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SolidWorks

Nice. How is it with handling large assemblies of say 500 or 600 parts? How does it handle surfaces. Is it just easier, or is it easier AND better. What kind of work are you dong with Solidworks and what kind of work did you do with Pro/e?
 
Thanks wcwyder.

Maybe you can find a Solidworks forum to join!!!!







Just kidding. I am trying to register for a solidworks workshop to get a get the free PE edition. I would like to learn solidworks also. How long did it take you to master the program? What programs did you use before?



Survey
 
wcwyder: good for you.



One thing that people need to recognize is that Pro Engineer and Solid Works are targetted at two different segments of the CAD market. SW is great for low- to mid- CAD. Pro E is made for high end CAD, especially those working on parts requiring complex surfacing and large assemblies that demand control through top down design techniques.
 
I too have a copy of Sworks PE the seminar I went to the sales guy made no bones about it being behind Pro/e in terms of assembly size. Other resellers wildly claim it is just as capable. Sworks is maybe easier to implement install etc but then so is AutoCAD who Sworks have poached programmers and interface designers from regularly. Why does Sworks not have a written prompt line? I got the Revolve icon availble even though I had no C/L ???



Still, nice looking, but I can't see it challenging Pro/e or Catia.
 
It was just an observation. I am not married to any CAD system, just trying to see the differences. I also am working on Autodesk Inventor 7and find it fairly easy to learn. I doubt very many Pro\E users have projects with 500 to 600 parts. I would quess that most users deal with a single part or up to a dozen parts in an assemble. And, I am trying to join a SolidWorks forum. You guys sure are touchy over a simple comment.
 
>> I doubt very many Pro\E users have projects with 500 to 600 parts. I would quess that most users deal with a single part or up to a dozen parts in an assemble. <<



Wrong. Dead wrong. You couldn't be more wrong.



Maybe students teaching themselves Pro E are only dealing with a single part, but the majority of the people I consult, contract, and teach are dealing with incredibly huge assemblies.
 
>> I doubt very many Pro\E users have projects with 500 to 600 parts. I would quess that most users deal with a single part or up to a dozen parts in an assemble. <<



we work on assemblies that range from 1000 to 4000 parts most of the time and on occasions work above that limit pro-E handles them no probelm
 
>> I doubt very many Pro\E users have projects with 500 to 600 parts



That was the #1 reason we've got two SW packages sitting on the shelf and replaced them with Pro/E. It doesn't take much to overwhelm SW. We do simple sheetmetal assemblys. Throw together a few dozen brackets, covers, etc. complete with PEMs. Stuff in the printed circuit assemblyies with connectors and major components (heatsinks, LEDs) and guess what. Your over 500 pieces.



I suspect most people using SW are in a similar situation and just model individual piece of the project because the CAD tool isn't capable of doing the job properly and managing the complete BOM and revision history.



The price for Pro/s sucky user interface :)



-Bernie-
 
I too prefer SolidWorks. It is much more intuitive, and user friendly. However, as said before, SolidWorks and Pro/E have very different uses. If you have small, simple assemblies, and want engineers, not designers, doing the work, SW is the answer. But when things get big, and you need someone driving a CAD station with some serious power, Pro/E is it.



It is all a matter of purchasing the right tool for your company. Many companies don't need the power or complexity that Pro/E provides. (Such as mine, we use Pro/E, when SW would be a better choice).



And it's not much of a fair comparison to say that you have mastered SW, and it's easier than Pro. After all, isn't that what happens when you master something? Are you also a Pro/E master? (something that i think is pretty rare when you consider all the modules, options, and features that Pro/E has).
 
We started using Pro/E in 1989, long before SolidWorks was even a gleam in some programers eye. We rarely work with assemblies over about 30 parts but sometimes get up to about 120. I am sure Solid works could handle our needs but changing is not an option. What would we do with all our existing Pro/E models and drawings? Don't tell me they would convert, we all know what a lie that is. I'm not about to redraw everything from scratch in a new package just for a slick interface. I'm hoping PTC gets their act together. Hope they can hold out and keep from getting swallowed up. How many CAD packages ever rebound from a big drop in sales and popularity?
 
I go back to the WAY early days of 3d CAD modeling and evolved with it. Having become proficient at 4 major modeling packages in the cad market, (Pro-E, SW and 2 others) I can only say that there is a use and a need for each.



Best advice I'll offer; Learn and use more than one well, and you will be greatly rewarded when it comes to design, compatability or any other issues. To try comparing them is impossible...fruitless and a real waste of time.



Why learn more than one you may ask? You'd be surprised the doors that open for you when you do.
 
I think it is healthy to just learn. Yes, SolidWorks development team has put a considerable energy towards ease of use and
 
Every gun depend on the owner? and i think no one can mastering at every gun :) ( Beethoven can't play football as good as Zinedine Zidane )
 
Well ....



i wanna add a personal opinion to this conversation



As many designers/engineers know the target of a 3d solid cad software is to reach the market faster...



to be more specific....



I CHALLENGE EVERY SOLIDWORKS USER/ENGINEER/DESIGNER OR... WHATEVER



to start building an assembly with a specific design intent.... with a given time....

At the end of this time we will change everything (dimensions, parameters, e.t.c.) , then we will see what a high end package and a middle range package means to a designer and why is proe and other high-end packages most valuables...



i am here and iam waiting for candidates...



karavasilis
 
I'm open to suggestions. You can use the contact form to offer suggestions for the forums and website in general.
 
I do not often mix myself up in any cad comparision discussion. But here I want to tell my experience.



I know & use only Pro/E, for more than 8 years now, since release 14. I consider myself as an expert on surfacing and complex plastic parts. I don't want to learn something else, and I don't have an opinion about other CAD software. Simply because I don't know them. So I can't tell what is the best package. But I got a clue...



In our small Design and Engineering office we have about 8 heavy Pro/E users. And two SolidWorks users! In general, the ProE users do the job on all projects. Mainly large surface parts, several hunderds of features, all top-down. But sometimes a SolidWorks user is asked to work on some details or minor parts, which we can use in our assemblies. What I see is that it takes a week for them to create some parts with about 20 features. I redraw them in Pro one hour. When I ask them to change someting, their computers crash. Regeneration time of my 600+ feature parts is about 60 seconds. The solidworks parts with 20 features take more regeneration time, allthough their computers are faster (newer).

The Solidworks users are interested in ProE, though. A have a bookshelf full of tutorials, so they may allways be my guest. I did install ProE on their computers, but I don't know why they are not willing to use it. Is it fear?
 

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