solidedge discussion group

Our company switched from SW to SE... is there a group like this out
out there for SE?

Don't even get me started on the differences

 

if there was would we tell you...traitor !

 

SE has their own moderated group hosted on the UG servers.

You have to be a registered user to participate.

Without getting into the differences, the smiley face kind of indicates
that they are a good thing. Last time I played with it, it was very
proceedural. It required a rote memorized series of rigid steps to do even
the simplest thing. Many more clicks than SW.

Regards

Mark

 

http://bbsnotes.ugs.com/
You will need to set up an account.

Might I ask why your company switched to Solid Edge? I know it wasn't
because of price.

Ken

 

I just viewed a Solid Edge demo yesterday. This was strictly
information only, we are not planning on switching from SolidWorks. It
had some pretty nice features, Dynamic Editing, Sensors, Dimension
Tracking, Create DXF from model, some nice BOM features SW doesnt have,
and drawing are actually 2D lines instead of a projection of the model
(big performance gain on large assy, SW do this!!! ).

Overall, it looked like a good program. I haven't had any hands-on
experience with it yet, so I cant say how easy it is to use. The guy
running the demo was pretty knowledgeable. His answer to why
SolidWorks had sold more licenses is because they are a marketing
machine. Another nice thing with Solid Edge is customer service
support. You can call them directly, instead of dealing with a VAR.

I would be interested in the same question Ken asked above, why did
your company switch?

 

... and drawing are actually 2D lines instead of a

Can you elaborate on their explanation? Just curious. I don't know a thing
about it but would guess that any drawing view creation routine would involve
creating silhouette projections of the model(s) and z testing to determine
visibility. The speed with which that's done (efficient algorithms) defines
performance.

-------------------------

Yeah, well..... Interest on the vendor's part in a given market segment might
be more like it. Those lines seem to get fuzzier as mid range cad matures
(closer to high end functionality), more start-ups enter the competition,
different market segments saturate, yadadada. (My gaseous emissions on the
subject.)

-------------------------

Did they demo, or even mention, NX interop capabilities? Associative
communication (geometry entity ID based vs feature based, I think) seems to be
getting a couple of developers' attention. Curious what might come of it.

===================

 

Regarding 2D lines instead of projection of the model. Think of a
SolidWorks drawing as a piece of glass. The when creating a model view
on the drawing, the model is actually behind the "glass". With Solid
Edge, he said it actually converts all of the models edges to lines,
therefore you dont have to have the model open (behind the glass) when
editing the drawing. SolidWorks has something like this called "Detach
Drawings", but I find it VERY slow to convert back and fourth (from std
dwg to detached and vice versa). Once the drawing is in detach mode,
its faster to work with. This is mainly used for large assy drawings.

I didnt actually get to see them make a large assy drawing, so I dont
know first hand how fast/slow it is.

Next topic, they did talk about how well Solid Edge handles UG files.
Im not sure what NX interop is, another file format? They did show us
the way their feature tree is, and it does look alot different than
SolidWorks. It seems like it doesnt matter what order you do things
in, whereas SolidWorks is picky about this sometimes.

 

Interesting. Thanks.

The interop(erability) is supposed to be a degree of associative bi-directional
communication between the two systems; geometry and attributes (not feature for
feature). Supposedly allows modification on one end or the other without loss
of dependancies when the models are refreshed. I've seen a little lit on it,
but would be interesting to hear more about the actual workings.

 

Supported SE Users can access any of 11 newsgroups specifically
for Solid Edge, using their Webkey account. Your VAR should have
given your CAD administrator these details - if not, ask him.

You will find a wealth of information from SE users around the
world (many of whom have switched from other systems) and
I can guarantee that the transition to Solid Edge will be eased
by sharing their knowledge!

if you have any difficulty accessing these newsgroups, you are
welcome to contact me directly (look _AT_ my address ...)

Rick Mason
Sydney, Australia

 

The following opinions are my own and in no way reflect my company...

Actually I *far* prefer SolidWorks over SolidEdge. I won't go into the
numerous reasons why because I don't want to cause any waves but that's
my opinon.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll get hooked up with the SE groups. I
still "sneak" in SW whenever I really want to get something done fast
though so I'll be lurking here for as long as I can

Joa

 

Joa,

It's pretty natural to have a preference for the software with which you
are familiar & on which you have been trained & spent (probably) several
thousand hours. Our emphasis has always been on robust modeling (ie
tolerant of change) and our approach to using SE is a little different to
the 'textbook' examples - best advice I can offer is to hook up with ex-
perienced users who have been trained well, and see how they go about
structuring their models & creating their documentation.

Don't be shy to offer constructive criticism - there are always things that
can be done better, and input from experienced users of other systems
is beneficial in the development process. Pro/E (up to 2000i) was the
only CAD s/w I've used with which I haven't had a love/hate relationship.

Rick.

 

First there is awkwardness... You are learning a new applications and the
commands have different names and workflows, and the buttons are in
different locations.
Second there is awakening... You realize that this new application isn't bad
at all, and you notice that some things that are better than what you had
used before.
Third there is denial... You forget the stuff you didn't like in your old
application and only remember the good stuff.
Lastly there is calmness... You have now forgotten that old application and
now only focus on the new application.

You still haven't said why your company has discarded Solid Works and
replaced it with Solid Edge.

Ken

 

Yeah, ProE was the only CAD s/w I've used with which I haven't had a
love/hate relationship too. I had only a HATE relationship with it!
(Referring to Wildfire). ; )

 

- got it in one!

Rick.