In the world of engineering, 2D drawings have traditionally been our tool for sharing designs. However, with the advent of 3D modelling, the 2D drawing paradigm is starting to show its age; is there perhaps a better alternative? Model-Based Definitions In my ideal world, we wouldn’t have 2D drawings at all – we’d simply have …
Autodesk’s Product Design and Manufacturing Collection (PDMC) now comes with an embedded nesting utility for Inventor, and it’s fantastic. Part of the economy of sheet metal manufacturing comes from the ability to cut component parts out of a single sheet of… well, sheet metal. In order to minimise wastage, it is important to maximise the …
Why do we bother with 3D models? Didn’t we get to the moon just fine with 2D drawings? The truth is that 3D models have so much more to offer than pretty visuals. Read on to discover the great things that become possible when working in the third dimension! In a Nutshell By using 3D …
A few years ago, Autodesk greatly improved the interoperability between Inventor and AutoCAD by allowing them to open each other’s drawings. Traditionally, this meant the IDW and DWG formats respectively. Soon, it became possible to save Inventor drawings in the DWG format. However, confusion arose as ‘Inventor DWGs’ were not the same format as ‘AutoCAD …
Have you ever noticed how, for assemblies with moving parts, Inventor doesn’t seem to mind components running through each other? Wouldn’t it be better if the components hit each other and stopped, rather than behaving like eerie ghosts? If you’re interested in achieving exactly this, read on! Interference by Design Believe it or not, this …
Autodesk Inventor is an absolute joy to use, and can make 3D modelling feel just like Lego© for grown-ups. But once in a while, a default setting may be something you just can’t get used to. Or once you really get into the swing of things, you may wish to add your own shortcuts, and …
Inventor project files: what are they, and what do they want from us? This extraordinarily short guide explain it all! In a nutshell In a nutshell, project files let us organise our designs in a flexible way. Within a project file, we are able to define: Which appearance libraries are to be used, Which materials …