Using Rhino with SolidWorks
SolidWorks direct support for Rhino 3DM files
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/products/solutions/Rhino-to-SolidWorks.html
The above URL is a dead link. I could find no alternate URL for it. Currently when I try to open a 3DM file with SW 2007 I get the error, “File does not contain any surface/solid data” even for a simple one-piece design. (Gan Uesli Starling 2008-12-17)
Rhino with SolidWorks----
SolidWorks is a nurbs-based parametric modeler
- which means you can edit the geometry by just changing the values of dimensions.
If drawings have been created based on the 3D model, they will update automatically if the model changes.
The concept is quite powerfull, but it takes a bit of experience to build proper models that won't “auto-destruct” if any change is made.
Someone wrote on the newsgroup that modeling in SolidWorks is a bit like programming : if the work is well structured and documented, it can do all sorts of things.
If not, It can become a nightmare.
I love this software, and I think it's the perfect complement to Rhino.
Yet, other similar CADs exist and I'm sure they are good too : SolidEdge, Inventor…
