Alibre Design Reviews

Pros

Using it has really improved our 3D product renderings and it gives our team a clear view of the finished result before anything is made. Gordon in New Zealand has also been incredibly helpful with support and has shared different design approaches that have made the process better.

Cons

A few of the sheet metal tools still feel like they need more flexibility. For example, lofting would be better if you could control where the join ends up and there should also be more guidance around 3D tube drawings when working with compound angles and rolls.

Pros

Right from the start, this tool handled everything I needed and feels very close to the package I use at work. STEP file compatibility has been a big plus and I've really been enjoying the new tools included in this update while looking forward to whatever the development team adds next. At this point, I haven't run into anything missing. I'm still testing the PDM vault feature but it already looks like a solid setup for similar parts and assemblies and it provides a useful level of parametric control for working with related part profiles. The value is especially appealing for a complete 3D design solution and the export options to other design platforms let me create E-drawing models for customers to review. I've never needed support since I was able to get up and running immediately. Building assemblies is simple and I can import parts from almost any source. I'd also like to dig further into the toolbox features to see everything it can do. Overall it's an excellent package.

Cons

Rendering is still pretty limited. I'd like more control over the color palette and light sources, along with more realistic texturing options.

Pros

One thing that helps is being able to make changes early in the design chain and have those updates carry through. The color options are useful and having multiple view choices makes it easier to work the way I need to.

Cons

There are a lot of crashes that completely shut the program down. In sketches, I can't set a radius before selecting the lines and it also won't let me intersect a line with a curve or even two curves. Fillets are especially frustrating because I spend more time trying to make them work than actually drawing parts. Sometimes the software says the sketch has no errors but then it still refuses to extrude and gives no clue about what is wrong. Mirroring sketches often adds extra lines that are tedious to clean up. The "save as" behavior is also annoying since it defaults to the last saved file instead of the original source file which causes drawings to end up in unrelated projects. On top of that, trying to do 3D sketching is almost impossible.

Pros

the biggest reasons I've been happy with Alibre Design is because of the value you get for the price. Their support team is also very responsive and I usually hear back within a few hours. Another plus is the flexibility with import and export formats which makes working with different file types much more convenient.

Cons

If there's one thing I wish were improved it would be the way hatching is applied in Drawings. In the industrial-grade software I used before retiring, I could simply click inside an area and add hatching. With Alibre, the boundaries have to be defined very precisely and even lines that extend past the hatched area can cause it not to work. Every line and arc has to connect perfectly which makes the process much more meticulous than it should be.

Pros

The price for Design Expert feels very reasonable. It's been excellent for building concepts and producing realistic renderings in KeyShot is a big plus.

Cons

Biggest gap is the lack of NURBS and dedicated surfacing tools. I've had to work around that by getting creative with 3D sketching, lofts and sweeps although the newer fillet functions do add more flexibility.