Onshape users weigh in

[matt]

Hey, do we have any Onshape users here? Maybe we could get you to talk a little about your experience with the software. Do you find yourself using computers that you couldn't use CAD on? How is the overall power and reliability of the software? Assembly performance? We (ok, I) would just like to hear from real users about the software - er, I mean cloud service, or whatever.

[MJuric]

I just downloaded the free version last weekend and went thru some of the tutorials...but haven't really done anything with the software does that count?

First impression is that it seems similar to....well every other industrial level CAD system I've used in the past. Far more similar to SW, IV etc that F360.

[matt]

I just downloaded the free version last weekend and went thru some of the tutorials...but haven't really done anything with the software does that count?

First impression is that it seems similar to....well every other industrial level CAD system I've used in the past. Far more similar to SW, IV etc that F360.

"Downloaded"? That's a little surprising. Is there a local component of it?

[MJuric]

I just downloaded the free version last weekend and went thru some of the tutorials...but haven't really done anything with the software does that count?

First impression is that it seems similar to....well every other industrial level CAD system I've used in the past. Far more similar to SW, IV etc that F360.

"Downloaded"? That's a little surprising. Is there a local component of it?

No, poor wording on my part. I "Registered" would be better. Force of habit....

[DennisD]

@Matt, just go for it! https://www.onshape.com/en/
You have a lot of CAD experience and will be able to quickly judge for yourself. There is nothing to download, just register to get an account. It has been incredibly stable, FAR more stable than SWX has been and I don't even work it hard. No updates to install, yet they update the software with new features every three weeks. They have been very responsive to user input.

Some people will never get past having something on the cloud. However, I'll bet that everyone with this objection has some sort of cloud storage they use: Google Drive, iCloud, Amazon Prime, Dropbox, etc. Granted, those are for file storage, but it is still using "the cloud". With Onshape being cloud based there isn't any software to download. You are also instantly able to use the software since nothing has to be loaded from your computer. All you need is a reliable internet connection and a computer with a browser (I think they recommend Chrome, but am not sure). You don't even need any special graphics card! That's heresy with SWX!

Due to the contract I am working under I am using SWX for my main software. For a lot of reasons I am looking hard at Onshape for the next contract. I am very impressed with how they have the collaboration set up. I have a client in Taiwan and we can both be driving the mouse on the same project at the same time to communicate and make changes. Most impressive!

But you should be your own judge.

[AlexLachance]

@Matt, just go for it! https://www.onshape.com/en/
You have a lot of CAD experience and will be able to quickly judge for yourself. There is nothing to download, just register to get an account. It has been incredibly stable, FAR more stable than SWX has been and I don't even work it hard. No updates to install, yet they update the software with new features every three weeks. They have been very responsive to user input.

Some people will never get past having something on the cloud. However, I'll bet that everyone with this objection has some sort of cloud storage they use: Google Drive, iCloud, Amazon Prime, Dropbox, etc. Granted, those are for file storage, but it is still using "the cloud". With Onshape being cloud based there isn't any software to download. You are also instantly able to use the software since nothing has to be loaded from your computer. All you need is a reliable internet connection and a computer with a browser (I think they recommend Chrome, but am not sure). You don't even need any special graphics card! That's heresy with SWX!

Due to the contract I am working under I am using SWX for my main software. For a lot of reasons I am looking hard at Onshape for the next contract. I am very impressed with how they have the collaboration set up. I have a client in Taiwan and we can both be driving the mouse on the same project at the same time to communicate and make changes. Most impressive!

But you should be your own judge.

I will most definetly have to give a harder look at OnShape. I kind of skimmed over it but never looked into it further but reading your post kind of makes me feel like I'd love the feel of using it.

[matt]

@Matt, just go for it! ...

Some people will never get past having something on the cloud. ...

My thing with the cloud is that I only put the stuff I want to give away. So my blog, this site... stuff I want to send to people. I'd have no problem with trying it out, which I've already done to some extent. I have a feeling my next modeling project is going to be in a different direction. But I'm curious.

[MJuric]

@Matt, just go for it! https://www.onshape.com/en/

But you should be your own judge.

I have a couple "Home Projects" I want to try it with. I went thru the basic tutorials and it really didn't look different than anything else. I don't suspect it will be hard to pick up at all and the functions seem very similar to SW and IV.

I need to look into how they handle configurations but other than that I think it looks pretty straight forward.

How is Onshape with part to part relationships? In IV I used to design lots of things based on other parts. Something like "If block Dim 1 on Block A is "X" then Dim2 on Block B is "X+1". I did this alot and it saved a ton of time.

When I switched to SW and tried this, well it didn't go so well and I was told by a long time user "Don't do that". I've since been told you can do it if you "Do it the right way" but for the most part haven't tried it.

[jcapriotti]

How is Onshape with part to part relationships? In IV I used to design lots of things based on other parts. Something like "If block Dim 1 on Block A is "X" then Dim2 on Block B is "X+1". I did this alot and it saved a ton of time.

When I switched to SW and tried this, well it didn't go so well and I was told by a long time user "Don't do that". I've since been told you can do it if you "Do it the right way" but for the most part haven't tried it.

It's multibody handling is better than SolidWorks IMO. It's called Part Studio and is fairly seamless. You can easily see the "parts / bodies" and give them information like part number and description and materials. I know you can do this in SolidWorks but it doesn't work as well, or rather the workflow is more convoluted. You can then build your assembly from the parts built in part studio and the BOM just works. The save bodies command in SolidWorks is closest to it but since Onshape is in the cloud, you don't have to mess with files. Not sure how hard it would be to share across projects.

[MJuric]

It's multibody handling is better than SolidWorks IMO. It's called Part Studio and is fairly seamless. You can easily see the "parts / bodies" and give them information like part number and description and materials. I know you can do this in SolidWorks but it doesn't work as well, or rather the workflow is more convoluted. You can then build your assembly from the parts built in part studio and the BOM just works. The save bodies command in SolidWorks is closest to it but since Onshape is in the cloud, you don't have to mess with files. Not sure how hard it would be to share across projects.

Can you essentially treat the individual multi bodied parts like individual parts like you would in a weldment in SW? Not sure how I feel about that as a general rule as a "Design approach". Would seem to me that you would end up with a VERY complex individual part that would be difficult to work with.

[AlexLachance]

I've given OnShape a try last night and it seems rather powerful and similar to SolidWorks. I'll be discussing with one of their guys thursday afternoon to ask a few questions and to get a general feel. Might try drawing something real quick for the company I work for to test it out.

[jcapriotti]

Can you essentially treat the individual multi bodied parts like individual parts like you would in a weldment in SW? Not sure how I feel about that as a general rule as a "Design approach". Would seem to me that you would end up with a VERY complex individual part that would be difficult to work with.

Yes, the individual bodies are considered parts with their own properties. They are modeled in place like multibody in SolidWorks, its organization is just a little cleaner. Like SolidWorks, I wouldn't recommend modeling this way if you maintain a family of products that share components, only for one off designs based on a template design.

[ADTaylor]

You don't need a specific graphics card, but you do want a good one if you're using OnShape for production. After connection lag, redrawing on a slow GPU is the biggest hurdle to snappy model manipulation. But I have one client who likes to review model changes on his phone, and he seems pretty happy with the functionality there, so take my quibbles with a grain of salt. Full production drawings for released product were still much more of a chore in OnShape than SolidWorks as of 6 months ago, but they make improvements at a good pace. I haven't tried to do any complex surfacing in OnShape, yet, but their modeler is pretty good for machine parts and simple injection molded components.

[SPARK_Bill]

SPARK Product Development has used SolidWorks for 20 years. SW replaced Pro/E-CREO as our main CAD software. We have added Onshape about 3-4 years ago. Use it mainly for start up and individual inventor's work. Ability to share CAD with these non-CAD clients is helpful. Some of the big things it's got going for it are version control, multibody design studios, access anywhere on most any device.

Personally I've used the free version for design of theater sets volunteering at local high school and county theater. Somehow you have to layout passageways behind bookcases and make the Murphy beds work.

Onshape adds more functionality everyday. Still years from catching SolidWorks, but only needing a $500 laptop to do high end CAD is great. Don't need a $2,500 plus workstation to minimally run the software.

Biggest fear is PTC will stifle their innovation.

[MJuric]

Can you essentially treat the individual multi bodied parts like individual parts like you would in a weldment in SW? Not sure how I feel about that as a general rule as a "Design approach". Would seem to me that you would end up with a VERY complex individual part that would be difficult to work with.

Yes, the individual bodies are considered parts with their own properties. They are modeled in place like multibody in SolidWorks, its organization is just a little cleaner. Like SolidWorks, I wouldn't recommend modeling this way if you maintain a family of products that share components, only for one off designs based on a template design.

Thanks, I think for now I'm sticking to the typical "One part one file" approach unless I see something in multibodied parts in Onshape that would direct me otherwise. I would think that they would not have a "Weldment" feature like SW as every part could be a weldment.

[KQuigley]

I’ll admit I’ve been involved with the Onshape folks since it was a tech demo. I worked with it through its pre beta period when functionality was really limited. It has come a very long way since then and these days when I get asked for recommendations I invariably suggest Onshape or Fusion.

The beauty of Onshape is if you are a Solidworks user, you can pick it up in 30 mins. This was always a target audience, and no surprise considering the development team.

For me, the big benefit of Onshape is the cloud. You open your browser, log in, and boom. You have your data. It is totally dependent on your live internet connection. But you never lose any work. Hardware is irrelevant. I tested this early on by visiting an apple store and logging into it on a entry level macbook and the top of the range stupidly priced Mac Pro. No difference in speed.

If you do general prismatic parts and assemblies, need to churn out drawings and share data, Onshape fits the bill. The built in data management is superb. Versioning, branching etc. It just works and is far simpler than the usual PDM stuff.

So why don’t we use it?

Well it is still a hard sell to Solidworks customers on active subs. It cost more than Solidworks subs, so the equation for us is, we spend more to get less modelling and drafting functionality, for some benefits for sharing and versioning. For us, it doesn’t stack up. We also do a lot of surfacing and we use face appearances a lot...something Onshape doesn’t support.

In the comparision to Fusion (which we have a couple of commercial licenses of) it is a lot more costly for a lot less modelling power. Fusion has effective versioning and branching as well. But Fusion also has Simulation, CAM, rendering and ECAD. Sure it’s a downloaded app but who cares? Onshape drafting is better, but we don’t use Fusion for drafting.

Onshape has a lot going for it. If I was a Startup, with no legacy, employing a group of remote designers, Onshape is a perfect solution. But so is Fusion. Best advice I give is to simply sign up and try it. You get the full system for free.