AutoCAD or Inventor??

[egges]

Hello,

 

Looking for some input. I know AutoCAD and its 2d/3d features fairly well and I'm also an experienced 3ds Max user. In the past I have taught high school students using both of these programs. I had the best of 2d and 3d apps and everything went quite well.

 

In August I will be moving to a new school and I will be setting up a new course called Design Technology (studying the design cycle, manufacturing methods, ergonomics, materials, etc). The budget only allows for a single application package. In the past I could just bounce between apps depending on whether I needed a stronger 2d or 3d solution. I won't have that luxery now.

 

What about trying Autodesk Inventor? It seems more like a cross between 2d and 3d. Agree/Disagree? It seems like it can do an adequate job at the 2d level but then has a stronger 3d element that AutoCAD. It seems that going straight AutoCAD will give me more than I need/want at the 2d level but going with 3ds Max is too much for 3d modeling. Would Inventor be a good alternative?

 

Thanks, Steve

[mwhite]

Steve:

 

I use/have used AutoCAD, Inventor, 3Ds, SketchUp and Accurender and also taught High School Technology Education with Inventor. For the purposes that you list, I would strongly reccomend Inventor for 2D and 3D engineering courses. If your looking for high end materials, shaders and photo realistic rendering, then Inventor will not be the best choice. If your looking for a strong 2D/3D engineering application then I think Inventor is a good choice.

 

I had 8th, 9th and 10th graders (both male and female) doing pretty good 3D modeling and the 2D is done almost automatically for them which is good and bad but allows you to spend more time on getting them to know how to dimension which is always a constant battle.

 

Hope that helps and good luck. Make sure your hardware is up to speed since Inventor is going to be more demanding than AutoCAD although it is probably roughly equal to 3Ds if you've already run that.

 

Mike White

[mwhite]

Steve:

 

Just another 2 comments, as I said before the 2D is done almost automatically for the students since they design/draw in 3D. So Inventor may be a bit of a stretch if the students have not had any 2D drafting or CAD before, but it can be done if you walk them through it slowly and in some cases starting in 3D and then seeing what the different views look like in 2D is easier for this generation of students since so much of what they interact with in the gaming environement is already 3D.

 

Also, be VERY carefull when planning to use the animation in Inventor as part of a lesson or unit plan. You will need to know how to apply/debug all of the different motion constraints EXTREMeLY well. If you're going to use motion, then practice, practice and practice some more so that you will have a 6th sense of what is going wrong when the students build their models.

 

Otherwise things will fall apart VERY fast in class as even experienced teachers had a hard time figuring out why a student's train or walking elephant just stood there or had the wheels all turning in different directions.

 

Again, good luck and I think Inventor will be a good choice for an engineering/design curriculum.

 

Mike White

[egges]

Thanks Mike.

 

I appreciate the time and energy you put into the responses, that was exactly the info I was looking for.

 

At the moment all I have is a copy of Inventor 5 that a friend won in a drawing at a conference. I will start playing with it after things calm down at school over the next couple of weeks.

 

Thanks again. Take care, Steve