Inventor 2020 Extrude "Between" Function

[jasonrcahill]

Where is the Between Function on the Extrude feature for Inventor 2020?  In Previous versions the options for Extrude were Distance, To Next, To, Between, All, and Distance From Face.  For 2020 I only see All, To, and To Next.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Xun.Zhang]

Hello, 

Between is functional as start from a surface and end with a surface, so, please select a face in start to do so.

Hope it helps!

[Xun.Zhang · Accepted solution]

Here is a video for your reference.

https://autode.sk/2MkS9yi

[Rory_M]

I fell foul of this today and it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out where "Between" had gone.

I initially spent too long trying all the direction options and focused on "Asymmetric" until I realised that when you clicked "To" for the first figure it swapped back to a single direction.

The new method may not require many more clicks but is impressive in how unintuitive it is when compared to "Between".

I wish I'd realised during the beta and given feedback.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Rory,

We have received similar comments recently particularly about Between. There is actually a way to "restore" the legacy behavior by using Preset. Essentially, you can create Between like Xun's video shows. Then save it as a Preset. Next time you want to create a Between Extrusion, just select the preset. The workflow will be very similar to legacy Between workflow.

Many thanks!

[pball]

I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues with the "between" extrusion in 2020. Had to watch that video before the unintuitive method made sense.

[kyled]

This is the absolute worst. Put it back. Upon reading this "fix" I facepalmed so hard I broke my nose.

Its like making this one type of extrude a secret backdoor procedure that you have to ask how to use. I cannot express how irritating this is. It is the equivalent of removing channels from the library and saying you can make them by extrude cutting half a W shape.

Who ever came up with this idea, fire them.

[nathanr]

Classic Autodesk.  Eventually we'll get used to this new clunky interface.  Next release will have something else "fixed" that wasn't broken and we'll all forget about this atrocity.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Guys,

Some 2020 users were caught by surprise by the change. I personally agree there is room for improvement here. The new Extrude panel and workflows do address some of the usability and functional issues. But, for this particular case, "Between" and "From-To" seem to be confusing. I have shared the concern with the project team. They will review it and take appropriate actions.

Many thanks!

[ssto]

I am missing the option to start my extrude at an offset or other geometry like a vertex. Now I for example cannot start my extrude 2mm from my Sketch Plane and extrude up to an existing geometry. Instead I have to clutter my feature browser with unnecessary Work Planes... Highly inefficient!   

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! The option is still there. It is not that obvious. To select a different Offset face, you need to click "From" plane (the default is Sketch Plane). Then you can specify the offset distance.

There are a few cases that are not working properly as of 2020 and 2020.1 They will be fixed on the coming 2020.2 update. If you want, you can send a file exhibiting the issue to me directly (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com). I can check it on the latest internal build and see if it has been fixed.

Many thanks!

[ssto]

Hi
Thank you for the answer.
What if I just want to start my extrude at a numeric offset from my (default) sketch plane?

[IgorMir]

Hi Johnson;

I couldn't help but to respond to your comment. There were absolutely no need to alter the interface of neither Extrude or Hole tools. No one had ever asked for that. All the "developers" have achieved - they had ruined a perfectly working tools and created a fairly murky interfaces for those tools to work with. And on a top of that - they have made it a touch more complicated too. Now you can not introduce a sketch dimension into the parameter box in the Extrude DB by just picking that very parameters of the screen. You have to hold down the Ctrl key to do so.

We all know - you are not personally responsible for all those "improvements". But since you are a lot closer to those who are - please don't hesitate to send our "Best Regards" to them every now and than.

Cheers,

Igor.

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@johnsonshiue wrote:

Hi Guys,

Some 2020 users were caught by surprise by the change. I personally agree there is room for improvement here. The new Extrude panel and workflows do address some of the usability and functional issues. But, for this particular case, "Between" and "From-To" seem to be confusing. I have shared the concern with the project team. They will review it and take appropriate actions.

Many thanks!

---

[Mark.Lancaster]

Not sure if this will help or not but just sharing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eQ77nsbmh0&t=45s

[ssto]

Hi Mark,
Thank you for you quick reply.
The issue might be that I am "allergic" to (unnecessary) work planes. They clutter up my feature browser, slows down the workflow by adding unnecessary steps and makes updating (for myself and colleagues) more difficult.
Like in any other high end CAD-tool, I want to be able to place my sketch where ever (preferably on one of the origin-planes), and then make a numeric offset as part of the extrude command. So for example I start my extrude 10mm (Normal-positive) from my sketch plane end the extrude 30mm (Normal-positive) from my sketch plane, without having to first make any work planes first.
In some sense it would be similar to using the Asymmetric behaviour option (in the extrude command) and then typing in a negative numeric value in either Direction A or B, but this is not possible.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Søren,

The workflow to start from a offset to a selected plane is slightly different in Inventor. You need to have the reference plane ready (it can be a plane or a face). Then select it as the "Start plane."

Many thanks!

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Igor,

With all due respect, whether or not this is a decision I can make is actually irrelevant. Inventor is a professional tool used by more than 1 million (and growing) professional users worldwide. Sometimes people can think that the way they use the product is the only way. This is quite similar to believing me as the only person working on Inventor.

The truth is that we have a diverse user base. Everybody deserves our attention. And, we do sometime make changes catering to some group of users, while the same change irritates other users. Ideally, we should try to make everybody happy but it is very hard.

We do make mistakes as everybody does from time to time. But, I personally think Inventor's user interface and the workflows do deserve serious attention. It was at a point that it blocked user workflows and the inconsistency was unbearable. The old status quo was not sustainable.

You can certainly argue there should be a better way. I buy that. Isn't it true for everything?

Many thanks!

[IgorMir]

Hi Johnson;

Its all good. But could you provide at least one example where the request was made to redo the Extrusion DB? I would like to find out a bit more about those mysterious multi trillion dollars companies, who are living on a sunny side of the street. And whose requests for such strangely looking interfaces were granted.

Thank you,

Igor.

---

@johnsonshiue wrote:

Hi Igor,

With all due respect, whether or not this is a decision I can make is actually irrelevant. Inventor is a professional tool used by more than 1 million (and growing) professional users worldwide. Sometimes people can think that the way they use the product is the only way. This is quite similar to believing me as the only person working on Inventor.

The truth is that we have a diverse user base. Everybody deserves our attention. And, we do sometime make changes catering to some group of users, while the same change irritates other users. Ideally, we should try to make everybody happy but it is very hard.

We do make mistakes as everybody does from time to time. But, I personally think Inventor's user interface and the workflows do deserve serious attention. It was at a point that it blocked user workflows and the inconsistency was unbearable. The old status quo was not sustainable.

You can certainly argue there should be a better way. I buy that. Isn't it true for everything?

Many thanks!

---

[Xun.Zhang]

Hello Igor,

Sorry to chime in again.

The truth behind new extrusion property panel is more about improving the user experience. In the past time, user have to make a sketch as a preset for extrusion but now they are integrated which means user can switch between Extrude and sketch time to time in just a single command. On the other hand, we slightly change the mindset of features which is contributed by properties include sketch profile, distance, direction, operation type, etc. Thus, sketch profile is part of feature properties rather than a "sub-feature" as before. In addition, the preset concept is involved in the property panel for all kinds of features as a general framework and it can help user pre-define some of companywise 3D modeling guideline to help them deliver more persist design process.   

10 years ago, most of applications were working on drop down menu but Ribbon style is leading the way later. 

I hope it helps a little bit.

[IgorMir]

Hi Xun;

There is no need for an apology on your side, really.  We are in free discussion here, are we not? 🙂

As for the "improvements" to the Extrusion DB - call me thick but I don't see much of benefits in new DB. Now the user can access the sketch right from the DB by clicking Sketch tub in this DB? That's a big deal! I had no problem just to edit the sketch after finishing an Extrude command. May I ask - who did have a problem with that? I doubt - there will be many hands up somehow. But if I want to make an Extrusion equal to the width of the sketch profile (for example) - I have to hold down Ctrl key and than - select the dimension I want to use as a parameter. Before - I just pick that dimension from the screen. it is a small potato to fry, but still - where is the improvement which I have to admire wholeheartedly in it?

The colour scheme of the DB is somewhat average.  Before the DB was crispy in appearance. The same is true to the Hole DB. Now it is fussy. Interestingly enough - the other DB's which didn't undergone the "improvement" faze - they still look fine. But enough about it. It might as well be a matter of individual preferences.

 There is, however, another "enhancement" which has caught me by surprise a bit. In the Sheet metal module when the sketch is created - I cannot exit the sketch using Cursor menu. The menu gives me options to select from a range of follow up commands (Face, Flange, Cut, etc.). But I want to exit from the sketch and save my work. To do so I have to click on that very sketch in browser and select "Cancel" from the menu over there. Once again - it is not a big deal, really, but to introduce that "new" behavior - human and financial resources were spent. May I ask - what for? Are there not any better venues to apply those resources? If any people at Autodesk think that there is nothing left to improve in Inventor but just to do unneeded cosmetic changes - please invite those people to this forum. I am sure - they will find a lot of interesting and useful requests from the Inventor users over here to sunk their teeth into.

Cheers,

Igor.

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@Xun.Zhang wrote:

Hello Igor,

Sorry to chime in again.

The truth behind new extrusion property panel is more about improving the user experience. In the past time, user have to make a sketch as a preset for extrusion but now they are integrated which means user can switch between Extrude and sketch time to time in just a single command. On the other hand, we slightly change the mindset of features which is contributed by properties include sketch profile, distance, direction, operation type, etc. Thus, sketch profile is part of feature properties rather than a "sub-feature" as before. In addition, the preset concept is involved in the property panel for all kinds of features as a general framework and it can help user pre-define some of companywise 3D modeling guideline to help them deliver more persist design process.   

10 years ago, most of applications were working on drop down menu but Ribbon style is leading the way later. 

I hope it helps a little bit.

---