Inventor 2010 thoughts
Inventor 2010I am finally getting a chance to get started in Inventor 2010, and thought I would share some of my initial thoughts.
First I am mostly going to sidestep the whole Ribbon Vs Classic UI debate. I do feel the Classic probably takes a few less clicks for some things, but I also realize it is going to take a while to break some old clicking habits and get used to new ones. It seems to me that Autodesk listened to the complaints in the Beta, and put a lot of effort into improving and documenting the Ribbon. I suggest going through the included Ribbon Introduction and Tutorial. The ribbon seems very customizable and has multiple display options. I am personally giving it a go, partially because I feel that the Classic option will eventually disappear, and unless we go to a whole new UI (ala Fusion) the ribbon is here to stay.
Two things that really stand out to me in the Part Environment are Sketch Blocks and the ability to have Multi-Body Parts. Just like it took a while for people to figure out Master Sketch modeling, I think the value of these additions are going to take some time for people to understand and put to use the true power of them. I see a lot of possibilities with these tools, and am excited about them. I think they have the possibility of taking Master Sketching to a whole new level.
The Sheet metal Environment got a host of new tools. Unfold/refold has been a often wished item, and it is finally here. The interface is very easy to use and as you would expect, you can add sketches/features in unfolded states, and then refold the part. If you do sheet metal parts that require multidirectional deformations you are going to really like the contour roll tool.
In the Assembly Environment one thing I suspect many of us have wished for one time or another is to be able to do an array of an array. It would have been nice if we could have had independent instances, but it will be a big timesaver as is. You may not even notice the constraint highlighting improvements because they seem so natural.
They have finally incorporated a few of the macros that have been around almost forever, and were recently Subscription Bonus tools. Some are Rename Browser nodes , which renames using File Name, Part Number or default. Save and Replace Component. Place Component at Origin, and Ground and Root Component (I still like KWiKInsertNFix better
The little bit I have tested on new restructure it seems to work very well. This could potentially save hours when right in the middle of a project the powers that be change how they want things grouped. Time will tell, but I can see this saving some serious time on some jobs.
The long asked for Browser folders are here. They are simple to create and add parts to. This will help make browser work in large assemblies much easier. Folders can be placed within folders to make things even more structured. Standard folders can be made in the Assembly templates to standardized folder naming and usage.
I haven't had time to use the Shrink-wrap tool. On the surface it sounds a lot like making LOD substitute parts. Maybe it's just the work I do, but I have not found LOD's to be that useful or time saving even in large assemblies. There just seems to be too many little problems… i.e. “can't save, the assembly is open in another file” type of issues. I will admit it could just be my lack of clear understanding of how it is all supposed to work, but it seems like it could work a lot smoother.
The BOM dialog has had a number of new features added to it. Copy, Paste and Capitalization have been added in a right click context menu. There is also a Find and Replace tool that should speed up some processes. We now have the ability to “Lock” Item numbers to keep them from changing when doing renumbering. Selecting a item in the BOM now highlights the part in the assembly graphics and the browser. On top of that you can now display thumbnails of the parts in a BOM Column. Probably my favorite though is the ability to open a file from within the BOM editor.
In the drawing environment, we now get the same snap and alignment highlights when placing balloons as we have had when moving them. I don't know about anybody else, but I found I was often placing balloons randomly and then going back and snapping them into the position I wanted. I think this will make it much more of a one step process. There is now an Arrange Dimensions command, (ala MDT
File Open Options have been added to Application Options. Personally I still wish they would just display them automatically across the bottom of the file open dialog.
I have just barely touched the surface of the new Features in Inventor 2010. While I still have a lot of items on my wishlist, I think Autodesk has put together a fair amount of improvements across the board, and that most people will find a number of things that will help them get there job done quicker and better. I also think it is going to take a while for everyone, (me included) to get to the point that we can see the true value in some of the new tools. I can see the possibility of completely new workflows coming about in this release.
If you haven't done it yet, get it installed, and start working with some of the new tools. I think you will find this is one of the more Feature rich releases in some time.
posted by Kent Keller at
4:11 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
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Maybe a stupid question: Where to find the kwikprint button in Inventor 2010 ? The KWikInsertNFix_64 add-inn is installed and displayed in Add-Inn Manager without problems.
Regards , PeteBy
, at 2/15/10 2:10 AM
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Pete,
It depends on if you are running with the Panel Bar or the Ribbon.
If it is the Ribbon, then it should show up on the Addins tab, just as KWiKPrints32_64 SetupBy
Kent Keller, at 2/15/10 9:32 AM
