versions... JUUUUSSSTT to see how the other side is doing.


SO GET ON WITH IT, Make up your mind and do some work, we are i a resession after all
smiley4.gif



Regards
Mark


WF2, EMX4.1, ISDX
 

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