Great thread! I'm fascinated by 3d but I only have experience in 2d. I've been doing survey mapping/civil site plans for about 7 years now.....no 3d in my future.

Nice work guys.

Gregg

 

2d drawings are the basis. Some years ago, when the parametric sofrwares didn't exist, 2d was the only way. Nowadays, you start off with 3d, sketch the sections, extrude/revolve the solid, add quotations and then you go with the 2d layout. When it comes to manufacturing there is only 2d layouts. Exception for casting companies, they prefer to look at the 3d drawing together with the 2d.
here is an example of a 2d layout from a 3d part:

 

So basically you build the part in 3d and then have different viewports in paper space showing it at different rotations? AutoCAD really is awesome. No wonder it's $5000 a license! Okay I threw a little sarcasm in there but I never really thought of 3d drawings being used in 2d layouts. Thanks for the info.

What is the best program for doing 3d. I have access to straight AutoCAD, Inventor, MEP and Revit(or whatever has replaced it). I really don't know anything about any of those programs except straight AutCAD, Map 3D and Civil 3D so I apologize if they don't apply to 3d at all.
Gregg

 

No way you can do what i showed you with AutoCAD. That was done with PRO/Engineer.
The best software that i have used to do civil 3D is Allplan.
Allplan is owned by a german company called Nemetschek, that recently has acquired Autodesk, the owner of autoCAD, inventor and revit.
From the list of software you posted i would suggest Inventor, easy to start with 3D. Something better would be solidWorks or Catia, if you want the best there is only PRO/eng.

 

Hi Gregg!
My name is Joakim and I am a mechanical engineer from Sweden. I have worked in a lot of different 3d-programs with mechanical construction and engineering. The software I have used most is Autodesk Inventor, PTC Pro Engineer, CATIA V4 and V5 and Solid Works. I am currently teaching Autodesk Inventor to other mechanical engineers for a living. I don not have a fixed opinion of which software is "THE BEST" . There are so many more things to if a CAD-software is good for the engineer than exactly how it performs. I believe that it depends much more about availability, access to support, access to education and exactly what you do as an engineer. Basically all the CAD-software for mechanical engineering do the same thing. But there are special circumstances where one software is preferred over another because of very special needs.

The Autodesk software you mention are all for different businesses (except AutoCAD which you can basically use for everything)

Autodesk Inventor is for mechanical engineering and mechanical construction.
AutoCAD MEP is for the building industry creating HVAC, piping and electrical installations.
Autodesk Revit comes i three different flavors all aimed towards the building industry. Revit Architecture, Revit MEP and Revit Structure.

There is no problem making that detail in AutoCAD at all. It will take longer and it will not contain nearly as much information as a detail made in a parametric CAD-system such as Pro/e.

The big benefit with the modern CAD-systems such as Pro/e, Solid Works, Inventor and so on...is that they are Parametric which AutoCAD is not. Therefore I think that AutoCAD is not comparable in that mix.

Considering the fact that you have access to Autodesk Inventor I would suggest you start with that. Inventor has one of the lowest thresholds to get started of all CAD-software together with Solid Works. I have yet to come across a CAD-software which is all so much better than all the rest. CATIA can do stuff Solid cant and Pro/e can do stuff that Inventor cant and so on and so fort. I would recommend you to buy or download a basic tutorial or a book about the essentials of which ever software you start with. It will make the beginning of your adventure in this CAD-world much smoother and more pleasant
I do have two favorites though only because those are the two softwares I am most familiar with and those are Autodesk Inventor and PTC Pro Engineer.

I am gonna throw in some links as well. Hope there is some good info in there for you:

Autodesk Youtube Channel Click "Playlists" then Autodesk Inventor Demos

Solid Works Youtube channel

and some mechanical CAD-software manufacturers:

www.autodesk.com
www.ptc.com
www.unigraphics.com
www.dassaultsystemes.com
www.solidworks.com

Best regards
Joakim

 

Hi Joakim, welcome to the forum from fantic. Nice to see some other CAD geek around and a fellow engineer.
Of course you can do that in autoCAD but it would take five times the time it takes with pro/E! Not worth at all...
Anyway what do you do for a living? I am a material engineer and work for R&D department of NanniDiesel. We build marine engines on basis Toyota, Kubota, VM, Doosan, MAN and Mercedes-Benz.

 

this whole thread is in a aboriginal language to me... lol... i wish i spoke it though!

 

it's not that impossible, download a version of inventor and do a tutorial...

 

anyway do you like the bumper or not??

 

Thank you fantic!
Marine diesels. That sounds very interesting! I have always had a soft spot for the small KAD diesels from Volvo Penta (from my hometown ) with both turbo and mechanical blower.
I work at a small family business and teach a lot of engineers and college teachers how to use Autodesk Inventor. I also do implementation of the program and technical support. The customers do everything from cryo-cooled antennas for radio telescopes to bone anchored digital hearing aids to massive steel constructions for ferry terminals. So I get to see a whole bunch of different things.
Have you manufactured your bumper yet?

//Joakim

 

Nice!
I'm looking for a cheaper supplier, i want it cold bended and not welded, at least in the center section.
Volvo penta is our main cmpetitor together with Mercury Marine and Caterpillar, all great units but i must say our Kubota units are very good too.

 

Are you gonna dimple those holes? The ones in your bumper, I mean.

 

Yes, but i will do that on my own, i have access to a press so i will put a larger sleeve under and press the edge in a bit.

 

Sweet!

 

I just destroyed the backend of my truck last nite....I need a strong as rear bar design & that Bar design looks sweet......I know it's an old subject, but I have an XJ 01 Classic & i badly need rear corner protection up to the back wheel flares....Is this design using custom mounts (as you haven't shown any) or is it mounted to the oem bumper brackets?