Which 3D package would be most suitable for me?

Can anyone recommend the best 3D package for me to use? Inventor is probably the logical choice but we're open to all options...

The company I work for is a Caterpillar dealer and we are currently using Autocad for all of our drawing and design work, inc. 3D.

We receive 3D engine models from Caterpillar in inventor format and are looking at purchasing 3D software to be able to open the models, add or delete parts (including ones we have designed in Autocad) and then save these to give to customers. Most likely they will be saved in .IGES, .SAT or .STEP formats.

The parts we design are generally fairly simple ie engine brackets consisting of steel plate or angle with fixing holes so we wouldn't really need surface modelling, Data management or dynamic analysis type functions available in the higher end packages.

Of more concern is the ability of the software to handle large assemblies without crashing. Some of the models I've experimented with can contain 200+ parts and end up at 100-200MB when saved as .SAT or similiar. The shrink wrap function in Inventor really appeals to me for this reason.

Cheers!

It sounds like Inventor is your best bet. There is a problem with old version compatibility meaning someone running inventor 2009 cant open a file saved in 2010 but you can open up older version no problem. So if you end up running 2010 and CAT upgrades to 2011 you will have file interchange issues.

Inventor has a sheet metal function that lets you create brackets in 3d and flatten them. It sounds like this would be helpful to you.

I recently created an assembly that was over 1000parts with no issues on my home machine. Shrink wrap could come in handy especially if you dont need functionality of assemblies(like a motor). You can also hide parts or suppress them from assemblies to help the performance out if you dont need them for your work.

Inventor can export dwg and dxf files of your flatten brackets and of course can export into many different standard cad file types.

You can download a 30 day trial of inventor 2010 from the autodesk site. It may be worth giving it a look. I really enjoy SolidWorks and it will also do everything you need but sticking with an autodesk product, especially since you get your files from inventor just makes sense.

Keep in mind that when you purchase Inventor you also get AutoCAD for free. Inventor will read/write dwg, sat, IGES, STEP and several other solids formats.

Whatever program you go with, be sure to include funding for training. Some people have great difficulty in going from AutoCAD to a parametric program. (beginners learning both at the same time overwhelmingly prefer a parametric program over AutoCAD)

You might sign up for Sikorsky Beta here http://beta.autodesk.com to get a look at the possible future.

I would say Inventor 2010. Autodesk has made great strides in improving Inventor. I was sure I would never go the Inventor route from PRO E. But here I am. Took them a few years to get the bugs out. However now it is a solid and trustworthy program IMHO

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm tending to agree that Inventor would be the best bet for the company and also the cheapest since we could crossgrade our Autocad license to Inventor.

I've downloaded the 30 day trial and was generally impressed except that it would crash when opening, saving as or shrinkwrapping the kind of models I mentioned above. I'm guessing this is more likely due to my machine's hardware limitations than the software though (see attached). The video card is an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500. A colleague is running Windows 7 64 bit on a brand new machine and his trial seems to be working okay.

I'm also trialling Alibre but finding that it is crashing when opening the models as well.