Another Autodesk University has come and gone. I was not actually looking forward to it, but it turned out great. A great chance to catch up with friends (albeit, some are just au friends). Also a great opportunity to learn about Autodesk plans and new products.
One new product is up for preview on Autodesk Labs - Inventor Publisher. You might think of this tool as the next generation of Technical Documents. Interesting tools to show your product.
There were fewer people this year, although still a lot of people. New venue, much more space, but you had to walk a lot farther. And the food was a lot better (except the pizza at the AUGI Beer Bash).
Hope to see you at AU 2010.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Episode 2 Sketching (circle)
We left off with my new file and I selected the ‘Circle’ tool, and I anchored the center of the circle at the origin (0,0,0). This brings up the concept of ‘Constraints’ or 2D Constraints, and we will delve in much further as we go along. By anchoring the center of the circle to the origin we have applied a constraint that tells Inventor that the center of the circle is at 0,0 (x,y in this sketch). That leaves this sketch with only one constraint and/or dimension to ‘fully constrain’ the sketch. What Inventor is looking for in this case is either the diameter or the radius of the circle.
In the case of circles to create a solid, Inventor (or any solid modeler) needs to know where the center of the circle is and the diameter/radius. Inventor will allow us to create a solid without the dimension or location of the center. Caution is advised here, it will do it, but it is much harder for it to do so. As mentioned in Episode 1, it is always better to fully constrain your sketch.
When we have created the circle on the screen all that is left to do is give it the size. Using the dimension tool pick on the edge of the circle. When you are in the dimension tool, and you are near geometry the dimension tool recognizes, it will show a ‘glyph’ near your cursor showing the type of dimension that it is about to apply. In this case the diameter. It is an option at this point to right-click for a pop-up menu, and change your selection to a radius.
By default (in a new Inventor out of the box) Inventor will figure out the size of the circle you created and give you that dimension when you left-click to place the dimension. Then you left-click on the dimension and an edit dimension tool will appear. When you change the dimension to the value that you desire, the circle (in this case) will change to that size. You can change this behavior so that the Edit Dimension tool appears as soon as you place the dimension. Select the ‘Tools’ tab, select ‘Application Options’ icon, when the dialog box appears, select the ‘Sketch’ tab. Near the bottom select ‘Edit dimension when created’. Now when in sketch mode and you place a dimension the Edit Dimension dialog will appear automatically.
There are actually two types of circles that Inventor has sketch tools for. The first one, center point circle we just described. The second, the Tangent Circle, requires that you pick three pieces of existing geometry to create a circle tangent to all three. You will see an arrow pointing down just below the circle tool, and if you click on that arrow, the icon for Tangent Circle will appear. If the geometry that you select is well defined (constrained) then you will not be required to place any dimensions for the size of the circle.
In the next Episodes we will start to look at some of the other sketch tools, and we will start to explore the concept of constraints.
Tod
In the case of circles to create a solid, Inventor (or any solid modeler) needs to know where the center of the circle is and the diameter/radius. Inventor will allow us to create a solid without the dimension or location of the center. Caution is advised here, it will do it, but it is much harder for it to do so. As mentioned in Episode 1, it is always better to fully constrain your sketch.
When we have created the circle on the screen all that is left to do is give it the size. Using the dimension tool pick on the edge of the circle. When you are in the dimension tool, and you are near geometry the dimension tool recognizes, it will show a ‘glyph’ near your cursor showing the type of dimension that it is about to apply. In this case the diameter. It is an option at this point to right-click for a pop-up menu, and change your selection to a radius.
By default (in a new Inventor out of the box) Inventor will figure out the size of the circle you created and give you that dimension when you left-click to place the dimension. Then you left-click on the dimension and an edit dimension tool will appear. When you change the dimension to the value that you desire, the circle (in this case) will change to that size. You can change this behavior so that the Edit Dimension tool appears as soon as you place the dimension. Select the ‘Tools’ tab, select ‘Application Options’ icon, when the dialog box appears, select the ‘Sketch’ tab. Near the bottom select ‘Edit dimension when created’. Now when in sketch mode and you place a dimension the Edit Dimension dialog will appear automatically.
There are actually two types of circles that Inventor has sketch tools for. The first one, center point circle we just described. The second, the Tangent Circle, requires that you pick three pieces of existing geometry to create a circle tangent to all three. You will see an arrow pointing down just below the circle tool, and if you click on that arrow, the icon for Tangent Circle will appear. If the geometry that you select is well defined (constrained) then you will not be required to place any dimensions for the size of the circle.
In the next Episodes we will start to look at some of the other sketch tools, and we will start to explore the concept of constraints.
Tod
Episode 1 Sketching
As I started to write this I realized I could go on and on forever, just about sketching. I started asking myself how to break it up so I wasn’t writing for days. The other thing that happens is every little thing leads to another discussion. So, ‘Episodes’ will be general discussions about tools (and closely related tools), and ‘Scenarios’ will be information about actually using the tools.
Those of you who have been in one of my classes (and thank you), will know that again and again I talk about keep it simple. So the three tools I try to use most are Line, Circle and Rectangle. And when I use the line tool I still try to keep my initial shape pretty simple. Some of you might say to yourself, ‘Well, why does he do that?’ The answer is a little complex, but here goes; ALL solid modelers before they can open the file the next time you want to use it, have to look at a number of things before you see the file. They have to make sure the sketches are all closed sketches (in general), they have to know where the lines, arcs, and circles are, and what their size is, etc. So, the simpler and more controlled the first sketch is, the easier it is for Inventor to start opening the file. In an assembly of 10 parts, it makes little difference how complex the part is. However, if that 10 part assembly is used in a 5000 part assembly now it starts to make a difference. And if it is used in a 50,000 part assembly it really makes a difference.
The message is try to ‘Keep It Simple’
The next thing to address with regard to sketches is ‘fully constrained’ vs ‘not fully constrained.’ It is always preferable to have a sketch fully constrained. Whenever there is doubt, or unconstrained situations this slows down the process because Inventor has to check everything against that unknown before it can proceed.
This brings up the idea of where to start a sketch. With Inventor I cannot think of a reason not to anchor your sketch, in some way, to the center point (0,0,0).
Displaying 0,0,0 or Part Origin; left-click on the ‘Tools’ tab, then left click on ‘Application Options’, left click on the ‘Sketch’ tab. Down towards the bottom left click in the box for ‘Autoproject part origin on sketch create’. In the next model you start there will be a point in the center of your screen that you can “tie” your sketch to by dimensions or constraints. You can also get to ‘Application Options’ from the Inventor Icon button in the upper left corner of Inventor 2010. Then left click on the ‘Options’ button at the bottom.
I have started a new part, and I left click on the ‘Circle’ icon, I move my cursor towards that point in the center of the screen and when I get pretty close I see a green dot, at that point I left click to start the center of the circle. Now I move my mouse away from the center point and I see the circle start to draw, and I can pretty much click anywhere to get the circle shape.
Inventor keeps track of your cursor position, similar to AutoCAD constantly giving you your X and Y position. (Lower right hand corner of your Inventor window). When you are in a sketch, and sketching (in this case the circle), it also gives you your Radius before you finish drawing the circle.
In Episode 2 we will delve into other important things to keep in mind regarding sketching, and start to look at some of the tools.
Tod
Those of you who have been in one of my classes (and thank you), will know that again and again I talk about keep it simple. So the three tools I try to use most are Line, Circle and Rectangle. And when I use the line tool I still try to keep my initial shape pretty simple. Some of you might say to yourself, ‘Well, why does he do that?’ The answer is a little complex, but here goes; ALL solid modelers before they can open the file the next time you want to use it, have to look at a number of things before you see the file. They have to make sure the sketches are all closed sketches (in general), they have to know where the lines, arcs, and circles are, and what their size is, etc. So, the simpler and more controlled the first sketch is, the easier it is for Inventor to start opening the file. In an assembly of 10 parts, it makes little difference how complex the part is. However, if that 10 part assembly is used in a 5000 part assembly now it starts to make a difference. And if it is used in a 50,000 part assembly it really makes a difference.
The message is try to ‘Keep It Simple’
The next thing to address with regard to sketches is ‘fully constrained’ vs ‘not fully constrained.’ It is always preferable to have a sketch fully constrained. Whenever there is doubt, or unconstrained situations this slows down the process because Inventor has to check everything against that unknown before it can proceed.
This brings up the idea of where to start a sketch. With Inventor I cannot think of a reason not to anchor your sketch, in some way, to the center point (0,0,0).
Displaying 0,0,0 or Part Origin; left-click on the ‘Tools’ tab, then left click on ‘Application Options’, left click on the ‘Sketch’ tab. Down towards the bottom left click in the box for ‘Autoproject part origin on sketch create’. In the next model you start there will be a point in the center of your screen that you can “tie” your sketch to by dimensions or constraints. You can also get to ‘Application Options’ from the Inventor Icon button in the upper left corner of Inventor 2010. Then left click on the ‘Options’ button at the bottom.
I have started a new part, and I left click on the ‘Circle’ icon, I move my cursor towards that point in the center of the screen and when I get pretty close I see a green dot, at that point I left click to start the center of the circle. Now I move my mouse away from the center point and I see the circle start to draw, and I can pretty much click anywhere to get the circle shape.
Inventor keeps track of your cursor position, similar to AutoCAD constantly giving you your X and Y position. (Lower right hand corner of your Inventor window). When you are in a sketch, and sketching (in this case the circle), it also gives you your Radius before you finish drawing the circle.
In Episode 2 we will delve into other important things to keep in mind regarding sketching, and start to look at some of the tools.
Tod
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