Autodesk Inventor 2017 What’s New Information

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Synergis Product Support Specialist, Mark Lancaster
Today, Autodesk released Inventor 2017 and I wanted to share some key features with you.  My personal favorites are tagged with a star (*).

• *Installation: The installation no longer prompts you for the serial number, product key, and license type.  This information is now required when Inventor is first launched.
• *License Manager: Shows (under Help/About/Product Information) information about your software, installed add-ons, and has the ability to switch the license type at any point.  For additional information, see this link https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/installation-licensing/switch-from-network-to-stand-alone-in-2017-yes/td-p/6231387 and Travis will explain how this new interface works under the Autodesk 2017 product line.
• Autodesk Desktop App: Replaces the Autodesk Application Manager and is now split up based on the Autodesk applications you have installed on your PC/laptop.

• Interface:
  • *File tools have been relocated from the application icon to a File ribbon tab 
    • *IProperties dialog is now resizable and can be sorting by its columns.
    • Support for 4k resolution monitors
    • Connect Design Interface (Introduced in Inventor 2016 R3):
      • The screen icon can now be relocated or closed to meet your needs
      • *Tools (i.e. Add/Remove Collaborators) for managing your share can now be accomplished within Inventor without the need to access your A360 account.
• 3D Sketching:
  • • Sketching tools of Orient Z/World, snap intersection, ortho, dynamic dimension, snap object and infer constraints have been added to the right mouse context menu and/or status bar
    • Copying/pasting in the same 3D Sketch or between 3D sketches is now permitted
    • Additional 3D Sketch constraints have been added such as “on a face”, “parallel to a work axis or plane”.
    • “Curve on face” function is provided thus allowing the user to sketch a curve directly on a face.
    • A new “3D Transform” command has been added to provide a robust set of geometry manipulation tools.
• Part Mode:
  • *Maintain feature orientation is now available under the circular/rotational pattern command.
  • *A new pattern feature called “Sketch Drive Pattern” allows for a pattern (features/bodies) to be created based on a 2D/3D sketched points or imported (sketch) points.

• • A new relationship interactive dialog allows you to view feature dependencies (parent and child) directly within your part.

  

  • IFeatures now supports multi-body in a single operation.
  • Shape Generator (Introduced in Inventor 2016 R2):
    • Glyphs provide feedback on the location of Fixed, Pinned, and Frictionless constraints.
    • Interactive controls are provided for preserved region sizing and positioning
    • New minimum member size criteria influences the size of features in its outputs
    • *Users may directly assign the target mass rather than using a percentage reduction
    • A new optional symmetry constraint causes outputs to be symmetrical about one or more planes
• Sheet Metal:
  • Round (Tangent), Round (Vertex) and Square (Vertex) have been added to corner reliefs
  • Flat patterns with compute errors are now displayed with an informational icon and will now participate in the Design Doctor aspect.
  • Defer updates on flat patterns is now possible
  • Direct editing is now permitted under this environment
• Assembly Mode:
  • *Transparency of a component is now an option instead of applying an appearance override.
  • Cross-Part Reference enhancements
    • *Dependent source component names are now displayed in the part or assembly browser tree. In addition source dependency is illustrated with certain icons based on how the reference was created.
  • *At the part level you can now open the parent and/or reference component
  • At the assembly level, you can now break the reference link without the need to open the part and break the link.
  • Routed System:
    • *Show violations dialog box provides feedback for flexi able hose violations.
    • Resizable dialogs for Tube&Pipe Styles and Authoring dialog box.
  • *Export to 3D PDF: Export your model to a 3D PDF file format. Included in this feature is the ability to automatically create/attach a STEP file of your model and/or attach any other files you may want to include in your 3D PDF output.  The 3D PDF output is based on already defined PDF templates or you have the ability to create your own using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
• Drawing Mode:
  • Jagged cutting edges now permitted on section and detail views.
  • Square balloon shape has been added.
  • *Word wrapping is now supported in the columns and headings of a General, Parts List, Hole and Revision tables
  • *A limit QTY option is now available under the parts list filtering option to adjust the quantity according to the visibility of the items in the design view.
  • Components can now be open directly from the drawing when viewing/editing the Bills of Materials or Parts List of your model.
• Interoperability:
  • *Crop option now available in the part/DWG underlay feature to remove unwanted data.
  • DWG Underlays that are part of a model can now be included in drawing views and Inventor notes/annotations can be added to these DWG Underlays.
  • STEP files can now be imported as a reference model
  • Mesh data can be brought in and managed in the same way as any other 3D CAD data
  • Import of OBJ format into parts and assemblies is now permitted.
  • Export solids/surfaces/mesh information to OBJ file format.

And the list goes on….
Download your copy of Inventor 2017 now and try out these new features.   Hope this quick insight into Inventor 2017 was helpful and register for the upcoming Synergis’ webinar on What’s New in Inventor 2017.  If you have any questions about this release please let us know.

Until next time…