topic Re: Change units in Inventor Forum

Change units

mbondY2CD6 — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 12:19:52 GMT

I cannot change the measure units from inches to feet. I can change the units under tools/document settings but that doesn't change the annotated measure units

Re: Change units

mcgyvr — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 12:34:06 GMT

@mbondY2CD6 wrote:

I cannot change the measure units from inches to feet. I can change the units under tools/document settings but that doesn't change the annotated measure units

By "annotated measure units" are you referring to the dimensions in a 2d drawing (idw/dwg file?) if so you need to change your dimension style in the idw to use the correct units also.

Inventor allows you to easily model in whatever units you want and dimension (in a 2d drawing) in the same or totally different units if you want without needing to change your modeled units.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2020/ENU/Inventor-Help/files/GUID-671A8679-AEC1-413A-A23B-428967648CE6-htm.html

Re: Change units

Cadmanto — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 12:38:34 GMT

I am not sure what you mean my annotated measure units. The measuring tool picks up the same units set in the Document settings. If you are talking about the units in the drawing, that is set in the styles under the manage tab.

Windows 10 x64 -16GB Ram
Intel i7-6700 @ 3.41ghz
nVidia GTS 250 - 1 GB
Inventor Pro 2020

Re: Change units

mbondY2CD6 — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 13:40:29 GMT

When I press annotate folder and then measure it only shows the value in inches. I have the units set as feet under tools/document settings

Re: Change units

Cadmanto — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 13:55:36 GMT

You have not clarified this, @mcgyvr and I have both asked, but based on what you are saying, it sounds like you are talking about in a drawing and you are not measuring, but rather placing a dimension. Measuring and dimensioning are two completely different functions.

Like I stated in my first posting, you need to edit the styles of that dimension. See below on how to change it to feet.

Windows 10 x64 -16GB Ram
Intel i7-6700 @ 3.41ghz
nVidia GTS 250 - 1 GB
Inventor Pro 2020

Re: Change units

mcgyvr — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 14:03:07 GMT

@mbondY2CD6 wrote:
When I press annotate folder and then measure it only shows the value in inches. I have the units set as feet under tools/document settings

I'm now assuming you mean the units of the "Annotate" functionality in a part (3d MBD/PMI type dimensions)

If so Autodesk has totally made this as confusing/half finished as they could..

I'll let someone else show you the steps to do that as I started the day out smiling and I would like to stay that way..

Re: Change units

mbondY2CD6 — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 14:12:35 GMT

I appreciate your patients. I am trying to evaluate Inventor with the Trial version Inventor 2020. All I have under Style and Standard Editor is Lighting and Text, not what you are showing above.

Re: Change units

JDMather — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 14:37:17 GMT

Can you give a bit of information about what you want to evaluate?

Have you used SolidWorks or Creo (Pro/E).

Are you familiar with Model/Assembly/Drawing environment files (this isn't AutoCAD)?

Modeling environment (3D Annotation in particular) It would probably be best (as a beginner) to start from a Template appropriate for your intended units rather than changing units after the fact.

Assembly environment? 2D Drawing environment?

Re: Change units

mbondY2CD6 — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 15:57:21 GMT

Yes I went from Draftsight which is 2D to AutoDesk Fusion 360 3D. Both I'm pretty efficient in. Fusion didn't offer enough features for modeling.

Re: Change units

mbondY2CD6 — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 15:59:23 GMT

Is there a good video package for a beginner? I understand the modeling concept. I just need to know where everything is.

Re: Change units

JDMather — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 17:16:30 GMT

@mbondY2CD6

Where to start, where to start....

Inventor is different than Fusion 360 as Fusion doesn't follow real-world conventions.

In the real world a part is a part. A part is not an assembly, apart is not a drawing (2D intended for sheet of paper).

In the real world an assembly is a collection of components (parts or subassemblies).

In the real world a drawing is a 2D representation on a sheet of paper.

Fusion uses one file for all of this.

Inventor uses a separate file for each:

Part file is *.ipt

Assembly file is *.iam

Drawing file is *.idw (or *.dwg)

If you relate these to the real world equivalent then it is quick to get over this hurdle (you can (and should) put all three files into a project folder, so nothing to get concerned about - one folder(Inventor) or one file(Fusion), who cares. If you stick with it long enough you will see there are very very significant advantages to the Inventor real-world representation of, well, the real world.

There are a bunch of Tutorials in Inventor, not sure of a series that take you step-by-step through a project as it has been 15+ years since I went through the tutorials.

I am in the process of starting a YouTube channel to do exactly this, but I have only just started.

There are a couple of examples of Fusion and Inventor equivalent tutorials here.

The CADWhisperer

I see that you have an interest in Weldments.

I happen to teach a CAD for Welding class and will be adding a bunch of content to my YouTube channel, but that is weeks away from being ready.

If you can Attach one of your *.f3d or *.f3z projects here - I can create a quick video of model/assembly/drawing with welding annotation video using one of your projects.

Re: Change units

johnsonshiue — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 17:43:41 GMT

Hi! I believe you are talking about the workflow of changing 3D Annotate unit. This is a bit involved. The process is not that straight forward but it is doable. I will post a screencast to show you the process (see below). You need to save the change in Part and Assembly template files.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/71729df2-4d7b-4918-9beb-7d7464c40642

Many thanks!

Re: Change units

tamasTYXFW — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 01:03:44 GMT

Hello Johnson, I don't see the screencast you mentioned, is it still available somewhere?

Or can someone point me in the right direction on how to change the units for 3D annotations?

Re: Change units

johnsonshiue — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 17:44:37 GMT

Hi! Many thanks for bringing to my attention! I was not aware that the screencast link was not posted correctly. I have modified the original reply and included the link. Please take a look.

Thanks again!

Re: Change units

tamasTYXFW — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 20:49:14 GMT

Thank you very much, that answered my question!