Part 1 - Part Modeling In Autodesk Inventor 2011

[TheShoctopus]

I have the 2012 version and im trying to edit the xz plane and not the satarting one. Theres no HUD to quickly select which plane you want to edit. Ive only had this software for a few hours and have no previous use with it. I got the student version because were going to eventually use in in my 10th grade engineering class.

[JohnHelfen]

@TheShoctopus Welcome to Inventor. I will try my best to help you out. You don't edit the XY plane you sketch on it or reference it. In the browser on the left there is an origin folder that contains the origin planes...the default planes that intersect at 0,0,0. If you expand that you can select a plane and the HUD will display allowing you to create your first sketch. If you want you can turn the visibility of those plane on and off by right clicking them and checking visibility.

[Davichoo]

I have a dilemma, I'm trying to use 3DS MAX with Inventor, but by default the gizmo is not oriented the same way on both programs, why did you set your Z axis upwards? Is it because Inventor is set in the wrong way?

[JohnHelfen]

@Davichoo I think you mean why didn't we set Z to be up? Honestly, I have not idea. I change it ever time. I sketch on the XY plane and set Z to point up. You can set this up in Inventor by right clicking on the view cube and using the set home view and set current view options. When opening the inventor files in MAX I also think there is an option to align the axis, but I might be wrong there. Hope this helps.

[powerbronx]

How did you select all the xz xy etc. planes at once. it will only let me select 1 at a time

[JohnHelfen]

@powerbronx Do you mean in the browser to turn them all on/off at the same time? If so, then you use standard windows conventions....select the the first plane in the list, hold the shift key down and select the last plane in the list. Then you can right click on them and turn them all on or off at once. There is also a button on the view tab (which i promote to the quick access toolbar) that toggles workplanes on/off with a click of a button. Hope this helps.

[powerbronx]

@JohnHelfen Thanks So much I was trying to highlight them all like words on a website. !

[C00kie007]

I accidentally quit the menu on the left of the screen. Where you can find the roots. Do you know how to bring it back?

[JohnHelfen]

@C00kie007 It is called the Browser and you can turn it back on by clicking the View Tab in the ribbon bar and finding the User Interface button in the Window panel. When you click the button it will bring up a list of interface items that can be toggled on and off. Just check the box next to Browser and you are back in business.

[MrMaybeimdreaming100]

Hi John!

I'v got a problem. I am a student that want to learn Inventor. My problem is that when I try to download the file, it comes in 2 parts. I can download the first file, but it's a ziped file, so when I unzip it I am unable to put the two files together. I can download both parts, and I can drive them and unzip them, however, my PC is unable to drive them together. I only get error messages.

Please help me!

(Sorry for all the grammatical errors)

[JohnHelfen]

@MrMaybeimdreaming100 The fact that it comes in 2 parts tells me that something is wrong or you are downloading from the wrong place. Programs pulled from the student community students.autodesk.com are only one big part. Are you downloading from the student community?

[MrMaybeimdreaming100]

@JohnHelfen I just got it right!!:) I just saw the 1 or 3 thing when I started to download. I did not look at it close enough, because when 1 part were complete, another one began. Sorry for your time. I was just not patient enough:)

[Medufiny]

@JohnHelfen

Not all student programs come as one big file.

there are some that come in at least two parts, one is an executable file (.exe) and the other(s) is a compressed file(s).

You need to download both files and then run the executable. If both files are in the same directory (say, both are on the desktop) then you wont have to do anything with the .zip file. If they are in different directories then the installation will ask you for the location of the .zip file.

sorry if I'm a bit late

[lockerzunboxed]

@JohnHelfen Correction just downloaded inventor pro 2011 from student.autodesk it is 3 parts download all 3 to the same place then double click the one thats says .exe

[TheTrueSalpan]

@JohnHelfen John your awesome :d, my school uses this and i love building things physically so it gets pricy so now i use this and understand some of it :D

[peter462]

@MrMaybeimdreaming100 I downloaded 2011 inventor as a student and it was in 3 parts. And worked just fine.

[jjp39t]

I am a high school student and I want to learn inventor. i have no prior experience with inventor, so this video was a little complicated for me. Are there any videos that would be simpler, intended for beginning users?

[JohnHelfen]

@jjp39t Have you watched my sketch tutorial? You should watch that before watching the part modeling or are you talking about something else. I could create a video that explains things in a more basic fashion if you want to help guide me on you need. I could start with a basic overview of the interface, how to navigate, and an explanation of some of the part modeling features. Let me know where to start....what questions do you have?

[jjp39t]

@JohnHelfen I have not watched it. I will check it out and get back to you. My high school dropped drafting 3 and 4, which is where I would have learned inventor, right as I was beginning to love drafting, so I pretty much got screwed. Lol

[JohnHelfen]

@jjp39t We should be able to get you un-screwed. Just let me know what youa re looking for and I will try to help.

[jjp39t]

@JohnHelfen That video was very helpful, thanks. I'll keep watching, and I will let you know if I have any other questions.

[MrMaybeimdreaming100]

Hello. I need some help, if I am 17 years old, I love engineering and strucual design, should I bye the Inventor 2011? I have a student... thing, so that I can get it for a much user friendly price, so 2 say. Can you pleace give me a feedback?

[JohnHelfen]

@MrMaybeimdreaming100 if you are a student just looking to learn the software just download the free version from the Autodesk education community (google it). You have full access to the commercial version functionality and only the files are flagged as student version. It will allow you to learn everything you need. You can get most Autodesk software from that site. Let me know if this helps.

[MrMaybeimdreaming100]

@JohnHelfen It really worked! Thank you so much! I have just downloaded the maya student version... Thank you again. I want to download Inventor as well, however, I am really unsure, becasue I think it might be a bit to hard for me. But, thank you anyway!

[JohnHelfen]

@MrMaybeimdreaming100 Of course it really worked....did you doubt me? If you can learn Maya you will learn Inventor faster, but they are very different programs each with a very different purpose. If you download Inventor and try it out I can always add new videos to help get you up and running. I am always interested in what areas of Inventor cause people trouble....those are the videos I want to make.

[jjp39t]

@JohnHelfen I also would like to download the free inventor online, and I tried, but i needed a faculty member e-mail, and I didn't have a teacher invite me to the site. Any help?

[JohnHelfen]

@jjp39t if you went to students.autodesk.com and registered you should be able to download it form the "Get Software" tab. You shouldn't need faculty.

[JohnHelfen]

@MrMaybeimdreaming100 Another program you may want to check out is Autodesk Showcase. I will be posting a new video on that in the next few days.

[player972660]

hey dude next inventor can you sugest that instead of just your materials we can upload our own photo face materials thanks cool too other than that its cool im making a playground in my class an i love this so if u can pass along my sudgestion

[JohnHelfen]

@player972660 What version of Inventor are you using? This can already be done. You can do it from the manage tab by clicking on styles....you want to use an image as a texture map. It can also be done by creating a decal and applying it to a face on a part.