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level of detail

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Message 1 of 16
JimSteinmeyer
12563 Views, 15 Replies

level of detail

Is there a way to turn off this wonderful feature? I am sick of having to create new LODs in order to supress a component  or being unable to alter a subassembly because a different LOD of something is being altered somewhere.

 

Thank you

 

Jim

Jim

Inventor Premium 2013 SP1.1
Vault 2013- plain vanilla version
HP G71 notebook
celeron cpu w\ 4gb RAM and 64 bit system
Win 7 home premium

Ya, my boss has me running my personal machine at work.
15 REPLIES 15
Message 2 of 16
mcgyvr
in reply to: JimSteinmeyer

Why would you suppress a component but not want to create a LOD for that configuration?



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Inventor 2023 - Dell Precision 5570

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Message 3 of 16
JimSteinmeyer
in reply to: mcgyvr

Maybe in the design process I want to supress a component not knowing if I will delete it or not yet. I have found no method of unlocking the master level, so it creates a new LOD.  If I later do delete it I then I need to delete the LOD or it hangs around to bite me in the rear.

I was just altering a subassy with the top level open and was not allowed to make changes because "a LOD was being altered" somewhere, I have no idea where. I then went to the top level assy to see if I could find the problem but was not allowed to do anything because.... a LOD was being altered somewhere, I still have no idea where. My only resolution? Shut all files down without being able to save.

If I could just do my work and only create and use LODs when I really need them or when I decide it would help, Life would be so much easier.

Jim

Inventor Premium 2013 SP1.1
Vault 2013- plain vanilla version
HP G71 notebook
celeron cpu w\ 4gb RAM and 64 bit system
Win 7 home premium

Ya, my boss has me running my personal machine at work.
Message 4 of 16
jtylerbc
in reply to: JimSteinmeyer

Have you tried turning off Visibility on these components instead of using Suppress?

 

Suppression / LOD are really intended to be used to manage memory usage, rather than component visibility.  A lot of people (myself included, for quite a while) try to use it for the wrong purpose, and cause themselves a great deal of headache.

Message 5 of 16
JimSteinmeyer
in reply to: jtylerbc

Yes, i do use visability, and that is usually a good solution. However there are times when LODs get made, sometimes just because Inventor wants one and the creation box gets checked to rapidly get to the next step, and then the fun begins.

 

I guess I have spent too many years looking at these things from the other direction, as configurations that don't need attention every time you do something, and I would just like them to go away except when I really need them.

I would also like to be able to unlock the master LOD so new ones don't get created.

 

From the replies it appears the LODs can not be turned off so I will just learn to live with them.

 

Jim

Jim

Inventor Premium 2013 SP1.1
Vault 2013- plain vanilla version
HP G71 notebook
celeron cpu w\ 4gb RAM and 64 bit system
Win 7 home premium

Ya, my boss has me running my personal machine at work.
Message 6 of 16
jtylerbc
in reply to: JimSteinmeyer

By definition, the Master LOD can't have anything suppressed.  This is why it shows up as being locked.  When you suppress something, Inventor isn't randomly deciding to create an LOD - by suppressing something, you've just told it to do so.  Thus, the way you "turn off LOD's" is to just stop turning them on by suppressing parts.

 

Suppression / LOD is a memory management tool for large assemblies.  It removes unwanted parts from memory to improve performance.  It also happens to visually remove the part from the screen, but that isn't its primary purpose.  Suppression and LOD's are very powerful tools, but they get misused a lot by people (myself included for a while) who don't understand the difference betwee suppression and visibility.

 

This is really a job for Visibility rather than suppression.  Visibility does not cause the same sorts of trouble that LOD's can.  It also doesn't have the memory saving benefits of suppression, so there is some tradeoff.

I used to struggle with these same sorts of problems a great deal, until a job change gave me time to read up on the different types of representations and get a better understanding of how they should be used (which was never covered in my training on the software).  Once I stopped using suppression and LOD's in places where they didn't really belong, the problem went away.  It's like trying to beat a nail into the wall with a wrench - you might get it to work if that's all you have, but if there's a hammer in the same toolbox you should probably try it instead.

Message 7 of 16
JimSteinmeyer
in reply to: jtylerbc

iI am begining to understand The different uses. I guess it comes from a different concept on how to handle things from the other software packages. My biggest frusteration is tha case where I am working on an assembly and open a subassembly to alter it but am not allowed to do anything because a different LOD is being altered somewhere. Again this is because of a different view point and method of thinking, but this makes me think that the program is unstable rather than intended to act this way.

In general it appears I need to retrain the way I approach a design to avoid this kind of problem.

Jim

Inventor Premium 2013 SP1.1
Vault 2013- plain vanilla version
HP G71 notebook
celeron cpu w\ 4gb RAM and 64 bit system
Win 7 home premium

Ya, my boss has me running my personal machine at work.
Message 8 of 16
john.riel
in reply to: JimSteinmeyer

As a user for over 4 yrs now, I too have found the LOD'S to be cumbersome and un-necessary for my usage as i do not have huge assemblies. would it not be easier to make it a feature that can be turned on or off by the application options? Then those of us who do not need this feature do not have to use it or have it causing us grief. and those who do need the feature for very large assemblies and memory saving can turn it on with a simple check box. that would to me fix the problem for both sides of this fence.

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Message 9 of 16
jtylerbc
in reply to: john.riel

john.riel,

 

As I explained in the post that is marked as a solution in this thread, LOD's essentially are already off by default.  The opportunity already exists to not use them.  You are turning them on when you Suppress parts or assemblies.

 

LOD's exist to manage Suppressed / Unsuppressed states.  If you do not need or want LOD's for managing memory, then you should not be using Suppress, you should be using Visibility.

 

If there is a situation that you think requires you to use Suppression but not LOD's, please elaborate on what you are trying to do.  Issues with LOD's are, in my experience, nearly always a case of misunderstanding and misusing the Suppress command.

Message 10 of 16
john.riel
in reply to: john.riel

I understand how the visibility and enable features work. But, I do not need
LOD'S at all. There are times I suppress a part to put a different part in
to compare it to the fit up. Which means I need every part of the first part
suppressed so that no constraints interfere with each other. To me and most
others LOD'S were meant for people with thousands of parts in a single
assembly, I personally don't think I have ever had more than 150 pieces in
an assembly. So for me they are completely un-necessary. That's why I said
make it a check box in the app options. Then we all can have it our way.
Please don't misunderstand me, I completely get what you are talking about
with the proper use. I just feel it would be more USER friendly to be able
to turn them off, If you don't use them at all, as in my situation.




Message 11 of 16
john.riel
in reply to: jtylerbc

I understand how the visibility and enable features work. But, I do not need LOD’S at all. There are times I suppress a part to put a different part in to compare it to the fit up. Which means I need every part of the first part suppressed so that no constraints interfere with each other. To me and most others LOD’S were meant for people with thousands of parts in a single assembly, I personally don’t think I have ever had more than 150 pieces in an assembly. So for me they are completely un-necessary. That’s why I said make it a check box in the app options. Then we all can have it our way. Please don’t misunderstand me, I completely get what you are talking about with the proper use. I just feel it would be more USER friendly to be able to turn them off, If you don’t use them at all, as in my situation.

Message 12 of 16
jtylerbc
in reply to: john.riel

Except that isn't what happens.  Suppressing a part doesn't suppress the constraints that are on it.  They are still active. 

 

If you think about it, if the constraints did suppress, the LOD's wouldn't work as intended.  Suppressing a part to save memory would let any parts constrained to it run rampant.

 

To see what I'm talking about, make a test assembly and throw two parts in it.  Ground one, and fully constrain the second to the grounded part.  Now, suppress the grounded part.  If you try to drag the second part, it will not move.

 

Now throw in a third part, and fully constrain it to the second.  Unsuppress the grounded part, and suppress the second part.  You will likewise be unable to drag the third part.

 

To get what you want, you need to turn the Visibility of the part off, and suppress the constraints instead of suppressing the part itself.

Message 13 of 16
JimBeard3129
in reply to: mcgyvr

If you activate the Master Level, you can delete all the other LODs, yes?

Message 14 of 16
mcgyvr
in reply to: JimBeard3129


@JimBeard3129 wrote:

If you activate the Master Level, you can delete all the other LODs, yes?


yes.. 

any user created LOD's can be deleted if needed..

master/all components suppressed/all parts/all content center cannot..



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Inventor 2023 - Dell Precision 5570

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Message 15 of 16
MADHAVSMU8X
in reply to: mcgyvr

Can you explain how to delete user created level of detail??

Message 16 of 16
johnsonshiue
in reply to: MADHAVSMU8X

Hi! You will have to open each assembly file and activate LOD:Master or open it with option set to LOD:Master (Tools -> App Options -> Files -> File Open Options). Then manually select all non-Master LODs and right-click -> Delete.

If you are API savvy, you could write a program or iLogic rule to delete all LODs within a given assembly.

Many thanks!

 



Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer

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