[chrisf]

Tim:

I definetly would not want my first (or so) exposure to SW (or any other application) to be behind a deadline.

But having used AutoCAD for 4-5 years, and now having worked with SW for the past 8, I can say, without a doubt, that SW is a much better design environment. And a whole lotta fun!!
Once you have the system setup to your needs, it will for the most part create drawings, generate BOMs, etc.. automatically.

And like legion has mentioned, part of it is visualization. To begin, part generation can be thought of in two seperate ways: building the part/features up (more of a "casting") or starting with a block and removing material to achieve the part/features (more like "milling")

there's a book called "Solidworks for AutoCAD users", or something like that. It will get you started very quickly....give yourself 4-8 hours, and you will start to become exponentially more effective using it. YOu'll love it.


oh, and one more thing: FILE MANAGEMENT!! You don't want this to get away from you, trust me.