It is Alive in the Lab

Rhino Import Translator Add-in for Inventor Now Available

Perhaps you work in a mixed environment? Perhaps you get data from partners who use various forms of design creation tools? Perhaps one of those is Rhino? If you answered yes to any one of these, then perhaps the technology preview of a Rhino Import Add-in for Inventor is for you.

Free Download of Rhino Import Translator Add-in for Inventor on Autodesk Labs

The add-in is compatible with Inventor 2010 and Inventor LT 2010. All the current Rhino Versions (1.0-4.0) are supported with this technology preview. Please check it out and lets us know of your success or failure stories at labs.iv.trans@autodesk.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Getting feedback on interoperability from mixed environments is alive in the lab.

French Message: CATIA V5 Translator for Autodesk Inventor

Marketing Solutions Manager, Jerome Longuet, was so excited about the CATIA V5 Import Translator for Inventor that he sent out an email to his customers in France. I thought I would share it with you. Hey look mom - I'm multi-lingual. Heretofore I had been limited to "¿Donde esta Pablo? Pablo esta en la bibliotecha."

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Téléchargez gratuitement CATIA V5 Import Translator d’Autodesk et importez directement les fichiers CATIA V5 dans Autodesk Inventor.

Ce convertisseur est capable de lire à la fois des fichiers CATPart et CATProduct et d’intégrer ainsi des solides, des surfaces, des filaires et des points dans Autodesk Inventor pour qu’ils soient utilisés directement pendant la modélisation. Vous n’avez ainsi plus besoin de convertir les données CATIA pour les rendre utilisables dans vos projets.

Versions d’Autodesk Inventor prises en charge
Vous devez posséder la version Autodesk Inventor 2009 SP1 ou Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 SP1 pour utiliser ce complément.

Versions de CATIA® V5 prises en charge e
Les versions R6 à R18 de CATIA® V5 sont prises en charge.

Pour en savoir plus, visitez le site Web Autodesk Labs.

Remarque: Autodesk Inventor 2009 SP1 est requis pour ce complément.

Télécharger Inventor 2009 SP1

Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 SP1 prend également en charge ce complément.

Télécharger Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 SP1 32 bits

Télécharger Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 SP1 64 bits

Essayez ce convertisseur avec vos propres fichiers CATIA et faites-nous part de vos commentaires à l’adresse labs.iv.trans@autodesk.com.

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Reaching out to our readers who speak French is alive in the lab. Or should I say: "L'atteinte dehors a nos lecteurs qui parlent Français est vivante dans le laboratoire." Thank you Babelfish. And thank you Jerome.

Bidirectional Communication between AliasStudio and Autodesk Inventor

The AliasStudio Direct Reader Add-in for Inventor provides the ability to communicate effectively between industrial design and engineering by directly reading a native AliasStudio wire file into Autodesk Inventor.

AliasStudio Direct Reader Add-in for Inventor

Recently the team provided me with a white paper containing great information about the add-in. I added the white paper to the Labs site:

Bidirectional Communication between AliasStudio and Autodesk Inventor (PDF)

This makes great holiday reading!

File Format Versions that work with Autodesk Inventor

Inventor users email in their questions to labs.iv.trans@autodesk.com

A Mrs. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey writes in:

What file types does Inventor work with?

Director of Inventor Software Development, Roger Mollon, provided a nice chart:

Translator	Read Versions	Write Versions
Alias (Autodesk Labs)	All Versions
CATIA V5 (Autodesk Labs)	R6-R18
IGES	All Versions	5.3
JT (Autodesk Labs)	6.4; 7.0; 8.0; 8.1; 8.2; 9.0; 9.1	7.0; 8.0; 8.1; 8.2; 9.0; 9.1
UGNX	3-5
Parasolid	Up to 19.0	9.0-19.0
Pro/ENGINEER	14 and above, up to Wildfire 3.0
Pro/ENGINEER Granite	Up to 4.0	1.0-4.0
Pro/ENGINEER Neutral	N/A	N/A
SAT	4.0-7.0	4.0-7.0
SolidWorks	2003-2008
STEP	AP214, AP203E2	AP214, AP203E2
STL		N/A
XGL/ZGL		N/A

Sharing interoperability information is alive in the lab.

CATIA V5 Import Translator for Inventor Now Available

Software Development Manager, Wayne Catalfano, worked with our QA team in Shanghai to thoroughly test the technology preview of the CATIA V5 Import Translator for Inventor. The team really put it through its paces. Now we are looking for your feedback. Please visit the Autodesk Labs site to learn about and download the import translator:

CATIA V5 Import Translator for Autodesk Inventor

As the name suggests, the translator allows you to import CATIA V5 files into Autodesk Inventor 2009 or the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009. The installer works for 32-bit or 64-bit systems. Please note that SP1 of Autodesk Inventor or the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview is required. Please try it with your own CATIA files and let us know what you think at labs.iv.trans@autodesk.com.

Allowing you to integrate designs from other systems is alive in the lab.

Revenge of the NURBS II: NURBS in Paradise

A long time ago I wrote a blog article on Beyond the Paper entitled:

Revenge of the NURBS: NURBS supported in DWF Toolkit

The point of that article was that the DWF format supported NURBS but Autodesk applications did not currently publish DWF files containing NURBS. There are often differences between file formats and what applications can actually do.

A NURBS duck in Project Freewheel (sliver missing to expose slice)

It is a smiliar case with:

JT Translator Add-in for Inventor

Though the JT format can contain mesh representations, the technology preview of the Inventor translator is not equipped to import them. Thanks for the feedback on this issue. We can consider incorporating support to import mesh representations in a future version.

Hopefully you are aware of this movie, or this blog posting title makes no sense. :-)

Shrinkwrap Add-in most popular in Belgian Inventor Poll

On the heels of my posting about what's available on the Autodesk Labs site for Autodesk Inventor users, my friend, Stefaan Boel, shared the results of a recent poll he conducted on the Belgian Inventor Wizard site. Stefaan posed the question:

What is important for you?

• Advanced Simulation
• Feature Recognition
• iMap
• Plastic Features
• Shrinkwrap
• 2D to 3D tool

The results were:

The Shrinkwrap Add-in for Inventor is the most popular. This is great feedback. Thanks for taking the poll and sharing the results.

What's on labs for the manufacturing industry?

A Mr. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey emailed us:

Do you have a recent presentation of the latest stuff available on Labs for the manufacturing industry?

Inventor Product Manager, Sam Antos, provided the answer with a PowerPoint presentation. I have taken Sam's slides and fashioned them into a blog article.

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iMap for Inventor

• Skeletal iMap views to identify and modify complete assembly structure, including sub-assemblies
• Constraint iMap views to interactively investigate, create, and manipulate key relationships and constraints
• Navigate your Digital Prototypes!

// More iMap info

New User Interface

• Modern, ribbon-based UI for increased productivity, ease of use, and learnability
• Intuitive, task-based grouping of commands
• Customizable Quick Access Toolbar
• Document switching thumbnails
• Progressively detailed Tooltips

// More UI info

Advanced Simulation

• Key Plassotech capabilities that augment the Autodesk Digital Prototyping solution
• Part and Assemblies FEA and modal frequency analysis
• Parametric simulations and multi-criteria optimization
• Quickly set up simulation models that provide usable results

// More Advanced Simulation info

Shrinkwrap Add-in for Inventor

• Easily provide a single solid part as a substitute for a complex assembly
• IP protection for suppliers by quickly removing all internal components from an assembly
• Substantially less memory usage compared to the fully detailed assembly

// More Shrinkwrap info

Inventor Plastic Features

• Dedicated, purpose-built Inventor environment for designing complex plastic parts
• Automated creation of common technical plastic features
• Innovative Progressive Shelling technology for thin-walled plastic parts

// More Plastic Features info

ShareNow Add-in for Inventor

• One click publishing from Inventor to easily share designs with non-Inventor users
• Browser-based viewing without additional software
• Real-time and/or at-your-convenience collaboration including markup

// More ShareNow info

Also available on Autodesk Labs

• Enhanced JT Translator
• AliasStudio Direct Reader
• Feature Recognition
• 2D to 3D Tool
• Sustainable Materials Assistant
• English and French Inventor LT 2009



• XVL Translator (for Inventor 2008)
• Native Translators (for Inventor 2008)
• Frame Generator Customization (for Inventor 2008)

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Thanks Sam!

Enumerating the benefits of modeling software technologies for the manufacturing industry is alive in the lab.

Updated AliasStudio Direct Reader for Inventor Now Available

Software Development Manager, Wayne Catalfano, provided me with an updated version of

AliasStudio Direct Reader Add-in for Inventor

I have placed it on the Autodesk Labs site for download. This update of our CAD CAM software add-in is compatible with Autodesk Inventor SP1. Thanks for all who reported this issue. We are always happy to hear from you at labs.alias.iv.trans@autodesk.com.

With this update, the technology preview directly reads a native AliasStudio wire file into Autodesk® Inventor® SP1. Now SP1 users can enjoy the benefit of virtually eliminating errors introduced by translations of geometry into intermediate formats such as STEP or IGES.

Updating technology previews to be compatible with the latest service packs is alive in the lab.

Lattice Technology: XVL Converters for Autodesk Inventor

The XVL Translator Add-in for Inventor 2008 has graduated to become compatible with Autodesk Inventor 2009 as an XVL Converter available from Lattice Technology:

http://www.lattice3d.com/products_converters_3d_software.html

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the 2008 version. For those of you who are still using Autodesk Inventor 2008, you can continue to download the 2008 compatible version of the add-in from the Autodesk Labs graduates page:

http://labs.autodesk.com/graduates/

They grow up do fast. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on sharing Inventor models with the XVL community.