What is?

[tjamscad]

What is the little display thing that pops up on Inventor 2012 when I am trying to excute an extrude or other feature? How do I turn it off?

[mflayler2 · Accepted solution]

I assume you mean the Mini Manipulation toolbars.  They cannot be turned off.

[cbenner]

Might want to post a screen shot when asking people to identify something.  Snipping tool works great for stuff like this... assuming you have Windows 7.

[tjamscad]

SORRY THIS IT WHAT I AM ASKING ABOUT

[mflayler2]

Yes, that is the mini manipulation toolbar, you cannot turn it off.  I personally use it a lot more than the dialogs nowadays.

I have some more details on it in a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeq4mxiBsGk

[Vlad.Makarov]

Autodesk couldn't figure out what to add to the 2012 release so they added duplicate input boxes & called it a day. They like to give people choices like that. One wasn't enough so they figured they'd add two or three more. Basically cover the screen with input dialogs so you can't see what you're working on. Ultimately, they call this a reduction of mouse travel. Originally you had to move your mouse .50" in one direction, now you only have to move 1.50" in multiple directions. It increased because the mini input boxes go where ever they feel like. It's actually a regression but when you work at Autodesk, going backwards means you went forwards. For the 2013 release, the mini-input boxes will feature mini advertisements alongside them.

[mflayler2]

You know you can pin those down right Vlad, so they stay in the same spot?  You must be having a bad day, because I have seen a few negative posts from you today.  Critisism isn't necessarily the worst thing, its healthy in progessing anything of value, but maybe you could offer suggestions instead of the last few posts you have had of negativity.

[Vlad.Makarov]

Mark,

I suggested that they leave it alone. Instead they implemented something half assed.

So my negativity stems from them releasing half assed improvements year after year.

They continue to do this despite protests from users much more knowledgeable than I.

I have no idea why I need a large input box & mini input box. Oh wait, I do, it's because the mini boxes don't have all the necessary info that the large boxes do. So what the is the point of a mini box then!!?? I have to use the large one because the small one doesn't give me what I need!!! Why should I use the mini???!!!!!  2+2=4 to me, maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand these changes.

[mflayler2]

I don't disagree that the 2011 version was half assed, in fact it was almost unusable to me.  In 2012 they added really everything in the dialog box I needed in the mini-bar.  They did listen to those that made comments for the improvements of the interface and coming from someone that trains new users on the software regularly, new users do seem to gravitate toward the mini toolbar more than the dialog box.

I especially like the Edit Feature, Edit Sketch, New Sketch, Fillet, Chamfer options you get right on screen.

[Vlad.Makarov]

Well, bully for the new users. What about the old users that have used the software since R3-R4?

I guess we'll just screw them. Where is the taper input on the mini-bar? It's not there.

The awesome ribbon? Haha, it added half second lag all over the place. If I go back to classic, no lag. Instant.

All these supposed UI productivity improvements? Huge increase in mouse travel, double, triple, sometimes quadrupling of click amounts. Taking useful commands that were out in the open & used regularly, burying them chaotically in random places. Large dialog box does the same F'n thing the little toolbar does. What, those original dialog boxes are now taking up too much space? Meanwhile I have this huge honking ribbon sucking up tons of space while the old commands were in a nice tidy vertical strip next to my feature tree. Yes, I know I can customize the ribbon, make it vertical, make it fly around the room, make it bring about world peace. It will never match classic.

RIP True Inventor, 1999-2009. You were beautiful, I will miss you.

[mflayler2]

Taper input IS on the mini-toolbar.  Click on the ball on the extents arrow.

Have you used the Compact option of the Ribbon (similar to expert mode in Classic)

I recently had a project in 2009, and the interface was a PITA to run after knowing how to run the Ribbon efficiently.  Just takes a little getting used to and an open mind.  I've been running Inventor since 1999 as well, and for a week I hated the Ribbon, then I understood it and used it and now I would never go back to the Panel Bars of the past.  Especially since I also use Office just as much as I use Inventor.  Can't even go back to the old interface there at all.  Just be glad you can still get your old interface back right now Vlad, at some point, you won't be able to.

[Vlad.Makarov]

I stopped using the classic interface when I updated to 2012. My point is, the new UI runs slower than the old one.

For example, clicking materials tab in the new UI & there is lag. Click it in classic & it is instant.

I can't use classic anyway, there was one very annoying bug I found in the hole dialog. It was submitted & acknowledged by an Autodesk employee. The forum post should be a six months back.

Regarding taper on the mini toolbar, you'll have to point it out. I see no taper option.

See attached.

I tried compact mode for ribbon & I just can't get myself to stick with it. I don't know what it is.

[mflayler2]

You have to select the ball on the extents arrow.

[Vlad.Makarov]

Ok, so now I have a mini tool bar & then have to select a ball. How is this an improvement over the current dialog box where everything is centrally located?

It is obvious I have become stuck in the mud. Obviously there is some great improvement great with this new setup but I just don't see it.

[mflayler2]

On the dialog you still have to select a tab.  Here you click and hold the ball and drag or you can instantly type a value just like the dialog.  That is the same amount of mouse clicks, not visual like the onscreen tool, and more mouse travel (as long as you've pin'd your menu in one spot).

[Vlad.Makarov]

Mark,

Obviously you find it to be an improvement. For me, I just see change for the sake of change.

Thank you for pointing it out, I never would have discovered it. It just looked like a bunch of gimmicky crap for marketing to use in sales demos.

[mflayler2]

Now, the Assemble tool...ooh that one was a gimmicky mistake IMOP.  The constraint dialog is hard to improve upon unless you really change how the software works.

This appears to be a tranistional state for design software (Inventor is not the only one going through it), some of these elements do need refining, but I think we all want a software that is easy for new users to use as well as diehards like us to adapt to.

[mflayler2]

I'll tell you what I really like about the mini-toolbars though.  The ability to select a face or edge and quickly edit a feature or start something new.  The edit feature alone is enough for me to stay away from my Model tree and the mouse travel is the amount that kills me the most.  Having right in context being able to edit the feature or sketch without expanding anything or traveling to the other side of my 30 inch dual screen setup is a time saver.

[Vlad.Makarov]

I don't like them & I highly doubt I every will. I currently have a nice big box where I set all my parameters. It is in the same position it has been in for the last ten years. I hit extrude & move my mouse approximately an .125 to the upper left corner. My mouse barely has to move as I set my parameters.

Conversely, I have this little toolbar compressed to be as small as possible. I must travel to this toolbar & set part of my parameters. The taper option is not attached to it. I must then click a ball which is located where ever it ends up being located. So I must move my mouse back & forth three or four times to get these parameters set.

I'm glad you transitioned easily but I just want to punch the guy who designed this in the face.

[blair]

I tend to agree with Vlad on the head-up display icons. Being a SpacePilot user, I have my six buttons plus the toggle button 2X for each environment along with my Esc,Crtl and Alt keys for my little finger. Less clicks on the older versions and more screen space.

A knife is still a knife, no matter how pretty you make it, a handle and a blade with a sharp cutting edge. Pretty is nice for consumer goods, but in the industrial side, function is paramount.

For me I find it quicker to have all my tool-boxes appear in the same corner of my screen, my mouse is already moving over to that spot while I am selecting the command with my LH on my SpacePilot. The box appears maximizied with all the selects visable. I don't have to click to open the drop-down box to cut with the Extrude command.

I wish they would spend some time with the CC and at least get the Steel-Bar to sort by thickness first, then width to follow industrie standards, the same as all the steel service center books. They manage to get the fastners to sort by diameter, then length. (ya I know I can create a custom library, buy I really shouldn't have to)