AUTOCAD Vs SW DRAFTING

Q: I'm a new SW user. I feel that SW2000 drafting leaves a LOT to be desired. It's very unflexible and some things are kinda difficult to represent without spending time modeling, like "blunt" start threads. I've been using AutoCAD for many years and feel that the drafting package is better. Now my question: What do you thing about bringing the SW drawing into AutoCAD? The drawing could be dimensioned and tweaked much faster than in SW. Looking forward to your expert comments.

A: People do bring SWX into ACAD for detailing, but by doing so you nullify the functions and advantages that are one of the greatest strengths of this type of system. Model to drawing associatively. The differences in methodology and functionality between, SWX and ACAD, are huge. You can't really use your ACAD experience to any benefit in learning SWX. In fact, most of the ACAD users I've

taught had a harder time than people who had never used a CAD system before. I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just impressing on you that they are completely different animals, with different sets of rules and functions. ACAD is and has always been a drafting program, the end result being a paper drawing. The whole system functions around this assumption. The idea behind SWX, or any similar system, is to model all parts and assemblies exactly like the real world. Once you've done this, the drafting functions are adequate for most any job. I'm not saying they don't need improvement. In order to use it more efficiently you'll have to set up you default templates.