Which AutoCad do I need?

[justinsn95]

Looking to design some car parts. Big parts, small parts, any parts you can think of. I have windows vista 64 bit. It seems that autocad 2009 is made for 64 bit. But it seems like they have several different ones. They got one for architecture, something for maps... which one would be best for designing up new car parts? If you happen to know, please say the full name of it. Or will any autocad 2009 at all work for this?

[Metalsoft]

Well, There is Solidworks 2009-2010 you can download for free for 90 days.
http://www.solidworks.com/sw/su/beta.htm

I use this and while it is expensive, it is the top of the line.

Or you can use SolidEdge which is also a great software and you can get the 2d version for free.

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.co...ge/index.shtml

I have used both of these and they are great, I design some really complex stuff and these are bar none the best.

If you want something affordable and use mostly 2D Graphite is the way to go.

http://ashlar.com/

They also have a 3d program called Colbolt which is great also. I use this to do layouts and electrical drawings.

Hope these help.

BTW try to stay away from AutoCad, it really blows, as well as Pro-E, they are simple crap Cad software.

If AUTOCAD is a must, It is AutoCAD LT is what you are needing.

[justinsn95]

Thanks for the helpful info. But er.. I also may want to end up getting a job doing this stuff one day. So what do all the pros use? What are they going to be looking for a certificate in? It seems like it would be autocad, since it is like the big name one. Anyone know anything about this? I was hoping to take some classes at my local school to learn the program. Or, are they all pretty similar? You know, like if you get good at one of em, you can pretty much figure out any of the rest.

[Metalsoft]

Originally Posted by justinsn95

Thanks for the helpful info. But er.. I also may want to end up getting a job doing this stuff one day. So what do all the pros use? What are they going to be looking for a certificate in? It seems like it would be autocad, since it is like the big name one. Anyone know anything about this? I was hoping to take some classes at my local school to learn the program. Or, are they all pretty similar? You know, like if you get good at one of em, you can pretty much figure out any of the rest.

Kinda........It's not whether you know the software, it's if you ACTUALLY know how to engineer, how to be efficient, and know how things need to brought onto the production floor. Everyone is moving away from 2D..3D is what Engineers are looking for.

SolidWorks is the most popular of all of them, even more than AutoCad. BTW I do this for a living and get paid good money to do so....

If I were you I would hurry up, it takes a while to get all the proper certs.

I posted all that to help you out, that is what the big name company's are looking for experience in.

[Bryanvaldez1]

If you have been doin it for a while you can pretty much do it with anythin its all personal preference and what you learned on... ppl that learned on microstation will say its better than autocad i have been drafting Profesionally with autocad for almost 10 yrs now and have used just about every cad program out there but there are programs that simplify tasks. AUTOCAD is NOT crap i dont care what you say Metalsoft i have used it to design petroleum refining plants like i said it is all preference and what you learned on and ppl that have used something for so long will say everything else is crap.. and if you wanna say solidworks is the most popular you are dead wrong more ppl use microstation for mechanical engineering than anything else Autocad is fine to learn on but do NOT get LT version i have used it it is NOT for mechanical design it will barely get anything done it would be a mistake to learn with it because there are so many helpful tools missing from it... if i had to recommend something it would be autocad 2004. ACAD 2009 is too confusing for a person just learning and the gui is CRAP

Additional Comment:

btw if you are planning to do the type of stuff you descibed you are gonna need to take some serious classes i wouldnt recommend self teching yourself you need to take a class to teach you how to get the most out of the program you will use or you will pick up bad habits like clicking the icons for commands you will need to learn the aliases for all the commands to get fast and efficient ie l for line or tr for trim stuff like that... we have a drafter that self taught himself using the pulldown menus and icons for command and i can draft a similar drawing 10 times faster without clicking a single icon or pulldown menu dont be lazy learn the right way you will be glad you did

[Metalsoft]

Originally Posted by Bryanvaldez1

If you have been doin it for a while you can pretty much do it with anythin its all personal preference and what you learned on... ppl that learned on microstation will say its better than autocad i have been drafting Profesionally with autocad for almost 10 yrs now and have used just about every cad program out there but there are programs that simplify tasks. AUTOCAD is NOT crap i dont care what you say Metalsoft i have used it to design petroleum refining plants like i said it is all preference and what you learned on and ppl that have used something for so long will say everything else is crap.. and if you wanna say solidworks is the most popular you are dead wrong more ppl use microstation for mechanical engineering than anything else Autocad is fine to learn on but do NOT get LT version i have used it it is NOT for mechanical design it will barely get anything done it would be a mistake to learn with it because there are so many helpful tools missing from it... if i had to recommend something it would be autocad 2004. ACAD 2009 is too confusing for a person just learning and the gui is CRAP

Additional Comment:

btw if you are planning to do the type of stuff you descibed you are gonna need to take some serious classes i wouldnt recommend self teching yourself you need to take a class to teach you how to get the most out of the program you will use or you will pick up bad habits like clicking the icons for commands you will need to learn the aliases for all the commands to get fast and efficient ie l for line or tr for trim stuff like that... we have a drafter that self taught himself using the pulldown menus and icons for command and i can draft a similar drawing 10 times faster without clicking a single icon or pulldown menu dont be lazy learn the right way you will be glad you did

Lol.....it is crap, we call it AutoBad around the office, and yeah I don't really know where you get your info from but Solidworks is By FAR the most popular CAD software out there.

They have a wonderful PLM ( product life management ) program called Smarteam, that most big companys use in there Engineering program.

So yeah I stick by what I said, and if you need proof, just ask. The first ones that come off the top of my head are NASA and Orange County Choppers.

Seems you are out of touch with the 3D world. People quite using Microstation some time ago.

[Bryanvaldez1]

yea nasa uses solidworks... and autocad and ACAD3ds and microstation whats your point? the jet propulsion lab, ames research center the department of defense the NSA, major Nulclear facility designers one of the lagest utility design contractors in US all use autocad and microstation too like i said different ppl use it for different reasons but since you call it autobad and you and your colleges dont like it then it must not be good for the rest of us... But say want you want i have used all the programs mentioned in this thread and if you are good enough at what you do any of them will work

ITS PERSONAL PREFERENCE

Additional Comment:

O and i never said solidworks wasnt a good prog i just dont think autocad sucks ... the most important thing is to see what companies you may wish to work for are using if its solidworks learn that if its autocad learn that if its MS paint well find another company

[Nagoshi]

People use AutoCAD cause it's a standard. Just like people who game goes for nVidia, no matter the card, cause they go for the name.

Im no expert in that kind of stuff but I'm learning, right now with AutoCAD 2008, and it's a pain in the ***. I'd give Graphite a shot if it wasn't for the stupid *** teachers that swears by what they have on their crap computers at school.

So yeh I know it's down to personal reference, but I know Metalsoft knows his stuff and I wouldn't ***** on him

[UNIXgod]

Is there an open source cad equivalent?

[maxgull]

i dont know anything about cad drawing. i have acad on my computer at work..cant draw a 2d dimensioned rectangle. i DL'd solidworks, did a couple tutorials and had a dim'd box in short order. even graduated to a 3d dim'd cylinder w00t!
from a duma**es POV, solidworks is less cryptic than ACAD

[justinsn95]

Where did you find the online tutorials? Just the website? Or was it something you had to pay for?

[maxgull]

http://www.solidworkstutorials.com/
here

[Bryanvaldez1]

Well all i want to say is it really doesnt matter what anyone here in this forum thinks about a certain CAD prog (including myself) it really comes down to what you want to do as a career, where you will be working in that careeer and what the company uses. You can learn Solidworks till you are a pro but if thats not what your future company uses, lets say they use AutoCAD just as an example, you arent gonna get hired before the guy that knows AutoCAD... Solidworks is a good prog Im not saying it isnt but I just didnt feel that AutoCAD should be blown off as worthless and unworthy as a drafting tool.

[Metalsoft]

Originally Posted by justinsn95

Where did you find the online tutorials? Just the website? Or was it something you had to pay for?

They are also in the Help menu.......I will return your PM later on this afternoon.


Solidworks also have the DWGeditior which is almost a direct port of AutoCad.

Solidworks is a good prog Im not saying it isnt but I just feel that AutoCAD should be blown off as worthless and unworthy as a drafting tool.

Fixed..........lol j/k, it's not worthless, but Solidworks is the better side of Autocad, so learning it instead, would allow you to really move forward in the field of engineering.

[Bryanvaldez1]

Originally Posted by Metalsoft

They are also in the Help menu.......I will return your PM later on this afternoon.


Solidworks also have the DWGeditior which is almost a direct port of AutoCad.




Fixed..........lol j/k, it's not worthless, but Solidworks is the better side of Autocad, so learning it instead, would allow you to really move forward in the field of engineering.

lmao But i must agree... Solidworks will prob become more of a standard as time passes and is def worth a look into