AutoCad Inventor 2010

[McGurky]

I have never used solidworks, and I have just been using inventor for about a year. With that said, I hope that I can still help you.

When you open Inventor, It opens to the same as it did in the 2009 version. you can open a part or start a new one the same as before, but the change comes when you start to model parts. In inventor 2009, there was just the standard menu system and at times, you spend alot of time trying to find the right function you are looking to do.

Autodesk solved this problem by switching over to a "ribbon" menu system consisting of "Assemble, Design, Model, Inspect, Tools, Manage, View, Environments, Vault and Get started" in the Assembly mode.

Assemble View: Consists of actions Such as "Place Component, Create Pattern Component(circular and rectangle), Mirror, Copy, Constrain Move, Rotate, Cable and Harness, Tube, Bill of Materials and more. Everything in this Tab is just about what there was in the top of the list in Inventor 2009.

Design View: Consists of what I call the "hidden pluses" to inventor that many people have never used before because of the way that the GUI was organized in past versions of inventor, and if used properly can save A LOT of time!! This new Organization brings out these "hidden tools". Tab consists of: Bolted connection, Clevis Pin, Insert Frame, Shaft, Spur Gear, Bearings, Belt and chain Tools, Key tools, O-rings, and Compression.

Model View: Consists of the "sketch/model tools" including "Create 2D Sketch, Extrude, Revolve, Hole, Fillet, Chamfer, Sweep, Work planes/axis/point, and patters(rectangle and circular).

Inspect view: consists of "Measure tools such as, Distance, angle, loop and area, and Interference analyzer tools.

Tools View: includes mainly other tools from other tabs combined into one tab.

View View: Includes everything needed to modify your viewing experience such as UI changes and Views.

Environments: includes switching from inventor to stress analysis, Dynammic Simulation, Inventor Studio, AEC Exchange, Weldment, and to Manage Add-Inns.

Vault: includes Vault tools

Get started: includes all the basic tabs to get you where you want to be. Such as New, Open, Projects...




In the Part File, the tabs include... Model, Inspect, tools, Manage, View, Environments, Vault, Get Started, and sketch.

Sketch Tab: includes All of the normal sketch features including line, Circle, Rectangle...in addition to Dimensioning tools like Tangent, Parallel, Dimension, Equal Etc. Also it has pattern, Modify, layout, insert and formats(construction line...) Along with A Giant FINISH SKETCH button.

Model Tab: Includes the modeling tools like Extrude, revolve and loft including tools such as chamfer, shell and thread, along with work planes/axis.

Inspect tab: includes Measure tools

Tools Tab: includes Different tools from different Tabs.

View tab: Is same as Assembly View tab.

Environment tab: same as Assemby tab.

Vault tab: Same as Assembly Vault Tab.

Get started: Same as Assembly Get started Tab



In all, I would rate it a good 9, I think the enhancements are great, and they will help a great bit!!



I just went over the changes to the GUI but there are also many other deeper changes that I have not yet seen but have been changed.

In response to other post... To get rid of the "ViewCube" just go to the "View" tab, Click "User interface" and then Un-check the "viewcube", this will make the View cube go away.

I found this link quite helpful... http://www.rand.com/imaginit/1/techn...k_inventor.htm

-Kyle