Woodwarrior,

You sound like you just switched to U/G! I have never seen it but another engineer I work with here used it where he used to work and loved it. That is all I hear, "if I was still on U/G I could do this and that!" LOL! I think there is just a steep learning curve when trying to learn a new software - it is worse when you are trying to un-learn how you did it on your last system.

Solidworks is pretty good for the money but complex geometry creation makes it fall on its face. All my headlight designs use reflector optics with thousands of little faceted surfaces and they all have to be in the right place. Solidworks surfacing functions are nothing compared to Pro/E. Pro is alot less user friendly but once you have used it for a year or two it starts making sense. We have 12 seats of Solidworks for our simpler stuff but all our reflector-optic headlights are done on Pro.

What sucks is we bought two seats of Pro about three years ago for about $95,000 after it was all said and done and then two years later (after Solidworks hit the scene) you can get it for $9,000 per seat. Talk about getting $crewed!

 

<< I noticed the same thing. Could it be that we are all on this forum when we should be working? >>



LOL....It is very easy to get caught up on the forums when I sit in front of this tube all day long for the most part. I am in a locked down lab area with little if any outside visitors. Dust and static free. Gets boring looking at yourself in the glass.

If you guys have ever watched dateline or the like and saw the crash tests...that is what our software/workstations analyze. As well as ballistic, airbags...and a bunch of other motion related info. But instead of using rulers and stop watches. Our workstations take advantage of high speed cameras running at anywhere from 10 to 30000+ frames per second. It was pretty wild to take my wheeler into the parking lot a few years back and actually capture the roost..piece by piece flying through the air in slow motion. But talk about file sizes!

The Cad thing is interesting. I too play with cad programs from time to time. I really have no need for anything higher than autocad lite thought. But I am constantly playing with 3d studio max (somewhat similar to cad design).
I am working on a pretty good 3d animated quad right now. Not too sure what I am going to use it for, since the file size is starting to get pretty large. Oh well. Yes...Us computer people seem to have much too much time to waste.

 

Days like today are the worst... my motivation factor is about a 2 on a scale of 1-100. Not to mention I have MSN messenger so it tells me everytime I get email saying that a post is updated. I have accomplished NOTHING today.

As far as the CAD thing goes... I will agree that allot of what I don't like about UG is cause it is new. After using a user friendly system like SolidWorks it makes no sense why a system as high-tech as UG can't make life easier. Yes UG and Pro E probably have more capabilities but for everything I have done (plastic injected valves, toilets (worked for a company that did vacuum sewer systems which was interesting) and now surgical instruments, I honestly think that if you give me the best UG user, and the best SolidWorks user, that the SolidWorks guy would finish first. For anything that is true solid modeling and isn't surfaces or free form, I just think SolidWorks is superior and has all the capabilities necessary.

I am opinionated and vary biased, but that is just how I feel. This is the first time I have ever changed software and not thought the the new software was superior and that just bugs me... especially for the money we spent on this crap. :-)

 

I'm 32 years old, with no wife or kids &amp; work for a print / copy center as a Service Manager. I repair the high speed (135 copies per minute) copiers for them. I grew up on Quads but took an unwanted hiatus from them after I got into the real world.... I got back into them this spring. I also enjoy camping, shooting guns &amp; woodworking.

01 Rubicon with 2500# Warn winch, Etrex summit GPS, &amp; various other goodies.
00 Ford F-150 4wd

 

My father and I have an antique business. I mow yards, and am currently waiting on my application for Brookshires to go through. I enjoy modifying and working on my quad, and truck.. Lucky for me, I have a Polaris, so I get to do one of my hobbies all the time!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Gilbert aye. Well, it puts you about 3-3.5 hours from Glamis which isnt to bad. I know there are some tracks up your way but I dont know exactly. Its right by Pheonix so I'm sure you'll find some good riding out there.

 

Well I to am an CAD Draftsman. I work for a small Electrical Engineering co. We do alot of roadway lighting and power distribution
so I mainly use AutoCad and some times (altow I try to avoid using) Microstation. I've learned alot about electrical eng. in the 4 years i've been here but its starting to get boreing. About two years ago I had a job offer to work for Lucent uising Pro/E but like a idot never followed up on it.

I'm 24 now and have been into rideing since i was little. My first bike was a little Yamaha DT100 Enduro.