iceblu3710
New member
Hello all, ive been reading the boards for a while now and just decided to join and ask for everyones opinion.
I run my own small company, just me and three friends from college and
were looking to purchase software that will suit our needs which are:
-Sheetmetal (Blades for motherboards and such, will use alot of standoffs)
-Plastic Shell Casing (Misc electronics need boxes)
Personal projects:
-Electric motorcycle
-CNC Machine
I can get licenses through my friend who works for a mfg firm in
england and all three products are close to the same price but their
all very different to use and I prefer not to learn one to then just
switch to another.
My opinion sofar:
CATIA: wow, you can definatly tell its the top dog, it even eats
computer resources like one but that aside I found modeling to be a
dream. 100x easier than 3dsMax and Maya and within a day I was
designing intricate parts and forming assemblies with ease.
Catia good points: Ease of modeling, Assembly (add one bolt and re-use pattern and bam autoinstall)
Catia bad points: Simulation? I watched a youtube video of a fork and I
thought it was easy, my god no, sim is hella complicated and im lost. I
also cant figure out animation and part movement if it has it.
Solidworks: Only used for an hour but it seemed clean and lightweight.
Pro/E: Ive been using it for a few days and Mechanica is awesome, ive
never used such easy software to make things move and do static
analysis. The ctrl/shift/mmb movement is annoying and I can never get
to the oppisit side without being upside down and angled.
Pro/E Good Points: Mechanica suit is awesome to use and very intuitive.
Pro/E Bad Points: Sketching compared to CATIA is like pulling
fingernails and personally I find it more annoying that 3dsMAx even. 3d
movement makes my head hurt, when you click info and the web browser
pops up the damn close box dosn't work and the damn thing wont go away
verrrry annoying, I can't do thermal analysis because it says I need
constraints and can't find them.
So in general I find CATIA easer to use but not sim and Pro/E exactly
opposite. Ill take a class when I choose a suit so these are trivial
problems.
In the end im looking for a suit that will allow easy modeling and then
allow me to push and pull components, check for collision, use gears
and belts and to analysis on my motorbike frame so I know where to add
members and such. Sheetmetal and Shell work needs heat transfer and
airflow analysis for part longevity.
All opinions and suggestions relevant to the above appreciated, Thanks!
I run my own small company, just me and three friends from college and
were looking to purchase software that will suit our needs which are:
-Sheetmetal (Blades for motherboards and such, will use alot of standoffs)
-Plastic Shell Casing (Misc electronics need boxes)
Personal projects:
-Electric motorcycle
-CNC Machine
I can get licenses through my friend who works for a mfg firm in
england and all three products are close to the same price but their
all very different to use and I prefer not to learn one to then just
switch to another.
My opinion sofar:
CATIA: wow, you can definatly tell its the top dog, it even eats
computer resources like one but that aside I found modeling to be a
dream. 100x easier than 3dsMax and Maya and within a day I was
designing intricate parts and forming assemblies with ease.
Catia good points: Ease of modeling, Assembly (add one bolt and re-use pattern and bam autoinstall)
Catia bad points: Simulation? I watched a youtube video of a fork and I
thought it was easy, my god no, sim is hella complicated and im lost. I
also cant figure out animation and part movement if it has it.
Solidworks: Only used for an hour but it seemed clean and lightweight.
Pro/E: Ive been using it for a few days and Mechanica is awesome, ive
never used such easy software to make things move and do static
analysis. The ctrl/shift/mmb movement is annoying and I can never get
to the oppisit side without being upside down and angled.
Pro/E Good Points: Mechanica suit is awesome to use and very intuitive.
Pro/E Bad Points: Sketching compared to CATIA is like pulling
fingernails and personally I find it more annoying that 3dsMAx even. 3d
movement makes my head hurt, when you click info and the web browser
pops up the damn close box dosn't work and the damn thing wont go away
verrrry annoying, I can't do thermal analysis because it says I need
constraints and can't find them.
So in general I find CATIA easer to use but not sim and Pro/E exactly
opposite. Ill take a class when I choose a suit so these are trivial
problems.
In the end im looking for a suit that will allow easy modeling and then
allow me to push and pull components, check for collision, use gears
and belts and to analysis on my motorbike frame so I know where to add
members and such. Sheetmetal and Shell work needs heat transfer and
airflow analysis for part longevity.
All opinions and suggestions relevant to the above appreciated, Thanks!
