Importing Constraints from Inventor main assembly

[Anonymous]

Hi, i'm trying to do animated video of my machines in showcase 2013.
My problem is that I can only import constraints from subsets (where anim constraints are created).
Yet, I want to animate the entire machine with all its subset. Although I made some positional representations, I can recover any constraint in showcase.
Is it possible and If Yes how ?

Thanks for your help.

[Anonymous]

I've had the genius idea of creating an empty piece that I can constraint in a flexible subset from the assembly and so i can import constraint in showcase, i thought I was finally free to do what I wanted to do but to my disappointment, the constraint don't work ! And If I export a FBX file from a subset and reimport in the assembly, it don't work too. Wtf ?

[MarionLandry]

HI,
It is a little hard to understand exactly what you are trying to achieve and I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge.

Something to keep in mind; you will only received in Showcase,the animation constraints that exist in Inventor. SO, in order to have a complete animation of your model in Showcase, you will need to have a working constraint animation in Inventor.. having that said...
I see two possible solutions:
1. Create in Inventor a drive constraint that animates all the parts as desired. Play it in Inventor to make sure that it animates as desired. When you import that constraint into Showcase, it will create a behavior that should animate the parts as in Inventor.
2. Import multiple constraints into Showcase, add them to a slide and play the slide. This one works well if the constraints animate different sets of parts. If a constraint animates a part that moves other parts, it may be necessary to re-parent objects in the Showcase Organizer and that may conflict with how the behaviors move the objects.

If you can drive one constraint in the final Inventor file and see all the desired animation, the corresponding Showcase behavior should animate the same.

The Showcase behavior simply moves all objects to the positions specified by the Inventor constraint, ignoring the hierarchy.

You can have a look at a video I have created to show how to export an inventor constraint to Showcase while using the suite workflow. If you are not using the suite workflow, let me know, I will create a different video that shows how to import the Inventor constraints directly from Showcase.

I hope this answer is helpful!
Marion
http://youtu.be/WISYIe71Du8

[freesbee]

the procedure described here is mainly not working (either using suites workflow, or trying to import the behavior from ShowCase).

We did many attempts, and the behavior has been properly "transmitted" only in one case (that we cannot reproduce, so it was a lucky strike).

We are working win Inv2013 SP2u1 + ShowCase2013 R1

Our 3D models are perfectly clean, and driven constrains work perfectly.

We are even ready to create the behavior in ShowCase, making a turntable on the item we want to animate and adjusting the axis in the proper position, but in that case the limit is that, if the turntable axis is not vertical or horizontal there is no way to tilt it.

Autodesk documentation is also quite poor, and as soon as you are a little bit further than a "standard" case there is nothing.

To use this tool properly we need some more detailed instructions/tutorials

[freesbee]

...so far the only way we could get the constrains properly imported into ShowCase behaviors was without the Suites Workflows as shown in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcE2C1tn7Hc

Nevertheless not all Behavior worked properly: we have a handwheel that should release a latch door, and in Inventor the two constrains simulating the handwheel release movement work perfectly (driving constrain rotates the handwheel, slave constrain defined as a function of the driving one moves the threaded bar away from the latch). When calling it from ShowCase import menu, this specific behavior does not rotate anything, while the others work.

We'll do some more accurate investigations on this specific subject, reporting them back to the forum. We are also ready to share material in order to solve the problem.

[Christian_Garimberti]

I have used many times the inventor constraints to do some animations in showcase. And always get what I want.
Be sure to start almost 1 time the constraint animation in inventor. If not, no behavior will be created.

[Christian_Garimberti]

I think that the problem is the Flexible Assembly in inventor.

I made some test and the animation on the flexible assembly is not present in Showcase.

While:

If i split the flexible assembly in more single subparts or subassembly, and then restrucure the main assy, all the constarints are traduced in behaviors.

Example:

MAIN ASSY

  GROUP ASSY (flexible)

    SubGroup1

    SubGroup2

this assembly become:

MAIN ASSY

    SubGroup1

    SubGroup2

I know that this can be seen as a bug, but now i doesn't have any other tip.

It is possible to check if adaptivity instead flexibility is better. i have not tested this case.

bye

[freesbee]

Christian's tip brought to the solution of the problem (with a small limitation by the way). Thank you Christian!!!

A video showing the final effect will be posted soon

[freesbee]

...just to keep the promise here is the video showing the final result.

http://youtu.be/EkRz9QCkV0s

(courtesy of AVA-Huep GmbH © 2013)

When animating the hand-wheels, turntables cannot be used, because the axes are not horizontal. The only possibility was to create the movements in Inventor, and then import the assembly in ShowCase mapping the right constrain names (forget about Suite Workflows: in our specific case we could never get them to proper working).

After many frustrating attempts, the suggestion that came from Christian brought us to the successful result. Initially the hand-wheels were a flexible subassembly together with their hinges. Everything was working perfectly in inventor, but in ShowCase behaviors were not having any effect.

After reorganizing the assemby in order to have no flexible sub-assemblies (hinges are one subassembly, and hand-wheels another one), things started working.

Just a request for Marion: I think I can talk for the small ShowCase community, when saying that we are all very thankful for the high quality material that you are making available online, helping us to use in the real world this interesting tool that ShowCase is. We also understand that, as a marketing person, you need to focus the audience attention on things that ARE possible, rather than features that ARE NOT possible. But please, write or say somewhere also features that ARE NOT possible: if we knew that flexibility was not supported in the workflow Inventor -> ShowCase we would have saved several frustrating hours of useless attempts. Nobody ever mentioned this "small" detail in any tutorial around... how should we know that??

Deal?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but I don'tunderstand what I need to do with my sub-asseblies to get the import constraints working.

So if I have an Assembly with say 10 sub-aasemblies and they need to be flexible, I wouldneed to put these sub-assemblies into another sub-assembly?

[freesbee]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sorry, but I don'tunderstand what I need to do with my sub-asseblies to get the import constraints working.

---

In principle you need to get your assembly constrains work without flexibility or adaptivity (some restructuring will be probably needed: in my example the two latch+handwheel were one flexible subassembly: they had to be reorganized as 4 components directly under the top-level assembly).

Once you get it working that way, behaviors will be created.

[Anonymous]

Hello Marion,

Thanks for your polite answers and for your videos, I've learnt a lot from them.

I've built an assembly in Inventor 2013. It contains several "flexible" sub assemblies (ball bearings in which the inner and the outer rings have to move indipendently from each other). I've made a "pre- test" in Inventor Studio and EVERYTHING moves as I want. But once imported the assembly in Showcase, the flexible sub assemblies remain motionless. Can you please help me? (imagine a rotating shaft supported at its opposite sides by a couple of ball bearings inserted on a chassis).

Excuse my terribile english, and Thanks again 

[freesbee]

forget flexibility: it won't work.

Forget adaptivity: it won't work.

You need one part for the outer ring, one part for the rolling elements, one part for the innen ring.

Make them spin at the proper speed, and you'll get the effect that you want.

ShowCase is not Inventor: flexibility and adaptivity do not exist.

And by the way, don't invest too much time in that: ShowCase won't be developed any more.

[Anonymous]

Hello, ing. Frison,

Thanks for the answer. So there's no hope to make Showcase recognize Inventor's flexible sub assemblies! At least I'll stop trying... I understand your solution, but what if I had a gear spinning around a not fixed axis (like an epycicloidal joint - giunto epicicloidale)? Thanks so much for your help.

PS: if Showcase will not be developed anymore, is there any other Autodesk software able to fully recognize Inventor's constrains (flexible ones included!) and capable to produce stunning renderings like Showcase does?

[admaiora]

"And by the way, don't invest too much time in that: ShowCase won't be developed any more."

Hi Ing. Frison,

just curious, how do you know that?

I am asking Autodesk now, is it true or may be possible?

[freesbee]

bravo, you got it 😉

To my current knowledge there is no solution to make a planetary movement in showcase at the moment.

In ShowCase you only have rotisserie, but you cannot place a rotisserie inside another rotisserie (or maybe you can? who has enough time to test it?)

Of course you could do it with a keyframe animation coming from Inventor, but then another surprise will come...

...don't spin it too fast, otherwise they'll start making troubles!

From the experience there is much more control over the rotisserie, but they are very limited (has anybody ever managed to make a rotisserie around a "non horizontal and non vertical" axis?    ...no).

Ho do I know things? It's like Area51: not on any map, but go ahead and you'll find it 😄

(too much rendering stuff at the moment, my friend)

[freesbee]

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@Anonymous wrote:

PS: if Showcase will not be developed anymore, is there any other Autodesk software able to fully recognize Inventor's constrains (flexible ones included!) and capable to produce stunning renderings like Showcase does?

---

...sorry: I forgot one point.

Not that I know.

The real evolution of ShowCase is actually VRED: that's the business where ShowCase comes from (Automotive), and VRED will continue.

I'm afraid we'll have to focus on 3ds Max (I don't see VRED as a real alternative for those who are not dealing with Automotive) which has much better animation tools, but training curve will be much longer as well.

But regarding Inventor constrains... I'm not that optimistic about that...

[Christian_Garimberti]

Autodesk never says that showcase is dead...

Showcase Pro is dead.

Vred has other target and it is designed for automotive purpose.

Showcase is the only platform that can convert inventor constraints in something other...

You can import inventor model in 3dsmax, but only geometry is converted, not constraints.

For showcase you have to prepare your model before in inventor.

You have to promote to the first level of the assembly your constraint to have it converted in showcase.

But after you have your animation in showcase.

Bye

[admaiora]

You can do a planetary animation with no special efforts, the greatest part has to be done in Inventor.

A very quick sample, without the pretension of any real ratio/teeths analysis mechanism for this purpose.

Showcase is a great software with many strenghts (technicals and commercials), it would be a shame to dismiss this project.

[freesbee]

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@admaiora wrote:

You can do a planetary animation with no special efforts, the greatest part has to be done in Inventor.

A very quick sample, without the pretension of any real ratio/teeths analysis mechanism for this purpose.

---

Exactly: this is a keyframe animation. Just don't spin it to fast, especially if it is on a "non horizontal or vertical axis"
That's why I wrote "no solution to make a planetary movement in showcase at the moment"

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@admaiora wrote:

Showcase is a great software with many strenghts (technicals and commercials), it would be a shame to dismiss this project.

---

I totally agree: it's an interesting software with many strengths.
2 years ago I didn't say that they will drop it: I wrote "won't be developed any more".
With the 2014 they almost "forgot" to include it in the Suite.
Right now I'm starting another ShowCase project, so I'll be able to witness quite soon if they have done any additional developments since 2013 or not... (for the moment it looks that they haven't 😞 )