Of course it would be useful to be able to specify Z-up but come on... Solidworks, a significantly more expensive program with vastly greater resources behind it, only half implemented the ability in 2020...You can most certainly do that. But for a program as expensive as Alibre Design Expert and to be at V27 without allowing for specifying what axis is up is just plain wrong.
I've been a fan of MOI for quite a while. I've used a lot of different apps but MOI must work like I think because it seemed to have no "learning curve" - everything just made sense. But it doesn't do all that Alibre Design Expert does. I wonder if I will become as proficient with ADE as I am with MOI.And I like how DesignSpark Mechanical does it,
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and also in MOI-3D,
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True. Yet there are apps much cheaper than Alibre with way less resources that implemented the ability to pick your orientation from day one. It should have been an obvious thing for Alibre to include in their initial planning.Of course it would be useful to be able to specify Z-up but come on... Solidworks, a significantly more expensive program with vastly greater resources behind it, only half implemented the ability in 2020...
Maybe it wasn't such an obvious or significant thing 25 years ago? It wasn't for Solidworks, it wasn't for Autodesk with Inventor either. Inventor still doesn't have the ability to set Z-up...It should have been an obvious thing for Alibre to include in their initial planning.
Well, if there is a piece of software that really complements Alibre, it is MOI-3D. It makes difficult geometries (solids or surfaces) become almost fun. Beside, Alibre expert read and convert the 3dm format of MOI, no need to convert to step. I only convert to step when dealing with SPACECLAIM or its watered down variant (DesignSpark Mechanical).I've been a fan of MOI for quite a while. I've used a lot of different apps but MOI must work like I think because it seemed to have no "learning curve" - everything just made sense. But it doesn't do all that Alibre Design Expert does. I wonder if I will become as proficient with ADE as I am with MOI.
No, there is more to it than that. For instance the "View Cube" - you click TOP and it shows you a view with the Y axis pointing toward you instead of the Z axis. Yes, you can design the part however you want but you have to perform "mental gymnastics" such as remembering to select TOP when you want FRONT. From the end users point of view there is absolutely no downside to allowing specifying the desired co-ordinate system. The programmers of the software may feel differently.I feel that I need to repeat the fact that we are only talking about presetting the lighting here. Nothing more. You can design your parts with whichever orientation you want.
Another minor detail that has been 'overlooked'!One issue is that the names for the new planes are not displayed.
^THISNo, there is more to it than that. For instance the "View Cube" - you click TOP and it shows you a view with the Y axis pointing toward you instead of the Z axis. Yes, you can design the part however you want but you have to perform "mental gymnastics" such as remembering to select TOP when you want FRONT. From the end users point of view there is absolutely no downside to allowing specifying the desired co-ordinate system.
You've obviously never worked to industry or corporate standards then!I've never felt the need to be told what is the front or top of my model...
That's true!You've obviously never worked to industry or corporate standards then!
One only has to "google" cartesian coordinate system to see that there is more than just one way of setting it up. Once place I checked started with just X and Y, as you might use on graph paper, with +X to the right and +Y up. Then they moved onto a system with X, Y and Z - and Z+ was pointing up.The Z up thing has been a thing since I first started using the software in 2014. It would be a nice update, and there seems to be no shortage of it as a topic on here.
I think Y-up has been baked into CAD software since its creation. I recall using AutoCAD R10, although it was 2D, having Y-up. Each program we used at work, CADAM and SDRC's I-DEAS was Y-up. And until recently SolidWorks was Y-up but in previous versions it let you assign a new coordinate system for export as Z-up. Now I understand you can assign/select Z-up for design creation.
Being new to ADE I have not made use of the 3D sketching capability. Still working through the exercises. Thanks.Alibre does allow the user to create a 3d coordinate system but it is limited to the 3D sketching environment. I wonder how difficult it would be to make it available as soon as a new part is created.
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