Inventor 101: Did You Know – Advanced View Cropping

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Inventor 101: Did You Know – Adv View Cropping (101-001)

Side Note: This is my very first attempt at a blog, so I’d just like to give thanks to Shaan Hurly and Autodesk for giving me the platform to ramble on about my interest and passion for not only Inventor & Vault but for Drafting and Design in general. I’m a firm believer in having a solid foundation in the application only leads to better and more advanced techniques. Like building a house, it’s only as strong as the foundation it sits on. Same for your Inventor models.

With this in mind, I’ll be posting a wide range of topics here for discussion, tips & tricks, and possible options for a specific command. I always welcome comments and suggestions. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Autodesk applications over the years, if there’s one way to do a command, Autodesk added at least 3 more. Let curiosity take over and explore what the software can do and how as opposed to trying a Fillet once, have it fail and you simply accept it and move on.

I’ve literally seen users attempt a Fillet or the like, have it fail for whatever reason, they assume it can’t be done, and then, the worst part…on the drawing, in the views where they’d see that edge, they’d create a view based sketch (sometimes) and “eyeball” the edge in for that view. I’ll give you 3 guesses as to what happened when the model was edited. But I digress.

 

The following is an excerpt from my Autodesk University 2020 class – Did You Know? Hidden Command Options in Inventor (MFG500009)

Inventor 101: Did You Know – Adv View Cropping

 

In this installment of my blog career, I will cover a topic for which I know a decent amount of seasoned Inventor users (those with at least 5 years of experience) simply didn’t realize this option was available.

 

Advanced View Cropping

Typically cropping a view is straightforward, start the command, specify opposite corners of the crop (square/rectangle) window, and poof, you’re done. That may all be good and well on common straight-on views, but what about doing such in an Iso View for example?

 

With an Iso View being at a perspective angle, a 90-degree square/rectangle will most likely cut out or include items you’d rather not.

 

TheAngryElf_8-1649342297202.png

              

TheAngryElf_9-1649342297213.png

 

 

 

So how do you resolve this issue? With a View-Based Sketch!

 

The Process:

Step #1

           

Select the ISO VIEW (or any desired view) to make the view active, then press the “S” key. This activates Sketch Mode in the active view.

 

TheAngryElf_2-1649342034140.png

 

 

 

Step #2

 

Draw the desired boundary for the crop area (must be a closed-loop). Be sure to fully constrain the sketch.

 

 

TheAngryElf_3-1649342034164.png

 

 

 

Step #3

 

Finish the sketch and select the Crop View command, select the sketch

 

TheAngryElf_4-1649342034192.png

 

 

 

 

Step #4

 

Finish the Crop View command and adjust any line appearances per your company standards.

 

TheAngryElf_5-1649342034211.png

 

 

 

 

Note: Any sketched shape will work, as long as it is a closed-loop. Neat huh?

 

TheAngryElf_6-1649342034224.png

 

 

               

TheAngryElf_7-1649342034237.png

 

 

 

The above is an excerpt from my Autodesk University 2020 class – Did You Know? Hidden Command Options in Inventor (MFG500009)

 

So....Did You Know?

I hope you learned something new today, if not, there's always tomorrow.

 

This blog entry and others can also be found at: cdscad.com

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