It was in 2002 when I started using Unigraphics V18, the only other cad software I have ever used before that was Autocad and Cadkey(KeyCreator), the workflow of Unigraphics hadn't changed until it went with the prefix of NX which was in 2003/4 and from then on the focus was on user friendliness, it is now at NX7.5 which is equivalent to V26, if you come from a cad background and know the basic commands you could model basic items within the day, but from a non cad background it would be very difficult to know where to start, the software does come with an optional training program to get you up to speed called CAST, which goes through step by step exercises.

The latest versions of NX have included things like a command finder, where if you type in a key word like 'sweep' it will show you where the command icon is and a brief description on what it does and it has always been when you pick a command and hit F1(help) the program will jump to the section in the help file on that command with some examples.

So to sum up to answer Burr's question on how long would it take to learn NX it all depends on the users background, if you have used the mainstream cad programs like Solidworks, ProE and Solidedge it shouldn't take long to get up to speed, but from a non cad or poly background it'll take much much longer, but I wouldn't recommend NX for this group.

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Another good video in direct manipulation can be found here : http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=catia+imagine+%26+shape&aq=0

Of course you need to spend $$$$

Here's some more info to go along with that nx 7.5 video.

http://develop3d.com/blog/2010/05/nx-7.5-1-core-synchronous-technology-updates

I agree with that! SpaceClaim is almost too easy to use, and the price isn`t not too bad.

Hello,

I have to agree with d3print, SCE and MoI make a great combination, and I can only see it getting better as time goes on. It seems like these higher end packages are backing their way into this type of modeling concept. Many of the techniques shown in that video were recreated fairly easily in SCE. I can't say the end result looked the same, but that has to do more with my modeling ability than the program lacking in function. I will sat though that there is something so drop dead easy about workflow in MoI that keeps me bouncing models between the two applications.