Is Inventor the right app for me?

[Anonymous]

I want to know exactly what inventor can be used for. Will it help with computerized cutting machines? Or is the only function to model and demonstrate the product? What is the difference between this and autoCAD?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Well seeing as nobody else has responded i may as well 

You need to do a bit of research. While your question(s) are valid they are much too vague to be answered fully here ( that would take pages and pages and hours to write).

In short, Autocad is drawing software for predominantly 2D drawings while Inventor is predominantly a 3D modeling tool. Both of them can do much much more but that is the basic difference.

There are literally thousands of pages of information on the internet regarding  drawing & modeling in general as well as Autocad and Inventor specifically.

Just go to youtube and watch some of the tutorial videos for both products

CNC machines can be driven in many different ways including using autocad data. This , while a simple principle can be quite a complex subject so again google is your friend.

Good luck 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, that's the exact explanation I was looking for.

[Anonymous]

You are welcome.

If you are really interested i suggest you download the trial versions. I would download inventor as it can generate 2D drawings as well. In fact the Inventor suite comes with Autocad mechanical which is a modified version of Autocad.

You can get the 30day free trial and then follow some basic tutorials. The software itself has some great tutorials included in it and for everythig else theres youtube.

Its quite "heavy" software that needs to be installed correctly to get the best out of it. So take your time and read all the info available.

http://www.autodesk.com/suites/product-design-suite/overview

Good luck