Student Question - Which Program is best?

[jarboelw21]

Hi there! My name is Luke and I just recently created a student account on Autodesk. From what I have read it looks like I can download any of the listed Autodesk programs for free for 3 years. Is this correct? Secondly, for my senior project I am redesigning the International Space Station. What program would best suite my needs? I need to be able to get cost estimates, design movable/rotataing objects and measure things like weight, stress points, etc. From what I have read it looks like either the Inventor, Auto CAD, or Revit programs would work best. What are your thoughts?

Thanks! -Luke

[JDMather · Accepted solution]

You can download any and all of the Autodesk products from the student community.

Inventor would be the best software for your problem description, but your problem description is very ambitious for someone just starting out.

Frankly, I think your project is virtually impossible with your experience and timeframe.

[JoAnn_Hogan · Accepted solution]

Hi Luke,

Welcome to the Community,

ok so just to explain the difference between the diffent programs:

AutoCAD:

AutoCAD is a very stong 2D package. Used to create basically anything 2D. There is a 3D section but is does not work as great as Inventor. So I would use AutoCAD for plans and schematics

Inventor:

Inventor is a parametric 3D program. It is a very powerful tool used to create digital prototypes. It creates "intelligent" 3D models. With inventor you can set the material and it automatically works out your mass, volume, area and center of gravity. You can basically design anything that doesn't have a foundation in Inventor

Revit:

Revit is used to create Buildings. So you use it for anything Architectural related. You have MEP and Structural components in Revit as well.

Now for your specific project I would suggest that you use Inventor. Like JD said. You might not have the correct timeframe to do this. But there is a lot of YouTube videos to follow and lots of help files. And obviously we are here to help aswell

Good Luck

[jarboelw21]

Alright thank you so much! As far as the depth of the project goes, I
realize that I am only going to just touch the surface of what would
actually be involved. I want to go as far as I can though! I appreciate
your input!

Thanks!
Luke