Alibre Design Erfahrungen

Exceptional value for money

Kommentare: As a user of SolidWorks at work, I wanted a system that I could use at home with similar capabilities; SolidWorks did not offer a suitable license for this purpose. I discovered Alibre around 2013 and was surprised to find that it closely matched the performance of SolidWorks at an affordable cost, and even more surprised to find that it ran well on my home computer. I used it for parallel work to my day job, for exporting Alibre models into SolidWorks, and for other work on my own account. When I retired in 2019 and set up a small home business, I added a CAM add-in and used Alibre to model products and generate toolpaths for their production on a small CNC machine in my garage; it has paid for itself many times over.

Vorteile:

Having used SolidWorks at work since 2000, I have found Alibre to be capable of virtually the same performance at home at a small fraction of the cost. - In addition, it runs well on my basic home desktop PC, and it can import SW native files (though without retaining the feature tree). For someone who is comfortable working in SolidWorks, ProE, etc, Alibre is very much the same at lower cost. - The Alibre license is permanent, unlike other CAD systems. You can subscribe to maintenance support, but if you decide to let that lapse your system license is still good - you lose the maintenance but still can continue to use the software. - Alibre's customer service has also been consistently very good, every question receives careful attention and an immediate helpful response.

Nachteile:

This is not really Alibre's fault, but the discontinuation of a CAM add-in called AlibreCAM 2020 (as I understand, this was not actually an Alibre product but made by MecSoft) around 2021 was unfortunate - it was excellent and seamless in Alibre and critical to my work. In order to retain this discontinued product, I have not updated my system to the most recent version of Alibre.

Absolutely Wonderful

Kommentare: Absolutely wonderful, the workflow is logical, the interface is clean and it runs smoothly on my computer. Having had experience since high school (in the F1 in Schools Program) with CATIA, SolidWorks, ProDesktop and ProEngineer and having used Inventor at university, AlibreDesign Expert was a 100% seamless experience - no learning curve at all - doing the common things were much faster with the cleaner interface.

Vorteile:

The ease of use. Everything is clearly laid out in a logic flow. You only see the things you need at a time which leaves the UI clean and very user friendly. Also, the ability to import common file formats (CATIA, SolidWorks, Inventor, ProE, NX, etc.) makes Alibre Design Expert the go to. Lastly the pricing is perfect for those of us who use the software both professionally and personally at home. As an engineer having my own commercial use licence lets me consult and design when I need to, as I need to.

Nachteile:

Nothing - Alibre Design Expert does everything I need.

Powerful easy to use CAD with flexible licensing

Vorteile:

Powerful and easy to use software / not subscription based.

Nachteile:

N/A - my experience has been entirely positive.

Not Even For Free

Kommentare: Spent four hours trying to do a 15 minute OpenSCAD job.

Vorteile:

It's free. The price. Forty characters for "free".

Nachteile:

The UI is slow, heavy, convoluted and "sticky". The draft-based editing is clumsy, limited, and assigns correlations and confinements seemingly at random. Parametric entry is borderline impossible; there are four or five types of lines and whichever one you're defining a shape with is the wrong one. Any promise of defining complicated shapes depends on whether or not you are the giving the sales pitch.

Alibre Design Expert

Kommentare: I am now going on my 3rd year using this software. The technical support is fast and responsive. Each year I receive updates, and many times, during periods of travel between states, my floating license was very convenient, allowing me to set up my workstation on location. Great product, great company.

Vorteile:

This is quality CAD software at a very affordable price. I have used Solidworks, AutoCAD, ProEngeer. I have been able to do virtually everything I did with those packages at a fraction of the cost. Best investment for a small engineering consulting company.

Nachteile:

I have no complaints. I am a happy camper with this product. I

Best CAD program for a starting business!

Kommentare: I love the product and preach it in classes. I preach it to people who are starting CAD. I preach it to people at walmart that are random. I walk up and say, hey, use Alibre. They are confused, but alas, not my problem there.
Seriously, this product is really great.

Vorteile:

The cost vs features is amazing. I am able to use the solidworks training books to complete the work with the same number of features as the books have. I have had one case where I could not, and that was with a rib. The ability to work without having to be online and have my files stored in the cloud is vital, as I was using Fusion360, went to work on a part from my laptop while on the road, and their servers were offline. No work was accomplished that day. I can switch between my laptop and my office with ease. If I forget to release my license on one machine, I can quickly do it online.

Nachteile:

The default color schemes do not mesh well with my eyes. They also do not match Solidworks, which makes some work confusing during my solidworks training (the local College offers solidworks classes for working with CAD). As per my PROS, I am able to successfully do the homeworks from the solidworks books in Alibre.

Ease of use

Kommentare: There are a few 2D sketching functions I'd like, but have always found a way to do what I needed.

Vorteile:

I moved from TurboCAD 2D and had a very little Solidworks experience, the switch was very easy, Alibre is intuitive, after a couple of easily available tutorials I was making useful 3D models and drawings.

Nachteile:

That I haven't had the time to learn all of Alibre's functions.

The Best 3d modeling software on the market

Kommentare: Great. And with the you tube channel I’m learning even more ways to use the software

Vorteile:

I can take it on my laptop everywhere I go. Even my cabin that doesn’t have Wi-Fi

Nachteile:

I wish I could afford to buy the version with sheet metal

Alibre Design Expert Why I use Alibre

Kommentare: Very positive. I had no idea how to work with 3D CAD twelve years ago and now I have designed a patent pending suspension modification. Your payment plan back then convinced me to use Alibre as I had no idea whether investing $3500 would help my crane business then I took a chance with Alibre buying lesser modules on time then finally upgrading to Expert. Keep that in mind its a plus for anyone considering the alternates.

Vorteile:

Alibre support was always there guiding me through my early learning stages. Their initial training modules (twelve years ago) were most helpful. Today they have an excellent presenter guiding newcomers through the important steps. He has a wonderful soft voice and positive demeanor that shine through his explanations making the complex simple.

Nachteile:

Its struggles with Geomajic and their ownership. These are past now but unfortunately too much was lost. As an example NYC CNC [sensitive content hidden] used to recommend Alibre as their go to CAD program but switched to Fusion 360 where they are today. Fusion 360 compares themselves to Solid Works successfully in their comparison but I do not know where Alibre stands in this comparison. That would be helpful. From what I now know about Alibre you are close to both and most importantly closing the gap. Your ownership model is very relevant for professional users but you need to exploit it better. FEA and motion analysis from Simwise could be a plus in this competition if it were available on a favorable monthly payment plan with training support.

Alibre Design just works....very well.

Kommentare: I've been using Alibre for 20 years and it's the CAD package I always return too, having had experience with many others more than double the cost.

Vorteile:

No subscription, cost effective. Feature rich. Stability.

Nachteile:

Drawing environment can be a little sluggish with large assemblies.

Effective tool

Kommentare: The software works well for quickly trying out ideas and producing parts that can be manufactured. I use it for checking fitment of our product in different installation environments.

Vorteile:

Easy to learn and use yet has the depth of features needed for advanced/complicated models and plans. The part and assembly modeling tools are excellent. The drafting/drawing tool is also good and makes it easy to create exploded views and link BOMs.

Nachteile:

The 2D drawing program has some areas that could use improvement. Changing the part/assembly can cause some dimensions to lose their connection to the part and need to be redrawn. There is no way to duplicate a drawing using a different configuration of the same part/assembly. Occasional glitches can prevent the drawing from being reprojected and so the drawing has to be recreated.

A modern 3D CAD solution

Vorteile:

We needed a modern 3D CAD solution for product design. Alibre Design has provided a robust 3D design platform with fully functional 2D CAD to produce drawings for fabrication. The customizable and sharable material and thread libraries have enabled rapid part and equipment design. The ability to move licenses as needed has been very convenient.

Nachteile:

Alibre design is very stable, but the occasional software crash is unavoidable with any large software package. The software also occasionally loses its license, and requires that the key be reentered.

Alibre product development/engineering user

Vorteile:

Ability to wrangle data from diverse systems (solidworks,Catina,NX,inventor, Freecad , Blender, etc.)

Nachteile:

Lack of Curve based surface modeling and associated continuity evaluation tools.

Alibre is the way

Kommentare: I'm able to quickly and easily get what's in my head out onto the screen. The software doesn't fight me and enables me to be the most creative version of myself.

Vorteile:

Easy to use, intuitive interface, little to no errors or failures, easy to see if I make mistakes, powerful export control, very easy assemblies, and best of all... the stuff you make is yours.

Nachteile:

No Linux support. You have to open a sketch to get at the equations dialog.

Best 3D design tool for MEMS and NanoTech

Vorteile:

Solid models for complex MEMS devices, using Alibre design, is efficient and accurate. Solid models exported as STEP files import flawlessly into COMSOL, which I use for modeling device physics.

Nachteile:

Integration of global parameter sets with parts and assemblies could be more streamlined. Changes to global parameters are not applied to open models unless the model window is closed and reopened.

Alibre Design: Great partner for the one man band

Kommentare: Communication with both suppliers and end users of our products has improved immensely. Alibre Design is a wizz for producing 3D printer files quickly and for making big and small changes to designs very rapidly.

Vorteile:

Excellent on-line tutorials a great help when starting out. Moving over from an antiquated 2D draughting package was nowhere near as painful as anticipated. I love the way I can insert 3D shaded views into manufacturing drawings. I do not get any calls from suppliers unable to interpret our drawings. It is so quick to use I will produce workshop sketches in Alibre rather than use a notepad and pencil. I'm proud of the drawings I present to customers. Although I do keep the software updated yearly, it is very comforting to know that if I'm forced to stop paying, Alibre Design will not stop working, thus your licensing model works very well and is fair.

Nachteile:

Nothing really, but there are lots of features I've yet to explore. Some operations slow down, like if there are a lot of holes being edited for example. It is probably due to the spec of the hardware rather than the software.

Alibre- best value and best performing 3D CAD/CAE tool I know

Kommentare: I use other expensive tools that came before Alibre with various features.....but frankly the Alibre team have reproduced and improved the features of other tools.The design environment is clean. It NEVER crashes and I have built seriously massive 3D models that worked fine where other tools would have choked.

Vorteile:

As an electrical Engineer more than 10 years ago I invested in Alibre because I wanted to learn 3D CAD\CAE , 3D printing and CNC CAM. Alibre has taught me so much and has widened my capabilities beyond my wildest imagination. Well done, professional easy to Learn training videos got me started.....and the experience has augmented my inventive imagination like no other tool I have learned.

Nachteile:

I really cannot think of anything at this time. Any shortcomings over time have been fixed or improved.

Good software, good experience, good price, good communication.

Kommentare: For us, everything starts with the solid model. We can't meaningfully do anything, from costs to processes, without modeling first. Alibre gets the job done.

Vorteile:

Alibre is a reasonably full featured 3D modelling system that equals most of the functionality of much more expensive and well known modellers at a much more approachable price, particularly for small and medium businesses or private individuals. Note that I said it equals MOST of the functionality--Alibre does not have CFD or FEA packages as many of the Cadillac systems do. On the occasions wherein we need those operations, Alibre does a fine job of exporting common CAD file formats that will import into CFD or FEA software without issue. With that said, Alibre covers all of the other bases for parametric modeling in a reasonably easy to learn environment that is fairly efficient and has a good workflow.

Nachteile:

I mean, you can get down in the weeds and nitpick anything to death pretty easily. I have had my share of requested changes filed with the Alibre devs, but overall Alibre has be steadily improving for years. Overall, Alibre does a great job.

Alibre Design, The Best

Kommentare: Been using it for over 12 years, have designed 14 AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robot), some weighting in at 1500 pounds. That is complete design to include pulling in the electronic PCBs for a visual.

Vorteile:

Ease of use, coupled with great functionality. Depending on your needs the different levels of packages. the combination of 3D modeling that can be converted into sheet metal.

Nachteile:

Do not have anything that I find as a con.

Best software purchase I've ever made

Kommentare: I use the software primarily as a hobbyist. It has opened a new world for me when it comes to scratchbuilding components for my models. In the old days, I had to scratchbuild those components out of styrene, and the results were frequently flawed. With Alibre, I can design parts that match my concepts perfectly to a fraction of a millimeter.

Vorteile:

The software is easy to learn, easy to use. I've used it for over 10 years now, having purchased it to pursue a business idea that ultimately came to naught. I continue to use it intensely as a hobbyist and artist and think the world of it. It has brought me more creative enjoyment than any other application I've ever owned.

Nachteile:

The software has been buggy historically and there are some user-unfriendly aspects to it. The bugs have diminished with each release, however, some persistent ones remain. Additionally, when flaws exist in a sketch, the software's ability to identify those flaws for manual remediation is often ambiguous. The way that sketch lines automatically snap to nodes is annoying. The lack of a feature to precisely scale up or scale down a sketch is a real oversight - I often use a transparency utility when using Alibre to trace objects and sizing the Alibre sketch to match the source drawing is painstaking and difficult.

Essential for proper 3D design and 2D drawings for fabrication/engineering/production

Kommentare: There is an ever-increasing demand for electronics to get smaller and to fit complex enclosures needed by sophisticated products. Alibre lets me get the job done. I model individual components which go on the circuit board assemblies, design and analyze complex component/sub-assembly placements, and validate the overall integration of the mechanical and electronic sub-assemblies.

Vorteile:

Alibre provides the key functions that I need to quickly design, analyze and develop 3D models. Having constraints management for relationships between parts/subassemblies make it easier to ensure that my design is automatically updated when incremental changes inside the design affects the rest of the design. I also appreciate how easy it is to prepare 2D drawings.

Nachteile:

The 2D sketching experience is decent and gets the job done, but it is not as easy to use and lacks 2D drawing features compared to the more drawing-focused CAD package that I sometimes use.

Exploring my ideas in the future of Space Travel.

Kommentare: My overall experience with Alibre Design is great. I signed up for help service and am working with [sensitive content hidden], he has lead me through some tuff areas which took a couple of visits. [sensitive content hidden] helped me learn how to complete a simple Assembly by suggestions and advice, Not just doing it for me. My goal us a complete understanding of the program.

Vorteile:

For me, I started with the 2D Design, this area is very simple. Just a square box and Extruding it to a 3D Viewing. Moving on from there is just a matter a easy learning curve. Then once you complete one or several parts, you can now step up to an Assembly and take each part and Constrain them all into one Primary Assembly/Part for future Assembling into your final project.

Nachteile:

It goes without saying, every step of a new program is a challenge. Hence, no challenge no fun or completing your ideas.

A very capable cad program for beginners and experts.

Kommentare: Alibre Design Expert does everything I want in a 3D cad package, and is the first package I've continued after the first year of use. A big plus on top of this is the customer support and forums, both of which are quick to help. This is the most positive experience I've had with a cad package.

Vorteile:

I like Alibre Design Expert on many levels. First, it was easy to get started. With over 40 years of cad experience, learning the basics of Alibre Design 3D modeling was fast. Then the more advanced capabilities such as configurations, global parameters and boolean's made it easy to maintain model integrity. Next but not last, the assemblies feature was a major consideration in the purchase. It has been rock solid and invaluable in product design.

Nachteile:

One drawback for me with Alibre Design is the 2D drawing package. Though it is very capable even when compared to more expensive packages with such features as exploded views, bill of materials and ballooning, etc. , the workflow is not as intuitive as it could be. Sometimes it takes many mouse clicks to accomplish what seems to be a very simple task. It is possible, however , to create very functional and useful drawings.

Great Software!

Kommentare: Very good, have been using since 2011 with various upgrades over the years.

Vorteile:

Powerful, accurate 3D modeling, ability to create drawings and have them be linked to design changes.

Nachteile:

Trouble sometimes adding fillets and chamfers to 3D designs

Review

Vorteile:

This product is very easy to learn. It integrates nicely with our business systems.

Nachteile:

There are a few minor bugs in the 2D drawings of the program.