Looking into learning solidworks but the engineering class that I would take at my college requires calculus.....yeah I am not gonna do that, I stopped at stats and algebra. For those who know it, did you take a course on it or did you teach yourself? Also, I will need to buy it but it's pretty expensive. Any cheaper routes I can go to get it? Thanks peeps!Miller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
Reply:My son makes his living using solidworks. He graduated from GaTech and has a lot of calculus training - took the same class 3 times, I think. So I don't think calculus is a requirement to use solidworks, but just a prerequisite to take the class. He did a lot with AutoCAD in school, but learned solidworks on the job. Both programs require a good math background.I don't know how expensive it is to buy, but the best return on investment ROI I ever get is when I invest in myself. Perhaps there is a technical school class that you could take.Good luck and I hope you find a way to get started.Burt _____________________Miller Syncrowave 250Millermatic 211Miller 375 Plasma Cutter Hobart Handler 12010FtDrillBit.com
Reply:If you're a student, you'll probably qualify for a student license for arounf $150, but it will only work for one year. A full license is on the order of $4000 with ongoing maintenace fees, so it doesn't make sense for casual use. There are good tutorials on Lynda.com, all you can eat for $25/mo. If you need to access their example files it goes up to $50/mo. Youtube has lots of tutorial videos but a lot of them aren't worth the time. You can try the GoEngineer channel for better ones. It's a great package with more functionality than any one person can use. The learning curve is steep, but you can get pretty productive in short order if you stick with it.-- Paul S
Reply:Thank you for the replies! I know the class does require calculus as a prerequisite but I will see if I can get a permission number and bypass it. I feel like I would learn calculus better if given a real world object, like a solidworks model, to learn off of....I am good at math but have no interest in spending the time to take a calculus class since I am about 9 credits out from graduating and seeing as it's not a requirement for my degree. Maybe someday when I am more motivated....?I've looked into the student edition for solidworks but as already stated, it is only a year long activation account. With the workload I have right now I don't know if I could take the risk of buying it and getting my money's worth. It feels like it is something that will take a lot of time to master if not working on it daily. Although, $150 is much better than $4,000 for sure!Thank you again for the info it really helped. I will take into account other online resources like Lynda.com which sounds like a good portal for education on this subject.Miller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
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4000 seems ridiculously high unless that's for a commercial license. I wonder if there's a "home" version of it that's more reasonable? If you're a veteran they're offering the student version for 20 bux. Might be something I'll check into...
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Reply:Originally Posted by SedlyIf you're a student, you'll probably qualify for a student license for arounf $150, but it will only work for one year. A full license is on the order of $4000 with ongoing maintenace fees, so it doesn't make sense for casual use. There are good tutorials on Lynda.com, all you can eat for $25/mo. If you need to access their example files it goes up to $50/mo. Youtube has lots of tutorial videos but a lot of them aren't worth the time. You can try the GoEngineer channel for better ones. It's a great package with more functionality than any one person can use. The learning curve is steep, but you can get pretty productive in short order if you stick with it.
Reply:Originally Posted by mtrcyclecop$4000 seems ridiculously high unless that's for a commercial license. I wonder if there's a "home" version of it that's more reasonable? If you're a veteran they're offering the student version for 20 bux. Might be something I'll check into...
Reply:Thanks for all the information. Sorry I was late replying but I did end up getting solidworks as a student and have been learning it on my own time. I love it so far and can see the many capabilities that it offers which is nice. Funny though my work just recently purchased solidworks yesterday (I've been telling them to get it for 2 years now.....) and so I can use it at work as well. I believe this will just enhance my skill-set and I am looking forward to what I can eventually build from it.Thanks again for everyone's insights and repliesMiller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
Reply:double postMiller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
Reply:Teaching yourself Solidworks is definitely doable. When I originally taught myself ages ago using Solidworks 2004, I bought a book called "Inside Solidworks 2003". I am currently still using version 2011 of the software but the vast majority of the material from that 2003 book is still relevant. Back then I worked through each chapter step-by-step and drew along with the examples. Then I practiced by drawing a large number of the dimensioned 3D sketches in my old engineering drawing textbook. Unfortunately a new version of that Solidworks book hasn't been published in a while, but I'd look for a similar book that you can work through step-by-step in your free time. If you invest the time it shouldn't take you a whole lot of time to become relatively proficient. Plus if you know one CAD program you pretty much know them all, it's really just a matter of trying to find the right button for the command you want. BTW there is absolutely no reason why you would need to know calculus to use/master the software, unless maybe you're a mech engineer trying to verify FEA or dynamics simulation results.Last edited by Jieve; 05-19-2015 at 04:35 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by tig_21Thank you for the replies! I know the class does require calculus as a prerequisite but I will see if I can get a permission number and bypass it. I feel like I would learn calculus better if given a real world object, like a solidworks model, to learn off of....I am good at math but have no interest in spending the time to take a calculus class since I am about 9 credits out from graduating and seeing as it's not a requirement for my degree. Maybe someday when I am more motivated....?I've looked into the student edition for solidworks but as already stated, it is only a year long activation account. With the workload I have right now I don't know if I could take the risk of buying it and getting my money's worth. It feels like it is something that will take a lot of time to master if not working on it daily. Although, $150 is much better than $4,000 for sure!Thank you again for the info it really helped. I will take into account other online resources like Lynda.com which sounds like a good portal for education on this subject.
Reply:You don't need calculus to use Solidworks, but the class may require it. There are good books that walk you through how to use Solidworks and other solid modeling software. I have used most of them, and they are all very similar.
