Autodesk Inventor
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AutoCAD Users: Experience the Benefits of Digital Prototyping

Move beyond 3D and develop a complete digital prototype of your product with Autodesk® Inventor® software. Inventor allows engineers to integrate AutoCAD drawings and 3D data into a single digital model, creating a virtual representation of the final product. Using the single digital model, you can design, visualise, and simulate your product digitally, minimising the need for physical prototypes.

Inventor software makes it easy for you to take full advantage of your investments in DWG™ design data and AutoCAD expertise. All Inventor software bundles even include the latest version of AutoCAD® Mechanical design software for those situations when you need a high-productivity 2D mechanical drafting tool.

Top 10 Reasons to Move from AutoCAD to Autodesk Inventor

1. DWG TrueConnect

Experience the benefits of Digital Prototyping with rapid access to native DWG data. Inventor reads and writes DWG digital design files without translators. That allows you to continue to leverage your valuable DWG data.

Build accurate 3D part models and produce new documentation in the DWG format that’s fully associative to the 3D design. Update old 2D drawings by inserting views of new 3D mechanical designs to reduce the cost of upgrading existing plant and equipment. Easily share insights gained from Digital Prototyping with partners and suppliers who rely on AutoCAD. Generate views from 3D part and assembly designs and combine them with AutoCAD data, such as schematics and plant layouts.

2. Functional Design

Autodesk Inventor products capture the functional requirements of a design to create 3D models. This enables you to build parts and assemblies based on real-world design input, such as load, speed, and power. With a workflow driven by functional design, you can rapidly build digital prototypes that validate design functions and catch errors before designs reach the manufacturing floor. The result: accelerated design cycles and higher-quality designs.

3. AutoCAD Compatibility

Reduce the time and training required for AutoCAD users to become proficient in Digital Prototyping workflows by offering a familiar design environment with recognisable icons, AutoCAD-compatible shortcuts, cursor-based prompts, and command redo. User profiles enable you to configure Inventor to match the way you work, with out-of-the-box profiles for AutoCAD and Inventor experts.

4. Automatic Drawing Updates and Views

Change it once, change it everywhere. Autodesk Inventor associates drawing views to the original components, so a change made to any part or assembly is automatically reflected in all associated drawing sheets. Improve drafting productivity by automatically creating front, side, ISO, detail, section, and auxiliary views of parts and assemblies from the model. Quickly annotate drawings by retrieving the dimension information directly from the design.

5. Integrated Data Management

Autodesk Inventor includes integrated data management with Autodesk® Vault software, a centralised application for workgroups that securely stores and manages work-in-progress design data and related documents. For additional functionality, such as revision control, file and folder security, and BOM and ECO management, learn more about the complete Vault family of products.

6. Bill of Materials

Create automated and associative parts lists and bills of material (BOMs) that match your company’s standards. Inventor supports multiple parts lists per drawing, collapsible assemblies, automatic recognition of standard parts, and customisation.

Since design updates ripple through the entire drawing, you can avoid incorrect parts counting, identification, and ordering. Export or link BOM data to manufacturing resource planning (MRP), enterprise resource planning (ERP), or any data management system.

7. Technical Documentation

Quickly create assembly drawings and exploded assembly views for use in technical documentation. In the Inventor presentation environment, you can easily create animated sequences to communicate design intent in a compelling way. The same tool can enhance training materials, assembly instructions, and sales presentations.

8. State-of-the-Art Rendering

Create photorealistic renderings, animations, and presentations that enrich communication with customers and other decision makers. Autodesk® Inventor® Studio software provides state-of-the-art rendering, illustration, and animation tools in the Inventor design environment.

9. Integrated Simulation

Create higher-quality parts and avoid field failures by using the simulation functionality in Autodesk® Inventor® Professional software. The dynamic simulation functionality in Inventor Professional extends the benefits of Digital Prototyping by enabling you to predict the forces and accelerations experienced by each part in the assembly under real-world conditions. Then use finite element analysis (FEA) functionality to optimise part strength and reduce material costs without compromising performance.

10. Pipe and Cable Routing

With Inventor Professional software you can quickly and accurately add routed systems, tube and pipe runs, or cables and wiring harnesses to 3D mechanical designs. Routed designs automatically comply with user-defined design rules to reduce errors and save time. As with all Inventor files, the assembly drawings automatically update whenever you modify the routing model.