WHICH VERSION FOR CAREER RE-ENTRY?

[Anonymous]

After raising our four kids, my wife wants to put her BSME (1997) to work and needs to get comfortable and proficient using AutoCAD. Which version would be most beneficial for her to learn on (most popular for businesses/agencies)? Is the "LT" version adequate for learning or is the full version required to gain proficiency? We're in the Sacramento, CA area and any region-specific advice is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance! p.s. - Where is the best place to shop for the software?

[steve216586]

 IMHO.

Industry use: SolidWorks, Inventor, GeoMagic, Pro/Engineer: aka Creo, CATIA, SolidEdge in that order.

Price: GeoMagic, SolidEdge, SolidWorks, Creo, Inventor, CATIA in that order, from MSRP

[dgorsman]

Not all jobs are mechanical design.  For example, structural design needs would be better suited with one of the Revit flavors. Civil/GIS would be in the Civil3D or Map3D products.  Schematic design would still be in the AutoCAD products.

If this is about product *version* and not flavor, just go with the latest - its the only one being sold.  You may have the option of running several versions back, but unless there is a client-mandated file compatibility issue or hardware/OS support issue its still best to be on the most recent release.

[JDMather]

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@Anonymous wrote:
After raising our four kids, .... Where is the best place to shop for the software?

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Are any of the kids still in school?

Students can download Autodesk software for free here http://www.autodesk.com/edcommunity

I recommend taking a look at Autodesk Inventor if interested in mechanical design.

3D is the single source of truth in this century.  2D drawings, CNC, Analysis... ... all derived from the 3D model.

Digital Prototyping.

[Anonymous]

In my experience most technology companies say they are all 3D , have pictures of their engineers doing 3D on their websites... but run 1992 style (r12) regular old AutoCAD for real....

And have employees that get violent when you suggest they should learn to go with the times.