topic Free form saving differently in Inventor Forum

Free form saving differently

Anonymous — Wed, 11 May 2016 13:59:34 GMT

I edited a box in free form, then saved it. The box did not save the same as what it was supposed to look like. All I could see was the outline of the box. I pushed the go back button, unedited it and put the face that i had deleted back on it, and it saved exactly as it was pictured. Why would it change the image as it saves?

Re: Free form saving differently

JDMather — Wed, 11 May 2016 14:30:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

... Why would it change the image as it saves?

You should post example files that illustrate the unexpected behavior that you see.

Image? Are you referring to the thumbnail preview?

Re: Free form saving differently

Anonymous — Wed, 11 May 2016 17:37:51 GMT

Here are the pics.

Re: Free form saving differently

JDMather — Wed, 11 May 2016 18:38:17 GMT

When you exit out of Freeform the model is converted either to a solid body or a surface body - this is normal behavior.

Because you deleted a face the result is a surface body.

You can always right click on the Form node in the browser and select Edit to get back where you were.

I recommend you spend the next 6 mths concentrating on the basic tools and then revisit the Form tools.

Re: Free form saving differently

Anonymous — Wed, 11 May 2016 18:49:54 GMT

Hmm..six months to learn a program? No thanks..I won't be paying several thousand dollars to learn a program. If I planned to use this for more than just personal use, I might. But I think that there should be an option to save it in any form I want to. I believe this is an issue that should be addressed by the developers.

Re: Free form saving differently

mcgyvr — Wed, 11 May 2016 19:24:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I believe this is an issue that should be addressed by the developers.

What issue?

You removed a face of a closed solid and all the "solids" came puking right out..

By definition its no longer a solid..

sol·id
/ˈsäləd/
adjective
definition: not hollow or containing spaces or gaps.

You made it hollow..

We are willing to help if you explain what you intended to happen or what you think it should do when you remove a face..

Re: Free form saving differently

Anonymous — Thu, 12 May 2016 13:10:12 GMT

Thanks for the help everyone. I was just practicing and learning this wonderful program. Is there any way at all to save this exactly as it is pictured in the original? That was the issue I am referring to. We should be able to save a solid or empty form exactly as they look.

Re: Free form saving differently

mcgyvr — Thu, 12 May 2016 13:43:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the help everyone. I was just practicing and learning this wonderful program. Is there any way at all to save this exactly as it is pictured in the original? That was the issue I am referring to. We should be able to save a solid or empty form exactly as they look.

By default surfaces are shown as translucent orange/yellow faces.. and by default freeform components are shown as opaque purple when you are editing them.

Thats just how the program works.. You can also make a freeform object "translucent" when editing it by selecting the "toggle translucent" button in the tools pane of the Freeform tab during editing..

After you finish editing you can right click on the "Form" node in the model browser and uncheck "surface translucent" then assign it a purple color if you want..

But I'm not sure the purpose of that?