How to go from SW2012 to Inventor 2010?

[adt2]

Hiya, folks. I've gotten myself into a bit of a bind at work and need a little help. We had a client come to us a few months back asking for some as-built drawings/models of a couple of their large machine components. One of the scope-of-work items was that the final files be delivered in Inventor 2010 format. We originally had a contractor lined up to do the work (this is not really our sort of thing), but he flaked mid-project and it got dropped in my lap.

I use SolidWorks 2012, so that's what I did the modeling in. When I was finished, I downloaded an educational version of Inventor 2013 (my wife is a teacher), opened the SW files, and saved them as Inventor files. (I either hadn't read or had read but forgotten the Inventor 2010 requirement.) But the client is not able to open the 2013-version files, and I now see that I cannot save them in an earlier version (a la AutoCAD and others). I've managed to get my hands on a copy of Inventor 2010 Pro, but it won't open the SW files, or anything else, for that matter - there are NO options in the File > Open dialog as far as other file types. It's either Inventor files or "All Files" and then it won't open whatever I select (I've tried exporting to CatiaV5 and STEP).

Any advice here? Or am I just going to have to start over from scratch? Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

[JD Mather]

Should open *.stp with no trouble. ( there was a problem related to html report on some machines I think in v2010, easily overcome by setting Options to not create the report.)
Should open *.dwg with no trouble.
Should open *.sat with no trouble as long as set Options to v7 when saving.

Do not use the student version files.
You should not need to start over unless this is all you have (you do have the original files, Inventor or SolidWorks don't you?).

[adt2]

Should open *.stp with no trouble

But it doesn't. There's not even an option to open this type of file.

Should open *.dwg with no trouble.

It might, but I don't have anything in *.dwg format.

Should open *.sat with no trouble

But it doesn't. There's not even an option to open this type of file.

Do not use the student version files. You should not need to start over unless this is all you have (you do have the original files, Inventor or SolidWorks don't you?).

I still have the original SolidWorks 2012 files, yes...I just can't figure out what to do with them since, as I said, my copy of Inventor 2010 will not allow me to open anything except Inventor files.

[SLW210]

What are exporting as from SW?

Did you try opening the SW file in Inventor Fusion and saving as a .stp, .iges, .dwg, etc.?

Sounds like your Inventor 2010 is not working properly.

[JD Mather]

Check your Addins for loaded translators in Inventor 2010 (should be loaded from default install), as noted, sounds like not installed correctly.
Did you have anti-virus and UAC turned off during install.

Seach Google for Autodesk Inventor Clean Uninstall instructions and start over.
or
try a Repair Install
or
check and see if you can get the tranlators loaded in Add-ins.


Can't you save in SWx to dwg format?