In Inventor I found some very complex patterns are easier to Array/Pattern as a Feature than a sketch. Take a look at the part I am working on, when I did the pattern in the sketch is was so complex it overloaded my 4GB of RAM. So if I needed to go back in and edit it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, it took forever for the Edit feature to open. So I found if I only Extrude the 1 pattern then patterned it, I could much easier edit the little pieces when needed.
From Clint Hill
Points that I gleaned from the meeting of March 1, 2011:
1. Interoperability issues
a. Backdating CAD files (software availability & techniques)
b. Dumbing down 3D models to 2D geometry
c. Software incompatibility among various versions
2. 3D Intelligent Model Awareness
a. By Owner – educate on efficiency of software
b. By Lawyers – define more specific contract verbiage on type of electronic deliverable
c. By Users – reluctant 2D users: educate / bring on board
3. IT Staff
a. Need to educate existing non-CAD staff about CAD & CAD-related software
Went to meet a new customer to do the dance and show off my work. Then was supposed to see his parts give him a quote and then we both take a couple of days and see if we like each other enough to do business. Hey it was Valentines day had to make it romantic I thought… Show up and it went from interview to we need these by 10:00am tomorrow morning what ever the cost. Not a bad thing, just not expected.
Terri said we are good to go on the next MTAUG meeting at the NES office. I will send out an e-mail as we get closer.
Inventor Tip / Word of Wisdom…
In Inventor you can do all of the fillets on a part or Rounds on sheet metal in one feature. But just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should.
Here is my rule of thumb; If you are throwing away you design when done (quick and dirty design just to get something out the door) then you don’t need to worry. But if you ever have to come back to the part to work on it later on, or if you have multiple people working on the same parts. Separate out your features into more compartmental groups. You can name them and identify them much easier. I ether put the ones close to each other together (ie all on one corner) or all the same size. I also try to do any Fillets before I do any Patterning or Mirroring of features so the Fillet can be part of the Pattern. If you have a bunch and want to do them all at the end, you can still separate them and then name them. This way if you send them to someone else (Me) I can open the part and find the Fillet I need to modify next time….
Just wanted to update everyone… We did Cancel the January Meeting due to weather. We are still on for Feb 1st for the next months meeting. I will be covering file formats and conversions. Things such as how to use image files more efficiently and how to generate more types of files coming out of CAD. Also how to convert to your CAD and how to Export CAD formats (ie stp iges sat etc). Look forward to seeing you next month!
AutoCAD Tip of the Day (Via Clint Hil and Cadalyst)
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I am going to try to keep up a little better this year. I am not sure what my readership is really but i think I have the occasional golden nugget of info someone might need.
Just a reminder Next Tuesday Night January the 11th will be our first meeting of the new year, 6:00 at New Horizons as usual.
I have signed up for Post a Week 2011 from Word press. Hopefully this will remind me to keep on top of it this year!
Cheers,
Andy
I think the September Meeting went well (even though I am sorry I had to bring a guest). My wife had to work late thanks to the boss pulling a last minute meeting to get ready for a big meeting next week.
We got to look at the new Photofly tool from Autodesk labs. This was a very cool thing to give you a quick 3D scan of an object with just a digital camera. I have not mastered how to make it look as cool as the demo but I at least understand it. You take a bunch of shots then upload it to the cloud where it is digitized and rendered into a point cloud. And wha-la, you have a 3D Scan without the $100k scanner.
The next thing we took a look at was visualization using Inventor. I have been using AutoCAD to render simple images to give to the person who wants to see a basic 3D representation who doesn’t have CAD. You get the occasional marketing person, or customer who needs to see a “Pretty Picture” of the design and 2D just will not do. I started using Inventor to do these as soon as I started using Inventor. But I am not sure what has happened along the way. All of a sudden I went back to AutoCAD a couple weeks ago to render a design (I only had in AutoCAD). I realized Inventor had made some really cool simple representation options happen. I am not even sure when they worked them in but man alive the view tab>visual styles is really useful now. I mean the ability to turn on the factory scene and just pdf it!!! It is one of those you don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone things. I actually drew the 3D part in Inventor just so I could use those tools to make a pic to put into a Power Point. I love Studio and all in Inventor when you need really life like pictures, but when you need a proof of concept and a quick pic nothing is easier.
Finally we had Clint Hill give us a presentation on some lisp routines he has found and perfected. One would do a quick scale set to speed up a simple process but every time you can turn 4 clicks into 1 you save some major time. The next thing he showed us was the tool that will break everything you touch, literally… It lets you take lines that cross and can break at every intersection, just on one or the other, both so now you can make objects in the back ground appear more subdued by breaking all the lines with a space. This was a very cool tool!!! And thanks to Clint for helping out!
Bill from Advanced also was telling me they are having some free sessions on a couple different topics coming up. I will send those out to everyone with the lisp e-mail.
I hope to see everyone their next month, October 5th…
Just wanted to remind everyone we will be meeting Tuesday night Room 10 as usual. This month I am going to cover some of the cool new Labs tools available for download.
One of the cool ones I am playing with now is project Photofly it lets you turn pictures into a 3D model.
The concept is pretty simple, take 20-50 pics around a building or object and upload them to the cloud. The server then does its best to stitch them into a 3D Model that you can export to AutoCAD. So far I tested it on a toy of my son’s, this weekend I am going out doors to try and see how it does. Seems to work better on a larger scale in better light. Stay tuned!
First for those of you who use Cisco VPN and may have had difficulties logging in with Windows 7. I found one work around if your IT manager will not open up the actual VPN with the new ports 7 uses. You may notice you can connect but you just can’t see the network. Try using Remote Desktop to your work Desktop and then you are able to move around. This lets me see my network, printers and bring files to the Laptop.
AutoCAD Tip for the Day
Going old School… Use the heck out of ID Point today. If you need to know the exact X,Y,Z of something type ID and then select the point you want (Center point of some block connections). This will list out the location of the point you pick allowing you to use this data as you see fit.
Inventor Tip of the Day
This one will work in AutoCAD 3D as well thanks to Autodesk making all the platforms work the same. When you need to rotate a model around you may know to use the View Cube. But did you know if you have the Compass turned on you can also rotate the part around. I use my 3D Controller from 3D Connexion to do most of my rotating but it is hard sometimes to keep it on the same plane. So if you have the right angle you can just use the mouse and grab the NSEW of the compass and drag. This will rotate the part in the existing plane without rolling it. This gives you a very precise control. Yes you can lock the axis with the controller but I think the mouse and compass gives another option in those hard to reach places.
It feels good to get back out here face to face w the customer. This week is Pratt & Whitney Columbus GA. Good place to spend mid Aug at a Waste Water plant in the sun for a week… Stay tuned for T&T later today or tonight.
Well I think I blew my interview today… I completely forgot everything didn’t even know my own name at one point. I would like to blame it on the cold/flu or maybe the fact I haven’t used my data management skills in almost a year. They asked me about my IT skills and some really specific MS questions. Some I knew, some I forgot, most I knew but I couldn’t spit it out… I hope they don’t hold it against me. If the job is more IT/MS SQL then it may not be for me anyways. I need to stay with what I know on the product side of things…
