Likelihood to Recommend Blender is an excellent tool for everything from simple to complex 3D animations, the creation of 3D images, etc. It performs excellently in all of these areas. In the realm of 3D modelling, animation and rendering, there is very little that Blender is not suited for.
Read full review PTC Creo is great for assemblies that multiple users are collaborating on. Models can reference other models that someone in another department has released and when those models are changed, the referenced parts and assemblies are changed. These changes are very helpful when working on collaborative machine designs and comparing forging dies with the final parts.
Read full review Pros Creating complex polygonal geometries is very easy in Blender. Edit Mode and Sculpt Mode helps in creating non uniform surfaces for objects like rocks, surfaces, terrains etc. Blender can use various external plugins to make it work in more smoother way. For example to import any 3d object one can use sketchfab plugin and easily import the free assets from web after logging in. Blender has a better rendering engine known as Cycles, it is far more better than any other stock rendering engine which can generate realistic lightning, shadows and reflections. The animations can easily be generated with blender animation toolbar and also it incorporate any other animations made in any other software. The bone generation and its behavior of animations can be achieved easily in blender. Read full review PTC Creo contains many advanced tools with better optimization for creating part models and other production related drawings. The initial concept designs can be done more adequately. The parameters of 2D drawings can be changed easily by editing the 3D model. The productivity can be increased by customized tools for modeling. Read full review Cons It's really a hard question, but it could be: a game engine. Older versions used to have it; I would use it to simulate machines game-like. I'm struggling to find another one; maybe the fact that it is so powerful and has so many features that learning it can be daunting; better documentation WITH examples and/or a map of Blender capabilities would help to know where you are in terms of knowledge and the planning the roadmap to where you want to go. Precision modeling. Coming from CAD and using Blender as part of my design workflow, I'd love to be able to model inside Blender as I model with CAD tools. At this moment, it's simply impossible. Read full review PTC Creo could grow a help-line staff of highly experienced individuals to aid the existing knowledge base article searchers. It would include experts with deep knowledge of certain Creo modules (SMEs) and provide help staff a go to for deeper levels of help when it is needed. Read full review Support Rating I liked the training manuals I used to learn some, as I didn’t have CAD background in college or before this job. My coworkers were able to share with me what they learned in PTC training and I was able to get support online and through reading.
Read full review Alternatives Considered We've only used the consumer (non-pro) version of
SketchUp , which we love, but is very limited in features and output capabilities compared to Blender. While Blender's learning curve is MUCH steeper than
SketchUp , it feels like truly complete, professional design software.
Read full review Learning curve of
SOLIDWORKS is higher compared to Creo, however, stability and more design control is provided by Creo. Creo also have more robust and stable interfaces. For larger assemblies, Creo works better than
SOLIDWORKS . New upgrades of Creo has given liberty to open different file data of different software without any file conversion. Creo costs comparable to
SOLIDWORKS cost, with more capabilities.
Read full review Return on Investment As it is a beginner-friendly software with increasing demand in the animation sector again, it positively impacts the business. Except in some specific cases, no one will use Blender on their own at a professional level. When I was a beginner, it took me a lot of time to learn, consequently designing the creation. But if we want to learn to master Blender, we can do it. As long as we have time and a lot of willpower, since, we repeat, it is not a simple program and hides thousands of tools and possibilities. Read full review Creo is our standard design package and as such we have had a negative impact on time spent designing because it is less user-friendly. In difficult design situations, we have had a positive impact because Creo is better suited for complex designs. Read full review ScreenShots