I’m looking to get trained in solidworks or revit as I’m missing out on potential job opportunities

There is a place near me in Furness Vale (Cadtek) that does courses, but they are £1100 and I’m out of work so its a no go

I’ve used AutoCAD for over 10 years, and I did a day at Cadtek on solidworks

Anyone know of anywhere else that might be a cheaper option?

TBH the extensive tutorials that come with it are about as good a way to get to grasps with it as any – time in front of a machine will see you most of the way there. Or are you already at this stage and looking to get further?

Now if only you knew someone to ask for a copy of it to get your hand in…

built in tutorials + 1, though that doesn’t get a nice certificate to put on your cv,

I have no idea but can’t you get financial help from the government to do training if you are out of work?

Innova systems, do a course for £750 and may offer a better deal in your position. They come across as very professional in my dealings with them.

oh i have it, but I’ll be blown if I can get it to work on my PC, I have never had a problem with software from the far east before, so maybe I’ll look again.

The rules for getting financial help are ridiculous. If you have been out of work less than 6 months you can get help through the response to redundancy scheme, however any longer and you are not eligible. They brought in the scheme after I had already been out of work for 6 months. Cosmic 🙁

In built tutorials are pretty good, training should also be good, but for a job you’ll always be up against someone with years of time on Solidworks, so unless you can offer something else it’ll be a tough call (but not impossible) to get a job.
Also try and find out what CAD system is most popular in your area, you may find it’s not what you think. Around here (Cambridge) it is, but it sometimes depends on the industry.
Good luck.

I’ve done mainly civil/structural engineering and architectural work.
I would like to get more into the architectural/product design side of things, even though there seems to be more money in engineering.

I think revit seems to be picking up in architecture, but I’ve seen plenty of jobs advertised within engineering where they want autocad and solidworks experience.

As cash is tight, I thought solidworks might be the way to go until I get all my debts cleared, then think about revit and getting back into architecture

I taught myself while redundant using a book from Amazon called SolidWorks 2007 Bible. My local library also had a couple of training books.

The main problem I had was thinking of things that i might need to model to practice on.

Do you have a copy of Solidworks for your PC?

The main problem I had was thinking of things that i might need to model to practice on

random objects on your table?!

The tutorials that come with SolidWorks are good, but you obviously need a copy of SolidWorks to do them! Once you get your head round it, the learning curve is pretty quick to a point – you’ll be able to do basic modelling quickly. It takes years of use though to really understand the ins and outs and tricks etc…

And of course it’s only a tool. If you’re designing stuff it’s what goes on in your head- the computer doesn’t deisgn for you, it just allows you to express what’s in your head to others.

You also need a decent computer to run it – see yesterday’s CAD thread.

to answer a bit more of your original questions – all the CAD resellers will charge roughly the same amount. You might get them to chuck in a training course if you buy a licence, but that’s going to cost you £4k plus. You can do deals with them to get finance etc.. though.

just read the line in your post about using AutoCad for years – ignore my comment about solidworks just being a tool – you’re obviously experienced in the field!

You also need a decent computer to run it – see yesterday’s CAD thread.

Didn’t read the thread yesterday, but whilst I’d agree you need a good computer to work complex models it will run fine on most pcs these days. Obviously need a specific graphics card for real time photoworks but that’s not that important for most folks. I run SW 2011 on my 6 year old pc at home fine and it was average spec at best back then. I also installed it on a kids netbook yesterday – runs slow and with the small screen pretty pointless, but it can be done.

I’ll say again, if only you knew someone with a copy of the latest version who might be able to lend you a copy……..

If you become self-employed to take on CAD work or suchlike, you can take the £1500 grant to further your skills. Ask about the re-training grant at the Job Centre.
It’s your right, take it.

Jools182
Just remembered I still have the Solidworks Essentials: Parts and Assemblies manual.
Yours for £20. email in profile if required.

A mate runs a 3D visualisation company – mostly doing superyacht visuals. He used Solidworks and some other rendering package. The images he produces, often just from a sketch or two, are amazing!

His hardware costs a fortune though and he uses server farms for rendering.

random objects on your table?!

Yeah, but copying stuff is easy. It’s starting models from scratch that I found the most difficult to grasp.

My ancient PC runs Solidworks fine for ‘normal’ stuff. If I was making huge assemblies it might keel over, but you don’t need anything over an above a ‘normal’ PC.

If you don’t have a copy, this is a pretty good option:

SolidWorks Student Edition

TBH, it’s not that hard to pick up if you’ve used another CAD system in the past.

I had a trial copy on my PC, but it only lasted 30 days, maybe the £70 option might be the way forward, although I’ll struggle getting that together at the moment 🙁

Jools182 I can probably send you a 2009 version I think. Problem is I have not been able to get it to work on my system. I think you now have to registar with them, unlike say adobe which is still a product key.

the £70 option is only available to registered uni students… and only lasts a year.

thanks for that tails, its worth a try to see if it works on my PC

What’s your email address and I’ll see what I can do?

jools182@hotmail.com

Jools182 I can probably send you a 2009 version I think. Problem is I have not been able to get it to work on my system. I think you now have to registar with them, unlike say adobe which is still a product key.

If it’s like our system (still running 2008…. long story) 3DS holds the key and when you fire up a session the key is transferred over the web to your PC. You hold it on your machine until it is released back to the pool on the 3DS server…… but, you must have the unique code for your key and enter this when installing the Solidworks locally. If the code on your machine and in the key don’t match, then no dice.

That is probably what the situation is. It’s a shame really as how can someone learn the program if they don’t have access to it, it is a big commitment from an employer to take someone on who says they can learn it!!

Although I can see why they do it as i have worked at companies who are using fake software, which is bad form really. I can sympathise with home users but not companies. Didn’t the FA get caught using dodgy windows software.

Jools – It ain’t Solidworks, but you could learn something even better – Autodesk Inventor 🙂

http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=assistanceemia

Sign up for the Autodesk Assistance Program to access software, training and certification.
What’s inside?

* Free* Software License
* Free Online Training
* Classroom Training
* Information on Certification
* Industry Careers
* Special Offers from Autodesk and Partners

I haven’t checked all the requirements, but it may be just up your street

Tails – I thought it was an awful faff to start with, but as we have 5 irregular users, using it at home and in the office, and 2 keys it actually works rather well. It’s less hastle than handing round dongles and more secure than holding keys on-site and using a FLexLM server or some-such.

problem is, I’ve never seen any jobs advertised asking for Inventor experience 🙁

Well if you search for solidworks, they tend not to show up 😉

Not 50:50 but it’s much more common than when I started using it 5 years ago. Very similar to solidworks so may be a good route to learn the fundamentals if you can’t afford to train in solidworks.

And the best thing is, it’s nothing like Autocad 😛
Revit is on their list too.

Ineventor is similar to Inventor, but is arguably a little trickier – generally an extra mouse click or two for the same functions. All 3D cad essentially operates in the same way though.

We’ve never had floating licenses as described above – just enter a serial number.

Cracks get around the solidworks check key check. apparently.

Ineventor is similar to Inventor

I agree. 🙂

lol, it’s been one of those days!

similar to SolidWorks etc…

ooOOoo – thanks for that post, I’m going to look into it

I’m in such a stupid situation, need training in software other than autocad to get a job, can’t find any money to train as don’t have a job

A business partner of mine is a designer and does tutorials at the RCA and also offers one on one training in London.
You won’t get a certificate but if you’re a designer and wanted to learn how to use Solidworks for the things you want to design and get built then one on one could be a good way to go.

pricey though I’ll bet

sorry I forgot to email you I will get it copied at the weekend but I’m quite busy at the mo.

pricey though I’ll bet

training is expensive but then why should it be free, the trainer has spent along time learning it. Plus they are effectively killing the value of their skillset.

I wouldn’t mind having the details of the trainer damo? Although by the looks of it the big money is in Cinema 4D

Email me if you want details, not sure if he knows Cinema 4D, does do Rhino too though.

obviously one on one training would give me much better and quicker results, but I just don’t have much cash

Depends what you want to do – if idea is to get a job then getting some kind of cert probably best

5 years on Inventor and still failed my associate exam 😳 you have to know every option, menu & sub menu, even if you only use it once a year.

Just looked on Autodesk Labs and you can try Inventor over the web, but alas only in the US & Canada. May get over here at some point.

There’s another program I heard of called CoCreate (oops..now Creo Elements) that apparently is free (with restrictions), might be worth checking out.

http://www.ptc.com/products/creo-elements-direct/

It is not a history based modeller though, it is a feature based modeller. Do you know the difference?

Good luck jools. It’s tough to change software but if you can get some skills, 3D CAD is certainly never going away. Can you not find much autocad work at the moment?