SolidWorks vs. Inventor

[martin417]

Never having used SolidWorks or Inventor, I have to vote for Pro Engineer. I mean those are the guys that invented 3d parametric solid modeling.

Even though they screwed up the interface with Wildfire.

[Jimmy Cao]

I've always used solidworks, and for me, it's definately the easier of the two.

Solidworks is more than just modeling software, it can quickly do weight calculations, stress calculations, even heat transfer and such =D

Also, it is very good at importing nearly any type of external data, and it can export in many filetypes.

I also find it very userfriendly, and I like the general interface more.

[Mike Harrison]

They are nearly exactly the same for me... i use Inventor at work and SolidWorks for FIRST. Only complaint i have of SolidWorks is drawings are 100x easier in inventor. But COSMO is pretty sweet. For the most part solid modeling and assembly is the same, just different interface. I use Inventor the most so I would vote for it.

[Pavan Dave]

Honestly, I like Pro/ENGINEER. I learned ADI in school and learned Pro/E at robotics and I like Pro/E better. I plan on getting the Stu Version for robotics next year. The biggest reason is its interface. Many people complain about Wildfire's interface but it is just like ADI or SW, you just have to get used to it. Overall though you can do much more with Pro/E than you can with ADI and SolidWorks.

[Tetraman]

I'm for Solidworks, but Inventer is usually better.

[David]

Personally, I like working with solidworks much more than inventor. It is much easier to use the more powerful features, as well as easier to the basic features

[R.C.]

does anyone know where to get good tutorials

[Aces]

2102 uses solidworks

Our school has a site license, so its a pretty obvious choice,
plus our school taught a SolidWorks class in the past, which 4 of our students have taken. Also, our CNC machine works with Solidworks, and not Inventor. (at least at the moment)

In the solidworks program there are a few decent tutorials, but basically the way I learned was pick up something and a pair of calipers and model.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by Aces

2102 uses solidworks
Also, our CNC machine works with Solidworks, and not Inventor. (at least at the moment)

I guarantee you can get the machine to use inventor made parts

[EricVanWyk]

My disclosure: I am not a MechE. I am an EE. I do not use either professionally. However, I have used both quite a bit (for an EE).

Solidworks was a delight to learn and blew inventor away in terms of ease of use. For a MCAD simpleton like me, Solidworks is the obvious choice.

[R.C.]

Cory, I share the same views. I am in the process of getting the school to switch over to Solidworks. The one thing that autodesk does better than solidworks and the only thing is that it has a way better rendering engine. Make sure you you learn Solidworks, it is the industry standard and it is really the best CAD software out there. If anyone wants tutorials, please email me or if you guys want I could upload them to chiefdelphi or to another site. I have all the tutorials from basic to advanced.

[roboticWanderor]

i would love to say that i like solidworks more, with it's high caliber features and simplicity thought the entire sketch to assembly process.
but there are several pet peeves of mine with solidworks:
the rotate camera tool
hotkeys (or lack thereof)
rendering and animation is counter intuitive.
a lot more that i havent discovered.

i have used solidworks and inventor both for about 4 months now.
it is possibly the better one of the two, but it certainly has a learning curve like hitting a brick wall. (plus all the solidworks labs at my school default to metric units instead of IPS grrrrr!)

[Crazy Ivan]

I would have to say Solidworks wins by a slim margin for me. I personally find both to be equally easy to use. I learned CAD on Inventor and found that the only learning curve of going to Solidworks was learning where the buttons were and learning then new features. Still though, I find Solidworks a more powerful tool with less of a strain on my processor.

[JD Mather]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

But SolidWorks has a big selling point that you can get it for $70 if you are a student.

Students have been able to download 1 year (or 14 month) FREE license of Autodesk Inventor Professional for the past 3 releases.

http://engineersrule.org

[Cory]

Anyone mentioning Solidwork's lack of hotkeys should read the help section. You can redefine/assign hotkeys to any function you wish.

I like Solidworks a lot better.

I used Inventor for 6 years, and Solidworks for 2 years. I feel much more productive in Solidworks.

I dislike Inventor's project system, in particular.

Solidworks is much more of an industry standard than Inventor, which is a good reason to use it in and of itself.