Dual Monitor Support for Inventor 2016

[iUser]

Hi Guys,

I have been looking in to this topic a lot and compared it to other CAD packages. A lot of people now days use dual monitors for Inventor, but it still isn't as efficient as it could be.

There are two ways of doing it on Inventor that I am aware of, the one would be stretching over both screens, which I hate because then your ribbon and tools are only on one screen and it takes a lot of time going back and forth just to use the commands. Besides that your browsing history is also only on one screen. Another reason is also when you have two different screens sizes it doesn't always work out so well.

The second would be opening Inventor twice and having one open on both screens, which I prefer, but this also doesn’t really work out so well, because if you are working (standalone version or vault), you can't work on the same project on both Inventors and save files. Another reason why this doesn’t work so well is that all of the pop-up windows, such as constraints, hole tool, measuring etc. keeps opening on the last screen that it was opened. You will know what I mean if you try it out. One of the biggest problems with this solution is that it kills your RAM even though your pc is top of the range.

If you take a look at the link below this is what I had in mind for the layout of the screen:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-general-discussion/dual-monitor-setup/m-p/5427161#M529867

I also think you would need some kind of setup screen inside Inventor (Either an add-on or part of Inventor General Settings), where you can choose which screen opens Assemblies, Parts and Drawings.

I really hope to see this in the new release this year and I am sure everyone using dual monitors feels the same way. Please vote for this Idea if you agree!!

[Anonymous]

But how I see, this posts are more than a year old and the idea is still not implemented.

[Anonymous]

ipt

Additions:

The tabs in Inventor could easily be drag & dropped on another screen.

The best would be, the .ipt on the first and the .idw on the other screen.

You can choose between automatic actualization or manual actualization.

[leblanc2024]

Why stop at two screens?  I use three and would like more of my screens to be used by inventor. 

Just a thought.

Regards,

Ivon

[DRoam]

I've said this many times before, but there's still a lack of understanding surrounding it.

The problem is not with multi-monitor support, or having Inventor on two screens or three or ten. In the Windows OS, any window can be put on any screen you want. The problem is, Inventor can only run one WINDOW.

The issue is windows, not screens.

Inventor has no button to open a new window which has its own title bar, ribbon, browser tree, etc. Once Autodesk adds in that one little button, you will be able to put those new Inventor windows on as many screens as your heart desires.

In fact, you could even put multiple Inventor windows on the same screen. So even if you only have one monitor, you can have two Inventor documents side-by-side on your screen, be they assemblies, parts, drawings, or presentations.

I'm probably being overly pedantic, and I should probably relax  But I think it's important to realize that once Autodesk adds the ability to open a new Inventor window, you will be able create as many new windows as you want and then do whatever you want with them, including move them to however many screens you have or put them side-by-side on the same screen.

[Anonymous]

Yes, thats exactly what I mean. It was just an example.

It's now by us to design this idea.

[leblanc2024]

This is my current layout for my three screens.

My left screen contains the ribbon bar (undocked), the middle screen is the main work window, an the third is the iLogic Browser and Browser bar (undocked).

This is the only way I have found to maximize my screen space.  The blank spaces to the left and right are used for erp software, e-mail, etc.

I would like to utilize more of this space for Inventor.

This idea needs to be put up in priority. 

Regards,

Ivon

[iUser]

@Anonymous

Would you mind proposing a detailed layout? I unfortunately do not have access to Solidworks or Microstation, so it is more difficult for me to propose a layout. I see this idea is still gathering votes, would be nice to able to see progress updates on accepted ideas (maybe that should be a new idea).

iUser

[DRoam]

So aside from the fact that users would like to put a second (or third, etc.), full Inventor window on a secondary screen, there's also a big push to be able to have certain dialog boxes open permanently and placed on a second screen if desired. Here are a few examples:

• Permanently open parameters window.
• Bill of Materials always open
• Keep iProperties menu ON while change part selection
• A way to know if everything is ballooned... (permanently open Parts List editor)
• Undock Presentation Timeline in Inventor 2017, Presentation Environment Story Board undock

In light of this, I think it would be a great idea to put some thought into how these secondary windows should be handled for each FULL Inventor window that a user might decide to open. Specifically:

1. Will each Inventor window get its own Browser Bar and iLogic Browser, or will they all share one?
2. Will each Inventor window get its own secondary windows (Parameters, BOM, etc.), or will they all share one?
3. Will each Inventor window get its own pop-up dialog boxes (Extrude dialog box, Constraint dialog box, etc.), or should all windows share the same pop-up boxes? In other words, should the location I last dragged the Extrude box to for Window A be where it pops up when I invoke Extrude from Window B, or should each window remember the last location used for THAT WINDOW?

I have my Browser Bar on a third, Portrait-orientation monitor. So I would prefer for those to be shared between windows. But some people may have the Browser Bar inside or next to their Inventor window, and would want each window to have its own Browser Bar.

I have a secondary screen that I would probably want my Parameters/BOM to be on, so I would probably want those to be shared as well. But again, some people may want each window to have its own Parameters or BOM window next to it.

Finally, my preference would be for each individual window to remember where pop-up boxes were at for that specific window. But others may want it to be shared.

So my answer to this question would be, the behavior of secondary dialog boxes should be a per-type option, which can be controlled by an option in the Title Bar for each window.

For example, if I set the Browser Bar to "Per Window", a Browser Bar will pop up for each Window which I can place where I want. But if I set it to "Shared", all of them will disappear except one, which I can place where I want, and it will update based on which window is my Active window.

The same would go for the iLogic Browser, the BOM, the Parameters dialog, the pop-up dialog boxes, etc. Basically, how my windows behave would be something that I could fluidly control as best suits my current workflow/space, rather than an Application Option that I'm constrained to or have to change constantly.

Those are my thoughts on an issue that will eventually have to be addressed once support for multiple windows is added.

[Rodney-0012]

I'd like a span across all display's button just like in SolidWorks.

[iUser]

Hi guys, just a quick update. I have spoken to the employee that accepted this idea. My intention with this idea was to fully utilize multiple monitors / displays / windows. I use Inventor more than 50 hours a week and the majority of the time I cannot use both monitors to the full extend that I would've liked.

Just to recap, I want one session of inventor, (NOT STRETCHED over both screens), with a window on each monitor (basically a combo of this idea and what @DRoam says above).

Then we also need a settings dialogue box to set what opens by default on each monitor / display / window (drawing, part & assembly).

Each window / display / monitor MUST have its own ribbon and browser that could be toggled off and on. 

Each window should have a button to move the window the a different screen. Maybe a drop down button: Monitor 1, Monitor 2 etc.

The employee said the following: "...I had high hopes we would have been able to deliver some enhancements in this area by now. Clearly that has not been the case as enhancements with dual monitors were put on hold for other competing priorities in Autodesk Inventor 2018.  This is one reason we continually refrain from committing to any timeline or delivery.  Rest assured, enhancements in this area are definitely on our roadmap...".

So at least they haven't forgotten about multiple monitor community. He also said I could take it further and contact the Beta testing department which will be my next step. Once I receive feedback I will post here again. In the meanwhile please keep voting for this idea and get other people also to vote.

More votes = higher priority..

[dan_szymanski]

Idea added to backlog for future consideration [523]. Thanks!

[iUser]

Hi guys,

So I contacted the beta team and they said the following:

"Yes, we fully understand the request; I don’t really have too much to add over/above what you already know, though. These are the current definitions for Ideas which lead to the most recent status change:

• Future Consideration = Idea might be implemented anytime beyond 18 months
• Accepted = Idea will likely be implemented within the next 18 months (incrementally or via a full release)

Sorry I don’t have any better news,"

So that is a bit disappointing. At least I have brought it to their attention, all we can do now is keep voting and hopefully once we have reached a certain amount of votes they will change the status to accepted again. My aim is to contact them again once the this idea has reached 1000 votes. So please keep voting guys & girls and spread the word...

[Anonymous]

Hi. How are you?
I work in mechanical design and I think it is very important to implement this idea as soon as possible.
In the design department of the company in which I work, we all have two monitors.
Thank you.
Greetings from Uruguay

[Anonymous]

Looks like they accepted the same post from DRoam.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/multiple-windows-per-session/idi-p/5703772

I hope, we can finally use Inventor on multiple screens.

[robert.fenton]

I entirely agree with the multiple windows / views of the same model or assembly, this would be a big improvement as keen to starting running design across multiple screens not just dual.

[Anonymous]

Very disappointed this is till not taken seriously. For those of us coming from any other CAD platform and who design on a daily basis this is a huge drawback to inventor. I have been working with Inventor for 11 months straight now and find myself constantly going back and fourth from tab to tab between my skeletons, parts, assembly, and drawings. This was one of the first drawbacks I noticed when learning to use Inventor, and was really hoping for an update by now....

[dan_szymanski]

This idea has been Accepted. Some possible solutions for this idea are currently under discussion on the NDA based Inventor Feedback/Beta forums. If you would like to contribute/validate then please apply for access using this link:
https://bit.ly/InventorBeta

Thanks! 

[Anonymous]

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That is great Dan, Thank You. I have applied.

[dan_szymanski]

This idea has been implemented within Autodesk Inventor 2020. Special thanks to everyone who cast a vote for it.

[iUser]

A big thanks go out to the Autodesk team for making this possible as well as to everyone that voted for this idea! Will give some feedback once I have tested it a bit. I still think you need to have a ribbon attached to the second screen, but will create a new idea for that.