We are trying to save on file size and unnecessary geometry of modeling knurling to using the bitmaps instead. The are parts we update to a Custom library in the content center. Prior to publishing the part to the CC, the engineer will modify and edit the scale of the knurl bitmap image so that it closely resembles the actual part. However once we place that part into an assembly from the content center all of the custom image changes appear to reset to default. Is this by design? How can I make sure that the content center does not overwrite the material changes we've made to that part. I thought that was sort of the purpose of the 'document' materials and appearances? Meaning that what you edit on that file stays there loaded in the 'document' until you delete it.
This is an example of what I'm talking about. This is a basic 1" diameter x 1" tall extrusion part. I've assigned the faces to use the "Knurled 45" appearance. I then have to go into the relief pattern and change the setting from "Knurl" to "custom" in order for the knurling to show up. Then I scale the bitmap from the default 12" x 12" to a 1/8" x 1/8" so it will fit on the part correctly. The appearance name "Knurled 45" is now italicized in the appearance editor showing you that it's now 'custom'. This is prior to publishing to the CC....
And this is how it looks once I place the file into an assembly from the CC...
When I double click to open or enable the placed CC part to view the appearance editor I can see that the "Knurled 45" has been put back to default relief setting of "Knurl" instead of "custom" and that means the scale edits also didn't carry over. Obviously I can't edit this since it's now a CC published part but you get the idea...
Can anyone else please check to see if they can replicate this behaviour with their Content Center? It would be much appreciated.
Is this a bug?
I'm trying to test this out for you, but I can't get the knurling to work AT ALL! It's really strange, and I got distracted trying to figure it out. I'll just try it on a texture that does work.
Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2014
OK, here is what I found. If you modify a style that already exists in your library, Inventor will use the library definition when you place a content center part, and you will lose any customizations you made.
However, if you DUPLICATE an existing style (and give it a new name), then modify the copy, your customizations will be preserved, and your placed CC part should look the way you want.
Give it a try to see if it works for you.
Please click "Accept as Solution" if this response answers your question.
Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2014
@cwhetten wrote:OK, here is what I found. If you modify a style that already exists in your library, Inventor will use the library definition when you place a content center part, and you will lose any customizations you made.
However, if you DUPLICATE an existing style (and give it a new name), then modify the copy, your customizations will be preserved, and your placed CC part should look the way you want.
Give it a try to see if it works for you.
Please click "Accept as Solution" if this response answers your question.
Cameron Whetten
Inventor 2014
Thanks for testing and yes I'm able to replicate the same behaviour.
I understand what Inventor is doing now. I don't think it should replace the custom appearance with the default appearance just because they share the same name. Obviously Inventor doesn't have an issue with this on the local document because it recognizes I've edited a default material, thus changing the text to italic. It seems it's only an issue once you publish a part. Inventor seems to not know what to do with the custom appearance once the part is placed into an assembly, so Inventor replaces it with the default appearance settings. I'm not sure if that is by design or not but it seems mundane to have to create a duplicate material just for the sake of keeping Inventor from getting confused.
Thanks again for testing this out. I would be nice if we could get some ADSK confirmation if this is by design or not and the reasoning for the extra steps required to ensure your part looks as it should when placed from the CC.
Kenny,
The way that I read and understand this is that you will need to have a custom knurling for each size image that you are looking to attach.
This might be something that you might want to put on the IdeaStation.
Thank you.
@bob.holland wrote:Kenny,
The way that I read and understand this is that you will need to have a custom knurling for each size image that you are looking to attach.
This might be something that you might want to put on the IdeaStation.
Thank you.
Hi Bob,
Sorry but I'm not following when you say "for each size image looking to attach". I'm not looking for any custom bitmaps or anything to attach. To simplify, if the file is kept locally or even in Vault will always retain the altered appearance, in this case changing the knurling relief to custom and reducing the scale of the bitmap. The problem is when this file is published to the Content Center and then placed back into an assembly, Inventor doesn't know what to do because it see's the appearance name the same as the library and overwrites the altered values back to default. This behaviour is not happening if the file never gets published. So this is strictly a Content Center issue because this doesn't happen any other time., I'm just wondering why can't the behaviour be the same regardless if the file is from the Content Center, Vault or my local workspace? I suppose I could post this in the IdeaStation but to me this is more of a bug issue than requesting a feature, so I was hoping I could get some direct Autodesk responses on why this is happening before requesting they add it as a feature.
For some reason, I believe I am getting something resembling the opposite effect. I have created a CC part with a material definition of Douglas Fir and an appearance overide of *Red Birch. I no longer want that appearance overide and expressly added a column in my content center family that is mapped to a different appearance (Member.color). I have filled in the column with "Spruce". The problem I am having is it is using the "Spruce" appearance that was saved with the original ipart and not the "Spruce" appearance that is global and saved in the library.
I don't believe there is a fix unless I want to republish the part to the content center.
I don't understand why yours is using the global settings while mine is using the document settings.
Rob