AutoCAD .dwt to Inventor .dwg

[blounsbury]

Hi,

First, let me say that I am new to AutoCAD and Inventor. I recently started my first "real" job where AutoCAD has been used for over 20yrs and the drawing template is well established. I convinced my boss to move me into 3D, since this is what I am more familiar with. Problem is: How do I get the AutoCAD template into an Inventor template. I've tried the help menu method of opening the AutoCAD template and creating new styles and modifying the objects. However, it doesn't look very good when printed and the position of the border does not line up with the default manilla colored Inventor drawing region. I then tried to open the AutoCAD template using the import function, which actually works much better. The template is imported as a sketched symbol and it retains our title block property fields which fill in the project name and peoples signatures, etc. However, the sketched symbol also does not line up with the default manilla colored Inventor drawing region and if I try to edit the symbol I can't select this drawing region so that the lines match it.

On a similar note, the company has an AutoLISP routine that automatically fills in the title block and adjusts spacing for you in AutoCAD. Is there some way to use this routine in Inventor.

Anyways, before I go on further, I can't be the first person who has needed to use AutoCAD templates in Inventor. So, how are people doing this? There must be an easier way.

Hopefully, I posted to the correct group.

Thanks,
Bob

[JD Mather]

How do I get the AutoCAD template into an Inventor template.

I recommend that you do not try to use AutoCAD geometry in Inventor. Create new native templates in Inventor using the existing AutoCAD templates only for guidance.


On a similar note, the company has an AutoLISP routine that automatically fills in the title block... Is there some way to use this routine in Inventor.

This can be done in Inventor but you need to know how to use the program. Actually I think it is much easier in Inventor but this is something you want done absolutely right as it will effect all drawings down the road. I recommend hiring an experienced consultant to do this. Do it once (correctly) and forget it.

I suspect that you will try to do it on your own though. You should really know Inventor (ipt, iam, ipn) before starting idw so that you know what kind of information can be automatically pulled into the idw. But just start experimenting with creating your own template from scratch. Open a template (not file new) and File>Save Copy As and give it a name, say maybe your last name.

You will see 4 folders in the borwser
Sheet Formats
Borders
Title Blocks
Sketched Symbols

Delete the Sheet:1 Default Border and Title Block

Delete all Sheet Formats in the Sheet Format folder.

Initially you will only be concerned with the first 3 folders.
Work your way from the bottom up - start with Title Blocks.
Expand the Title Blocks folder and Right Mouse Button (RMB) on one of the existing title blocks and select Edit.
Examine how the title block was created RMB everything and select Edit.
Delete all of the title blocks in the Title Block folder and create your own.

RMB on the Default Border in the Borders folder and select Insert Drawing Border.
Delete the border you just created from the Sheet:1 and delete the Default Borders.
Create your own borders. (remember RMB everything)

Create your own Sheet Formats.

All of this is much easier to demonstrate than to figure out on your own. Go through this dozens of times deleting and re-creating in you experimental template until you know every option and have it down cold.

After several months you will be ready to create a template with powerful auto-filled title blocks. Then start in on custom Sketched Symbols.

After another 6 months you will realize that everything you did before was garbage and want to start over on creating a rock-solid template.

Hopefully you can work going forward only in native Inventor files or pdf or dwf at the worst. If you also have to output Inventor as dwg, well good luck with that!

Here is one resource if you have to communicate with dwg
http://www.mcadforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8699




I recently started my first "real" job where AutoCAD has been used for over 20yrs...

And dig in for the battles you are going to encounter with the entrenched 20yr users of AutoCAD.
Oh, your going to have fun.

[blounsbury]

I recommend that you do not try to use AutoCAD geometry in Inventor. Create new native templates in Inventor using the existing AutoCAD templates only for guidance.

I was hoping that I could use the AutoCAD templates to use the existing layers, etc., that have been established by the company rather that re-create everything. Literally everything in the drawing must conform to a specific format. It would take quite a while to reproduce this. The next problem would be that guaranteed I will need to share the dwg's with other people. If I was using AutoCAD to produce drawings it wouldn't be a problem, but this sort of negates the use of Inventor which makes creating part views and drawings a breeze.



I recommend hiring an experienced consultant to do this. Do it once (correctly) and forget it.

This may be an option and I would actually prefer it at this point. The only obstacle I see is that I'm the only one using Inventor, but I'll definitely bring it up.


I suspect that you will try to do it on your own though. You should really know Inventor (ipt, iam, ipn) before starting idw so that you know what kind of information can be automatically pulled into the idw.

I would actually prefer to not waste my time doing this if there are experts that could assist and get the job done in 1/10 of the time. Now whether or not the bosses would do this is another question. :D

The issue with the AutoLISP routine is that it is actually filling in information for you. For instance, in AutoCAD, I use a title block command and select the title block and then the routine begins asking me questions like: What is the name of the project, What is the drawing number, and on and on. Then it puts that information in the title block and spaces the lines appropriately for what information you actually entered. Can this be done with Inventor information?



If you also have to output Inventor as dwg, well good luck with that!

This will definitely be necessary. The drawings will have to be checked and archived more than likely through AutoCAD.



And dig in for the battles you are going to encounter with the entrenched 20yr users of AutoCAD. Oh, your going to have fun.

Unfortunately, I'm also in a small office which is a subset of a larger company in a small city. So, there's only one other person using AutoCAD in our office and he only does electrical layout drawings with no dimensioning. I'm on the mechanical side and when I asked about dimensioning format requirements he had no idea. He just gave me a 10 or 15 year old drawing management booklet for the company and said, "Good Luck".

I'm learning quickly that you're right. This is going to be a lot of work.

On a side note:

I was looking through the forums and came across a link to your website and I went through a couple of your tutorials and I must say, very nice! I did the screw driver example and I didn't know you could even do something like that. I worked with SolidWorks for a couple of years, but never did do very much with surfaces. I've been working with Inventor now for a couple of months and I never would have thought of doing this. It does give me some ideas of how to solve some of the design issues I was having though. So, thanks for the tutorials!

Bob

[JD Mather]

The issue with the AutoLISP routine is that it is actually filling in information for you. For instance, in AutoCAD, I use a title block command and select the title block and then the routine begins asking me questions like: What is the name of the project, What is the drawing number, and on and on. Then it puts that information in the title block and spaces the lines appropriately for what information you actually entered. Can this be done with Inventor information?

Yes, in addition to Fields you can use Prompted Entries set up in advance in the template.