Autodesk Product Design & Manufacturing Collection Pros and Cons

AutoCAD is super productive for 2D drawings (drafting and annotation).It allows me to create multiple or very large, technical drawings (blue prints) and building plans, with less fear for error due to broken relationships,which is perculiar to paramaetric desgin softwares. AutoCAD has unique abilites like use of layers, blocks, xrefence and Osnaps, which make your drafting experince unforgetable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AutoCAD's files structure doesnt feature categorizing a design file into parts, componets and bodies, its sees all as one, making it less suitable for 3D designs practices

AutoCAD design is mostly manipulated geometrically instead of parametrically, certain operations and task would be difficult and time consuming to carry out manually and repetitively. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

- The easiest 2D drafting software! I’ve been using it almost daily for work and university since around the 2010 versions.

- I can easily save and import files to other Autodesk software, like Revit.

- 3D drafting is also available if needed. While it’s not my main focus, I’ve used it for a while, and it’s easy to learn and implement, even in 3D.

- An industry-standard software—enough said.

- They have many agencies for customer support across multiple countries. I haven’t needed them yet because I’ve never had an issue!

- Tons of tutorials are available everywhere.

- Sharing files is seamless and straightforward.

- Frequent updates and new versions with exciting features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

- The price, obviously. Students can get it for free for a few years, but for standalone designers, it’s a significant expense.

- Same issue with subscriptions—it sometimes feels very strict.

- I’ve always used the Windows version, but I recently had to switch to Mac, and there are slight changes in the interface and settings. It can be a bit confusing. Just make it universal!

- I know there’s a cheaper, lighter version for designers, but what if you suddenly need all the features for just one small instance? Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Supports various file formats and makes colaboration easier. It has a good customer support and online resources to support beginners. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Requires high perofrmance hardware to support big files. It does not have ample data when compared with other 3d softwares. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Its a light but powerful software filled with different tools, easy to learn how to use it, and mainly the teamwork becomes more efficient. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Assemblies are a bit difficult to do, its way different than in other software, but once you find the right tool you can do it as easy as in other CAD/CAM software Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like this product, because unlike other CAD, modeling software out there which lacks instructional videos, I seem to find an abundance of instructional videos that support the software. The software also has a lot of tricks that you can use to cut down on your modeling time significantly. You no longer have to be a CAD expert to be able to quickly create models that you can use in your professional or personal I really like this product, because unlike other CAD, modeling software out there which lacks instructional videos, I seem to find an abundance of instructional videos that support the software. The software also has a lot of tricks that you can use to cut down on your modeling time significantly. You no longer have to be a CAD expert to be able to quickly create models that you can use accomplish builds both professionally and personally. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sometimes this software can be difficult to use on a laptop so I would recommend with using it that you have a large screen or monitor and a sensitive mouse. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Autodesk Fusion allows the user to work with both meshes from imported .stl files and solids from custom designs within the same file which makes it easy to integrate into my work and I find myself using it frequently to start and complete projects. The program also allows you to switch between both formats, with the ability to easily convert a mesh into a solid to make custom modifications with tools I am familiar with from other CAD software which makes it easy to implement in my design workflow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The timeline of operations that Autodesk Fusion uses makes it more difficult to make adjustments to early design decisions. Unlike CATIA where a specific extrude, chamfer, or other modification is listed underneath the specific object in the object tree, in Autodesk Fusion, all modifications to all objects are listed in the same timeline and it makes it difficult to locate the exact feature I want to tweak. Also, when you duplicate an object to create a different design revision in the same file, I find that the timeline resets and you cannot make edits to features on the object from before you copied it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Workflow is more simplified than other softwares like solidworks and autocad Plant 3D and it include many features like cloud storge of files and team collaboration

I have used this software in 3D for 9 mounths in 3 projects and it was very helpful and integrated easily in our Project workflow.

The implementation was very easy and we have received very helpful guidelines from the Autodesk Support team Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

When using this software i have struggled to find any method to extract construction drawings from 3d model Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like using fusion as a good 3D CAD program for making part or simple assembly designs. The layout and fuctions seemed mostly familiar and the small differences from other CAD software I had used were relatively easy to get used to. Fusion also seems to be designed with collaboration in mind, so working together on designs would be easier (I have not personally used this much, but I could see it being useful).

One of the biggest advantages of Fusion is the price. I had a hard time convincing my management to pay for 3D CAD due to the price, but Fusion was easier to justify (something in the range of 10% the cost of Inventor/Solidworks) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I have run into issues when trying to create assemblies with several components and mates/joints. Sometimes adding a joint will unexpectedly lock up the entire assembly, and troubleshooting/adding the joint that I am trying to is not as intuitive as something like Solidworks or Inventor in my experience.

I did have one time where I lost all my progress after working on a design all day (I should have saved periodically, but I didn't). I believe there was an issue with an external reference in the design. After spending an hour or so trying to get the design to save or get the autorecovery files to load, I gave up and just redid my work the next day. Only had this happen once though.

Converting 3D designs to 2D drawings doesn't have as many features/options as I would like either. If it's something more than a quick sketch up, I'll usually export a .dwg file into AutoCAD and make my 2D drawing from there. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AutoCAD making complex 3D models and detailed 2D drawings is simple.

Layer management is yet another fantastic feature. Layering various components helps organise drawings, making managing visibility and organising intricate designs simpler.

AutoCAD is a helpful tool for engineers and designers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The price is the problem. AutoCAD licenses could be costly, particularly for individuals or small enterprises. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It's quick and simple to produce parametric models in fusion. There's a lot of functionality in the product, and it can be very flexible when models are built correctly. I use it frequently with parametric driven models for diy projects and for injection mouldings for work Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

sadly autodesk is now really ramping up the price and spinning out features as separate paid plug-ins. this is a shame for smaller organisations and hobby makers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.