Inventor or Solidworks?

[CalvinEiber]

I already know enough about Solidworks to land an internship at a company that uses it, but I am wondering if there is a point to learning Inventor as well. Basically, my question is, "which is more mainstream - more used in real life?"

[Tristan Lall]

Solidworks. But there are several more widely-used and more powerful packages out there.

See here for more information. There are many other threads with pertinent information in the CAD forum.

Also, fix your team number; FRC #7523 does not exist.

[CalvinEiber]

Fixed, with all the grace of a freudian slip. Thanks.

[AndyB]

You will find that using Solidworks today is a lot more prevelant in the business world, but you have to think beyond which program does what. Some hate switching between programs because you have to do everything differently, but that is the reason I think it is so great. Learning and using Inventor, Solidworks, and ProEngineer all give you a better sense of how things are built and in the end, make you smarter, so when the time comes, and you have to design something, you can do it in the most efficient way possible.

But to answer your question, Solidworks is probably your best bet, but don't act surprised if Inventor de-thrones them in the near future, those guys at Autodesk really know their stuff.

Hooray Autodesk!

[negfrequency]

with all the hype (is there any? maybe i just want there to be....) i think they are getting more and more similar. They have almost all the same features, tools, and even transferrable file types. when i first took a look at solidworks after never using it before, i was able to immediately able to make a complex solid as though i had already read the manual already. Between solidworks being cheaper though and inventor constantly improving itself, it doesnt really make a difference which one you use- its more of a matter of which one your more familiar with.

[sanddrag]

Does anyone know why the "similar threads" box doesn't show up at the bottom of this thread?

[Justin M.]

After using both, I honestly have to say I prefer inventor. It might just be because I learned to use CAD with it about 3 years ago, so the interface flows with my brain easier. I hate switching between the two though.