Setup an AutoCAD WS Folder on Your Desktop

A quick Autodesk tutorial on how to create an AutoCAD WS folder on your desktop from which you can upload and download files from your online account using simple drag & drop.

Batch Update Out of Date Vault Visualisation Files

For one reason or another it may be useful to do a batch update of Visualisation files (DWF/DWFx) inside Vault Professional. Below are steps to complete this on more of a batch level, rather than file by file, utilising the Job Server.

• The first step is to Enable Job Server, go to Tools > Administration > Global Settings > Integrations TAB, then tick on the option as below.

Expand All Levels in Inventor Vault Browser

Situation: You are working on a bigger Assembly in Inventor and if you look at the Vault Browser you do not see All Levels of the Assembly structure expanded:

3ds Max Design 2013 Tabbed Layouts

Easily create and switch between a number of Viewport Layout configurations, in order to have efficient access to the views required for a particular task. Layouts can include both 3D and extended viewports. Selecting a different layout is as simple as clicking on its icon, or pressing a hotkey. Artists can share customised View Tabs with other users by saving and loading presets.

Update or Service Pack

We have had quite a few questions on this subject since the release of the Autodesk 2013 products. So, when we stumbled upon this Autodesk article, we thought it was worth sharing:

"We have seen a couple of questions come up on the Inventor newsgroup around the new Update mechanism that the Inventor team has initiated and whether Updates replace Service packs going forward.
Let it be clear that Inventor will still have Service Packs going forward! As its name implies, Updates are intended to deliver critical updates (formerly Hotfixes) on a more predictable schedule. Think of it as a bundle of Hotfixes.

Service Packs allow us to deliver more complex changes but require more time to produce and verify than Updates. Like Hotfixes, Updates only affect targeted areas of the product associated with particular issues.

There are a couple of other differences between Service Packs and Updates:

• Service Packs can be included in deployment images, Updates can not
• Service Packs increment the build number, Updates do not
• After applying an Update you will neither see a difference in the build number nor a change to the release name in the About dialog.

For example, if you apply Update1 to Inventor 2013, you will still see in the About dialog a build number 138 and a Release: 2013 RTM.

In order to verify if you have Update1 installed, you need to go to the Windows > Control Panel and use Programs and Features and View installed updates."

This is an extract from the Being Inventive, Manufacturing Community Blog

LABS - Inventor Fusion for MAC

The free Autodesk Inventor Fusion Technology Preview showcases intuitive direct manipulation capabilities for unrivaled ease of use, provides direct modeling for rapid design changes without limitations, and unites direct and parametric workflows within a single digital model created in Autodesk Inventor.

This updated technology preview of Inventor Fusion offers two new exciting capabilities:

• Surfacing support - Users can now work seamlessly between solids and surfaces, expanding their confidence and capabilities to tackle design changes. By enhancing the existing translators to read surface data and adding new Parasolid, Rhino, IGES and AliasDesign .wire file import capabilities user have access to an even larger number of design formats.
• Simplification wizard - Simulation users now have one button simplification of designs. This makes simplifying common geometry fast and easy and ensures that mesh and solves times are as fast as possible.
• Ease of use improvements - New marking menus, sketch ease of use and modeling ease of use, make this release of Inventor Fusion the easiest to use yet. Did we mention it was easy?

Inventor Fusion Technology Preview 2013 is fully interoperable with AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor software, enabling customers to choose the modeling approach that is right for the task at hand.

Availability:

• The Microsoft Windows compatible technology preview executable expires on April 1, 2013.
• The Apple OS X compatible version of the technology preview expires on January 1, 2013.

You can find the download on Autodesk Labs at:

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/fusion/overview/

Edit Complex Inventor Positional Representations in Excel

Positional Representations capture kinematic "snapshots" of assemblies to allow for motion studies and evaluation of an assembly in various positions. Positional Representations are saved in the parent assembly and can be retrieved at any time for further analysis or modification.

Linked or Embedded Files Inside Inventor Files

From time to time we come across issues with files that are linked or embedded in an Inventor model or drawing. This could be an image, Excel spreadsheet or perhaps a simulation file. You may want to find out where these files are linked from, or perhaps when you open a file in Inventor it warns about a missing file and you want to break the Link.

Using the Link command in Inventor we can do both of the above:

• Open your Inventor file
• Then go to the Tools TAB > Links

• Once in the Links and Embeddings dialogue you will see a list of any associated files to the file you have open. Selecting one of the Links will show you where Inventor is looking for the file, what type of file it is and the option to Break Link if required.