Insert VS Derive

[Lonnie.Cady]

Are there any reasons to NOT use Derive and use insert instead?

I have a couple of parts that I want to create an assembly for.  I would typically just insert the parts into a design and create joints.  However there is no opacity option for inserted parts that I can find.  With derived parts I can set the opacity of parts.

Thanks 

Lonnie

[jhackney1972]

Why is the Opacity setting so important? 

[Lonnie.Cady]

So I can see through the parts. 

Some parts go inside other parts.  There are also several cross drilled oil passages that need to connect to mating parts.  I would like to be able to verify some of these things.

I really don't want to go into wire frame for the entire assemble as it gets too confusing.

Is there a reason NOT to use derive?

[jhackney1972]

No, I do not see any reason not to use Derived Components. If you have to edit some of the components it may be a little more involved as you have to Open Source to edit the derived component.   Would Active Component Visibility be a possibility be a option?

[etfrench]

It may be more reliable to check fit and alignment using Section Analysis.  That also allows you to work inside a model.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

"Are there any reasons to NOT use Derive and use insert instead?"

For small designs, maybe not,  However, for larger designs there definitely is a good reason:  Insert references the target directly, while Derive copies the entire results of the source design into the active design.  This will make the design much heavier, which will make operations like Save and Open slower. Update, also, for Derive is much slower than for Insert.  Derive is intended to be used when you have to modify the component.  Opacity is one such modification, if that is important to you.  But, I agree with @etfrench and @jhackney1972 here that this seems like an awfully big hammer to use for this particular workflow, and there are probably better ways to get what you need.  You can apply override appearances to inserted components in a design,  Just temporarily make them glass, for instance.

[mac_ito]

why not introduce the opacity feature for inserts from the start?