I have used various types of 3D CAD software in my short caareer and I am often asked by many that which one is the best. I tried to tell them none or all, but to be honestly the question itself is intriguing so I would like to hear from the experts.
Which one in your opinion is close to the best..
Well the answer is a bit ambiguous, because depends of what's the purpose of the software, however a matter of choice of each individual generally speaking, you can obtain excellent results with the majority of these software.
A few to mention, AutoCAD 3D is a very good software, Mechanical Desktop is a very good software, Autodesk Revit is a very good software, Revit MEP is a verygood Software, 3D Max, Maya, Lightwave, Autodesk Inventor, Solidworks, CATIA, Pro-Engineer or Creo Parametrics or whatever there are thousands Rhino is another one, Autodesk Fabrication is another one.
Depends of the use, the industry, the preference the budget, the market, the fashion (software sometimes become a fashion) Im going to give you an example of what is happening today.
Building Information Modelling or BIM is Concept introduced long time ago into the Building sector, the purpose is make an impact on the several construction processes and disciplines that interacts not only during the construction phase of a building. BIM will embrace all the areas since the concept to the demolition of the building after years of service.
What happen is that for example: Autodesk Revit is a parametric software that is mainly orientated for this task, is a 3D software, that you can use it to model complex building geometry, also for coordination, create drawings etc. Architects across the world are using this software and encouraging another professionals/companies to use it.
Now the thing is, this software is not the best for Coordination, purposes or clash detection which is one of the key factors in the construction industry, The best suitable candidate is Autodesk Naviswork. and because Manufacturers doesnt understand in depth what is BIM all about they sometimes change their software making a huge mistake without knowing that probably what is required from them can be obtain with the software that they use.
So, this topic as you said early, and I agree with you is kind of tricky because there are so many variables one of them is money, that can sometimes change the real answer.
But trying to give you another example, I will not use Autodesk Inventor, to make an animation that will be introduce in a movie about Dinosaurs, I will use 3D MAX or Maya in the same way I will not use 3D Max to design a parametric structure to support 6 vessels with all the pipe work and access stair all of that with drawings included direct for fabrication, I can't use 3D Max for that!!
This was usually my answer to those questions, but still people come up with the same question.
Very good insights Theo,
Inventor has much better sheet metal capabilities than Solidworks I think.
Courses for Inventor are much cheaper to learn and more readily available in the public sector than Solidworks too; in the UK anyway.
Actually, all known (big ones) solid modeling softwares have the same commands, functions and ect., even and UI icons almost are the similar :) There is nothing strange, because if they don't copy each other, they will not improve their software and not stay longer in this market.
So your question, Shaleej TK is very abstract :)
At first sight, you can see much more Solidworks ads in East Europe, but that doesn't mean that this soft is the best or better than Autodesk Inventor :)
My personal opinion: you should start to use or learn that software which you like more, can take training courses and ect. ;)
I agree that the best CAD is the one you know best, however, these tools are somewhat industry specific. For example Catia and NX are used more in the Aerospace industry, SolidWorks is used most in the Mechanical industry as for Inventor, i believe it is intended for the smaller companies who lack the funds for purchasing expensive CAD systems. Either way, they are all somewhat similar, so if you know one system, you should be able to learn the other much faster. Operability is the same, the only difference is the UI. I believe that if an operator, or engineer is versed in multiple CAD systems, his/her job market will open considerably...
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