how to learn inventor

[EricH]

Right now, I don't think this is the place for an Inventor vs. Solidworks debate. The OP needs to learn Inventor, at least that's what he said (emphasis mine).

Help->Tutorials gets you to the best place--the built-in tutorials. It's been years since I used those, but I can still do that (I think--the last time I got my mouse on a copy of Inventor was back around 2007--since then it's been Solidworks because that's what is used at my college).

Lemiant, I don't think Solidworks is more "standard" in FRC; there are a number of teams who use Inventor (and Inventor also comes free to FRC teams, or used to). As a matter of fact, there isn't really a "standard" CAD platform in FRC...

The top 3 debates you don't want to bring up in a group of nerds: Mac vs PC vs Linux, Best Programming Language, and Best CAD Program.

[Ankit S.]

Originally Posted by EricH

Help->Tutorials gets you to the best place--the built-in tutorials.

It actually gets easier than that. When you open up Inventor Professional 2012, the large ribbon near the top says "Getting Started". This ribbon has buttons that go to tutorials, animations, the wiki that was mentioned before and a couple other things. Also, I don't think you need internet to access the wiki, so if you are stuck somewhere you should still be able to access it.

Originally Posted by EricH

The... debate[s] you don't want to bring up... Best CAD Program.

I second that. Inventor vs. Pro-E was... interesting.

[V_Chip]

Originally Posted by BeltSanderRocks

It actually gets easier than that. When you open up Inventor Professional 2012, the large ribbon near the top says "Getting Started". This ribbon has buttons that go to tutorials, animations, the wiki that was mentioned before and a couple other things. Also, I don't think you need internet to access the wiki, so if you are stuck somewhere you should still be able to access it.



I second that. Inventor vs. Pro-E was... interesting.

Don't forget... It's "Creo" now

[Hawiian Cadder]

Inventor has some good tutorials, better than solid works, so without a teacher it is probably easier to learn, If you want more practice, what I like to do is CAD unique solutions to older FRC games. read about a few good robots from a prior game and then design a better one.

As for choosing between solid works and inventor, I think solid works allows for faster Modeling, and more efficient use of time, however Inventor makes AWESOME renders, and the FEA in inventor blows the analysis tools in solid works out of the water. The file management and virtual parts in solid works are excellent, and again allow much faster development.