Switching to SolidWorks from Creo

What functionality have you heard you're going to miss?  I'm not familiar with any CAD software other than SW, but there may be something that will work as well with a different workflow.

And the best advice I can give you from watching this forum for almost 10 years is this:  Don't get frustrated when SolidWorks doesn't work the same way Creo does.  Keep an open mind, and learn what works and what doesn't.  I firmly believe that SolidWorks (and probably other similar software) is easier to learn if you don't have any preconceived ideas about how it should work.  I know at least one of the former AutoCAD users here swore up and down that it was better than SW when he first started learning it, but he eventually changed his tune.  And he still doesn't know 25% of what it can do.

IMHO, SW is just easier to use.  I used Wildfire and Intralink for a year or two, it has it's special things that were neat.  Most features are sketched base, just right click a face or plane and start a sketch, simple.

You'll do well...  and welcome to our user forum

Steve C

Welcome to the Forum Kevin Hansen - don't know if this is the right one

Put some time aside to read a bunch of posts here on the forum....

Have you ever been given a SW tip that you didn't know existed?

What are your most impressive tricks of solidworks, Please spread.

What do your co-workers do with SOLIDWORKS that makes your blood boil?

If you can get through those and most of the referenced posts then you'll be up and running...

Use Solidworks with the notion that you will have to think differently. I went from Solidworks to Pro/E and back to Solidworks. The move from Solidworks to Pro/E was difficult. Myriad of reason from large company, improperly configured workstation, imho a not so intuitive interface.

This forum right here is a huge leg up on Pro/E. I could not find any similar tool with Pro/E.

I use PTC products for 10 years before we switched over to SW.  We had another guy that had used SW, anther who had used SolidEdge and a facility in Mexico that had one seat of Inventor.  We wanted all of us on the same system and be able to have additional people have access to the software.  SolidEdge was quickly eliminated due to its non-parametric nature.  Creo was eliminated from consideration due to its "clunkyness".  I would be the one to teach new users and after test driving SW and Inventor I realized I would much rather learn one of them and the teach it than have to teach someone Creo.  SW and Inventor were pretty much a tie for me, others felt SW was a bit better so we went with it.

Things I miss about Creo:

1. Not being able to select a reference plane when creating a sketch.
2. A single command for each of shape commands(extrude, revolve, sweep, etc)  In SW there is one for each of these for solid creations, cuts and surfaces
3. The behavioral modeling extension

Essentially everything else I prefer in SW.

Some tips for SW

1. Use the S key
2. Use the D key
3. Set tangent edges as phantom lines
4. Customize, Customize, Customize (the UI can look exactly how you want it)
5. Watch as many you tube tutorials as possible, there are some really good ones from previous Solidworks Worlds.

If you ever get stuck and know how you would do it in Creo but just can't figure it out in SW, message me and I will see if I can help work it out in SW.

Hehe 20 years on Pro-E i bet when you use SW you will feel the curse of switching CAD unable to do what you want, nagging your head, deep breath, touching your head, and finding your self seeking for answer. But that's OK it will just a couple of days.

THEY SAY ONLY FEW GET PASSED ON THIS BOUNDARY I'm just Kidding

I'll tell you the same thing I once told to a interviewer thinking of switching from AutoCAD to SolidWorks or ProE at the time. Which she wants to invest in more, better computers or more training for people? Solidworks is easier to learn, but needs better hardware to run, and is more unstable with complicated models. ProE takes two to three times the time to learn to the same skill level in SolidWorks, but is more stable and able to do complicated geometry more easily.

This was a little before the Wildfire update of ProE I think.