Alibre’s prices now include Alibre Translate (which was $499).  (Alibre pricing info via World CAD Access).

VX’s current sale (through March 1, 2010) is VX Innovator for $495, VX Designer for $2000, VX Mold & Die for $3000, VX 3D Machinist for $4000, and VX End To End for $5000.

VX definitely looks more capable than Alibre, but it’s significantly more expensive (including, I’m sure, the annual maintenance fees).  So far, I’ve been able to do some things in VX Innovator I can’t do in Alibre, but Alibre has very few license restrictions.  For example, VX Innovator limits assembly creation to 40 parts maximum (it can import models with more), while Alibre Design Standard does not have any hard limits.  Also, Alibre lets you install Design on up to three computers, which is very nice for those of us with multiple PCs.

I think that if you do anything with 3D solid modeling (not surfacing), then Alibre is definitely worth a look due to its low price, lack of artificial limits, and good import/export options (especially now with Alibre Translate).  If Alibre can improve the ease of use, maybe it can become what SpaceClaim originally claimed to be: MCAD for the rest of us (non-designers), people who need to occasionally work with 3D, but aren’t designing complex parts all day long.

Right now, I’m still sticking with Alibre Design Standard V11 and VX Innovator; if I do a lot of CAD this year, I’ll look at upgrading to Alibre V12.

NOTE: Updated 2/4/10 to reflect Max Freeman’s comment.

I own licenses of Alibre Design Standard V11 (which I bought during the $99 sale) and VX Innovator V14 (which I bought on sale for $195).  I also have free licenses for DoubleCAD XT and CoCreate PE.

I mainly plan on using Alibre and VX Innovator, and reporting my experiences here.  They are somewhat complimentary; Alibre is a pretty standard history-based parametric modeler (with some nice features such as Acrobat 3D output), and VX is a hybrid modeler (solid and surface).

DoubleCAD looks very capable for 2D CAD, but I don’t expect to use it a lot.  I mainly use it for viewing and experimenting with DXF files created by Eagle PCB.

I do like CoCreate PE, but don’t plan on using it much now that I have Alibre Design and VX Innovator.  It’s limited to 60 parts per assembly, which I could easily exceed when modeling a PCB, and cannot export STEP files.  PTC has offered some very big discounts in the past to upgrade to the full version, but the annual maintenance  cost is way too high for my budget.

However, this is not a MCAD blog; my interest in still primarily in automation software and system integration (including PCBs).  OK, I do plan on writing more, but mostly I want to write about my experiences with affordable MCAD.  I do not have the time or interest to keep up with all the latest deals.  But I still might mention deals or MCAD news occasionally.

If you want to keep up on the latest special offers, you should visit MCAD sites such as Deelip.com and World CAD Access.  Also, if you register for the free versions (e.g. Alibre Design Xpress, CoCreate PE, DoubleCAD XT) you will receive e-mail offers.

Alibre has had a lot of good deals (maybe too many).  I’m currently sticking with V11 because I haven’t used it enough, and the improvements in V12 aren’t compelling for my uses.

VX had another sale on VX Innovator around Christmas, but they aren’t as good at marketing as Alibre; if you’re interested in a deal on VX, you should check their web store frequently.

Kubotek has had some sales, too, such as Kubotek Spectrum for $99; current deals include $700 off KeyCreator.

My latest MCAD news is here.

Since I’ve been posting a lot about affordable Mechanical CAD software, here’s an update on two great deals:

• Alibre’s $99 offer for Design Standard V11.2 ends on September 29, 2009; also on sale for $99 are Alibre Translate and Alibre Training Bundle.  The maintenance contract is still $299, and includes the upgrade to V12 (due on 9/29/09).
• Time to give some attention to VX Innovator: it’s on sale for $195 until September 4, 2009 for Americas, India, and Africa (with a note that price will increase to $295 — we’ll see if that’s a permanent price cut).

I’ ve been playing with Innovator for the past couple days, and will probably buy it, too.  Some initial comments:

• I’ve had problems installing it on two XP systems, but did get it to install on a Vista (yuck!) system.
• There’s not much about it on the web.  I’ve tried searching for VX topics, and had a hard time coming up with useful results;  there’s much more information available on Alibre and CoCreate.
• I was able to get it do some basic stuff without reading the manual, but with a fair amount of fiddling; overall, I’d say it’s not too difficult to use.
• It can do some things Alibre can’t do, and works in a very different manner (which is good — if it was very similar to Alibre, Solidworks, Solid Edge, etc I wouldn’t be interested).

BTW, I’m not interested in running cracked copies of software (e.g. Solidworks).  I’m interested in using software that’s affordable for anyone to use commercially, and I think that companies that produce good software should be rewarded.

I am using MCAD software to model the PCBs I design because I can catch several types of design errors, including incorrect footprints and mechanical interference.

My requirements are pretty simple; what I want is an affordable system that can:

• import STEP and IGES files, since I want to use the manufacturer’s models if at all possible
• import and extrude DXF files, so I can easily create a model of the printed circuit board itself
• create assemblies using a fair number of parts (>50 should  be enough most of the time)
• export to STEP file (required) and 3D PDF, so I can share my work with others who aren’t using the same CAD software
• be fairly easy to learn and use — I’m primarily a software guy, occasionally designing PCBs, but I’m definitely not a mechanical designer.
• cost under $250

None of currently available free commercial MCAD programs meets all these requirements.  For example, I am fond of CoCreate PE, but it does not export to STEP or 3D PDF, and is limited to 60 parts per assembly.

At $99, however, Alibre Design Standard meets all these requirements, so I will be using it now for all my PCB modeling.  I still want to experiment with and blog about other possibilities, but I don’t expect to get around to that anytime soon.

Some commentators feel this is a desperation move by Alibre.  I think it is a good deal, because:

1. Alibre is getting a lot of publicity
2. They are getting cash flow from Design Xpress users they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise (I’ll call these people, including myself, the non-serious users).  In my case, Design Standard currently isn’t worth $999 (or even $500) to me, so Alibre received $99 from me that they wouldn’t have earned otherwise.
3. Since Alibre has not cut their other pricing, and support and maintenance is not included (Design Standard + 1 year support and upgrades is $398), their support costs are not going to skyrocket, and they probably won’t be devaluing their products.
4. They will still be getting more money from the “serious users” (who would be willing to pay >$500) because these users will be paying annual maintenance.
5. They have increased their chances of upselling in the future.  Once I am used to modelling with Design Standard, I am more likely to pay for maintenance or upgrades in the future.

Go here for my latest MCAD news posts.

I’ve used Xpress occasionally since it was introduced in 2005, and I’ve never had problems importing STEP  (or IGES) files until recently.  Since I mainly use mechanical CAD to model PCBs populated with manufacturer provided part models (typically in STEP or IGES formats), this means Xpress is no longer useful.  As far as I’m concerned, Xpress is now basically just a trial version — great if you want to evaluate Alibre Design before buying, but not useful on its own.

Since I’m not making any money from the PCBs, my budget for MCAD software is basically $0 (OK, I might go up to $250 for software that did a really great job).  If I were primarily doing mechanical design, especially for money, then my budget would be different.

I’m still thinking about what I want to do; my default option is to model in CoCreate PE, which only exports STL and VRML files, but at least it imports DWG, DXF, STP, and IGES files, so it’s still easy to model PCBs in CoCreate and check that all the pieces fit together.

Go here for my latest MCAD news posts.

Although I haven’t tried downloading and installing to verify, it appears Xpress still does exist, since the registration page for the Design Professional trial still says: “After 30 days your trial converts to Alibre Design Xpress, which has no time limit.”

Go here for my latest MCAD news posts.

The beta currently supports importing, viewing, and exporting IGES, STEP, STL, and Open CASCADE BRep files; in the future, more formats will be supported.  It is based on Open CASCADE; it is currently free but not open source.

CAD Exchanger does not currently support measuring.  I prefer that the CAD Exchanger team concentrate on adding and improving its file translation abilities; there are already fine free solutions for measuring STEP files.

I tried CAD Exchanger using the same Norcomp HD26M model I used with other CAD programs.  The user interface does not currently support drag-and-drop.  The HD26M model loaded in a reasonable time; 3D performance (rotate, zoom, pan) is good, even on a laptop with crappy Intel graphics.  CAD Exchanger provides a nice selection of pre-defined views.  I didn’t try exporting.

Here is a picture of CAD Exchanger in action:

HD26M model in CAD Exchanger

There are a variety of standard 3D file formats, including IGES, STEP, 3D PDF, STL, VRML, ACIS, and 3D PDFs.  The most common formats for electrical components are IGES, STEP, and, recently, 3D PDFs.  My experience is that STEP files typically import with fewer problems than IGES; 3D PDFs are very nice for viewing parts, but unless the file creator took the proper steps, cannot be used for measuring.

My uses for STEP files include:

• Viewing parts.  I can’t synthesize 3D parts in my head from a set of 2D drawings, and sometimes it’s very useful to see what a part looks like.   I really like to have real parts to play with, but that’s not always possible.
• Sometimes the manufacturer’s 2D prints do not give all the information I want to create my PCB component shape.  I can get any dimension I want from a STEP file.
• It’s very easy to screw up PCB connectors.  Doing a quick assembly of the PCB and components lets me verify that my drill sizes are correct, check for cable orientation, and such.

Since I am not doing any heavy duty mechanical design work, I did a bit of research into free MCAD programs that can view and measure STEP files, and preferably create small assemblies.  I found one program specifically designed as a STEP file viewer, IDA-STEP.   The free version of IDA-STEP does not measure.

However, most free MCAD programs can import and then measure STEP files.  I took a quick look at five different programs, listed below.  CoCreate PE is my favorite of the bunch; it seems the best match for a non-mechanical guy like me.

1. CoCreate PE
2. PowerSHAPE-e
3. Alibre Design Xpress Note: since Alibre has dropped STEP import from Design Xpress, it is no longer a good choice.
4. IDA-STEP
5. Acrobat 3D PDF
6. CAD Exchanger (a program to convert between CAD file formats, but it also works as a viewer)
7. CADFaster|QuickStep is another CAD file viewer with free and paid versions; when I get time, I will give it a short test.

Note that the free versions of MCAD programs exist primarily for marketing reasons, and the terms can (and have) changed at any time.

There are other free Mechanical CAD programs that might be able to read STEP files, including:

• Medusa4 Personal, which runs on Linux and Windows, but can’t export data and all drawings are marked.
• Kompas-3D Light, which cannot create assemblies.
• Autodesk Inventor LT, which cannot create assemblies.

You can drag and drop STEP files onto CoCreate.  It has a pretty complete set of pre-defined views.  Performance on my system is snappy.  I found measuring easy.  Hmm, so far pretty short and sweet – that’s because I like it.  It’s my favorite of the four programs I’ve tried (CoCreate, Alibre, PowerSHAPE, IDA STEP) – it seems the most intuitive to me, and was definitely the easiest to use to measure parts.

Note that like all other free CAD programs, the terms may change in the future.  For example, PTC (the current owner of CoCreate) had a free CAD program called Pro/Desktop that was later dropped (IIRC, the current users were given a five year license).

Measuring HD26M with CoCreate

The Exchange software provides CAD file translation for a very large number of CAD file formats.  Importing the files is free, but exporting to another format costs money (currently £34 (~$50) per file for non-PowerSHAPE-e files).  The Exchange software can be run stand-alone, or from within PowerSHAPE-e.

You can set a variety of import options when directly importing STEP files using Exchange; there are no options when importing using PowerSHAPE-e.  However, you cannot measure parts in Exchange.

You can drag and drop STEP files onto PowerSHAPE-e.  One nice feature are all the pre-defined views – just click on the icon to spin the part into that orientation.  However, I had to look up how to manually rotate a part: you have to hold down the middle mouse button.  Part manipulation speed is good.

You use the calculator to measure.  When measuring, PowerSHAPE-e seemed a bit behind where I wanted it to be; it might need a faster system than my Athlon 2800 + older Quadro card

Viewing HD26M connector with PowerSHAPE-e