Cannot click on edges or center-point of a circle to create a hole

[nkinar]

I'm completely new to Inventor Professional 2011, and to teach myself the basics I've been working through Rob Cohee's introductory tutorials (Autodesk Inventor Fundamentals) that can be found on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/robcohee).

I'm running the 64-bit version of Inventor on a 64-bit version of Windows 7, and I've downloaded and installed all of the patches and service packs.

I've followed these video tutorials through to Chapter 4, but I've realized that I cannot click or select the top and bottom sections of the part in the same way that Rob does in Chapter 4 of the video. For Rob, the top and bottom sections turn pink, but for me, clicking on the edges does nothing. Thus, it appears that I cannot snap the three-point rectangle to the center-point. What am I doing wrong here?

In addition, once I create the three-point rectangle, I then create a revolution and another extrusion and try (as he shows in Chapter 5 of the video) to create a hole through the extruded segment.

Unfortunately, I cannot select the center-point of the circle (no center-point is displayed), and therefore I cannot seem to create a hole! Could anyone comment on what I might be doing wrong here?

[JD Mather]

Zip and attach your file here. We spend all this time learning to communicate with geometry - let's communicate with geometry.

[nkinar]

Thanks JD Mather. I've zipped the file and uploaded it. I can't seem to create a circle on the midpoint, and neither can I create a hole.

[JD Mather]

I haven't watched those videos - but I assume you need to be in an active sketch and click the Project Geometry tool and then the edge you want to project into the current sketch. Do this - pause the video exactly where you get stuck and then hit Alt + Print Screen key (prt sc) upper right corner of keyboard.
Open MS Paint and Ctrl V to paste the image into Paint.
Save and attach the screen capture here.

[nkinar]

Thank you very much, JD Mather! I think this is exactly what I was looking for, and your pictures show exactly what I was struggling with. There must be both an active sketch AND I need to use the project geometry tool. This is starting to work for me now.

[JD Mather]

Yes, now if you go back and make changes (like size) in the original geometry it will automatically be updated in the sketch that it was projected into. This is the power of parametric modeling.

[Mobileinventor]

Unfortunately, I cannot select the center-point of the circle (no center-point is displayed), and therefore I cannot seem to create a hole! Could anyone comment on what I might be doing wrong here?

Can you make a construction line across the circle and then select the midpoint?

[nkinar]

JD Mather: Yes, that is very neat and exciting stuff
Mobileinventor: Although I can create a construction line across the circle and then select the midpoint, I find that the Project Geometry tool is still required for creating a hole.