Making The Best Recipe from Available Flavors

[CEHill]

Your thoughts GOOD, BAD and OTHERWISE on the following shift using available 2008-based software

BACKGROUND
I am in a smaller chemical processing environment where I work alone and have admin privileges (unheard of) and on Autodesk Subscription using Inventor 2008 Routed Systems Suite. Here is the situation

#1 AutoCAD Vanilla has improved with 2008....

PLAN to NOT use AutoCAD Mechanical 2008 for 2D i.e. process-related diagrams (P&ID's, isometric piping, etc.) as I started doing due to my experience with it as a machine designer at another company and its scaling features, standard-based toolset and 2D parametric standard parts library including structural shapes.

NO GO on AutoCAD P&ID due to cost and most P&ID's are in place & no database functionality required per mgmt. I tried to sell it.

#2 Inventor 2008 Routed Systems Suite....

PLAN to NOT use AutoCAD Mechanical 2008 for structural ( platforms, vessels) & piping layouts and assoc. design work going 3D all the way with Inventor 2008 (after gaining some experience, that is) I have been formally trained (beginner course).

Have any of you made a similar shift lately? What are some things to consider?

[BrenBren]

Your thoughts GOOD, BAD and OTHERWISE on the following shift using available 2008-based software

BACKGROUND
I am in a smaller chemical processing environment where I work alone and have admin privileges (unheard of) and on Autodesk Subscription using Inventor 2008 Routed Systems Suite. Here is the situation

#1 AutoCAD Vanilla has improved with 2008....

PLAN to NOT use AutoCAD Mechanical 2008 for 2D i.e. process-related diagrams (P&ID's, isometric piping, etc.) as I started doing due to my experience with it as a machine designer at another company and its scaling features, standard-based toolset and 2D parametric standard parts library including structural shapes.

NO GO on AutoCAD P&ID due to cost and most P&ID's are in place & no database functionality required per mgmt. I tried to sell it.

#2 Inventor 2008 Routed Systems Suite....

PLAN to NOT use AutoCAD Mechanical 2008 for structural ( platforms, vessels) & piping layouts and assoc. design work going 3D all the way with Inventor 2008 (after gaining some experience, that is) I have been formally trained (beginner course).

Have any of you made a similar shift lately? What are some things to consider?

I guess I don't understand why you would choose not to use Mechanical for 2D work, when that is what it is designed for. You have all the tools available in Mechanical that you do in AutoCAD, plus some nice ones (my favorite is the autodim features).

If you are doing 3D, Inventor is the way to go, but to have the tools at your disposal and not use them, I just don't get.

[CEHill]

I am still open...kinda knocking the 2D idea around (but not the 3D).

Good point on Mechanical: If they only knew - vanilla users would die to use some of Mechanical's features that I currently take for granted.

I have an idea about this and I thank you muchly for yours!

[robert.1.hall72202]

I guess I don't understand why you would choose not to use Mechanical for 2D work, when that is what it is designed for. You have all the tools available in Mechanical that you do in AutoCAD, plus some nice ones (my favorite is the autodim features).

If you are doing 3D, Inventor is the way to go, but to have the tools at your disposal and not use them, I just don't get.

Mechanical desktop files are not backwards compatible with 2000LT. All of my clients would need a copy of mechanical desktop. Most of my clients are running vanilla.

[BrenBren]

Mechanical desktop files are not backwards compatible with 2000LT. All of my clients would need a copy of mechanical desktop. Most of my clients are running vanilla.

Not mechanical desktop, but mechanical - which are backwards compatible with AutoCAD LT - you may need to EXPORTTOCAD (I think that's the command) if you use some of the mechanical features, but in general, they can be opened with vanilla AutoCAD.

[dgorsman]

Mechanical desktop files are not backwards compatible with 2000LT. All of my clients would need a copy of mechanical desktop. Most of my clients are running vanilla.

Verticals/add-ons tend to add extended data to various parts of the drawing, causing file bloat and occaisonal corruption. I know, I deal with that almost every day, with files that have had no direct contact with AEC, LDT, Civil3D, ProSteel, MDT (and so on)... and the data still works its way through our drawings.

There are *much* better packages for P&IDs (I prefer my own, but I'm biased) and isometrics which are specifically designed for such, available with or without database support.

[thomas.stright]

#2 Inventor 2008 Routed Systems Suite....

PLAN to NOT use AutoCAD Mechanical 2008 for structural ( platforms, vessels) & piping layouts and assoc. design work going 3D all the way with Inventor 2008 (after gaining some experience, that is) I have been formally trained (beginner course).

Have any of you made a similar shift lately? What are some things to consider?

Have you considered any 3D Piping Packages?

[CEHill]

All,

Thanks for the great dialog on this subject.

Thomas,

That software looks great. I will pass this along. However, I am contracted through my employer and have very little influence on the client's software preference. I am lucky to gain more experience with 3D of any flavor as most of my experience has been in 2D.

Being a proponent of 3D intelligent design, this has absolutely has not been by choice but by financial necessity and job availability.

[Comach]

Auotdesk currently has a focus on the plant design market, with extensive development in plant design software, including P&IDs. It is rumoured that this will be complimented with a plant design product for 3D piping design, scheduled for preview later this year.

Might be interesting to see how this whole plant design package evolves, which be a option for you to explore for the long term.