inventor is EASY. its like autocad for retards to be honest. autocad is def. way better for making accurate renderings. try to snag a copy of autocad 2006…we have 2007 at school, and it has lots of bugs…2006 is WAY better
i have 2000i and 2007…2000i is really stable but kind of out-dated but will still get teh job done i have arch desktop 2004 and Microstation V8 XM if anyone uses that…we use it at work thats y i have it
i gotta get my hands on AutoCad and VIZ…im gettin sweet with those in class…and want to be able to have them for my own use outside of the school.
maybe i can actually render up my AWD design and whore it to try to get some type of sponsorship/help with funding it
i have VIZ too…i think Ill have to check my collection…whatever version I got that u want…Ill be more than happy to HOOK UP…
PS ill send u PM
AutoCad sucks for solids, it’s designed for and primarily used for creating 2D drawings.
If you want the easiest/quickest software to pick up, get SolidWorks. It’s the most intuitive, yet far more powerful than you’ll ever need.
werd… especially if your designing manifolds and tubing and such
and if you can find ProE is lovely as well
ewwww… lol, I could never stand the menu system in ProEngineer (then again, I havent picked it up in a while[2000 area]… I’m sure newer versions are probably better)
UG FTW 
just wish I could figure out how to set it up for home
I’d agree w/ Dr. S
There is no need for anything more complex than SW, even with moderately complex FEA. Unless you are doing dramaticly complex stuff (which you aren’t), there is no reason other than to flex your e-penis and sound like you have a big engineering cock or something.
pro-E is horrible, i hate it.
i still have trouble understanding what HotRodKid is trying to do here. Are you trying to get dimensions of something to draw in 3DSMax? or are you trying to get a file, already drawn in cad so you can learn how to render and apply materials?
If it’s the 2nd, a Cad 2D cad file will not help you. The best way to try rendering a 3d object in 3DSMax is to save the Autocad file (.dwg) as a 3DSMax file (.3ds). Saving the file as a .3ds file in autocad exports much better with less translation errors.
he is trying to get file so he can draw as little as possible when doing stuff…like sor for example he is doing a intake manifold for a 6 cylinder FWD car…well i sent him mine so all he has to do is modify and improve on it
i just want a virtual “spare parts” bin, this way later of if i decide to render a project i might not have to make everything i need
for example: my t bucket plans project. if i already have wheels that someone else sent me, i can add the suspension i draw up, toss the frame in place, and ive got a chassis all set to go
or if im planning a turbo install, and someone sent me flanges, one less theng i have to draw myself
im trying to get the 3d files that they made on metalmeet.com … they look like this:
3DSM 9? HAH, Shit I remember when upgrading to 4 was a huge deal! I have had things render a week + when I used it years ago.
maxima, what program did you use to make those parts? they all unzipped as txt files
i donno if thats how the program u have saves them, or maybe the they got screwed up at some point during the zipping / emailing process
if its the second option, what file extension should they be?