Derive and Move Bodies Within a Part

Most people will be aware that Inventor has a Derive tool, allowing you to Derive a Part or Assembly into another Part file.

This can be a useful tool for many different reasons, including creating Mirrored components, Scaled components or a Multibody Solid of different parts.

If you Derive parts into a file it is likely that they will not arrive in the right place, so the steps below will highlight a method for adjusting the geometry to suit your needs.

• Firstly open a Part file into which you want to derive another Part into, or start a new Part file to Derive various Parts into.
• Now click Derive on the Model TAB. You will be presented with the Derived Part dialogue, where you can change various settings, including Derive style, Status, Scale factor, Mirror part etc. The important elements in this exercise are to set Derive style to Solid Bodies and select Solid Bodies as the information we want to bring in. Then click OK to Derive the part into the open file.

Add In Differences Between Inventor and Inventor Professional 2012

Please find the table below to see which Add In's are part of Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Inventor Professional:

Default Add In's for Autodesk Inventor:	Default Add In's for Autodesk Inventor Pro:
BIM Exchange	BIM Exchange
Assembly Bonus Tools	Assembly Bonus Tools
Autodesk DWF Markup Manager	Autodesk DWF Markup Manager
Autodesk iDrop Translator	Autodesk iDrop Translator
AutoLimits	Autodesk IDF Translator
Content Center	AutoLimits
Content Center Item Translator	Content Center
Design Accelerator	Content Center Item Translator
Drag & Drop Interoperability	Design Accelerator
ESKD Support	Drag & Drop Interoperability
Frame Generator	ESKD Support
iLogic	Frame Generator
Inventor Studio	iLogic
Inventor Vault	Inventor Studio
Translator: Alias	Inventor Vault
Translator: CATIA V4 Import	Routed Systems: Cable & Harness
Translator: CATIA V5 Import	Routed Systems: Tube & Pipe
Translator: CATIA V5 Part Export	Simulation: Dynamic Simulation
Translator: CATIA V5 Product Export	Simulation: Stress Analysis
Translator: DWF	Translator: Alias
Translator: DWFx	Translator: CATIA V4 Import
Translator: DWG	Translator: CATIA V5 Import
Translator: DXF	Translator: CATIA V5 Part Export
Translator: IGES	Translator: CATIA V5 Product Export
Translator: JT	Translator: DWF
Translator: Parasolid Binary	Translator: DWFx
Translator: Parasolid Text	Translator: DWG
Translator: PDF	Translator: DXF
Translator: Pro/ENGINEER	Translator: IGES
Translator: Pro/ENGINEER Granite	Translator: JT
Translator: Pro/ENGINEER Neutral	Translator: Parasolid Binary
Translator: SAT	Translator: Parasolid Text
Translator: SolidWorks	Translator: PDF
Translator: STEP	Translator: Pro/ENGINEER
Translator: STL	Translator: Pro/ENGINEER Granite
Translator: UGS NX	Translator: Pro/ENGINEER Neutral
	Translator: SAT
	Translator: SolidWorks
	Translator: STEP
	Translator: STL
	Translator: UGS NX

Assign Items to Multiple Files With The Same Part Number

If you are trying to Assign Items to files that share the same Part Number you may have noticed a peculiar behaviour. Consider the following Assembly...

Improving Time to perform a Vault Server Backup

There have been reports that automatic Vault Server backups (Windows Scheduled Tasks) are taking several hours longer after moving Vault Server to a Windows Server 2008 operating system. However the performance when backing up through the ADMS console is much better!

Background: In Windows Server 2008 Microsoft has changed the behaviour of tasks and there is also a change of the priority of each process. In Windows Server 2003 a scheduled Windows task is created with Priority "Normal". However in Windows Server 2008 the priority of the tasks is "7" which is below "Normal" Priority.

The solution is to make sure that the scheduled Windows task is running with a higher Priority.

The Priority can not be set on a task directly but there is a workaround:

• Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler
• Find the task which is executing the Vault Server backup
• On Action Menu go to Export... > Save the file as *.xml
• Open the .xml file in Notepad
• Find the line <Priority>7</Priority>
• Change the value of the Priority from 7 to a higher value like 4 or 5
• Save the .xml file
• Delete the Scheduled Task for the Vault Server Backup
• In the Actions Menu go to Import Task and choose your modified .xml File

Your task will now run with a higher Priority and speed up the Vault Server backup time.

This is an extract from the Cracking the Vault, Manufacturing Community Blog

Mix up your AutoCAD Ribbon Panels

The whole AutoCAD interface is highly customisable, but mostly requires users to delve into the CUI (Custom User Interface) to make changes. An easy, quick change that everyone can use is to move Panels off the Ribbon when you need certain tools or even move Panels onto a Ribbon TAB where you use them more often (more of a drag and drop affair).

• Simply click on the dark bar along the bottom of any Panel, then drag down onto the workspace. This will detach the Panel and create a Floating Toolbar.

Quicker AutoCAD Selection with Fastselect

There are a lot of different selection methods in AutoCAD, but a powerful tool which often gets overlooked is Fastselect (FS).

This tool enables you to select a piece of geometry and then automatically pick all geometry touching it.

• To do this type fs at the command line, then select a piece of geometry as prompted, by default this will be the geometry immediately connected to the selected piece.

Autodesk Customer Success - Gaoh Energy

Gaoh Energy, an ambitious start-up focused on a range of renewable energy sectors, is using Digital Prototyping software from Autodesk, Inc., to help deliver innovative solutions into the onshore and offshore wind markets and the tidal energy sector.

Gaoh Energy joined the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program, which provides software for emerging clean tech companies in North America, Europe, Japan and Singapore, on the recommendation of Autodesk reseller, Micro Concepts, which provides its IT support. Since joining the program, in November 2010, the company has been using AutoCAD and increasingly making use of the Autodesk Product Design Suite, including Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Showcase. It uses the Autodesk software in particular to provide design and engineering solutions to clients developing wind farms and demonstration sites.

Autodesk Customer Success - Kocurek

Kocurek Excavators Ltd has been awarded the Manufacturer's Innovation award at the annual Demolition Awards in Amsterdam.

The company saw off stiff competition from the likes of Liebherr, Trevi Benne and Montovanibenne to have its HDI Beast named as the industry's greatest innovation of the year.

David Kocurek (left) and Brian Carroll (right) receive their award from IDE president, John Woodward (centre).