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Autodesk Fortifies Digital Prototyping with Ground-Breaking Inventor Features and New Products for 2011
13 May, 2010 By: Nancy Spurling JohnsonDirect manipulation, as-you-go visualization, and design automation are new for Inventor, and Inventor Publisher and Alias Design for Inventor join the product line.
For years Autodesk focused on transitioning its AutoCAD user base to 3D modeling. Today, the company reports, 3D is but a stepping-stone to broader design pursuits. At the Manufacturing Tech Day media event last month, Robert "Buzz" Kross, senior vice-president of the Manufacturing Industry Group, put it bluntly: "3D is not spectacular," he said, explaining that 3D CAD today is "just what you do — it's just a technique."
What Autodesk really wants you to embrace these days is digital prototyping — that is, using 3D design, visualization, and simulation tools to "experience products before they are built." Kross said Autodesk delivers digital prototyping as a complete package for manufacturing environments. "[That] is what it takes to compete today."
Autodesk's 2011 digital prototyping lineup includes some groundbreaking upgrades for Autodesk Inventor, a few new products, and enhancements across the board for product development professionals focused on conceptual design, visualization, engineering, and manufacturing. Software products are increasingly multidisciplinary, often supporting varied functions throughout the product-development process. Indeed, Kross stated at the event, many users today have a blend of previously distinct responsibilities, including creative design, engineering, and analysis.
What's New in Inventor 2011
Inventor 2011 is full of new features that support all facets of 3D modeling.
Direct model manipulation. New direct manipulation capabilities in Inventor 2011 are said to accelerate design times on common tasks such as assembly modeling by approximately 40%, compared with Inventor 2010. With direct manipulation, all the input needed for a command can be controlled right at the point where users are directly changing geometry. Dynamic input in the sketch environment helps engineers to sketch more freely and directly.
In-the-window visualization. An eye-catching new development, literally, is Inventor 2011's new in-the-window design visualization — it's "not a rendering," Kross emphasized. New shading, lighting, and material properties offer a more sophisticated, photorealistic representation of designs, updating as you go. An expensive modeling solution should offer graphics that are better than "those in a $50 game," Kross said.
Visual display in Autodesk Inventor 2011 features significantly improved shading, lighting, and material properties in the default work environment, giving a more realistic representation of the design at all times.
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About the Author: Nancy Spurling Johnson
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