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Experienced SW jockey looking for WPDM alternative
gerald_davis
Member Posts: 3 ✭
in General
My industrial design work usually involves what Solidworks flags as "large" assemblies - more than 500 components - biggest <5000, so they usually open in RAM. Most of my work involves mechanisms - motion study / kinematics are key elements of the design and documentation. Inertia and friction problems are usually solved with rapid prototyping. I use SW Composer to create interactive documents when more than a concept of a product emerges. Short of that, Photoview renderings and AVI's are part of my daily grist. I often hear gasps of delight when people see how their product will literally appear and operate.
Decals and materials are part of producing a faithful virtual prototype. Beyond glitz and glam with images and videos, I rely on meta-data to populate my drawing titleblocks and BOM tables. I have an 18 year history and a concomitant SW CAD library. That is to say, tons of models in a badly organized state. Lest my customers read this post, many of their projects are well managed in WPDM vaults, but not all. Carbonite is my best friend.
I contract work with several companies, each with segregated intellectual property silos. Within each company, I collaborate with their teams, usually via WPDM, sometimes thru PDME, sometimes with dropbox. Sometimes I am the entire team. I've created vaults for a team consisting of only me. And then gotten into arguments between the admin and the user, but that's another story.
My role in the team is usually temporary - as soon as my deliverable goods are transferred, I loose access to the data. Because of my skill with Solidworks, I bring value in the form of speed to the team when it comes to design development. Because of my experience in manufacturing, I produce better than average fab drawings. Solidworks, as a tool, enabled me to prosper as a contracted design service.
I can't believe I'm using past tense.
The life cycle end of WPDM has created a bump in the CAD lane for me. Were it not for the OnShape founder's familiarity with Solidworks I wouldn't have spent this much time here. I should apologize for bringing vitriol to this forum. I'm in a bit of a snit as I type this and that has nothing to do with OnShape. My introduction to OnShape has been surprisingly pleasant. You knew I was coming.
I'm doubtful that Onshape (at time of writing this post) is a replacement for Solidworks. I'm missing drawing templates & meta data in the tutorials. This will be just like shifting a project to Composer - all of my primitive mates (also know as billable labor that has been completed) are going to be stripped. Yes, I admire the OnShape mate approach. No, I don't look forward to what is otherwise redundant effort.
My experience with OnShape consists of watching the tutorials once and speed reading the forum looking for Solidworks migration plans and testimonials from guys who know me or that I've met in the past. The most optimistic post I've seen hints that dual CAD could be a solution. Use SW for the things OnShape is lacking and joyfully collaborate otherwise*. At this point, Creo feels like a replacement for the CAD tool for my practice. However, since I'm faced with mastering a new UI either way, I thought it prudent to ask experts in Solidworks who have migrated to OnShape about realistic expectations.
*inside joke linking joy to wpdm.
Decals and materials are part of producing a faithful virtual prototype. Beyond glitz and glam with images and videos, I rely on meta-data to populate my drawing titleblocks and BOM tables. I have an 18 year history and a concomitant SW CAD library. That is to say, tons of models in a badly organized state. Lest my customers read this post, many of their projects are well managed in WPDM vaults, but not all. Carbonite is my best friend.
I contract work with several companies, each with segregated intellectual property silos. Within each company, I collaborate with their teams, usually via WPDM, sometimes thru PDME, sometimes with dropbox. Sometimes I am the entire team. I've created vaults for a team consisting of only me. And then gotten into arguments between the admin and the user, but that's another story.
My role in the team is usually temporary - as soon as my deliverable goods are transferred, I loose access to the data. Because of my skill with Solidworks, I bring value in the form of speed to the team when it comes to design development. Because of my experience in manufacturing, I produce better than average fab drawings. Solidworks, as a tool, enabled me to prosper as a contracted design service.
I can't believe I'm using past tense.
The life cycle end of WPDM has created a bump in the CAD lane for me. Were it not for the OnShape founder's familiarity with Solidworks I wouldn't have spent this much time here. I should apologize for bringing vitriol to this forum. I'm in a bit of a snit as I type this and that has nothing to do with OnShape. My introduction to OnShape has been surprisingly pleasant. You knew I was coming.
I'm doubtful that Onshape (at time of writing this post) is a replacement for Solidworks. I'm missing drawing templates & meta data in the tutorials. This will be just like shifting a project to Composer - all of my primitive mates (also know as billable labor that has been completed) are going to be stripped. Yes, I admire the OnShape mate approach. No, I don't look forward to what is otherwise redundant effort.
My experience with OnShape consists of watching the tutorials once and speed reading the forum looking for Solidworks migration plans and testimonials from guys who know me or that I've met in the past. The most optimistic post I've seen hints that dual CAD could be a solution. Use SW for the things OnShape is lacking and joyfully collaborate otherwise*. At this point, Creo feels like a replacement for the CAD tool for my practice. However, since I'm faced with mastering a new UI either way, I thought it prudent to ask experts in Solidworks who have migrated to OnShape about realistic expectations.
*inside joke linking joy to wpdm.
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