Solid Modelling Software

[mcecm]

Was just wondering what software is used in industry for solid modelling. I've just started using I-DEAS 10NX at uni. Is this pretty much up to date? It seems like a really good tool and I've only just scratched the surface of its capabilities.

[130tdi]

It depends on the industry :

Automotive / Aerospace tend to use Catia / Pro Eng / IDEAS and some Unigraphics.

The above used to be very expensive circa £20K per seat plus ongoing licensing issues.

As a company, we tend to operate in the general mechanical industry field and mainly use Mechanical Desktop / Inventor / Solid Works / Solid Edge as these packages are now around the £5K mark, which is similar to the price for full blown Autocad.

The majority of general industry still reads and requires a dwg file. Most companies won't accept file translations from say Solid Edge etc. The model can be translated using several formats but then the parametric link to the 2D data is lost. You can translate 3D or 2D data - not both and retain the link.

2D wise, Autocad is the main player, although Microstation is big in some industries - mainly more the architectural side of things.

[Bodo]

The industry standard for bigger companies are MCAD packages like Catia, UG and Pro/E.
From the cheaper packages, I've only tried SolidWorks, and I can recommend it as something to start with, or for smaller businesses

[Frik]

SolidWorks is definitely the one to get started on IMHO. It's made by the same people who make Catia and its a great designers tool. At my Uni they only teach you AutoCad which is okay for drafting but is a bit of a pain otherwise. SolidEdge is similar and I have heard good things but have not had much experience of it.

It seems that most companies don't mind how you "aquire" their software when you are a student cause they want you to get using it! This can be great for trying out different types of CAD packages to see what is most useful. Not that I do this of course...