CD after upgrade to Expert
- Thread starter fitzbond
- Start date
HaroldL
Alibre Super User
I thought I was the only one waiting for the cd's.
I have been trading emails with support since before Christmas and back then I was told the new cd's were based on 9.2 and would be out by the end of December. The last I heard, they were completing the packaging for them and would be out soon. Not sure what the unit of measure is for "soon" though, week?, month?, year?
And now today I get an email from support telling me that with the upcoming release of 9.2 that I should upgrade my expert license to expert plus FreeDimension. So, it looks like those of you that wanted the capability to create free-form surfaces will now be able to do that in FreeDimension then pass them on to Alibre.
I see a trend starting here, add an enhancement to Alibre and sell it as an optional add-on but don't bother to fix any of the many problems or add the internal enhancements. That way you can charge a fee for all this and not have to include it in the paid maintenance upgrades.
So, I get that bit of news but no hint of when the training cd's will be available. :?
Sorry for venting, I'm just getting tired of waiting to get what what was promised.
Where are the sheetmetal enhancements??
HaroldL
swertel
Alibre Super User
That email doesn't list all the changes in 9.2. For that, you'll have to wait for the release notes.
And as far as freedimension goes, you could do surfacing with Rhino and AD/Rhino plug-in. I'm curious how this other surfacer will work. Being that it is brand new, I'm curious the ease of use, functionality, stability, etc. Some of the example graphics don't look very well polished.
But, I do like the fact that it receives OBJ files. Now I can use a 3D scanner, bring it in to FreeDimension, clean it up, and transfer that to AD at an affordable price.
The new 5 disc set of training CDs is advertised on the Alibre site but the Austalian agent says that they not yet available. The Alibre site provides a table of contents and downloadable samples - why are they not available :?: The Albre site has been advertising them for at least 1 month.
Also, there is no mention of an upgrade path. I found the original set of 4 DCs excellent and from time to time go back to them when I have a problem. I would like to get the 5 CD set if the cost of upgrade is reasonable.
Mibe
Alibre Super User
Re:
You can't compare FreeDimension with Rhino, the same way you can't compare Alibre Design and Pro/E. Rhino is (even if it's a low priced product) more expensive and has a lot of functionality a conceptual designer does not need.
FreeDimension is so easy to use, that even I can create quite cool designs It's only the first version, so have patience - it will grow!
I agree with the rather dull examples on their web page, but check out the tutorials. The designs are quite awesome!
swertel said:
You can't compare FreeDimension with Rhino, the same way you can't compare Alibre Design and Pro/E. Rhino is (even if it's a low priced product) more expensive and has a lot of functionality a conceptual designer does not need.
FreeDimension is so easy to use, that even I can create quite cool designs
It's only the first version, so have patience - it will grow!I agree with the rather dull examples on their web page, but check out the tutorials. The designs are quite awesome!
Alibre is not communicating with its clients/members :-
- 5 CD training set continues to be advertised on Alibre site, compete with Table of Contents and sample downloads.
- No notifications to paid up clients/members
- No indication of upgrade path of the original 4 CD training set for paid up clients /members
- Other members report receipt od 6 CD training set
:?
A
Anonymous
Guest
MIBE,
Why can't you compare Pro/e and Alibre? Alibre does the comparison for you right here:
http://www.alibre.com/products/comparison.asp
It looks to me like Alibre is a bit of a mickey mouse company. Lots of hype, not a lot of performance. They will gladly take your money for products that they haven't even completed yet. I've given Alibre a try for over 3 years. I was once a supporter of them, but I have wasted so much time trying to use workarounds that my side jobs just aren't profitable. Now I am sick of the hype and lack of promised enhancements and bug fixes. It is perfectly fair to compare them to Pro/e and Solidworks because that is the market they are going after. With Pro/e dropping their price to around $2500-$3000 why would you even consider such an inferior product as Alibre?
JordanCClark
Alibre Super User
I guess it-- like all software packages-- depends on what you are looking to do with it. I've been using it for about a year and a half, and far what I do, it's more than capable enough. Would I like it to do more? Yes! Could it be better? Again, yes! In fact, absolutely!
However, from where I was, would I ever go back to AutoCAD? Only if I didn't have a napkin and a crayon handy.It has a CD on "Motion" and another on "PDF publishing" and more so I guess it is 9.1 level. It does not have anything on the new 3D surfacing tool.
I guess I'll bite on the Surfacing upgrade as I hope it will be tightly intergrated. Do we have any Beta testers that will comment on the "FreeDimension" module. :?: :?:
I'll have more money in Mechanical design software than all my Electrical and Programming software combined and I'm supposed to be a retired EE. :shock: