I know its an age-old debate, but I haven’t found any recent posts regarding this question …can anyone point me to any post/info on c’flot or on the web that can talk about which package I ought to go after for complex surfacing?
I’m using Rhino right now, which I loved at first and still do, but now all this tweaking and point sculpting is getting quite tedious. Seems like there ought to be a better way … I’m modeling sport sunglasses, btw. I need lots of control over the surfaces but I don’t want to point sculpt. Let’s assume for my question that money is no object.
Also, is Pro/E “better” at surfacing than Alias? Just curious.
What’s the difference between Pro/Engineer and Pro/Surface? I assume Pro/Engineer and Wildfire are the same thing, correct?
I agree that what helps you get it done fastest is the best tool to use. I don’t think Rhino is it anymore, unfortunately. I def. need parametrics to help me control certain aspects of these frames. The issue with pushing points is that in my “worm” (think a tube with a singularity at one end and open at the other, the open end being the bridge of the frame) I end up with way too many points in one area and not enough in others and sometimes I just need 4 points and I end up with 26 b/c of some detail I had to include elsewhere on the frame.
I understand how you’d get to that problem - I used to use Rhino a lot and theres several tools that I either never discovered or they didn’t exist to help out in situations like that.
In Alias you can build a simple surface, detach/seperate an area you want to add more detail to, build up that additional detail locally, and still maintain G2/Curvature continuity to your main/simplified surface.
It’s definately an issue when you add so many CV’s that you can’t manipulate other areas the way you want. The beauty of Alias is that it’s very easy to control where you add that control and isolating patches while maintaining and evaluating continuity.
I’ve never had any formal CAD training of any kind. Just a lot of lonely nights as a teenager and a lot of help from the people I work with.
Having never used Alias, and used solidworks and pro E i personally would Pick pro E everytime.
Yeah ok Pro E isn’t colour full and ‘user friend’ but my personal opinion is that surfacing in Pro E is fantastic. You have full parametric control and can construct G2 surfaces. The ISDX feature is very good and providing you have planned your model everything should run smoothly.
On the flip side i sued solidworks for a little while and found the surface a feature a nightmare, it seemed to me to basic.
Pro E allows me to contstruct surfaces as i would draw them as a 3D model.
other people will probably differ in opinion but Pro E to me is the winner by quite a long way.
Pro/E hands down. This program will blow your mind if you get deep into it. I just did a youtube demo on Influence Curves in Pro/e. The sound is a bit low but check it out:
The parametric capabilities are key. If you build your model right you can stretch and pull on it all day long and it won’t fail. I’m talking like…It should totally fail, but it just doesn’t. Its crazy.
Where’s Bart? He needs to jump in this post and show you some crazy demos.
It is interesting to compare Pro/E to Alias studio.
Both have parent child relationships but few know how to work it when proving form in Alias as braking the construction history is too often occurs. Rhino has a little construction history now.
Pro/ENGINEER can create 5 degree curves however you don’t really have any control over them nor can you officially convert a 3 degree curve to a five degree curve. Alias can draw a curve on surface but is limited in how you can force end constraints… can’t force tangency with a curve on surface in Alias. Pro/E and Solidworks both can.
If you learn solidowrks first you will for ever be intimidated by Pro/E … if you learn Wildfire first then your apt to continue on a learning path taking in all.
Alias will not let you force end constraints with the Curve on SURFACE tool. My modeling approach has grown quite fond of this functionality in Pro/ENGINEER
Alias allows more control over the curve with drives surfaces. For example when you force a G2 constraint to a surface with a curve in Pro/ENGINEER a user should be able to modify the second CV in and out. alias lets you and Pro/E does not.
Auto studio Alias allows users to rebuild the complexity of a curve from 3degree to five or higher. Pro/E seams to up a curve to a five degree curve when forcing G2 constrains but user does not get to control it specifically.
I wish Alias parent child relationships worked more accurately. Would help with proving forum.
