Has anyone good or bad comment on this 3D application. Franky
I have HEARD comment, and mostly good comment, although I can't say anything first-hand. I'm a SolidWorks user, and what I've heard from other SolidWorks users (see Google archives of comp.cad.solidworks) is that Alibre isn't quite up to the same level as SolidWorks and Inventor, but it's not that far behind. It's apparently stable and very user friendly. It's also very cheap, compared to either SW or IV. $695 for the basic version and $1000 for the Pro version. No, I don't know the difference in capabilities. I would expect that it has quite good drafting support and that design for prismatic shapes should be very good . . . so your basic mechanical design needs should be very well met. I don't know about it's support for really complex geometry, but I have serious doubts that it approaches Inventor, much less SolidWorks. Am also not sure about the ability to create configurations, either of individual parts (differences in dimensions and in suppression of features) or assemblies (differences of composition or position). I expect it has some such capability, but probably (again) not at the same level of SW or IV. Also I expect that it doesn't have nearly the capability as does SolidWorks to read in proprietary formats like Parasolid and Pro/E files or even neutral file formats like IGES and STEP, although I would imagine that it supports ACIS quite well since that is the graphics kernel it is based upon. If I was starting out again as an independent I would seriously consider it as my primary MCAD. Since I have three licenses of SolidWorks and quite a lot of legacy design I doubt I'll be purchasing a license of Alibre now. Mark 'Sporky' Stapleton WaterMark Design, LLC Charlotte, NC
