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November 30, 2011

Autodesk Manufacturing Community Achievement Award Winner

At Autodesk University 2011 they awarded the Autodesk Manufacturing Community Achievement Award Winner to Sean Dotson. Sean is the President and co-owner of RND Automation & Engineering, he is also the man behind the scenes at mCADForums.com. His company also received the award as being the Inventor of the Month for March of 2010 and then received the Inventor of the Year for 2010. His continued dedication and hard work to the Inventor community is much appreciated. I have learned many things from him over the years.

Congratulation Sean.

Inventor Fusion Coming to the Mac

Autodesk Inventor Fusion 2012: 3D modeling software for rapid design changesAutodesk just released information yesterday at Autodesk University 2011 about the next product to be redesigned for the Mac, Inventor Fusion. This is not a Windows application that is just ported through parrallels or Bootcamp, this is a full blown Native Mac application.

Autodesk Inventor Fusion is 3D modeling software that showcases intuitive direct manipulation capabilities for unrivaled ease of use. By uniting direct modeling and parametric workflows, Inventor Fusion offers the best of both worlds. Designers can freely explore complex shapes and forms while maintaining the underlying parametric history. Inventor Fusion makes it easy to open and edit 3D models from almost any source and incorporate them into your design, enabling rapid design changes without limitations.





Here is a teaser video for Inventor Fusion for Mac.

November 14, 2011

Inventor Fusion 2012 SP3

Autodesk released Service Pack 3 for Inventor Fusion 2012. So, if you are having issues with Inventor Fusion 2012, go and download Service Pack 3 and see if it helps things a little bit.

 
Inventor Fusion Service Pack 3 32-bit

 
Inventor Fusion Service Pack 3 64-bit

 
Here are some of the issues addressed by the Service Pack 3:

November 9, 2011

Updated Autodesk Labs - Launchpad for Autodesk Product Design Suite

The Autodesk Labs project called Launchpad for Autodesk Product Design Suite has been updated.
Here is the original post that I did on LaunchPad Technology Preview.

It can be download from here. LaunchPad Technology Preview

Also, here is another write-up about the update from Steve Bedder:
Autodesk Manufacturing Blog

Following are the updates:

Inventor Template Options: Users can set the default part, assembly, and drawing templates that are used for Inventor-related workflows.
Inventor Project Support: Users can set the Inventor Project file when they start an Inventor-related workflow.
Scalable Desktop Icon: The LaunchPad desktop icon is now scalable to accommodate different screen configurations.
New One-click Workflows: With this update, the LaunchPad offers two sets of one-click workflows, each supporting different industry design tasks.
  • Machine Design: For users who typically work with a variety of 2D and 3D data to design, engineer, analyze, and simulate machines.
  • Plastic Part Design: For users who need to transform concept designs and styled surface models of molded plastic parts into engineered, manufacture-ready solid models.
The following NEW Plastic Part Design workflows are available in this technology preview update:


Concept
Sketching

Capture your product and graphic concepts using Sketchbook Designer. Sketchbook combines vector and raster workflows to provide an effective way to communicate design ideas. Start a blank sketch or import raster or AutoCAD DWG data.

Styling

Import an Inventor model or other 3D model into Alisa Design to use as reference data for technical surfaces. The selected model is loaded into Alias Design where you can use it to build your surface data.

Design
Engineering

Import Alias wire data into Inventor to transform your technical surface data into manufacture-ready solid models. Associativity is maintained so that changes to the Alias .wire file are consumed by Inventor.

Materials
Selection
Analysis

The selected 3D model is loaded into Inventor with the ECO Materials Adviser active. The ECO Materials Adviser evaluates environmental impact of you material selections allowing you to make informed decisions.

Stress
Analysis

The Inventor Stress Analysis environment simulates the structural behavior of your 3D model under specified loads and conditions. The selected Inventor part or assembly is loaded into the Stress Analysis environment where you can add loads and conditions to define the simulation.

Technical
Drawings

Create 2D documentation of your 3D models in Inventor. The selected part, assembly, or presentation file is used to automatically create the first view of the drawing. You can customize the scale, orientation, line options, or other settings before committing the view.

Explore
Design
Alternatives

Transform your 3D model into highly realistic imagery or perform an interactive presentation using Showcase. The selected part or assembly is loaded into Showcase. You can create design alternatives, configure lights and materials, then render the environment or use Showcase as a presentation environment.

Photorealistic
Rendering

Create a photorealistic rendering or animation of your 3D model in 3ds Max Design. The selected Inventor part or assembly is loaded into 3ds Max Design. You can then configure lights, materials, cameras, and other environment settings for your rendering or animation.

November 3, 2011

Inventor 2012 Subscription Advantage Pack, aka - Inventor Optimization

The Subscription Advantage Pack for Inventor 2012 was released but it doesn't actually say it is the Subscription Advantage Pack. It is labeled as Inventor Optimization. So if you are on subscription go to the Subscription website and get your update today.

Autodesk Inventor Optimization extends the power of Inventor simulation beyond the desktop, helping users create optimal designs that maximize product quality and generate more sustainable designs while reducing material, transportation, and energy costs. Unlike other CAD offerings, optimization in Autodesk Cloud provides virtually infinite computing power, enabling users to extend the Digital Prototyping functionality of the Inventor desktop application with high-performance design optimization tools, bypassing the need to invest in expensive, specialized hardware.

System RequirementsFor application of this hotfix, your system must have one of the following products installed:
  • Autodesk Product Design Suite Premium 2012
  • Autodesk Product Design Suite Ultimate 2012
Installer NotesThis patch contains both 32bit and 64bit versions (downloaded together as one bundle) and is applicable to Autodesk Product Design Suite Premium 2012 and Autodesk Product Design Suite Ultimate 2012. It contains Inventor 2012 Service Pack 1 as part of the installer.