Have anyone successful get power in charge to decide to leave SW ?

[Pernils]

Hi everyone.

As long time SE user I was a bit eager to learn a new cad system when changing job.
The initial amusement quickly turned south.
It only took 2 weeks before one start to write keywords like "Solid Works" "sucks" and so on in Google.

The software is a mess both in UI and its workflow and stability.
Not even the basic things have a continuity.

Just to mention small fraction.

Pan and rotate is done by user manipulate the object. Zoom on the other hand is by changing the camera position to the object. When you drag the mouse towards you you zooms out. Go figure ..
Lines etc in sketch can't be disconnected, you have to draw a line and trim.
Planes is created on the Feature tab but lines circle etc is on the Sketch tab. Angular planes needs first an axis, both item will then be always shown in the history tree. It's utterly mess.

My current approach to get the company to get away from SW is to silent have my co-workers to install SE community edition just to get a hint of the user interface.
I also now and then show failures in SW that don't exists in SE.

On my spare time I'm recording difference on SW vs SE just to be able to generate movie of all this counterproductive things in SW.

What have you done to get your company to leave this software ?

[zwei]

Switching CAD system is always not as easy as it sound. It is not only impacting your CAD, your legacy Data, PDM, and all other stuff will be impacted.

Allow me to go off-tangent...

I am guessing you start without going through a proper training?

Switching CAD system is no easy job, especially when it come to more experience user. There is no such thing as learn on the job when you cant dont even have any idea how the stuff work
(I learnt it the hardway when trying to figure out CREO on the fly and had also seen novice/beginner user switch between CAD system rather easily when they had gone through proper training)

The rule #1 when switching CAD system is to forget everything about your old CAD system.
Each CAD system is different, you cant expect them to work the same.
There is no point to ask can software Y do something like software X.

It probably can, it just does it differently. You figured out how to do what you did in X, it is likely someone else has figured out how to do it in Y.

Matt actually wrote something about this months ago..
https://dezignstuff.com/can-software-x- ... oftware-y/


Also...

Lines etc in sketch can't be disconnected, you have to draw a line and trim.

You can actually detach a line in 2D by turning on Detach Segment On Drag
https://help.solidworks.com/2019/englis ... n_drag.htm

[SPerman]

As someone who is proficient in SW and trying to learn Solid Edge, I could make many of the same arguments. (And I'm no fan of Solidworks.) No doubt the two software packages approach things differently. As much as I cuss Solid Edge for not doing what I want, I realize the problem is me, not the software.

[Glenn Schroeder]

Hi everyone.

As long time SE user I was a bit eager to learn a new cad system when changing job.
The initial amusement quickly turned south.
It only took 2 weeks before one start to write keywords like "Solid Works" "sucks" and so on in Google.

The software is a mess both in UI and its workflow and stability.
Not even the basic things have a continuity.

Just to mention small fraction.

Pan and rotate is done by user manipulate the object. Zoom on the other hand is by changing the camera position to the object. When you drag the mouse towards you you zooms out. Go figure ..
Lines etc in sketch can't be disconnected, you have to draw a line and trim.
Planes is created on the Feature tab but lines circle etc is on the Sketch tab. Angular planes needs first an axis, both item will then be always shown in the history tree. It's utterly mess.

My current approach to get the company to get away from SW is to silent have my co-workers to install SE community edition just to get a hint of the user interface.
I also now and then show failures in SW that don't exists in SE.

On my spare time I'm recording difference on SW vs SE just to be able to generate movie of all this counterproductive things in SW.

What have you done to get your company to leave this software ?

Please see the highlighted statements above. You said you were excited to learn a new system, but it appears that you expected that new system to operate exactly like the old one.

What you describe as "counterproductive things in SW" are likely just different ways of doing things. I strongly suspect that if the situation was reversed you'd have the same complaints about SE.

[AlexLachance]

Explaining why the program sucks is useless especially when the things that suck are opinionative, try explaining how you can transition seamlessly from one to the other instead.

[Frederick_Law]

I hate SW. I use Inventor.
7 years with SW, over 20 with IV.
Getting the company to switch over to another platform is difficult.
It means you will be responsible for the change.
Install new software.
Convert old data.
Train everyone.
Resolve all problem.
Are you up to it?
Can you take the heat? Everyone will be blaming you when the software you recommend cause problem.
Someone will be like you. Comparing everything to SW.
If you're new to the company, you don't have reputation.
Think about it.
Someone you just meet told you you have been doing something wrong your whole life.
Would you listen?

[Pernils]

Thanks for the "Detach segment on drag" tip.

I went into this with a open mind. I knew that I must look beyond my "muscle memory" to give it a fair try.

But after the software have crashed several 100 % more then SE and when it show something but do a complete other thing, no assiant, some strange regenerate button you have to press now and then, Hole wizzard witch ends up in just a combine revolve with an extra sketch for pattern, the list goes on an on.

The only thing that I find sort of better is the tab pressing for hiding parts in assembly.

I have spend a decent amount of looking at tips and trix on youtube but when the instructor fail to show what the command should do and revert
to talk what should have happen one start to wonder if this software witch is older the SE is something to actually invest in.

Another things that also bother me watching youtube is the constant talks about customization. Why can't the UI setup be the best one can get from scratch ? Okay one can say that customization possibility is good but It leads to when you want top help a co-worker at their desk you just can't orientate your self on his setup.
The only thing I customize in SE is a short key for "drag component" -> (shift + <) that's it.

The UI in SE is well thought when you are modelling. Plane step -> profile -> step and so on. If you forget the next step you almost always have info in the promptbar. In SW you have to memorize what to do and all the extra shift, ctrl , alt keys to press to get what you want.

SE have as I can see it better response for the user what's going on as you don't have to klick on some arrow to drag your extrusion. Crtl + c on parts works by clicking in the graphic window. The selection function while hover over lines/parts is better then right click in SW end use "Select other".



Sperman : Could you narrow down on something that you find cumbersome in SE ? After 25 years in SE I have lost the feeling what could be awkward in SE.

[Pernils]

I hate SW. I use Inventor.
7 years with SW, over 20 with IV.
Getting the company to switch over to another platform is difficult.
It means you will be responsible for the change.
Install new software.
Convert old data.
Train everyone.
Resolve all problem.
Are you up to it?
Can you take the heat? Everyone will be blaming you when the software you recommend cause problem.
Someone will be like you. Comparing everything to SW.
If you're new to the company, you don't have reputation.
Think about it.
Someone you just meet told you you have been doing something wrong your whole life.
Would you listen?

Not anyone is happy with SW today so there are forces around for something different.

The 2 system is rather the same but SE is helping the user in a better way by giving better graphic expression and help text.
That by also be more minimalistic. You don't have to stare at the "material" entry in the history tree and annotations, sensor among others.
Best of all the history tree will not jump into the graphic part of the window where you have to expend if you are chasing some plane. Okay SW is consistence as the part tree will also jump while you are mating parts.
Seems they made a bad choice from start and now they are stuck with due the user base.

I don't hate SW but as I can see it the company will have better return from the cad drivers if the tool for the job is helping them better.
I'm not a ST person but the company have a lot of imported geometry which is cumbersome to edit with direct edit.
The company also works somewhat with plastic design so this new Subdivision modelling (in SE) could really be a game changer.

[berg_lauritz]

I hate SW. I use Inventor.
7 years with SW, over 20 with IV.
Getting the company to switch over to another platform is difficult.
It means you will be responsible for the change.
Install new software.
Convert old data.
Train everyone.
Resolve all problem.
Are you up to it?
Can you take the heat? Everyone will be blaming you when the software you recommend cause problem.
Someone will be like you. Comparing everything to SW.
If you're new to the company, you don't have reputation.
Think about it.
Someone you just meet told you you have been doing something wrong your whole life.
Would you listen?

Would an approach through the accounting department be more helpful then?

I.e. SolidWorks and all the additional software that we use with it costs us 50000$/year
But the other software will only cost us 30000$/year

[bnemec]

Unless most of the following list is true, you're better off staying with the current CAD system.
- No reuse of CAD files, once the project is done the files are never used again
- Do not maintain standard parts library or just download from vendor each time
- There is little to no automation/APIs in use.
- You've been at the current job to be most senior CAD user or at least several years and they've nominated you to be CAD admin.

It's been nearly three years since we've switched and I don't know that we will ever get things put back together well enough to be on par with where we were before the switch. As bad as one CAD system may seem none of the others in same class are so much better that they will ever recoup the cost of changing.

[Frederick_Law]

You don't need to convince us here.
You need to draft a plan to show your company.
First you need to check if management will entertain your idea.
Some don't like change at all and you'll be looking for another job.

[matt]

It's been nearly three years since we've switched and I don't know that we will ever get things put back together well enough to be on par with where we were before the switch. As bad as one CAD system may seem none of the others in same class are so much better that they will ever recoup the cost of changing.

In fairness, I think you can get well ahead of where you were if you have the right person leading the charge. 20 years ago you could ask the same question as the OP about leaving Autocad. I took a company from embedded Autocad fanboys to being successful with SW including a PDM system in about 6 months. But you have to be familiar with the process before you start, have a plan, management has to have your back, and you have to prove you can do it to the people who are being asked to change.

CAD is not just a technical issue, it's also a business issue. Management has to be involved, and if you can prove a vendor is headed in the wrong direction and its going to affect your business, management will usually support you. But did I mention you have to have a plan, and map it out over time. You have to include all those topics @bnemec laid out for you.

[Frederick_Law]

Would an approach through the accounting department be more helpful then?

I.e. SolidWorks and all the additional software that we use with it costs us 50000$/year
But the other software will only cost us 30000$/year

Depends on who got power to make changes.
And it's easier to remove the "trouble maker" and keep everything the same.

[Pernils]

Unless most of the following list is true, you're better off staying with the current CAD system.
- No reuse of CAD files, once the project is done the files are never used again
- Do not maintain standard parts library or just download from vendor each time
- There is little to no automation/APIs in use.
- You've been at the current job to be most senior CAD user or at least several years and they've nominated you to be CAD admin.

It's been nearly three years since we've switched and I don't know that we will ever get things put back together well enough to be on par with where we were before the switch. As bad as one CAD system may seem none of the others in same class are so much better that they will ever recoup the cost of changing.

I guess you are using SW now but from what system did you transfer from ?

[Glenn Schroeder]

Another things that also bother me watching youtube is the constant talks about customization. Why can't the UI setup be the best one can get from scratch ? Okay one can say that customization possibility is good but It leads to when you want to help a co-worker at their desk you just can't orientate your self on his setup.
The only thing I customize in SE is a short key for "drag component" -> (shift + <) that's it.

I'm happy that the UI is customizable. Not every user is comfortable with the same workflow, and different industries may require a completely different set of often used commands. For just one example, while as I assume you've seen, there are multiple Command Manager tabs in SW. I've customized mine in each environment (Parts, Assemblies, and Drawings) so that I rarely need more than one, and some users don't use any of them.

Once you get used to SW you may be happy that you can customize the UI. You might even be able to set up some of the same keyboard shortcuts you used with SE.

[Jaylin Hochstetler]

Hi everyone.

As long time SE user I was a bit eager to learn a new cad system when changing job.
The initial amusement quickly turned south.
It only took 2 weeks before one start to write keywords like "Solid Works" "sucks" and so on in Google.

The software is a mess both in UI and its workflow and stability.
Not even the basic things have a continuity.

Just to mention small fraction.

Pan and rotate is done by user manipulate the object. Zoom on the other hand is by changing the camera position to the object. When you drag the mouse towards you you zooms out. Go figure ..
Lines etc in sketch can't be disconnected, you have to draw a line and trim.
Planes is created on the Feature tab but lines circle etc is on the Sketch tab. Angular planes needs first an axis, both item will then be always shown in the history tree. It's utterly mess.

My current approach to get the company to get away from SW is to silent have my co-workers to install SE community edition just to get a hint of the user interface.
I also now and then show failures in SW that don't exists in SE.

On my spare time I'm recording difference on SW vs SE just to be able to generate movie of all this counterproductive things in SW.

What have you done to get your company to leave this software ?

We saw the direction SW is heading with 3DX and fled! We are now using SE and wouldn't go back. We are a relatively small company with 3 licenses of SE so the change was a lot easier. If SE wouldn't have Sync the migration would definitely not been worth it. We do a lot of Sheet Metal design so we use Sync heavily. This has sped up our concept stage substantially.

We got the higher ups on our side by showing them where SW is headed and the amount of time we could save using SE.

On the user interface: That's all relative to what your used to. When I first started using SE I thought the user interface was clunky. Now that I'm used to it I prefer it over SW except the ESC key doesn't always work and there are no selection boxes.

[bnemec]

In fairness, I think you can get well ahead of where you were if you have the right person leading the charge. 20 years ago you could ask the same question as the OP about leaving Autocad. I took a company from embedded Autocad fanboys to being successful with SW including a PDM system in about 6 months. But you have to be familiar with the process before you start, have a plan, management has to have your back, and you have to prove you can do it to the people who are being asked to change.

CAD is not just a technical issue, it's also a business issue. Management has to be involved, and if you can prove a vendor is headed in the wrong direction and its going to affect your business, management will usually support you. But did I mention you have to have a plan, and map it out over time. You have to include all those topics @bnemec laid out for you.

I'm pretty sure "The right person" in our case would have to have been well experienced in SW and PDM as well as understood well how the existing data set was being used. That person would have known enough to say, "Don't".

Comparing changing from 2d drawings to 3d solid modeling has nothing to do with switching from one 3d system to another 3d system.

[zxys001]

ALL 3D systems have problems and most of them are USER problems, then Managment Problems ("they" are usually long time company employees which control everything and you will never change them and you will leave before they will). Alternately, option 1 is to go cold turkey or option 2, create a co-existing strategy until you wean yourselves off the other. (personally, the later works the best)
Otherwise, personally, with so many NEW users NOT willing to understand older parametric systems like SolidWorks (and SW Corp (DS) loosing it's mind/way)... SolidEdge is really the most logical option to shift into.

[KennyG]

I have spend a decent amount of looking at tips and trix on youtube but when the instructor fail to show what the command should do and revert
to talk what should have happen one start to wonder if this software witch is older the SE is something to actually invest in.

Actually SolidWorks and Solid Edge are the same age... Both were initially released in 1995.

[HDS]

Hang in there. A few months to a year in is too early talk about switching. It will be much easier for you to change jobs to somewhere that uses Solid Edge then convince the company to change for you. The corollary that others have mentioned is that it is easier for management to replace you than the software.

I do miss using SE but as other have said the desire to change will have to come from the top down. Arguments about subscription vs permeant licenses or better PDM will be more important to them. Most likely they have never used software more complicated than Excel and don't understand the problems caused by bad CAD. I have also seen PDM system thrown out because leadership didn't think there was any value in having product documentation. Most places don't have the strategic thinking to change unless there is a crisis that forces it.

While the videos from the VARs can be good, I have learned more from reading the forums and Matt's books than Youtube.

The thing I have found most important is to learn what doesn't work in the new software. What does work generally isn't that different. It is learning what not to do that takes time.

[Tom G]

Pan and rotate is done by user manipulate the object. Zoom on the other hand is by changing the camera position to the object. When you drag the mouse towards you you zooms out. Go figure ..
...
Planes is created on the Feature tab but lines circle etc is on the Sketch tab. Angular planes needs first an axis, both item will then be always shown in the history tree. It's utterly mess.
...
On my spare time I'm recording difference on SW vs SE just to be able to generate movie of all this counterproductive things in SW.

I feel that your expectations are not met, so now you can learn more, or cope with what you have as you have it, or suffer under what you cannot control. You may very well be better off finding another job where they use the software you desire to use, rather than to impose a change on a company that isn't facing a crisis.

There's some basics here that I'm surprised hasn't been covered.

My Pan and Rotate doesn't manipulate the object, unless I want it to. I am always changing camera position to the object, unless I want to move the object. See also, 3DConnexion Space Navigator, a 3D Mouse, which I highly recommend with any 3d cad.
You can invert the mouse wheel zoom behavior in settings. You can even search within settings for the setting you are after, which wasn't present when I began using it.

There are more than tabs in the UI. There are also keyboard shortcuts, the S menu, icon button hot bars, and mouse gestures. The mouse gestures and S menu, particularly, are context sensitive so that it will offer you these tools in a Part, those tools in an assembly, and other tools in a drawing. Customizing these are key to improving your own workflow to bring TO YOU the tools you most commonly need instead of going after them all the time.

Also, there is so much that can be done by your CAD admin to create useful part & assembly templates, where you can predefine the x, y, and z axes and/or reference planes (i.e., my vertical tank template has preset radial planes at 15 degree increments), preset view options, predefine global variables, create standardized custom properties to reference consistently later, and predefine a meaningful folder structure if you are making the same kinds of things in different projects. This requires extensive forethought, and is usually done by a person that understands the complete business needs from start to finish.

What you see as a foreign mess can be expanded upon by naming the features, to distinguish which portion of the part that this is creating or modifying. This is particularly useful in group settings when you need to alter a component that another has created. You can also trim down that mess by creating folders and subfolders named meaningfully.

Also, for extreme customizations, you can have each users' settings wizard files stored on network, so that you can load yours as needed, and restore the other user's when you are done helping. Otherwise, learning the multiple ways of providing inputs will help you when your 'normal' way is not to be found.

There are surely things that aren't great about SolidWorks. However, I advise you to be truly cautious (and investigate any issue fully) in your recordings to show equivalent differences, and not to exhibit that you could have been using better the one you wish to detract from.

Edit, afterthought: Unless you were specifically hired to impose change, it is not your role to impose change, so proposed change will met with skepticism and would be a hard sell. You can change yourself easier than changing a company. Ask questions, or read through others' similar questions.

TL,DR: It sounds to me like you don't want this. You want that instead. Leave this behind. Go do that.

[HerrTick]

I routinely switch between three CAD platforms (SW, NX, and Creo). I don't seem to have the difficulties you are having. Maybe it's a neuroplasticity thing? Try getting more sleep and cut back on HFCS.

[Glenn Schroeder]

I will reply here one more time. If you want help becoming more proficient with Solidworks, ask specific questions and I will be glad to help.

While most of the people here are quite a bit smarter than I am, I've been using this software 30+ hours per week since 2009, and in the process have learned a few things. While I'm still learning, I have occasionally been able to help people solve problems, or learn a better way to achieve their goals.

[Pernils]

I feel that your expectations are not met, so now you can learn more, or cope with what you have as you have it, or suffer under what you cannot control. You may very well be better off finding another job where they use the software you desire to use, rather than to impose a change on a company that isn't facing a crisis.

There's some basics here that I'm surprised hasn't been covered.

My Pan and Rotate doesn't manipulate the object, unless I want it to. I am always changing camera position to the object, unless I want to move the object. See also, 3DConnexion Space Navigator, a 3D Mouse, which I highly recommend with any 3d cad.
You can invert the mouse wheel zoom behavior in settings. You can even search within settings for the setting you are after, which wasn't present when I began using it.

There are more than tabs in the UI. There are also keyboard shortcuts, the S menu, icon button hot bars, and mouse gestures. The mouse gestures and S menu, particularly, are context sensitive so that it will offer you these tools in a Part, those tools in an assembly, and other tools in a drawing. Customizing these are key to improving your own workflow to bring TO YOU the tools you most commonly need instead of going after them all the time.

Also, there is so much that can be done by your CAD admin to create useful part & assembly templates, where you can predefine the x, y, and z axes and/or reference planes (i.e., my vertical tank template has preset radial planes at 15 degree increments), preset view options, predefine global variables, create standardized custom properties to reference consistently later, and predefine a meaningful folder structure if you are making the same kinds of things in different projects. This requires extensive forethought, and is usually done by a person that understands the complete business needs from start to finish.

What you see as a foreign mess can be expanded upon by naming the features, to distinguish which portion of the part that this is creating or modifying. This is particularly useful in group settings when you need to alter a component that another has created. You can also trim down that mess by creating folders and subfolders named meaningfully.

Also, for extreme customizations, you can have each users' settings wizard files stored on network, so that you can load yours as needed, and restore the other user's when you are done helping. Otherwise, learning the multiple ways of providing inputs will help you when your 'normal' way is not to be found.

There are surely things that aren't great about SolidWorks. However, I advise you to be truly cautious (and investigate any issue fully) in your recordings to show equivalent differences, and not to exhibit that you could have been using better the one you wish to detract from.

Edit, afterthought: Unless you were specifically hired to impose change, it is not your role to impose change, so proposed change will met with skepticism and would be a hard sell. You can change yourself easier than changing a company. Ask questions, or read through others' similar questions.

TL,DR: It sounds to me like you don't want this. You want that instead. Leave this behind. Go do that.

Hmm when I press the mouse wheel + ctrl key and moves the mouse to the left, the object is then also moving to the left. If I was moving the camera to the left the object would move to the right...
Invert mouse wheel will just invert when I rotate the wheel (if I recall correct).
In SE you also have the option to use mouse wheel press but here you always manipulate the object. It also strange that Dasult have chosen to have the user to let go of the mouse wheel press before the user can change to zoom or pan. Not used to do this extra step.

When I model I don't change material so much, its more like last thing before you save. That's why I mention why a user must always have this entry in the history tree ?
In SE its hidden away under settings.
When we are at it.
In SW we have a drop down menu, top panel, left panel, bottom panel and right panel.
SE is more minimalistic with only top,left and bottom panel. I can't help it but I find the SE approach to be less distracting.
The SW approach to have all the planes global is also a sort of design error. If you have a complex part with like 50 + features you are going to have hard time to navigate in all that mess.

Another thing that I think SE have stronger position is the PMI dimensions. I find it very useful when you want to generate some screenshot for mail about your design. I can't find the equivalent in SW.

I admit that I need more hours in SW but right now I'm doing the creative modelling in SE and then recreate it in SW.

[AlexLachance]

I admit that I need more hours in SW but right now I'm doing the creative modelling in SE and then recreate it in SW.

No offense but I'd hate working with you. The company uses SolidWorks, if anyone has to modify your files, how are they going to work with your solidedge files? Who cares if you're having trouble with SolidWorks as of right now? The company hired you, fully knowing you had to go through a learning path from SolidEdge to SolidWorks. You're working counter-productively against the company you work for.

[jcapriotti]

@Pernils Don't take this the wrong way but.......a few weeks on a new software doesn't qualify you to determine whether it's the right choice for a company. There are many factors involved and the easiest to use software may lack critical functionality. You need at least 90 days of constant use to commit most software to muscle memory and even then you lack the experience to really get the most out of it. You need 2 or 3 years on a platform at a company to really say that a different solution is a better choice that will save the company time and money. Unless you do one off products with no shared components, its not easy to switch.

Sold Edge and Creo are very structured in how they work. This make it easier in some ways to pickup as there is mostly one way to do something. SolidWorks and NX are bit more open ended and let you do things in lots of ways....not always for the better. It's very easy to nitpick individual features. I could easily say "I can't search system options in Solid Edge, it sucks". There is a bigger picture to consider....but you need to vet yourself on a software before you get to make those claims and be taken seriously.

[matt]

@Pernils Don't take this the wrong way but.......a few weeks on a new software doesn't qualify you to determine whether it's the right choice for a company. There are many factors involved and the easiest to use software may lack critical functionality. You need at least 90 days of constant use to commit most software to muscle memory and even then you lack the experience to really get the most out of it. You need 2 or 3 years on a platform at a company to really say that a different solution is a better choice that will save the company time and money. Unless you do one off products with no shared components, its not easy to switch.

Sold Edge and Creo are very structured in how they work. This make it easier in some ways to pickup as there is mostly one way to do something. SolidWorks and NX are bit more open ended and let you do things in lots of ways....not always for the better. It's very easy to nitpick individual features. I could easily say "I can't search system options in Solid Edge, it sucks". There is a bigger picture to consider....but you need to vet yourself on a software before you get to make that those claims and be taken seriously.

bingo.

[Frederick_Law]

No offense but I'd hate working with you. The company uses SolidWorks, if anyone has to modify your files, how are they going to work with your solidedge files? Who cares if you're having trouble with SolidWorks as of right now? The company hired you, fully knowing you had to go through a learning path from SolidEdge to SolidWorks. You're working counter-productively against the company you work for.

Yeap and modeling everything twice just because.

The SW approach to have all the planes global is also a sort of design error. If you have a complex part with like 50 + features you are going to have hard time to navigate in all that mess.

LOL most of the user here and on other CAD had been doing it since there was CAD. Maybe not most efficient but it's been done.

I model with Master Sketch. All the sketches for all the parts and assemblies in one part file.
I have no problem navigating.
Design include: automation CNC fixtures, automation welding cell, welding fixtures.

Think about how many buildings, infrastructure were designed in AutoCAD. Machinery designed in SW, IV.
And you you are complaining about 50+ features part?

Take a look here to start: https://www.cadforum.net/viewtopic.php?p=22587#p22587

[Pernils]

No offense but I'd hate working with you. The company uses SolidWorks, if anyone has to modify your files, how are they going to work with your solidedge files? Who cares if you're having trouble with SolidWorks as of right now? The company hired you, fully knowing you had to go through a learning path from SolidEdge to SolidWorks. You're working counter-productively against the company you work for.

No I don't save SE files, I just use SE to test out different ideas to solve the task.
When I found the best solution for the problem I remodel the idea in a proper way in SW.
SW is just right now (for me) to clumsy to investigate in a quick way different solution for a problem.

[AlexLachance]

SW is just right now (for me) to clumsy to investigate in a quick way different solution for a problem.

And how is that going to change, concidering you aren't using SolidWorks for your actual intent? How are you going to learn SolidWorks if all your design and 'problem solving' is done on SolidEdge.

Most importantly, how will you forget the muscle memory SolidEdge exposed you to and get used to the one SolidWorks exposes you to?

If you worked where I work, I'd have all your access locked to ensure you work on SolidWorks and ask the necessary question when you encounter issue. If you continued trying to go around working with SolidWorks, you would be out of work rather quickly.

Your complaint is pretty much the same as a kid on a tricycle not wanting to learn to ride a bicycle because the tricycle doesn't require him to learn to balance.

In fairness, I think you can get well ahead of where you were if you have the right person leading the charge. 20 years ago you could ask the same question as the OP about leaving Autocad. I took a company from embedded Autocad fanboys to being successful with SW including a PDM system in about 6 months. But you have to be familiar with the process before you start, have a plan, management has to have your back, and you have to prove you can do it to the people who are being asked to change.

CAD is not just a technical issue, it's also a business issue. Management has to be involved, and if you can prove a vendor is headed in the wrong direction and its going to affect your business, management will usually support you. But did I mention you have to have a plan, and map it out over time. You have to include all those topics @bnemec laid out for you.

I took the company I work for from AutoCAD 2000 to SolidWorks with the help of a few advisors to guide me along the way and proper training to understand the fundamentals of SolidWorks. It takes structure, passion, commitment and leadership to keep the boat from derogating from it's path.

[SPerman]

The SW approach to have all the planes global is also a sort of design error. If you have a complex part with like 50 + features you are going to have hard time to navigate in all that mess.

Planes are an integral part of my workflow. I'm struggling with how much effort is required to show and hide them in SE for the individual components. I would much rather "navigate through that mess" than the number of mouse clicks required to show the planes of a given part. (I keep hoping there's some shortcut I haven't discovered yet.)

[Pernils]

And how is that going to change, concidering you aren't using SolidWorks for your actual intent? How are you going to learn SolidWorks if all your design and 'problem solving' is done on SolidEdge.

Most importantly, how will you forget the muscle memory SolidEdge exposed you to and get used to the one SolidWorks exposes you to?

If you worked where I work, I'd have all your access locked to ensure you work on SolidWorks and ask the necessary question when you encounter issue. If you continued trying to go around working with SolidWorks, you would be out of work rather quickly.

Your complaint is pretty much the same as a kid on a tricycle not wanting to learn to ride a bicycle because the tricycle doesn't require him to learn to balance.



I took the company I work for from AutoCAD 2000 to SolidWorks with the help of a few advisors to guide me along the way and proper training to understand the fundamentals of SolidWorks. It takes structure, passion, commitment and leadership to keep the boat from derogating from it's path.

I'm a bit cornered for the moment as the design should have been done before I entered the company. Its also a setback if the tool crash on you while you try to investigate ideas around the problem.
Another thing that I discovered yesterday was when I tried to draw a centerline (its was a section view of angled hole and then centerline command can't be snapped to edge, its the same in SE) the initial graphics show the correct mid point of the edge but as click it snaps to some other edge under the line. It must have something to do with stacked entites or something. Anyway it was odd.

[Pernils]

Planes are an integral part of my workflow. I'm struggling with how much effort is required to show and hide them in SE for the individual components. I would much rather "navigate through that mess" than the number of mouse clicks required to show the planes of a given part. (I keep hoping there's some shortcut I haven't discovered yet.)

Interesting ...
You have to rightclick the graphic part or its name in the partlist tree and select "show hide..." ( I don't have SE in front of me right now) and select planes.

For the part environment they have from 2022 autoshow for the "ground planes" when you select a feature that involves plane steps.

Hmm maybe I should make a short clip of it. If so I will give you a notice ...

[Pernils]

Yeap and modeling everything twice just because.


LOL most of the user here and on other CAD had been doing it since there was CAD. Maybe not most efficient but it's been done.

I model with Master Sketch. All the sketches for all the parts and assemblies in one part file.
I have no problem navigating.
Design include: automation CNC fixtures, automation welding cell, welding fixtures.

Think about how many buildings, infrastructure were designed in AutoCAD. Machinery designed in SW, IV.
And you you are complaining about 50+ features part?

Take a look here to start: https://www.cadforum.net/viewtopic.php?p=22587#p22587

When I was designing the casting rotator house for tiltrotators I also used a few sketches high up in the feature tree that drove mostly of main geometry. Normally that part took around 3 months to finish up. Its was rather a nice experience where you could sharpen your skill what could be done with history based modeling.
Anyway you constantly pushing geometry in more complex sketches instead of extra features. The reason behind that was to be able to adjust all the thickness whiteout that the tree would collapse.
Many features come also to be drawn on offset reference planes originated from the ground planes. With that approach you could also go high up in the tree and rearrange large chunk of the geometry to test out new ways to generate support fenders and so on.
In SW you will have to move 2 object, the feature and its reference plane.

I can't help it but I find a short feature tree easier to overview.

[matt]

You just don't know the software very well. In the extrude propertymanager is a "from" setting. You don't need an extra plane, just use the "from" setting.

For large tree management, use folders.

You're not going to learn new software if you keep using the old software as a crutch. Personally I think you're going the wrong direction, but you're also wrong about SW. Don't start criticizing until you have your facts in line. Right now you're just a beginner, and shouldn't be slinging junk, especially here, where there are a lot of people with a lot of time on the software.

I might suggest that you check out a Mastering Solidworks book. I don't usually do this, but you need to read this book cover to cover -

[SPerman]

I am investigating Solid Edge because there are good reasons to move away from Solidworks. It crashes way too often, and for no reason. The management seems committed to a path that no one here understands. The length of time it takes to get a bug fixed vs. the frequency new bugs are introduced / re-introduced is ridiculous. Having said all of that, there are tens of thousands of people successfully using it to design products every day, so it isn't a complete failure.

[KQuigley]

Well this is quite a funny thread and reminds me of a guy who used to work for me who was a supposed expert in NX and spent the first month complaining that Solidworks wasn’t the same or as good….I’ll let you fill in the blanks to how that went…

[KQuigley]

You just don't know the software very well. In the extrude propertymanager is a "from" setting. You don't need an extra plane, just use the "from" setting.

For large tree management, use folders.

You're not going to learn new software if you keep using the old software as a crutch. Personally I think you're going the wrong direction, but you're also wrong about SW. Don't start criticizing until you have your facts in line. Right now you're just a beginner, and shouldn't be slinging junk, especially here, where there are a lot of people with a lot of time on the software.

I might suggest that you check out a Mastering Solidworks book. I don't usually do this, but you need to read this book cover to cover -

Exactly. Devote some of that time taken to do comparison videos (I mean, come on!) and take a training course/practice/ ask your colleagues.

[Pernils]

Well this is quite a funny thread and reminds me of a guy who used to work for me who was a supposed expert in NX and spent the first month complaining that Solidworks wasn’t the same or as good….I’ll let you fill in the blanks to how that went…

Hi there ...
Yes this thread started to be popular.

[Pernils]

You just don't know the software very well. In the extrude propertymanager is a "from" setting. You don't need an extra plane, just use the "from" setting.

For large tree management, use folders.

You're not going to learn new software if you keep using the old software as a crutch. Personally I think you're going the wrong direction, but you're also wrong about SW. Don't start criticizing until you have your facts in line. Right now you're just a beginner, and shouldn't be slinging junk, especially here, where there are a lot of people with a lot of time on the software.

I might suggest that you check out a Mastering Solidworks book. I don't usually do this, but you need to read this book cover to cover -

Hi matt.

I total agree that I don't know the software .. but I'm getting a bit to old to remember corner situations where you should be extra carefully to see that you get what you are aiming for.

For example as a old SE user I find this not to be sort of okay. You can very easy miss that SW does another thing that it initial is showing.



Okay one can argue why should you draw your own centerline but in this situation I think its the best solution just to have a vertical dimension from center. A centerline can't be snaped to an edge (its the same in SE).

[Pernils]

@Pernils Don't take this the wrong way but.......a few weeks on a new software doesn't qualify you to determine whether it's the right choice for a company. There are many factors involved and the easiest to use software may lack critical functionality. You need at least 90 days of constant use to commit most software to muscle memory and even then you lack the experience to really get the most out of it. You need 2 or 3 years on a platform at a company to really say that a different solution is a better choice that will save the company time and money. Unless you do one off products with no shared components, its not easy to switch.

Sold Edge and Creo are very structured in how they work. This make it easier in some ways to pickup as there is mostly one way to do something. SolidWorks and NX are bit more open ended and let you do things in lots of ways....not always for the better. It's very easy to nitpick individual features. I could easily say "I can't search system options in Solid Edge, it sucks". There is a bigger picture to consider....but you need to vet yourself on a software before you get to make those claims and be taken seriously.

The search box is located here (bellow the promptbar). I have never used it but it seems to work. In the popup window (Command Finder) you can hover the mouse to see where things are located

[AlexLachance]

I total agree that I don't know the software .. but I'm getting a bit to old to remember corner situations where you should be extra carefully to see that you get what you are aiming for.

Let's stop right there.

Why are you trying to learn a new software then? Why did you not look for a job that required SolidEdge?

Looks to me like you're showing only the side that favors your arguments, not the other side.

[jcapriotti]

The search box is located here (bellow the promptbar). I have never used it but it seems to work. In the popup window (Command Finder) you can hover the mouse to see where things are located image.png

I meant searching inside the software options / settings, but that wasn't really the point.

The point is you can nitpick each software, feature by feature. Neither of which proves one is better than the other. It's situational based on what you do. If you do advanced surfacing and its constantly crashing the software, then a different software may be more productive. Saying that "Solid X" sucks in this case only means it sucks at that one task. Another user that doesn't use those features may experience few problems or crashes.

[Tom G]

Another user that doesn't use those features may experience few problems or crashes.

OR, another user that uses those features with more stable inputs experiences no problems or crashes.

Stable inputs?! It should take the input I give it and like it. No, not all inputs are equal. Follow a preference with always selecting the most stable inputs. @matt has a good listing of this somewhere here - I searched and skimmed and could not find it. It goes similar to (in descending stability): Reference Entities, sketch entities, bodies, faces, edges, fillets. I am sure that I missed some things, and may have gotten order incorrect, but reference entities are the most stable references. So, for example, perform a Revolve upon an Axis, and not a centerline in the sketch defined coincident to that Axis, and avoid using a linear edge as an axis.

As said similarly earlier in this very thread, a software capable of taking many inputs in many ways allows users to defeat themselves by poor choices. Then, they blame the software.

[Pernils]

I meant searching inside the software options / settings, but that wasn't really the point.

image.png

The point is you can nitpick each software, feature by feature. Neither of which proves one is better than the other. It's situational based on what you do. If you do advanced surfacing and its constantly crashing the software, then a different software may be more productive. Saying that "Solid X" sucks in this case only means it sucks at that one task. Another user that doesn't use those features may experience few problems or crashes.

Yes I'm aware that its user that makes the decision if this UI suit he/her needs.

I think I haven't said that SW suck just that I started to search for it. The reason behind it was to see if I was then only person who had problem working with it.

And yes I also search for "Solid Edge sucks" for comparison. The most angry one in that case someone who didn't understands that global sketches don't extrude.

It seems that we have drifted pretty far away from my original topic.

[Frederick_Law]

"It seems that we have drifted pretty far away from my original topic."
Nope, we're running in circle.

"And yes I also search for "Solid Edge sucks" for comparison. The most angry one in that case someone who didn't understands that global sketches don't extrude."
Just think about that person request management (you) to replace SE with whatever.

Now your boss getting same request from you to replace SW.

[AlexLachance]

It seems that we have drifted pretty far away from my original topic.

Can you define what the original topic was? It sounded to me like the topic was about convincing management to switch from SolidWorks to SolidEdge because SolidWorks isn't what you're accustomed to and SolidEdge would be a lot easier on your end, while also asserting that basic things do not work on SolidWorks and that the UI, workflow and stability are all a reasons of the mess that SolidWorks is!

[berg_lauritz]

We switched from 2007 AutoCad to SolidWorks because our sister company implemented it very successfully. The other sister company still uses AutoCad (build buildings). Our IT department is still partly shared across the companies.
Mostly though it is about implementation issues over here. The "old guard" tried to use SolidWorks as it used AutoCad and years later now we deal with the mess.

[Pernils]

Planes are an integral part of my workflow. I'm struggling with how much effort is required to show and hide them in SE for the individual components. I would much rather "navigate through that mess" than the number of mouse clicks required to show the planes of a given part. (I keep hoping there's some shortcut I haven't discovered yet.)

I made a quick tut about planes in edge. Hope it helps somewhat.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13uuSyR ... sp=sharing

[AlexLachance]

We switched from 2007 AutoCad to SolidWorks because our sister company implemented it very successfully. The other sister company still uses AutoCad (build buildings). Our IT department is still partly shared across the companies.
Mostly though it is about implementation issues over here. The "old guard" tried to use SolidWorks as it used AutoCad and years later now we deal with the mess.

I know how you feel. The "old guard" need someone literally close to them to answer questions whenever they come up, or when you can hear/sense frustration rising. A lot of people feel as if they are "disturbing you" when calling you for something they believe should be simple, it's unintentional more often then not but it still is what it is. Our senior designer joined the sales team at our company while we were moving from ACAD 2000 to SolidWorks 2012, so he was moved to the sales department. Thankfully, he's a very social person that has trained people previously and knows that asking questions is necessary.

I often get up and go see people's issues when I hear them getting frustrated to avoid them exploding out of frustration on someone. It also shows to them that they are not "wasting my time" in a way if they do require help.