Howdy Yall,
My company, which currently works in ONLY AutoCAD 2D (!), is in the midst of a transition to 3D. We are evaluating both SolidWorks and Inventor. 2013 of both pieces of software. My backgtound is with SolidWorks, Solid Edge, and a little Unigraphics. This isn't a thread to start a "which is better" argument as I understand they both have their strengths and weaknesses. However, coming from a "SolidWorks mindset", maybe there are a few things yall can help me figure out in Inventor.
Simple offset. I often do a sketch in 2D to extrude to 3D and use the offset command. How come it doesn't allow direct input for offset distance? It seems instead of choosing offset then selecting the curve, typing a distance, and clicking a side/direction, I have to arbitrarily offset the curve then go back and dimension it with another tool. This seems very inefficient to me?
I do a lot of sheet metal modeling. In SolidWorks I might make a profile sketch of a square tube, for example, then convert it to sheet metal by selecting a base, bend edges, and giving them bend radii and whatnot. Seems very intuitive to me. I haven't found a similar method of doing that in Inventor. It seems I have to draw and extrude only one side then keep creating flanges for the remaining sides. That isn't a problem when creating a sheetmetal part from the get go, but how about converting? I can convert a part to sheet metal but it doesn't bend my edges visibly nor do I think it adds any extra material to the bends in the flat pattern.
And very basic...how do I re-orient a single 3D part? For example if I click on the front plane on the "viewing cube" in the upper right, maybe it turns to the right side of my part. I know it's a mistake with how I originally created it, but can I re-orient it so that when I make drawings, the front is actually what I consider the front?
Also, is there any easy way to center a line on an axis/origin? For example, in a 2D sketch say I draw a rectangle. I want this rectangle to stay completely centered about the origin, regardless of what dimensions I put on it. For now, I dimension the rectangle, then manually divide the dimensions by two and dimension that to the origin. It adds an extra few steps when I change the dimensions of the rectangle. This question applies to all shapes, not just rectangles.
Thanks yall!
