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| AutoCAD Users: Why Add the Power of 3D Mechanical CAD & Digital Prototyping?

AutoCAD Inventor Industry experts are championing Digital Prototyping as a way to cost-effectively validate design ideas and accelerate the development of competitive products. AutoCAD® Inventor® 3D mechanical CAD software has been designed to help AutoCAD software users realize the benefits of 3D mechanical design and Digital Prototyping.

Inventor software makes it easy for AutoCAD® software users to take full advantage of their investments in DWG™ design data and AutoCAD expertise, and includes comprehensive tools to generate accurate engineering and manufacturing documentation directly from the 3D model. All Inventor software bundles include the latest version of AutoCAD® Mechanical 2D design software for those situations when users just need a high-productivity 2D mechanical drafting tool.

1. DWG TrueConnect
With DWG™ TrueConnect, Inventor reads and writes DWG digital design files without translators. Users can leverage their valuable DWG data to build accurate 3D part models and produce new documentation in the DWG format that’s fully associative to the 3D design.

Experience the benefits of Digital Prototyping with rapid access to native DWG data. Update old 2D drawings by inserting views of new 3D designs to reduce the cost of upgrading existing plants and equipment. And because engineers can save drawings in DWG format, they can easily share insights gained from the digital prototype with partners and suppliers who rely on AutoCAD. Views generated from 3D parts and assembly designs can also be combined with AutoCAD data such as schematics and plant layouts.

2. Functional Design
Focus on the functional requirements of a design before committing to creating the model geometry that supports the design intent. AutoCAD Inventor products capture the functional requirements of a mechanical design to drive the creation of 3D models, enabling engineers to build parts and assemblies based on real-world design input, such as load, speed, and power. With a workflow driven by functional design, mechanical engineers can rapidly build digital prototypes that validate design functions and catch errors before they reach the manufacturing floor. The result: accelerated design cycles and higher-quality designs.

3. AutoCAD Compatibility
Reduce the time and training required for AutoCAD users to become proficient in Digital Prototyping workflows by offering a familiar design environment with recognizable icons, AutoCAD-compatible shortcuts, cursor-based prompts, and command redo. User profiles enable mechanical engineers to configure Inventor to match the way they work, with out-of-the-box profiles for AutoCAD and Inventor experts. In addition, users can transfer their settings among different computers by exporting the profile to XML.

4. Automatic Drawing Views
Improve drafting productivity by automatically creating front, side, ISO, detail, section, and auxiliary views of parts and assemblies from the model. Quickly annotate drawings by retrieving the dimension information directly from the design. Generate item numbers and parts lists automatically, and complete the drawing using a robust set of dimension, annotation, and 2D symbols with full support for technical drawing standards, including ANSI, BSI, DIN, GB, GOST, ISO, and JIS.

5. Automatic Drawing Updates
Change it once, change it everywhere. AutoCAD Inventor associates drawing views to the original components, so a change made to any part or assembly is automatically reflected in all associated drawing sheets. For example, with the intuitive 3D grips functionality, designers can quickly make changes to a model and all related drawing views update automatically.

6. Bill of Materials
Create automated and associative parts lists and bills of materials (BOMs) that are developed specifically for manufacturing and that automatically update as the design changes. Support is included for multiple parts lists per drawing, collapsible assemblies, automatic recognition of standard parts, and customizable options so features can be revised to match current company practices. Change a design once, and the updates ripple through the entire drawing to keep everyone on schedule, reducing costly stops in production from incorrect parts counting, identification, and ordering. Export or link BOM data to manufacturing resource planning (MRP), enterprise resource planning (ERP), or data-management systems such as Autodesk® Vault Workgroup® software.

7. Technical Documentation
Quickly create assembly drawings and exploded assembly views for use in training manuals and manufacturing instructions. In the Inventor presentation environment, designers can easily create compelling animated sequences for use in training videos, assembly instructions, and sales presentations, helping them visually communicate their design intent.

8. State-of-the-Art Rendering
Quickly and easily create high-quality photorealistic renderings, animations, and presentations that improve communication with customers and other decision makers. AutoCAD® Inventor® Studio software provides state-of-the-art rendering, illustration, and animation tools in the Inventor design environment.

9. Integrated Stress Analysis and Simulation Create better-quality parts and avoid field failures by using the finite element analysis (FEA) functionality in AutoCAD® Inventor® Professional software to determine stresses and deflections under load. Use FEA to optimize parts strength and reduce material costs without compromising performance.

The dynamic simulation functionality in AutoCAD® Inventor® Professional extends the benefit of the digital prototype, enabling users to predict the forces and accelerations experienced by each part in the assembly under real-world conditions with time-varying loads, different friction characteristics, and dynamic components such as springs and dampers.

10. Pipe and Cable Routing
AutoCAD Inventor Professional software provides the power to quickly and accurately add routed systems, tube and pipe runs, or cables and wiring harnesses to 3D mechanical designs. Routed designs automatically comply with user-defined design rules to reduce errors and save time. As with all Inventor files, the assembly drawings automatically update whenever the routing model is modified.

Top 10 Reasons to move from AutoCAD to Inventor 2,040KB