Hi guys, I'm a long time user of Inventor, very comfortable using it for many years. I have been offered a contract using solidworks and I only know the basics in the program. Is there any list of the commands I use in inventor and their equivalent counterparts in SW? Thank you for the help.
Eddy Makes a lot of good points. I would suggest not attempting to find similarities but instead focus on learning a new program. The tutorials are very good and there are also some learning opportunities available on mysolidworks.com. Another good resource for long-term would be to find a local SW user group.
I got into SW with a AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture and Revit background, so a bit different but same kind of challenges. I agree, the most helpful was the tutorials, even though they seam very elementary at first. Also I was able to get my company to spring for a class at a community college. It was cheap, but best of all the prof. got us free student versions (limited time) that allowed me to do more tutorials at home. Also, if you think you should be able to do something, there is probably a YouTube video and if not someone here has always been able and kind enough to help out. Good luck.
Thank you all for the valuable input. I am going to go through the tutorials this weekend. Is there any downloadable start up guides or manuals I could purchase? Im hoping I can transition fairly quickly ( a few weeks) to take this contract.
And on a different subject, the first thing I notice when toying around in SW is that there always seems to be windows popping up and disappearing on me. When Im in Inventor, if I open an extrude command, the little window will stay put until Im done.
Is there an option I can use to prevent these windows from collapsing themselves?
The "little windows" are probably Context Toolbars.
2014 SolidWorks Help - Context Toolbars
Some people dislike them and disable them, but try them first. They can be quite helpful.
Pay special attention to the S key shortcut. It can be extensively modified and in many cases eliminate the need for having permanent toolbars on-screen. I find it an immense time saver and keeps the screen uncluttered.
Jake,
Kelvin has probably identified the "little windows" that you are talking about and given you some very good advice. If you are talking about the normal command windows, then some of them do have a pin so that you can lock them in place. For instance, if you are going to insert a number of existing components into an assembly, the Insert Component command has a pin so that you can pin it open.
Oh, and take seriously the advice to try and clear your head of how Inventor works and just focus on how SolidWorks works. If you try to use SW the same way you used Inventor, you are quite likely to drive yourself nuts.
Jerry S.
Hi Jake,
I've been using Inventor for 7 years and made the switch to SolidWorks 8 years ago.
I don't know about a list of feature names of both. There is one for AutoCAd users, but that is not what you are after.
Most of the features have the same name, except for the more specialist ones. SolidWorks has things to offer that Inventor doesn't have. From my experience the best way to get a steep learning curve is to do the tutorials, you are interested in. They are really good. That way you can get rid of old habits because both programs are not the same at all only similar at first view.
Hope this helps you in the right direction.
Eddy