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multi-view panels

multi-view panels

Similar to Maya's panel views, it would be nice to see multiple axes being viewed simultaneously in the same window. Changing things in one view would of course affect the other views simultaneously. In my opinion, this would vastly improve part placement during assembly, and would also make 3D sketches easier. See below for mockup.

 

multi-view mockup 2.jpg

http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/maya2014/en_us/index.html?url=files/Basics_Windows_and_Edit...

14 Comments
lkrenzler
Collaborator

I came from the world of animation where I used 3dsMax, Maya and Softimage.  I was completely blown away by the fact that Inventor can't seem to display a quad viewport (top, side, front, perspective at the same time).  This is so basic and all your DCC programs have it for a very good reason.

 

Take a look at Softimage (which you own), is is the best and most flexible system to date.  Please!

Tags (2)
JBerns
Advisor

It is possible to get 4 views of a model, but I feel there are too many steps as compared to 3ds Max, AutoCAD, etc. The challenge is that 3ds Max can only have one model open at a time as compared to Inventor.

 

Try these steps to acheive a 4-view.

 

  1. Open model (IPT, IAM, or IPN).
  2. Select View Tab > Windows Panel > New.
  3. Repeat this twice more to get four windows.
  4. Select the Tile All button on the ribbon or the Arrange button in lower left area of graphics window.
  5. Select each window in turn to set the view (Top, Front, Right, ISO)

Close extra windows to reduce back to a single window. Granted, not as easy as AutoCAD, but a model multiple view can be acheived.

 

This macro has worked in the past, but lately having troubles getting "Arrange All" to work in 2014. It creates the 4-view window arrangement of the current or active model.

 

Sub Make4Views()

Dim oDoc As Document
Set oDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument

'Add 3 Views
Dim oCamera As Camera
Dim oView As View
Set oView = ThisApplication.ActiveView

Dim oFView As View
Set oFView = oDoc.Views.Add()
oFView.Caption = oFView.Caption & "FRONT"

Dim oRView As View
Set oRView = oDoc.Views.Add()
oRView.Caption = oRView.Caption & "RIGHT"

Dim oIView As View
Set oIView = oDoc.Views.Add()
oIView.Caption = oIView.Caption & "ISO"

'Do the Window-AutoArrange
SendKeys "%WA", True

'Activate each and set the Camera
oIView.Activate

oRView.Activate
Set oCamera = oRView.Camera
oCamera.ViewOrientationType = kRightViewOrientation
oCamera.ApplyWithoutTransition

oIView.Activate
Set oCamera = oIView.Camera
' oCamera.ViewOrientationType = kIsoTopLeftViewOrientation
oCamera.ViewOrientationType = kIsoTopRightViewOrientation
oCamera.ApplyWithoutTransition

oFView.Activate
Set oCamera = oFView.Camera
oCamera.ViewOrientationType = kFrontViewOrientation
oCamera.ApplyWithoutTransition

oView.Activate
Set oCamera = oView.Camera
oCamera.ViewOrientationType = kTopViewOrientation
oCamera.ApplyWithoutTransition

'Do the Window-AutoArrange
SendKeys "%WA", True

End Sub

 

 2014-03-07_16-23-38.png

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

 

Regards,

 

Jerry 

 

P.S.  Ever wonder how Inventor drawings project model information? Try this macro on a drawing.  😉

 

 

 

lkrenzler
Collaborator

Thanks!  Glad it can be done but a bit too cumbersome to be really useful.  It really should be just one click.  Softimage has the nicest system, I wish they would AD would copy that and make it part of inventor.

LT.Rusty
Advisor

Click NEW 3 times, then hit TILE ALL, and set your views however you want.

 

That said, I'm curious as to why you need to use multiple views like this to control your 3D sketches.  99.999% of the time, your 2D sketches are providing the definitions that your 3D sketches will use to create their geometry.

 

 

Capture.JPG

jesse.newman
Explorer

Good tip!

However, there's some strange behavior. Pre-highlighting works in all windows at once, but when something is dragged in one window, it only updates on mouseup. It would be useful if it updated in real time. Still, thanks for the tip. This is rather helpful, especially for large assemblies. I only showed an .ipt above because it was easy to throw together.

jletcher
Advisor

Just make sure this is an option I hate 4 windows in all the other programs out there...........

LT.Rusty
Advisor

Jim-

 

The 4-view thing is very useful in modeling programs like Max or Lightwave, where you're not working with dimensions and constraints, and you only have visual appearance to go by when you're setting up spline cages and such.  It's not really useful in Inventor, if you're correctly using constraints and dimensions.

ChrisMitchell01
Community Manager
Status changed to: Solution Provided
You can already do this, (to a certain degree). After you open your part/assembly, go to the View tab & use the "New" command to create 3 more views. Then use "Tile All" to arrange the views. Each view can be oriented as desired & you can work across views, when modeling.
jesse.newman
Explorer

Thank you Chris for responding. Although the functionality is similar, the workflow is not. If I already have more than one file open, this solution doesn't work. Yes, it's trivial to close and re-open files, but if I'm working in an assembly, chances are I am bouncing between other part files too. This interruption would get more annoying with each repetition.

And if I only have the cloned views open, moving items in one view does not update in other views until the click+drag is released. This is also cumbersome. It would be very useful if there was a way we can get multiple views in a single assembly window, and live-update when a part is click+dragged. Should I re-submit this suggestion as a clarification? Thank you.

BryanKelley
Alumni
Status changed to: Gathering Support
dan_szymanski
Autodesk
Status changed to: Accepted
Jesse, no reason to log another entry. Accepted idea [US23276]. Thanks!
js103036
Explorer

Yup, make it known it's me again. I've come across a new idea for working in tight spaces on a model. I think it would be a good idea to work around a model with a new viewport system or view mode. What if you could place a sphere in your scene that's around a tight place on a model and use that sphere as a fixed camera to look around, pan, or zoom. In addition, it would be a great idea to make the sphere move around freely, maybe move freely but fixed on the targeted space, or even have the ability to shrink and mover freely. This idea is similar of that of 343 guilty spark within Halo 3's level editor. I think this viewport mode would be a great idea for the user when working on a model in a tight or cramped space. 

 

I personally like the shrink idea very much, if the viewport had a shrink view option to navigate through complex and very tight space around models, I think this would make a huge difference (be sure to let the user know they've shrunk the viewport and they're not scaling the object). 

The situation I came across that made me need this feature was when I was working on a vehicle with multiple engine parts. I tried to connect different hoses within an engine and noticed that I didn't want to scale the model because of all the other smaller models/engine parts; therefore, I came up with the idea to shrink the camera. I think the ability to shrink the camera or even navigating through 3D space with the walkthrough viewport navigator would be an amazingly useful idea. 

dan_szymanski
Autodesk
Status changed to: Future Consideration

We are refining procedures around idea status.  Changing this to Future Consideration.

tzrpm
Participant

Inventor doesn't have a real a view port system, as in Autocad which allows independent visual control through layer properties.

 

What I mean is, although we can have multiple view windows opened, showing different view planes, they all depend on the same project browser setting.

 

For instance, while working on a multi-object/multi-part project, the visibility state of each will be the same in all view windows.

 

Curiously, we can have different visual styles for each view window 🙂 

 

Once again, I am stating wishes without the slightest idea of the computacional time/space complexity they require.

 

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