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Two AutoSolids products are currently available--AutoSolids(the standard product), and AutoSolids EXPRESS.   The two products are similar, sharing the same Creation, Visualization, and QuickDraw tools.  The difference between the two products lies in their editing capabilities.  The following examples demonstrate the differences between the two products.

AutoSolids EXPRESS

Complex solids are always created by first creating simple, or "primitive" solids(cylinders, boxes, extrusions, etc.) then combining them together into complex shapes through boolean operations(union, subtract, intersect).  A simple stamped part will demonstrate the process:

1)A 2D closed polyline is first extruded for the basic shape of the part.  An extrusion height and taper angle are specified and the extrusion is created.

2)The existing extrusion can later be edited by changing the extrusion height, taper angle, or by changing the original profile.

3)A cylinder is created by specifying it's location, height and diameter.

4)A copy of the cylinder can be made and any of it's original parameters changed.

5)The cylinders are now subtracted from the extrusion to form holes in it.  The resulting solid is a "composite" solid as it was created by combining multiple "primitive" solids.

6)With AutoSolids EXPRESS, to change any of the original primitives the composite is first separated back into the primitive shapes.

7)The original primitive parameters can now be changed, just as was done previously.

8)While disassembled, the primitives can also be moved, copied, rotated, etc. using the standard AutoCAD commands.

9)Once the primitive changes are complete they are again combined back into a composite solid.

AutoSolids

1-5)With the standard version of AutoSolids, the same sequence as shown above can be performed.  The first 5 steps(up to and including creation of the composite solid) would, in fact, be identical.

6A)The standard version of AutoSolids, however, provides a more efficient means of editing composite solids.  Rather than the "disassemble, modify primitives, then reassemble" sequence of EXPRESS, the standard version can directly edit composite solids.  The composite solid is selected for editing which displays the "Edit Composite Solid" dialog while the composite is temporarily disassembled into the primitives.

7A)Each of the primitives can be now be changed and/or manipulated as was done above, except that all of the changes are done from within a single editing session.

Once the changes are complete, the composite is automatically rebuilt with the changes applied.

In the example shown here, which was kept simple for easily understanding the process, the efficiency gain with the full version of AutoSolids may not be readily apparent.  As the composite solid becomes more complex, however, with multiple union, subtract, and intersection operations stacked on top of one another, the "disassemble, change, reassemble" process of EXPRESS can become much more time-consuming.  For simple composites or less frequent usage, EXPRESS is an excellent choice, but for frequently changing complex composites the full product is the better choice.  For full descriptions of each product please view the complete Feature Summaries for AutoSolids and AutoSolids EXPRESS.  For a line-item feature list of both products please see the Comparative Summary.