Can someone give me the quick and dirty on solidworks!?

[hasbeen]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. I was in the drafting/design field many moons ago (got out 1999). Am thinking about getting back in. Called one of my old contract houses today and was told the big hitters are Pro-E, Autocad, and Solidworks. I never heard of Solidworks, yet was told its a spin off of Cadkey?! Is this true? I had eight years with Cadkey. Is Solidworks the same? Would I transition into Solidworks very easy? Are there any good training programs anyone is familiar with? Any help greatly appreciated!

[Pocket]

I would go to a community college or similar for training

I moved to SW from AutoCAD

They are very different

[Hugh_Compton]

The "big hitter" is currently AutoCAD (sales wise). The biggest selling 3D package is Inventor (similar to solidworks).

There are three levels of CAD:

- Basic (AutoCAD, Microstation, Vectorworks etc)
- Intermediate (Inventor, Solidworks, Revit etc)
- Advanced (CATIA, ProE etc)

You need to match your CAD to your place of work. High end CAD packages are aimed at aerospace, car manufacturers and the like. Intermediate is aimed at smaller companies / organisations that need the basic stress analysis, routing and other modules that are offered (an example would be the Revit family which is being adopted by some of the leading architectural companies). Basic is for companies that haven't yet adopted PLM, BIM etc.

There are of course CAD packages that fall in the midddle of these categories such as AutoCAD MEP or Civil 3D (between Basic and Intermediate CAD). There are also "express" versions of some of the high end programs being released to gain some of the market share in the lower categories (CATIA express etc).

In order for anybody to answer your question we need to know what type of drafting jobs you are interested in? (i.e. Civil, Mechanical, Architectural etc).


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Pipework & Structural Steel http://www.3DCADMax.com (http://www.3dcadmax.com/)

[Lazer]

Have a look on Youtube they have lots of demo's on Solidworks, as said by Pocket, a Solidworks course would set you on the right track, have a sit down with the tutor before you start the course, just to make sure you are happy.

[THEOT]

take a class at a community college like previously stated, its a totally different mode of thinking for inventor & solidworks which are very similar. I've used a little cadkey in the past and Solidworks is nothing like it.

[Inspirtech]

Take a look at some of our sample videos on youtube or on our website. http://inspirtech.com (http://www.inspirtech.com/)

We have a fundamentals course that will give you everything that you need to start using SolidWorks proficiently. Our courses start with an overview of parametric solid modeling then they cover settings and go through most features found in SolidWorks including CosmosXpress.

Don't take my word for it though check out some of our samples and see if our self-paced, exercise-rich lessons are for you. Also, take a look at the comments and reviews out their that we have received; on sites like solidsmack.com,solidmentor.com and on SolidWorks user's blogs.


We currently offer a web-based video version and a dvd version of our training.

I hope you don't just see this only as a sales pitch and write us off, take a look at our packages and see if you like our style and approach to learning.

[ammobake]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. I was in the drafting/design field many moons ago (got out 1999). Am thinking about getting back in. Called one of my old contract houses today and was told the big hitters are Pro-E, Autocad, and Solidworks. I never heard of Solidworks, yet was told its a spin off of Cadkey?! Is this true? I had eight years with Cadkey. Is Solidworks the same? Would I transition into Solidworks very easy? Are there any good training programs anyone is familiar with? Any help greatly appreciated!

I've been doing CAD now for almost 6 yrs and in that time I've worked in HVAC designing ductwork, research and development designing shelters for the military and other gov. agencies, and I've been running my own business from home now for 3 yrs.

I've come to know all the major CAD programs out there, including solidworks.

Since I mostly do residential design work for my business, Autocad/Architecture software is what works best for me. Solidworks is really best for designing smaller, more complex components and gadgets. Also, if you are trying to design something that involves LOTS of little small pieces and parts, solidworks is also really good to use.

Solidworks makes it alot easier to do finished drawings and that's really the best part of solidworks compared to autocad/architecture (IMO). The 3D work is a little bit different than autocad but generally works on the same idea (3D objects in 3D space put together to form a finished component/object). In solidworks, the smaller components can be individual designed as "PART" files. The "PART" files can then be put together into an "ASSEMBLY" through a technique known as "MATING". The mates hold all the parts together in the correct configuration and alignment and must be specified one at a time. Later on, you can even make animations of how the parts interact with each other (though I haven't done this).

The main problem I've seen with solidworks is that when I worked in R&D one person would have a sidewall of a shelter open to make changes, and then noone else can open that part. We all worked on the same network, so if someone had the endwall assembly open to make adjustments and mates, add holes or whatever, noone else can open that assembly until they are finished.

The drawings in solidworks are ALOT easier to manipulate. Creating professional details is 100 times easier than autocad and only takes a couple clicks to select the scale and shape of the detail view. All in all, it's a good program but autocad still works best for residential/architectural work IMO. Solidworks is best for designing products with lots of parts and components. If the mates don't end up right, you end up with an "Interference" and you know that something is off and must be fixed. This gives you a high level of assurance that the parts will be the correct dimensions and nothing will be off in the final product.

-ChriS