CAD - which to learn?

[crofty1984]

I'm thinking of trying to learn how to do CAD in my spare time. I have a little experience with i-DEAS and Solidworks and also a little with computational fluid analysis. The main contenders for my attentions are Solidworks and AutoCAD. I'd prefer the former, but if 90% of the market is Autocad then I may have to bite the bullet. Also, how transferable are the skills from one to the other?

[FNG]

Depends which industry you're aiming at.

I am OK at AutoCAD but it's hardly used in the automotive industry. I need ProE, CATIA, iDEAS or SolidEdge. (I also need some professional tuition to get to an industry-acceptable standard - self-taught is not considered good enough).

I got the impression AutoCAD was more of an architectural package.

[T89 Callan]

SolidWorks and CATIA together (they have more or less the same interface). Also learn AutoCAD as well, it's not that hard.

All of the others are a bit limited in their industry use.

[crofty1984]

OK, Solidworks it is! It's just for something to do, rather than to make a living out of it. If i take up making model planes I'll probably glue my fingers together, and I'm far too unsporty for sports (though I have just taken up swimming).

[fade2grey]

Unigraphics NX

[Engineer1]

If you are doing it for fun check out the prices of the software and hardware you need, assuming you go to an official retailer.

[marine boy]

I have used both Unigraphics and Catia.

I would recommend Catia as racing cars designed with this system seem to be the quickest

[T89 Callan]

Engineer1 said:

If you are doing it for fun check out the prices of the software and hardware you need, assuming you go to an official retailer.

Hmmm...

Refurbed IBM Thinkpad = £150 and Copy of CATIA = Free

[Goochie]

crofty1984 said:

.......... Also, how transferable are the skills from one to the other?

AutoCAD stands alone in terms of user interface so really needs to be learned as a stand-alone system. As already said, SolidWorks and Catia now have very similar features and user interface so if you can work one of these proficiently, you will soon be able to pick up the other.

Unless you're going to design an entire car, Catia is probably a little OTT for the casual user.

To be honest, once you have mastered the do's and dont's of 3D CAD you cant really go wrong unless your model is seriously complicated.

I've seen many self-taught people who think they can use 3D CAD but whilst it looks OK at a glance on the screen, once you dig into it, you see what they've done. IMHO Almost anyone can create a basic part in most of the 3D packages but only properly trained people can create something that can be easily modified and has perfect geometry.

[T89 Callan]

Goochie said:

crofty1984 said:

.......... Also, how transferable are the skills from one to the other?

AutoCAD stands alone in terms of user interface so really needs to be learned as a stand-alone system. As already said, SolidWorks and Catia now have very similar features and user interface so if you can work one of these proficiently, you will soon be able to pick up the other.

Unless you're going to design an entire car, Catia is probably a little OTT for the casual user.

To be honest, once you have mastered the do's and dont's of 3D CAD you cant really go wrong unless your model is seriously complicated.

I've seen many self-taught people who think they can use 3D CAD but whilst it looks OK at a glance on the screen, once you dig into it, you see what they've done. IMHO Almost anyone can create a basic part in most of the 3D packages but only properly trained people can create something that can be easily modified and has perfect geometry.

This is the cruxt of the issue, until you have to use it in industry you don't really know how to use it properly.

CATIA Solidworks is the best combo, I've never really come accross that many places using Unigraphics. Pro/E seems to be fairly common in small companies now though, if you know CATIA (like me) it isn't that hard to pick up.

[Bodo]

crofty1984 said:

I'm thinking of trying to learn how to do CAD in my spare time. I have a little experience with i-DEAS and Solidworks and also a little with computational fluid analysis. The main contenders for my attentions are Solidworks and AutoCAD. I'd prefer the former, but if 90% of the market is Autocad then I may have to bite the bullet. Also, how transferable are the skills from one to the other?

Depends on where you want to go with that. IMO, Solidworks and Autocad are used by small business; Unigraphics, Catia V5 and Pro/E are parametric modellers as preferred by large enterprises because of their scalability towards PLM/PDM collaboration. The latter three plus Catia V4 are typically used in the automotive industry. NX is more the GM-corner; Pro/E is Tier-1/Tier-2 suppliers and VW; Catia is pretty much used all around (Toyota, Porsche, BMW, ...)