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Author	Topic: catia and solidworks
tom unregistered	posted 08-13-2002 09:27 PM Okay guys, I'm just curious as to why dassault systemes have catia and solidworks? They are both solid modelers right? Solidworks seems more popular but what is the difference? Thanks. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-14-2002 01:16 AM reverse engineering. scan clay models into software then do your analysis. but solidworks will be so easy to use a couple of versions up that you wont need catia. besides i think they already have software for analysis as add-ons. they'll either make it very fast and easy for sufaces that you won't need to make clay then scan, or just put the scan in also. i prefer they work more on the first one. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-14-2002 01:21 AM i also think they're working on an animation tool that would animate the object in the environment and moving mechanical parts and sound effects. that would be really nice. they already have a very good rendering tool all they need to do is to expand it into a moving relation to the object. it's not that hard to program. IP: Logged
momknowsbest unregistered	posted 08-14-2002 08:18 AM It is a suite of solutions. Solidworks is like a mid-fi stereo. Catia is the high-end. Try modeling a car in Solidworks. You will find your answer very fast. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-14-2002 02:14 PM there's a way to it with solidworks for automotive design. you just gotto know how to compose with it. i've seen a few major auto companies starting to work with SW. mainly for engine parts, individual items and interiors. you wont be able to do aerodynamic design with SW having worked under 8000 progressive hrs. you also have to know that the design process with SW is different from what you're used to in some 3d programs like alias or rhino. parametric modeling demands more input specially in a program like SW where the design must be rehearsed so that it wont be compromised. remember SW doesn't want to go where pro has gone with its surfacing. and it doesn't want to compete with catia. it wants to remain a pc program with a load of power and ease. catia has morphing capabilities but for SW you must morph definitions. SW will reach that level (hopefully the next version) but till then it might not be a bad idea to try things with what it's got right now. IP: Logged
Free-form unregistered	posted 08-14-2002 09:02 PM The difference is the same as betwen FIAT and FERRARI. Catia is the best CAD in the market today, saying this means is expensive too. Specialy for ID the free-form surfacing is important, and if you want to do so with Solidworks ..... forget about it.Catia can do all, do you anderstand ALL everything that all CAD softwares together can do. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-14-2002 09:30 PM i disagree. solidworks is a different program. id does not = doing freeform without constraints. that's for 3d art. what exactly is free form. shoe design? well, if you can't design a shoe with solidworks it's not the software. it's you. because you don't know how to do it. IP: Logged
Free-Form unregistered	posted 08-15-2002 04:54 PM What do you mean with "DIFFERENT". Is that is something that Solidworks does and Catia can not do??. I use Catia and I try to use Solidworks is like going back to elementary school. Free-form is not only shoe design but every sdesign that requires class "A" surfaces. The only software that constrain freeform surfaces in solid mode and paramertic at the same time is "think3" if you do not belive it take a look at think3.com and you will have better idea what freeform is (not only shoe). quote: Originally posted by ufo: i disagree. solidworks is a different program. id does not = doing freeform without constraints. that's for 3d art. what exactly is free form. shoe design? well, if you can't design a shoe with solidworks it's not the software. it's you. because you don't know how to do it. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-15-2002 05:19 PM hey i can do things in elementray school that you can't do in lockheed. it depends on who's holding the marker. IP: Logged
President Evil unregistered	posted 08-16-2002 03:13 PM If I learn SolidWorks, will I be able to "Pump CAD"? IP: Logged
momknowsbest unregistered	posted 08-17-2002 06:57 AM how long did it it take to learn Catia to the point where you knew most of what you needed. i'm not saying guru level, but the level where you felt comfortable with it and could model most of what you wanted and would have to see someone (the guru) for really top end cad problems. also did you have previous 3D solids cad experience. thanks. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-17-2002 03:33 PM quote: Originally posted by President Evil: If I learn SolidWorks, will I be able to "Pump CAD"? solidworks is a tool. the reason why it's gaining popularity has certainly gotto do with it's simplicity and the fact that it's a solid modeler meaning you can reproduce what you have created rightaway. it also has a very good renderer with a bunch of options, sheet metal and mold tools, other add ins, and a nice assembly mode.they're coming up with the next version soon and from what i've heard it's going to be the one with most improvements so far. pumping cad is an area where you can test your ideas. because a lotta times you might be content with your sketches but when you put it in cad you discover that maybe there are better ways to do it. but if you're just doing cad for the sake of cad then solidworks will be less helpful. you should find the cad that you are comfortable with like our friend free-form. IP: Logged
Free-form unregistered	posted 08-18-2002 07:58 AM It took me one month of self study to use without any help Catia. Catia is more difficult than other CAD softwares, this is bullshit that salesman of other softwares say.If you know SolidWorks is owned by Desoult systems which is Catia developer. Solidworks is cheap proposal of Desoult System. I have also experience in in other CAD systems (solid and free-form). I do not use one CAD for pumping and one other for real design, why should I do that when I can use one for both. Solidworks is getting more seats in industry for two reasons : is a decent solid modeler and is cheap. But I always stress that IDers have to do a complete work(not half) which means that my design has to be ready for production (not to let field for interpretation).To do so you need a complete tool box solid modeling and free-form surfacing. I think this incide in quality of your work. Now , if you are concerne about the pricing that is another problem, as I write in another post a very good software which has everything that one ID need is THINK3. If you do not belive it try it and you will see the difference with other only solid softwares. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-18-2002 04:08 PM i like the way solidworks is climbing the rocks. it works for me because i know most factories and machine shops have solidworks but i doubt they'll have catia. so someone would have to take those catia files and put'em in solidworks. i don't know anyone who does that, infact more and more cad is switching to solidworks. some major auto manufacturers are starting to use it over pro and other cad for parts, interiors, and even body. art center, the leading design school in transportation design in US is using it. this new version should just kick the door in for a lotta aggressive designers who want something extra for their time input. i heard pro is coming up with a new version too but i don't expect anything spectacular since it would be hard to make giant changes in that kinda set up. anyway, i hope you understand that i've nothing against catia it's just a matter of preference and practicality for the user. i've talked to some people who still prefer pro over solidworks. that's what works for them. same with catia. IP: Logged
Free-Form unregistered	posted 08-19-2002 07:36 AM Can you tell why ALL CAD systems have direct interface with CATIA. There is a reason for this. IP: Logged
momknowsbest unregistered	posted 08-19-2002 08:17 AM hats off to you for learning Catia. i hear it is one steep learning curve. how hard would you say it is to learn the basics in comparison to pro/e. you know your stuff. catia is one strong piece of software. car companies don't use pro/e for exterior surfaces and there is a reason for it. the solution is catia and icem/surf together or UG. the other is a proprietary system called PDGS at Ford which inserts I-DEAS into the system. for class A though, more auto car companies use Catia hands down over UG. UG is for GM. Daimler, Audi, Honda are Catia houses to my knowledge. Solidworks is good value for the dollar and does 80% of what you need. Pro/E 90%. UG 98% Catia 98% from what I have seen. You just have to work within the limitations of Solidworks. UG blew it in product. It's a good product that hardly anyone uses outside of GM. Catia also blew it in product. UG and Catia are basically planes, cars, trains and ship building. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-20-2002 07:39 PM and intel. catia doesn't support amd. IP: Logged
fnxnlab unregistered	posted 08-28-2002 09:37 PM I learned Catia in college. One quarter worth of "solid modeling." After the second week I was ahead of the teacher just from reading through the help files and trying out the different commands. I thought it was pretty easy to use. By no means did I reach expert status, but I was proficient enough to use it to model my project for Senior Design. No funky surfaces, but several components with up to 40 features. We made an sla and all the pieces fit as expected and got an A on the project. I've been to almost all of PTC's Pro/E classes and not a day goes by that I don't curse the program. I've used Pro for over 2 years now and still I find myself compromising because I can't get it to do what I need. I have a notebook full of calls to tech support for things like "how to change precision of geometric tolerances" and "dxf export disabled in drawing mode." (btw, the fix was to disable "fast hlr" in the environment settings. How random is that?). IMHO, Pro/E is much more difficult than Catia. In my experience Pro/E doesn't behave intuitively. Catia does. IP: Logged
ufo unregistered	posted 08-28-2002 09:49 PM i talked to a catia/ibm representative he told me they sold seats to a corporation which was using solidworks heavily. he called them to find out how fast they adjusted to the new program. they told him they could model just as easily with catia as they did with solidworks in only one hour of playing around with it. that's really cool if it's true and i don't think this guy was lying to me because he's selling them for the base software price of $15000 a seat. pro is becoming like autocad. to improve that structure you might as well try building something else. IP: Logged
email@mikeanusas.com unregistered	posted 08-29-2002 10:48 AM Its simple. SolidWorks itself is a system for doing product design and is limited to solid modeling (though its extremely good at it). Catia is a massive system for doing all sorts of stuff (design/analysis/management/ knowledge control/infrastucture/equipment+systems/structure/services/DMU blah blah) There is no one phrase to describe it, its very very diverse. Look at:- http://www-3.ibm.com/solutions/plm/pub1/052569650058d112/1/977155611c8921be8525686900564379.jsp And it all becomes clear. Note that Catia can be overkill. They are both great systems, very different essentially, depends what you want to do/explore. IP: Logged
Free-form unregistered	posted 08-30-2002 10:45 AM Please, what do you mean with different. You can by only that part of CATIA that can do the same work as SOLIDWORKS even better. So they are not different ONE IS FERRERI AND THE OTHER IS FIAT IP: Logged

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