Who likes using inventor and why?

[Eric.Muetz]

As a long-time cad user, I find inventor cumbersome and excessively "needy" at best.  Why does it require so many mouse clicks to perform simple operations?  Why is one forced to edit a sketch vs. simply edit dimensions that should be clearly visible in the part environment. 

After one year of use, I still find myself having to redo operations because I didn't specifically click yet one more time that "yes, I really want to do the thing that inventor is displaying on the monitor" only to have it evaporate in an instant.  There is, after all, a handy Undo button if it turns out that I didn't want that result.

Please, I would like to hear the good about inventor.  Perhaps I am using it incorrectly.

[knguyen_]

Inventor, iLogic, and Vault. Now i can't live without them, it saves me at least 5 hours/day for repeating tasks. If you want the software to perfectly fit your needs then you need a reliable consultant, any Autodesk Gold or Platinum Partner will do depends on your company sizes. There is nothing out of the box and fits everyone needs

[tomasz.sztejka]

When I compare it with AutoCad/MegaCad/FreeCad/LibreCAD 2D non parametric software or piece of paper it is great.

When I compare it with what I would expect from a software it is terrible. I do usually try to squeeze everything out of software and I hate software which fails do to what it is expected to do at the first moment when something starts getting complex. For an example adaptive design (parameters of part A are indirectly driving part B through an assembly) is best... if it would work reliably.

So I like it, because it allows me to be 100x faster than in 2D environment. And hate it, because as soon as I do something complex it fails.

Gladly it has a relatively less buggy programming API so about 50% of faults can be fixed... hey, should it be me who is fixing it?

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Folks,

I promise this is my last reply to the thread. Inventor as a commercial product has its faults but also usage. Otherwise, it would have been abandoned by the market. The fact that it is one of the popular mechanical design software tools says it all. You can treasure it, praise it, like it, hate it, ditch it, or trash it however you like. But, you cannot stop other people using it. It is because it is indeed useful for some users if not you. Your sentiment may or may not echo with other users.

I am sure you will find similar threads on this forum or pretty much every commercial product's discussion group on the earth. If you are unhappy with a product, I suggest you evaluate other solutions carefully or participate in user discussions. Inventor Feedback Community ( https://autode.sk/InventorBeta) is a lively venue with many Inventor users around the world actively trying the latest offering and discussing the issues.

As long as you are using Inventor, we are here to help.

Many thanks!

[BDCollett]

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@tomasz.sztejka wrote:
When I compare it with AutoCad/MegaCad/FreeCad/LibreCAD 2D non parametric software or piece of paper it is great.

When I compare it with what I would expect from a software it is terrible. I do usually try to squeeze everything out of software and I hate software which fails do to what it is expected to do at the first moment when something starts getting complex. For an example adaptive design (parameters of part A are indirectly driving part B through an assembly) is best... if it would work reliably.

So I like it, because it allows me to be 100x faster than in 2D environment. And hate it, because as soon as I do something complex it fails.

Gladly it has a relatively less buggy programming API so about 50% of faults can be fixed... hey, should it be me who is fixing it?

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You will probably find most people with experience in Inventor also avoid "Adaptive" like the plague. I can honestly say I have not used it once in the past 10 years and have not needed to.

A lot of users from other packages expect adaptive to work like it does in whatever they came from and are always going to be frustrated when it doesn't.

[lucmartzz]

@BDCollett @ I totally agree with you about adaptivity and it is something that is prohibid in my office as a company rule… no one is allow to use adaptivity 😄 I prefer to use derive command for share geometries, work plane features, sketches or even parameters!!! 

[cadman777]

After being bitten in the arse at the beginning of my use of Inventor Adaptiviey, I quit using it permanently. I have NEVER used adaptivity in my projects for over a decade at least. Like @lucmartzz says, I use Derived. I just had to learn how to structure my projects accordingly.

[Frederick_Law]

New users use Adaptive on everything, thinking it can solve all their problems.

Adaptive can be turn on to solve a problem.  Once the problem is solved, it should be turn off.

Adaptive allow IV to calculate a best solution for a dimension.

Think about how much calculation will be if all your dimensions are Adaptive.

How could there be a solution when no dimension is fixed?

Don't blame the hammer when you hit your finger 😛

[pcrawley]

Adaptivity is my friend - leave it alone 😉 

Adaptivity is misunderstood because it is there - by default - for all new users to stumble into.  Most users (a huge generalisation I know) get bitten by adaptivity early in their Inventor lives and never go back to discover the incredible power lurking behind that cute little browser symbol.  There are certainly cases where adaptivity can be the only solution... but I think we've lost sight of the original post on this thread.

I'm sure I'll regret suggesting we start a new post on good vs. bad adaptivity.  I would bet (a very small sum) that some anti-adaptivity activists would learn something.  I won't start it, but I will participate if someone does.

[cadman777]

Start it.

[tomasz.sztejka]

Have You ever heard about "Vendor lock-in"?

If Inventor would use any kind of open file format to preserve all the features the we could think about users moving away of it because it is bad. Today I can't drop it because of tens of years of work I have on my back and EPDM system which is also tightly coupled with closed formats. Of course this is the same for other CAD so, moving from vendor to vendor generates tremendous amount of costs. That is why I would like to see Inventor to be better than any competing product, because moving away from it requires me to re-do every design which is still in production. Yes I know there are tools to migrate, but honestly, if Inv2021 can't save for 2010 how can I even hope, that competitor would be able to open Inventor files without any problems?

[tomasz.sztejka]

Since I developed a working work-flow for adaptivity I simply can't live without it. It is at least an order of magnitude faster if You can just move two components in primary input assembly and with one click on a smart macro see how all parts do rebuild itself to adapt to new positions.

When I see an non-adaptive design which composes of a really simply assembly funny shaped flange (50 dimensions), matching gasket, and matching flange I can't imagine how can You do it without adaptivity and then later change something without spending hours on it.

[SBix26]

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@tomasz.sztejka wrote:
... I can't imagine how can You do it without adaptivity and then later change something without spending hours on it.

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Multi-body modeling.  Nearly bullet-proof.

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Sam B

Inventor Pro 2023.0.1 | Windows 10 Home 21H2

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Tomasz,

Indeed, in some cases, Adaptivity has to be used, particularly when the position and the geometry to adapt to is the only thing you have. This means such relationship is only meaningful within the particular assembly, not elsewhere.

But, I do see in some cases Adaptivity can be replaced by other means. If the cross-part association can be established by passing parameters, Derive, Parameter Linking, and iLogic can be used.

Many thanks!

[Frederick_Law]

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@tomasz.sztejka wrote:
When I see an non-adaptive design which composes of a really simply assembly funny shaped flange (50 dimensions), matching gasket, and matching flange I can't imagine how can You do it without adaptivity and then later change something without spending hours on it.

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Master Sketch/Skeleton

[Tom_Servo]

Inventor is missing reference management tools. If you're working with large assemblies (2000 unique parts and assembly files) with a lot of dependencies, and you need to change a parent reference or update all child features to a new parent reference you're out of luck without those tools.

It's also lacking a tool that would tell you where a particular parameter is being used throughout your model. 

Also not being able to link text parameters is a huge pain. And yeah I know how to do it with ilogic but it is extra work that shouldn't be spending time on. 

Why can't I; mirror a sketch feature, pattern a sketch (outside of the plane it was sketched on), group part level features in model tree folders, suppress a sketch, or interact with a model while the ilogic editor is open? 

[dylsonbusiness]

Great analysis mate, I was thinking (and curious) about the strengths and weaknesses of Inventor, but I think you've put it beautifully. Cheers!

[Yashasvi23481]

Hi Eric,

    Inventor is my staple food for last 12 to 15 years. i have training and knowledge of SW but i like simplicity of Inventor over SW. On the top, its all same like modelling top down or bottom up approach and just terminology differs. Its pretty much like if you know to drive 1 model of car, you get comfortable with it. but it doesnt stop you from driving other cars, you only need to know where the functions are and maybe some terminology might differ. 

Inventor is more user friendly. Like any new inventions, There are few limitations in importing and exporting other platform like Revit and Tekla (BIM) as i experience few weeks ago. +s are more than -s and it gets job done. Most of my issues have been resolved by this classic forum. Its like helpdesk. Every time you are stuck, you get your queries resolved here. 

Regards,

Yash