Simplified Model States in Large Assemblies

[kmlarrivee]

Hello all,

I've been trying to find an answer to this via Google and the Forum Search but was unable hence the creation of this post. 

We have a plant section completely drawn in Inventor which would be considered a large assembly imo (takes over 2-3min to open and can get sluggish to move around and create drawing views). This assembly has a bunch of sub assemblies in it which represent various pieces of equipement. I've created Simplified Model states of those Sub-Assemblies and then created a Model State in my main assembly which displays those simplified versions instead of the "Primary" versions.

The problem that I am facing is that the loading time is still exactly the same when loading the "Simplified" main assembly Model State as it is for the "Primary" Model State (both in Express mode). The Simplified main assembly is faster to move around in but it is only a small improvement. We are mainly looking for faster opening times. 

I've found this about LODs and was wondering if it still applies to Model States. If so it would mean that by doing what I have done, I have made my situation even worse for loading time.

Practice: Using more than one LOD representation in a drawing.

Impact:For each view using a different LOD, a copy of the assembly is loaded into memory. For a large assembly this can increase memory usage drastically.

(https://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2020/ENU/?guid=GUID-BB405F71-C26F-4FDC-A8F3-2242DB9F50B1)

Please let me know what I can do to improve opening times for such large assemblies where I don't mind to load Simplified versions of some components. 

Computer Specs for Reference: i7-10750H, 32GB RAM, Samsung 1TB SSD, RTX 2060 6GB GPU.

Files are stored on a brand new HP server and we have dedicated Gigabit connections to it. (One Gigabit connection per user). This is most probably a bottleneck, but by lowering the assembly size I should still improve my loading times. 

Thanks everyone,

K. 

[jmenier]

Have you compared opening/operating times from using network storage vs copying the project folder and all of the data files to your local SSD? I am part of only a few person team, and do not use vault but anything stored on our server is just a waste of time trying to modify, so our practice is to download to local then overwrite old files.

[Lucas.dolinarVFXZU]

Well, as far as i understand it, LOD only loads the parts it needs whereas the Model states will still load everything.

But, Inventor 2022 has some new simplify features (check out: Shrinkwrap) to accomodate for the lack of LOD.

You can easily create derived parts and keep them Linked with this Workflow, but you may have to manually make another Top level Assembly... 

[kmlarrivee]

Thank you for your reply. 

However, hasn't Shrinkwrap been replaced with Simplify? This is what I understood from my research. And I used it to create a Substitute Model State which technically should act as a LOD from my understanding of it. 

Maybe I am totally wrong however. Just trying to figure out the proper way of doing this. 

[kmlarrivee]

Thank you for your reply.
I have tried working locally and then pushing back to the server. However this isn't a feasible workflow for us unfortunately.

[Lucas.dolinarVFXZU]

Ah, yes, it's been renamed to simplify now... my bad
But yeah its a Model state because you chose the Output option: Substitute. Wich is totally fine, because you can go into that state and double click the Feature below to open the .ipt.

You can decimate a lot of geometry using the tools in Simplify, but it will only affect load times if you actually use the .ipt in your Assemblies, as the .iam it was generated from has all of that geometry (+ the now added Simplification!)

Edit: you can even supress the Link so Inventor doesnt need to check for updates. but it doesnt help much as (at least with my settings) it just shows the update icon, doesnt update until i manually decide to do so.

[kmlarrivee]

"it will only affect load times if you actually use the .ipt in your Assemblies, as the .iam it was generated from has all of that geometry (+ the now added Simplification!)"

This might be what I am doing wrong. In my main assembly (3000), I created a model view called "Simplified" and then I use the Link Model States to bring all the "Simplified" versions that exist in lower assemblies. Then, when I want to open my main assembly, I make sure it opens the "Simplified" model state. However, from what I understand, I should have kept only the primary Model state of my main assembly and actually Component-->Replace my lower assemblies with their simplified .ipt versions. 

Please correct me if I am wrong. 

Thanks for your help so far!

[Lucas.dolinarVFXZU · Accepted solution]

Yes, you are absolutly right.

If there is another Model State with the full level of detail, it will load that upon opening the .iam.

You might want to create two .iam's if you really need this.

[johan.degreef]

We are in the same situation. Large plant assemblies with complex skids and other equipement that needs to be simplified for faster loading times. The skids need only to open as "full" when modifying them.

My earlier experience with LOD's and simplified versions is that there are no faster loading times, no smaller file sizes or whatsoever.

In fact I noticed that things went even bigger and slower. That makes sense because inventor needs to keep all the original geometry, and need that extra to have a simplified version too.

Renaming commands and functions doesn't either help to make it clear what to do for end users. I must also mention, since we use Vault pro, we work faster as models are downloaded to our local workspaces, which results in faster workflows.

[kmlarrivee]

After testing it is not any faster but it definitely makes more sense. I am exploring options with Navisworks for visualisation purposes. Thanks a bunch for your help.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Folks,

Let me chime in a little bit on this topic. I personally think we are still looking for a better way to manage the level of detail. On 2022 and 2023, there are more simplification options to choose from. However, it is a laborious process to find the ideal set of options for a given model. Also, the simplification generation process may take a long time too. The users still need to try and see what happen.

Before a better functional workflow is delivered, I suggest the following approaches.

1) When importing or linking Revit design, only fetch enough of geometry data needed for detail design in Inventor.

2) For each part (not nuts and bolts) you create in Inventor, consider adding a Model State called "Simplified." In this state, suppress most of the detail features like fillets, chamfers, small extrusions and holes.

The above approaches help reduce the amount to geometry data unessential to the design. Basically, you manage the simplification when modeling, as opposed to doing simplification afterwards.

Many thanks!