5 ms·

Well yeah, but Solidworks costs anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 per user per year... not really comparable ;-)

by bambax 6y ago

LegitShady 6y ago
fusion 360 is free to most people and is good. Unfortunately its a web app and I don't trust autodesk enough to spend time investing in it.
- Squonk42 6y ago
  And you are right to not trust Autodesk: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/changes-to-fusion-360-for-personal-use/ https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/changes-to...
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    Oof good thing I stayed away
  - dTal 6y ago
    Which is undoubtedly why so many free CAD programs are hitting HN today.
ddingus 6y ago
End of quarter promos can take a good license under 5k, and once you have a license you do bot have to rebuy it every year. Updates come with annual maintenance, roughly 20 percent of license. People can and do get a license and just run it for a long time.
- jbay808 6y ago
  Unfortunately, SolidWorks "encourages" you to upgrade by not providing any way to save/export native files that earlier versions can read. If you're receiving files from a 3rd party, you need to have a version that is at least as recent as theirs. This is unlike, say, Excel 2007, which can export .xls files that Excel 2000 can read.
  - ddingus 6y ago
    That's not just Solidworks. It's pretty much all parametric CAD systems. I don't expect that to change any day soon. The problem they have is massive development, small market, big costs. Back revision compatibility would kill their development engines. It's a tough scene. I worked in it for 25 years. The other thing people should realize is all the CAD tool vendors are generally funding complex PLM / PDM system development necessary for larger scale users to operate on large products and across many teams. This is a significant portion of annual license fees. As a small team or individual, one can use STEP. Now, admittedly the ability of Solidworks to work with STEP files is limited. (I would not want that job) Personally, if I were going to get a license and just run it, I would get a system much more capable in that area. NX, as an example, is excellent, and I know many who have older licenses who do a lot of work just fine that way. Most everything can be done, and the skillset is not unlike what we use in some of the open CAD systems. A native file is not always required when the modeler offers direct modeling as well as parametric. Just FYI. Finally, anyone needing to interact with CAD needs to build license costs into their rates. It's too expensive to do otherwise. Let the work pay for the tool.
  - ddingus 6y ago
    The other thing people need to really think about is their role. If you are the source of designs, use whatever you want to use. Downstream users will either need STEP / DXF / PDF / STL, or they will have your version or newer, or their system can import, or use a Parasolid, ACIS, whatever type of file. If you are a downstream user then you need to know where your work is coming from and whether you can price software in. On this note, buying into an annual license of Fusion or OnShape is a great translation service as both of those will write out respectable STEP and Parasolid files. Translation licenses are super expensive. Or, you need to invest your skills into systems that are adept at non-native data. These skills are extremely high value BTW. Getting them is great for a resume. Then price and purchase accordingly. For learning / personal use, get the academic licenses.
    - jbay808 6y ago
      Unfortunately, many relationships, such as collaborations, don't always have strictly upstream and downstream roles.

Well yeah, but Solidworks costs anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 per user per year... not really comparable ;-)

by bambax 6y ago

Well yeah, but Solidworks costs anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 per user per year... not really comparable ;-)

fusion 360 is free to most people and is good. Unfortunately its a web app and I don't trust autodesk enough to spend time investing in it.

Squonk42 6y ago
And you are right to not trust Autodesk: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/changes-to-fusion-360-for-personal-use/ https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/changes-to...
- LegitShady 6y ago
  Oof good thing I stayed away
- dTal 6y ago
  Which is undoubtedly why so many free CAD programs are hitting HN today.

ddingus 6y ago

End of quarter promos can take a good license under 5k, and once you have a license you do bot have to rebuy it every year. Updates come with annual maintenance, roughly 20 percent of license. People can and do get a license and just run it for a long time.

jbay808 6y ago
Unfortunately, SolidWorks "encourages" you to upgrade by not providing any way to save/export native files that earlier versions can read. If you're receiving files from a 3rd party, you need to have a version that is at least as recent as theirs. This is unlike, say, Excel 2007, which can export .xls files that Excel 2000 can read.
- ddingus 6y ago
  That's not just Solidworks. It's pretty much all parametric CAD systems. I don't expect that to change any day soon. The problem they have is massive development, small market, big costs. Back revision compatibility would kill their development engines. It's a tough scene. I worked in it for 25 years. The other thing people should realize is all the CAD tool vendors are generally funding complex PLM / PDM system development necessary for larger scale users to operate on large products and across many teams. This is a significant portion of annual license fees. As a small team or individual, one can use STEP. Now, admittedly the ability of Solidworks to work with STEP files is limited. (I would not want that job) Personally, if I were going to get a license and just run it, I would get a system much more capable in that area. NX, as an example, is excellent, and I know many who have older licenses who do a lot of work just fine that way. Most everything can be done, and the skillset is not unlike what we use in some of the open CAD systems. A native file is not always required when the modeler offers direct modeling as well as parametric. Just FYI. Finally, anyone needing to interact with CAD needs to build license costs into their rates. It's too expensive to do otherwise. Let the work pay for the tool.
- ddingus 6y ago
  The other thing people need to really think about is their role. If you are the source of designs, use whatever you want to use. Downstream users will either need STEP / DXF / PDF / STL, or they will have your version or newer, or their system can import, or use a Parasolid, ACIS, whatever type of file. If you are a downstream user then you need to know where your work is coming from and whether you can price software in. On this note, buying into an annual license of Fusion or OnShape is a great translation service as both of those will write out respectable STEP and Parasolid files. Translation licenses are super expensive. Or, you need to invest your skills into systems that are adept at non-native data. These skills are extremely high value BTW. Getting them is great for a resume. Then price and purchase accordingly. For learning / personal use, get the academic licenses.
  - jbay808 6y ago
    Unfortunately, many relationships, such as collaborations, don't always have strictly upstream and downstream roles.