Importing Inventor Into 3ds max?

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Okay... so I found out how to import an Inventor file but it takes forever and then it's really slow. Then I saved it (second time trying, first w/o my computer freezing) and now I can't open the 3DS Max scene. Am I doing something wrong? Or is there something wrong with my computer? Also, I would do this with VIZ but I can't get VIZ to start up (whole other thread). If you can help... please do.. if you can't then I will just model the robot in 3DS Max, it will just take a little longer. Thanks in advance.
Budda

[SteveC116]

I've had some bad experiences getting Max and Inventor working together. The easiest way to get an Inventor file into Max is to export it as an IGES file. The only problem with that, is the geometry gets messed up if it's too complicated.

The problem with Max behaving really slowly is most likely because you just ran Inventor. Running Max and Inventor at the same time can cause major speed problems in Max. Sometimes, when you close Inventor, it doens't actually close. Check your processes in the task manager to make sure that inventor.exe actually shut down.

Finally, there is an easy way to merge a normal Inventor part or assembely into Max without importing or exporting to different file formats. In your BIN directory for Invetor there is a file called LoadInventorImporter.ms. Copy that file into your scripts\startup directory for either Max or Viz and restart the program. You will now be able to use "Merge" from the file menu to import Inventor files.

[ebmonon36]

The reason it is slow is because the polygon count on the IGES models is VERY high. Normally what I do when I import .IGES files into Max, I will use the "Optimize" modifier. This will cut out unnecessary polygons in the model. It takes a little bit of playing with to understand how much to optimize by the model, but it can help a lot. If you optimize it too much, it will start to take out the important polygons on the model and will distort the geometry.
Eric

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Thanks.

[andrew.kintz]

This has been most helpful. Thank you

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Alright... I tried this but everytime I select the Optimize modifier Max freezes and stops responding. Is it my computer? Is there anyway to lower the poly count in Inventor? It would be much easier to save a lower poly count project from Inventor then import it to Max. That way I wouldn't have to deal with a p.o.s. computer.
Thanks.
Budda

[SteveC116]

In my experience with direct importing (using the process I described), the models are lower polygon and do not slow down the computer.

[ebmonon36]

Originally Posted by Budda648

Alright... I tried this but everytime I select the Optimize modifier Max freezes and stops responding. Is it my computer? Is there anyway to lower the poly count in Inventor? It would be much easier to save a lower poly count project from Inventor then import it to Max. That way I wouldn't have to deal with a p.o.s. computer.
Thanks.
Budda

With a slower computer, the Optimize modifier can take some time and I believe that is what is happening. If you are importing large assemblys, this will slow it down a lot. When I did it, I did it by individual part, and the ones that were still to high and I could model or simple enough that it wouldnt take too long to model, I would. As for exporting low poly objects, I do not know if that can be done as I do not know a lot about Inventor.

Eric

[kcy88]

Originally Posted by SteveC116

Finally, there is an easy way to merge a normal Inventor part or assembely into Max without importing or exporting to different file formats. In your BIN directory for Invetor there is a file called LoadInventorImporter.ms. Copy that file into your scripts\startup directory for either Max or Viz and restart the program. You will now be able to use "Merge" from the file menu to import Inventor files.

Are you using 3DS Max 7?
Is it necessary for both 3DS Max and Inventor to be installed on the same machine?

What I did was copy the InventorUtility_Max6.dlu and InventorImport_Max6.dli to the Max Plugin folder and ran the latest LoadImporter.ms script.

I get an error message saying that it cant find the specified dll module.
And I'm pretty sure I had the directory changed corectly in the maxscript.