Comment by robomartin

> I have a SolidWorks Students License and it's the most frustrating piece of software I have ever used.

Yeah, you need to invest time to learn it. I do understand the frustration when learning something new. I get it. However, your sentiment on this isn't leading to the correct conclusion. A piano or or a guitar are frustrating instruments until you get past a certain level of mastery.

Engineering tools do carry with them a degree of complexity. There are reasons for this. Some are, of course, better than others. I started in the dark ages with AutoCAD, then, over time, learned used ACAD 3D, Inventor, Pro-E, Solidworks, Fusion 360, Onshape, Siemens NX and CAM tools like Camworks and Mastercam; all in professional commercial, industrial or aerospace (NX) settings. I would rank Solidworks way up there in usability and functionality.

Of course, this isn't to say that there are lots of things that could be improved in Solidworks (and all of the CAD/CAM programs I mentioned).

Sometimes online resources like YouTube can feel (and actually be) really disjointed. Get yourself a good book on Solidworks and go through it front to back. At some point it will click. From that point forward it will feel like an extension of your brain. This is no different from learning to play the piano. When I use Solidworks I don't think about the UI, I just work on my designs.

This is good advice:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SolidWorks/comments/1gjfbwz/comment...

Good PDF course to start with:

https://my.solidworks.com/solidworks/guide/SOLIDWORKS_Introd...

And, of course, you can buy a full course for less than $10:

https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?src=ukw&q=solidworks