Dear arsh86,

It depends on your needs..

Could you please specify your work.. For 3D modeling, animation. designing, rendering, or what?

As far as i know, Maya is like 3D Studio Max, it is for 3D modeling and animation.

Solidworks is really good, i love it. This is for modeling, engineering design either CAD or CAM. The Solidworks can also simulate the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) by installing Cosmos. The interface is quite user-friendly.

For Catia and ProE, i havent tried, but i think those are similar.

One more software that quite similar is Inventor. I love the interface, but still Solidworks is my choice.

I hope this answer will not help you, because you need to explore by yourself to find the exact answer for your question. One more thing, just mastered it one before change to another.

Cheers..

Hello,

I have some recent experience with some of the software that you seek to find out about. There have been a number of solid replies and I will add a little to the pot.

$-Time Cost: What ever package you chose you will put a huge investment in time to become proficient. Choose carefully, do your homework to decide what package is used most by those doing what you want to do. I will try to write some tips here for you.

Catia and Pro-E are similar in their depth and have so many specialized features that most users could not hope to use all in a normal lifespan. They are not intuitive programs and really must be taught in a classroom setting. They are powerful and exciting to master but you must "spend hours behind the Tube", as one teacher put it to me. If you do not use it every day, the skills are extremely 'perishable' meaning you will only retain the basics for a reasonably modest amount of time. Both programs are expensive to buy and to upkeep the license. I know Toyota uses Catia as do a number of automotive companies.

TIP: While perusing the Engineering jobsites you can see the percentage of companies that ask for experience in CAD programs, most demand some CAD experience and more often than not, Solidworks is sufficient. Check out Monster jobs, Dice, Think Jobs and as many other jobsites available on the net. You can narrow you quest by writing down and matching your job interests with the CAD experience demands from potential employers.

I put a question to CR4 a few months back on the choice of Solidworks or Solidedge. I have Pro-E experience and a little Catia also. I was trying to decide on which to purchase and I got great feed back. I happened to chose Solidworks because of the larger base in this area and the ease of learning. I just finished my first contracted Product Design, honestly it was not easy but I called on the experience of the Solidworks Var Instructor. I jumped in at the deep end and barely managed not to piss-off the customer while I learned the package. It paid off as I got another contract from him.

$- Money Cost:My 30 day evaluation trial finished last week and I have purchased the Solidworks Pro Package. I got net 30 to pay for it, so I really will have 60 days to come up to speed before shelling out for it. It is specific to my needs. It is not cheap at $ 6,300 including a reasonable discount. Licensing is ~ 27% per year or $1,495 per year. It is not available for the Mac and even the viewer for the Mac has issues. You will need some basic classes but it is certainly intuitive to use. There are tutorials with the software which are extremely useful and you should be able to progress rapidly.

All the above said, you only get out of the software what you put into it. You input your knowledge of how to approach a job, whether it is a mold design or a fixture or a product design. The outcome is knowledge dependent.

If you work for a company, urge them to buy the package you need to learn and grow your knowledge as fast as you can so you become indispensable (within reason). TIP: Use your learned skill to be the 'go too guy' for design or other work, company wide. You will get a kick out of it and get more enjoyment learning the depths of the Cad Package. Get going, 'time is a waistin'.

Your knowledge of the program will grow with your use but to be well rounded, learn as many software packages as you can. It makes you more marketable. Injection Mold Manufacturing companies use every package available, for design and machining. One is better, for a specific task and it is a tool to get something done as quickly and comprehensively and cheaply, first time. Delcam is another very good package with a very strong Cam aspect to it.

Tip: To wrap it up. It is not an all or nothing answer. Learn a package that is going to be around in 10 years time, that you can grow with as it and you improve. Do not get entrenched with one package only, as there is always something newer and faster being developed. Surfacing is a more difficult part of the designing education that will give you an edge on the competition when looking for work. It is very rewarding to master a CAD package and be paid specifically for being a CAD jockey.

It is even more rewarding to rise to the next level and use it as a tool to express your own imaginitive designs. Hope this helps.