The best CAD program?

[Roger M]

Hey everyone,
I'm trying to find a good design program for a few different things. I need something for hydronic heating systems, Gas piping, and a little plumbing. My father-in-law needs it for fire sprinkler and suppression system design. We're hoping to get one program that will work for all of this. Any guidance or recommendation would be appreciated. Thanks

[sik68]

I use Autodesk's Autocad (2D) as well as PTC's ProEngineer (3D) at my workplace. Autocad is very good at making quick layouts of an idea, but can become really tedius and clumsy when making large-scale changes to a design concept. ProE is the opposite: it's relatively terrible if you want to do some quick drafting, but it begins to shine as the complexity of the design increases. Available with ProE is an extension package specifically for piping, so that may be a useful tool for you.

Ultimately though, ProE can do many things that Autocad cannot. Hence the steeper price.

As an order of magnitude on pricing: Autocad ~$1200, ProE ~$5000.

[LateNight72]

AutoCAD is great for simple layouts, and designs. But for 3D part/assembly renderings, I am a Solidworks fan.

[cheapthrillz]

x2 for solid works.... very easy to run and make assebly drawings, bill of materials, etc.

[vp23271]

I use ProE on a daily basis at work. It might take a little longer to learn, but it is a powerful tool. My work environment has multiple users and each is designing his/her part and at the end of the project everything must fit together. ProE is good at large complex concurrent designs with multiple users attributing their part to the bigger picture. ProE might be over kill for your application.

AutoCad for 2D and SolidWorks for 3D might be a better choice for you. It cost less and is quicker to get up and running. A lot of local community colleges offer classes, so that might be of some benefit possibly for you or future employees.

[68sixspeed]

Autocad for 2d, Inventor or Solidworks for 3d IMO.

[trapin]

Unigraphics.



......just kidding.

[dannyho]

Solidworks is a good program, and I like it but....
I've been using CATIA V5 for a few years and i like it much more than solidworks, which is what i'm using now. It's much more capable, and more expensive, but the people i've seen trying to switch to it have had trouble going from solidworks to V5, however the guy I work with agreed with me once he got used to it. It's not a bad idea to take a class with V5.
Delmia V5 has a lot of the fatures for CATIA V5, might be an option

[Samckitt]

Unigraphics.



......just kidding.

What do you mean "just kidding"?

I have to say I like Unigraphics best. But for small jobs it is not cost effective to use it. I don't have much to compare it to since I have used only it since 1992, & have worked for the company for 10 years. But years ago I did have a little experience with ProE & a I felt UG was a much better system.