Inventor Simplification

Autodesk Labs has released a new technology preview for Inventor 2013. The new add-in is called Inventor Simplification. If you are familiar with the Shrinkwrap tool that was released in Inventor 2010 then you will realize that this is just a more advanced version of Shrinkwrap. Inventor Simplification has made it easier to simplify parts and assemblies for downstream consumption by allowing you to remove intellectual property that might not be needed. Take a look at the videos and link below to get a better understanding on how amazing this tool really is.

IP Removal

BPM

Follow the link below for the download and also for some additional information.

Autodesk//Labs_Inventor Simplification

-Jason Miles

Navisworks 2013 – My First Impressions

For an overview of the new features and enhancements for Navisworks 2013, see the link: http://usa.autodesk.com/navisworks/features/

My Favorite New Feature

Grids and Levels from Revit
In the past we had to do a lot of setup to get grids and levels to display in Navisworks, particularly difficult to acquire from Revit.  3D Grids were introduced as a Family that helped to go from Revit to Navisworks.  Now in the new 2013, standard Grids and Levels will pass over to Navisworks.  The only specific setup that I have found to have this feature work: The grid must be native to the project; you cannot just have the grid displayed from a link.  Also, to get the Level information, you need to have at least one grid line.

Revit Grids and Levels show up now in Navisworks 2013

My First Bug Find

Navisworks Revit File Reader
With 2013 you can now read a RVT file just like you can read an AutoCAD DWG file.  Fortunately, the folks at Autodesk did not take away the Revit Plugin so that we can export from Revit to NWC.  I write ‘fortunately’ because I have discovered that the Reader doesn’t read some objects in Fine detail, while the Exporter does.  

I tried the main two ways the Reader looks at a RVT file: Navisworks Named View and Whole Project.  My Navisworks Named View is set to Fine display.  

With the Reader, Pipe and Conduit fittings are single-line.
Cable Tray is Medium Detail level

With the Exporter: Pipe, Conduit, Cable Tray and
Duct all come in at Fine detail

I have only tested RMEP objects and specifically just Duct, Pipe, Cable Tray and Conduit.  Duct seems to be OK either with the Reader or the Exporter, but I wonder if this is because Duct is the same when displayed in Medium detail as with Fine detail.  Cable Tray, in my test I used the Ladder type, the Reader brought it in equivalent to the Medium detail level, while the Exporter shows it as Fine.  Pipe/conduit fittings do show up with the Reader, but they are shown as the coarse/medium detail level, single-line display.  In contrast, the Exporter exports out the fittings as Fine detail (oddly though, the fittings come in NW a different color from the pipes themselves).

Consequently, I recommend for you RMEP folks to continue using the Exporter until a fix gets applied in an Update.

dennis