Newbies quesitons

[alentor]

Hello

I'm coming from about 6 years of experience with working with 3D software (Maya, zBrush, realflow and mudbox), Starting from Maya 8.

But it seems like it's not enough for me to figure out how to align an object 90 degrees relative to the ground.

Also how can draw a 350x350mm rectangle without using the demension tool to check the size of the rectangle every time I resize it?

The reason why I'm working with Inventor and not with maya is cause of my dad got an idea for a patent, and asked me for help with building it.
There will be more a lot of question coming.
Thank you for your help.

-William

[SBix26 · Accepted solution]

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@alentor wrote:

Also how can draw a 350x350mm rectangle without using the demension tool to check the size of the rectangle every time I resize it?

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You shouldn't try.  When you want to resize your rectangle, you change the dimensions.  The dimensions in an Inventor sketch control the size of the various elements and allow you to change them in a controlled fashion.  You place the rectangle, and you dimension/constrain not only its size, but also its placement relative to existing features on the model, or better yet, to the model's origin (planes, axes, center point).  In most cases (all cases for a beginner!), every sketch should be fully constrained so that the prompt in the lower right corner of the screen says "Fully Constrained" instead of "4 dimensions needed".

I'd strongly suggest you go through these tutorials from JD Mather: skillsusa university & MA13-3, and also the tutorials available in Inventor and in the Wikihelp.

Sam B
Inventor 2012 Certified Professional

Please click "Accept as Solution" if this response answers your question.
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Inventor Professional 2013 SP1.1 Update 1
Windows XP Pro 32-bit, SP3
HP EliteBook 8730w; 4 GB RAM; Core™ 2 Duo T9400 2.53 GHz; Quadro FX2700M
SpaceExplorer/SpaceNavigator NB, driver 3.7.18
still waiting for a foreshortened radius dimensioning tool in Drawing Manager

[JDMather]

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@alentor wrote:

Hello

I'm coming from about 6 years of experience with working with 3D software (Maya, zBrush, realflow and mudbox), Starting from Maya 8.

-William

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This experience will more likely be a hinderance than a help.
You will need to adopt an entirely new mindset were the parameters (constraints and dimensions) control the model.

You edit parameters to edit the model.

[LT.Rusty]

I started out in basically the same way that you did.  My background was Lightwave 3D, Modo, and Zbrush.  Using Inventor is a completely different mindset, and my background with the other software left me with habits that were VERY hard to break at first.

These days, I pretty much only use Inventor.  I don't think I'd even be able to model something in Lightwave or Modo anymore after this much time with Inventor.

The tutorials that Sbixler linked to were absolutely crucial in my learning process.  Make use of those and any other of JD Mather's tutorials that you can find.  Some of them are a little out of date due to changes in the software, but you can still pick something up from most of them.  The interface might be a little different from what they show, but they're still useful.